"He was also her father—the very man who had cast her out to survive on the streets, the one responsible for turning her life into a living hell."
Silence crashed down like a hammer.
"He prayed to me."
"Begged me on his knees."
"For a weapon strong enough to kill her."
Alex let out a low breath, processing.
"And you complied with his request… didn't you?"
Hephaestus nodded slowly, the admission heavy.
"Yes."
"I did. I had no other choice. I was the chosen god of that world."
Hephaestus leaned back slightly against the anvil, his tired eyes dimming further in the forge's gloom.
"That world was my responsibility," he said in a low voice, guilt threading every word. "I had to do something."
"And so I did."
He exhaled slowly, his chest rising wearily.
"Killing her was almost impossible."
"Her body could be destroyed, flesh rent asunder."
"Her armies could be crushed under divine wrath."
"But her soul…"
His gaze darkened, haunted.
