Read Dark Descent - [Nyx Fortuna 02] for Free Online

into the underworld?”
    “What’s the real reason you’re hesitating?” Naomi demanded.
    Talbot and I exchanged glances. Was it possible she didn’t know about the prophecy? “He, born of Fortune, shall let loose the barking dogs as the Fates fall and Hecate shall rise.”
    Her next words disabused me of that notion. “Don’t be such a wimp,” she said. “Don’t tell me you believe that moldy old prophecy?”
    “You don’t?” Talbot asked her.
    “It’s probably just wishful thinking on Hecate’s part,” Naomi said. “Her followers have been spreading that rumor around for ages.”
    “Why don’t you fill us in?” Talbot asked her.
    “Mom says it all started when the Fates took the harpies away from Hecate and then imprisoned her in the underworld. It was way before Mom was born,” Naomi said.
    Being a Fate was a hereditary position, which meant Naomi would take over for her mom one day. The Fates weren’t immortal, but they lived a long time. Aunt Nona had dated Shakespeare when she was a teenager, and as anyone who’d read Macbeth might be able to figure out, it hadn’t ended well.
    Hecate, however, was a true goddess, and therefore, an immortal. And like all good goddesses, she knew how to hold a grudge. It wouldn’t surprise me if she’d started the prophecy rumor herself.
    I thought of something else. “How did the Fates manage to take something away from a goddess?”
    “Don’t know. It might be written in the Book of Fates somewhere.”
    “What’s the big deal about the Book of Fates?” I asked. “Besides the prophecy, that is?” According to the prophecy, the first male born in the Wyrd line, which would be me, would bring about the fall of the Fates and set Hecate free.
    Talbot and Naomi stared at me. “You mean you don’t know?” she asked.
    “Hello, black sheep here,” I snapped. “My mother and I were too busy running for our lives to talk about family traditions.”
    “Every House has a book,” Talbot explained. “You do know about the Houses, right?”
    I gave him a dirty look. “I’m getting a whiff of I’m-so-superior House of Zeus right now. Of course I know about the Houses.” There were four houses and every magical creature belonged to one of them: The House of Poseidon, the House of Hades, the House of Zeus, and finally, the House of Fates.
    Talbot and his father were card-carrying members of House of Zeus, and sometimes a little entitlement showed. The only house that trumped Zeus was the house of Fates, of which I was a very reluctant member. My mother had been Lady Fortuna, the fourth Fate, but her role as a Fate had been all put expunged from modern memory, thanks to her sisters.
    Talbot had the grace to look abashed. “Sorry, Nyx,” he said. “I forgot you don’t believe in all that…”
    “Nonsense,” I finished his sentence, knowing he was about to say something else entirely.
    He cleared his throat. “The house book is where the Custos, the keeper of the book, writes down lineages, any noteworthy events, house secrets, that kind of thing. Anyone who belongs to the house has access to the book in the keeper’s presence.”
    I gave my cousin a questioning glance. “Fates, too?”
    She nodded. “Deci keeps the book. She got it back after Gaston died.”
    My aunt Deci was ill, most likely poisoned by that traitor Gaston when he tried to take over the family business. “Do you think she’d let me see it?”
    “I’ll ask,” Naomi said. “But I’m not making any promises.”
    “Do the aunts even want me to find Claire?” I asked, frustrated.
    “Of course they do,” she said. “She’s Morta’s daughter.”
    “Since when does blood matter?” I snapped in reply. “How am I supposed to find Claire and save Elizabeth if they won’t tell me anything?”
    “I’ll ask,” she said again softly.
    I gave in. “Can you bring me your dad’s stuff?” I asked. “I might as well get started. The clock’s ticking.”
    She nodded.
    Talbot