Page 79 of Professor and the Seer
Wide-eyed, Bacchus said, “You’re dead.”
“Not exactly.” John stepped into the room and behind him—
“Mom? What are you doing here?” I gasped.
“Hello, Pemphredo. I’m just here to right some wrongs.” She cocked her head and smiled. “Hello, Bacchus.”
How did Mom know his name? Not to mention, I didn’t think the warrior could get any paler.
“You,” he spat. “Haven’t you done enough?”
Wait a second. How did they know each other?
Mom offered him a small smile. “I’ll admit, at the time, I didn’t expect things to go as far as they did. Hence why I’m here.”
“What’s going on?” I asked, utterly confused.
John moved to my side and murmured, “I’m thinking your mom isn’t just a witch.”
“Clever boy. I like him. He’s right.” Before my eyes, my mom changed. Sure, it was still her face, but it shed decades. She stood taller, more there, but less human.
I gaped before whispering, “What are you?”
“Ask my old friend Bacchus.”
He snorted. “Hardly friends. You betrayed me.”
“Only because you did so first. Jilting me for that human.” Her lip curled. “Was it any wonder when she prayed and donated so generously that I agreed?”
John figured it out before I did. “You’re the Goddess Apate. I don’t know why I didn’t connect the dots before.” He glanced at me. “Fraussa is a word for deceiver.”
“Hold on a second, my mom is a god? No. Just no. I’ve seen her burn cookies. She does laundry.” I couldn’t reconcile the thought that the woman who used to yell at Mr. Cobbler about his dog shitting on our lawn was a goddess.
Mom rolled her shoulders. “It’s the truth, but I had to hide it because I needed my children to be raised in a normal fashion if you were to help me right a long-past-due wrong.”
“Too late,” Bacchus interjected. “Ariadne’s too powerful now.”
“Is she?” My mom trailed her fingers over the collar around Bacchus’s neck. “Nasty metal. It’s from a different dimension, you know, where those with arcane powers are enslaved. I only gave her the two controlling sets, one for practice and one for her task, but I see she found more.”
“You helped her trap the monster god? Why would you do that?” I squeaked.
“Because she wasn’t supposed to use it on Typhon,” Mom growled. “She deceived me. Very well, I might add. She claimed she wanted to trap Bacchus because she suspected he was going to set her aside. Given he’d ditched me for her, I thought it poetic justice.”
“Only she instead used them for a bigger prize,” John murmured. “But why wait this long to tell anyone?”
“Because, at first, I didn’t care. But the problem with living too long…” Her nose wrinkled. “Sometimes you reflect and feel guilty. Not to mention get annoyed because the twat who deceived you thinks she can rule over the world.”
Jealousy. It didn’t entirely surprise, but more on this insane saga would have to wait until later. “Where are Enyo and Dina?”
“Confronting Ariadne while I rescue you.” John pulled out his pocket watch.
“I am not leaving. Not without them.”
“Didn’t figure you would,” John said.
“You won’t be able to defeat her,” Bacchus stated. “She’s too strong. She doesn’t just have my and Typhon’s magic. She also stole from a demigod, a daughter of Hecate, goddess of magic. It’s how Ariadne can shut off the magic in this castle at will.”
As if on cue, the visions stopped hammering on my wall. Everything around me went inert.