Page 2 of Claiming Demons

Oh, my gods! I knew my mother’s name. She was a goddess I’d never heard of, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t do research, learn more about her, discover—

Wait. Everything I’d find in the history books or talking to other daemons was great, but the whole point of figuring out who my parents were was to discover more about me.

“What does this mean?” I asked.

“There’s more to Inanna’s tale,” Harmonia said softly. “And it’s why I’m certain Inanna is your mother.” She paused, her look telling me to brace myself. “Your mother — Inanna — died almost forty years ago. The rumor is, she died in childbirth.”

Almost forty years?

I was thirty-eight.

“Oh…” I blinked. “She died… having me?” That didn’t make any sense. “But… she was a goddess of fertility. How’s that possible?”

“That’s the thing, no one knows for certain,” Harmonia said. “We know Inanna died, but there is no record of her death. The rumor is she died in childbirth, but as you say, that doesn’t make much sense. The trouble is, there isn’t much more to go on. There’s no record of the father, nor the identity of the child. It’s all a little vague and mysterious. Someone went to a lot of trouble to conceal the details of this.”

And that struck a chord with me. “My adoption records… They mysteriously went missing. Only mine.”

“Someone didn’t want you, or anyone else, to figure this out.”

“I’m guessing that was my father?” I said, my tone rising, making it more of a question than a statement. “But why?”

“I don’t know. And there’s more. Usually, the child of a god or goddess has only some of their parents’ powers, or sometimes they have new powers. It’s extremely rare for a child to have identical powers to their parents,” Harmonia continued, her gaze drifting to the window and the sparkling Manhattan skyline beyond. “Yet, there are tales that goddesses who die giving birth sometimes pass all their powers on to their child. I think that’s what happened with you.”

“Oh.” I wasn’t sure why that was significant. It explained my rather extensive list of aspects, but still… “Is that… everything?”

Harmonia nodded. “That’s everything I could find so far. Together, we can look into this, find out more. Though, it sounds like someone went through a lot of trouble to keep all of this hidden from you.”

“Or…” I said as another possibility occurred to me. “Someone did this to keepmehidden from the world.”

Harmonia’s eyes went wide, surprise then fear flickered across her expression before she returned to her usual serene self.

“That’s a possibility,” she said as she pulled my hands from my lap, holding them firmly clasped between hers. “I’m sorry to drop this all on you in the middle of the night. Would you like me to soothe you so you can get back to sleep, or do you want to sit with this for a while?”

What did I want?

I wanted to know more — now now now.

But it had only been two days since I’d battled zompires and fought Nari and Melinoe. And I was still groggy from last night’s activities. If I stayed up, I’d only spend the day being foggy-headed and probably not get much done.

There wasn’t anything more we would find out tonight, and Harmonia had already been digging into this for a full day. It could wait, as much as I didn’t want it to.

“Put me to sleep,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m certain I won’t be able to sleep without your help.”

She rose and helped me lie on the couch, covering me with a blanket and kneeling next to me.

“We’ll find out more,” she whispered reassuringly as she stroked my hair and I felt her power working on me, my cares and worries draining away. “We’ll solve this mystery and get you all the answers you desire… later. Sleep for now, dear friend.”

I woke when Reia — and a bounding Kerberos — strode through the common space of the penthouse on their way out for their morning run.

I didn’t think they knew I was out there, and they didn’t say anything, so I stayed bundled in my blanket and watched the sun crest the horizon in the east.

The view was amazing from the high vantage point of Grey’s penthouse, and I felt rested enough to get up and start making coffee and breakfast.

As I did, I tried to make sense of what Harmonia had told me, my thoughts spinning from being a goddess, to my mother’s death, to my still-mysterious father, and how someone was clearly trying to cover it all up.

Does this change anything?I asked myself

No… it didn’t.

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