Unborn Read Online Free PDF

do.”
    “So I, too, am a warrior?”
    “It is your birthright,” he replied, looking less sure of himself than he had previously. “But there’s really no way to be certain. We’ve never had a sister before. There’s no way to ascertain what traits you inherited.” Drew paused a moment, allowing me to process the information he so willingly provided. His transparency was disarming. I was not used to important details being so freely shared. “I know you were tired when I found you last night, Khara, so I don’t know how much you remember of our conversations, but I mentioned something about there being no females born of Ares still alive. I feel I need to explain that further.
    “Ares once had a daughter, Eos. She was his everything: a fearsome war goddess, ruthless supporter, and, from what has long been rumored, his lover as well. When she died, part of him changed, or so I was told. I was not alive when this occurred, but some of the others were. They said he was never quite the same after he lost her. From that point on, he declared that no female born of him would ever be suffered to live. That none shall walk the Earth when his beloved Eos was unable to.
    “At first, we all took this to mean that he would somehow make it impossible to create a female. However, it came to light a few centuries ago that this may not have been the truth . . . that, more likely than not, if a female was created, she was immediately destroyed. This, Khara, is why you should not be,” he continued, hesitating slightly before delivering his final statement. “You should have been killed at infancy—most likely the day you were born.”
    “But I was not,” I offered, stating the obvious incongruity in his story.
    “Clearly,” he said with a grin. “What I cannot understand is how . How did you escape him? If there had indeed been ’indeed others before you . . .”
    “They were found and destroyed,” I said, saying what he so clearly did not want to.
    “Precisely, though not by Ares’ own hands. He lost the ability to kill long ago, but he is still cunning and ruthless. He finds ways around the rules when it suits his purpose. So that leaves me to wonder exactly how you escaped his all-knowing radar.”
    “The parents I have always known were not my own. Perhaps my mother gave me to them to keep me from Ares, therefore preventing my otherwise imminent demise.”
    “That is the assumption I am making as well, but someone out there has to know more about the who and why in order for that plan to have worked. That concerns me. Loose ends make for messy situations, Khara. If you are to survive, we need to tie them up.”
    “I do not know if Father is fully aware of my parentage, but he is not a concern. He loves me in his own way. As for Demeter, I cannot be certain. We do not talk much, though I would wager she knows more about this than anyone else.”
    “We need to find her . . .” he said, his eyes willing me to see the depth of his plan.
    “You would kill her if she knew how dire my circumstances were?” I asked, my voice emotionless. He did not answer. “I do not believe that she knows anything. She would have been rid of me by now if she had. I am nothing but a burden and a bargaining chip to her. She would, however, sell me out if it would get her what she wanted most. Unfortunately for her, she’s already gotten all that she can in that regard, so there is no more to be done. She needs me, and she knows it. My death would only ensure the loss of her daughter. That is not something she would risk.”
    “How can you be so certain?” Casey asked, leaning forward as though my words held an interest to him that hadn’t been present earlier.
    “Because I am her ticket to Persephone. Without me, Demeter would never see her again. I am the reason she is able to leave the Underworld at all. For six months of the year, Persephone is traded for me. I stay underground while she and her mother walk the