Novels by Chrissy

The unease started before the nightmare. She woke with her heart racing, sheets tangled around her legs, breath shallow as if she’d been running in her sleep. The sweat cooling on her skin, her hair clinging to her nape and around her face. For a moment, she didn’t know where she was. Then the room came back into focus. Her bed. Her apartment. Her life she was carefully trying to rebuild. Still… something felt wrong. Not fear. Expectation. She had been keeping to herself, doing mundane things. Chilling with friends who kept low profiles. She rose quietly, padding barefoot to the window. The street below looked normal. It seemed almost fake. Her phone vibrated on the bedside table. She froze staring at it as if it would move towards her. The screen lit up. UNKNOWN NUMBER Her stomach dropped. She didn’t move an inch still stuck in her spot. The phone vibrated again. Then a message appeared, gingerly she took up the phone and opened the message. *It has been a v

The gates to the estate slid open just as the sun dipped lower in the sky, bathing the long driveway in gold. Frank slowed the car instinctively, already scanning the front of the house. And then, “There he is!” Phoe came barreling down the front steps like a small hurricane, sneakers flashing, laughter ringing through the air. “Daddy! Mommy!” Jess barely had time to unbuckle before the door flew open and Phoe launched himself straight into her arms. “I missed you!” he declared loudly, wrapping himself around her neck. She laughed breathlessly, kissing his cheek. “You were only gone a little while.” “But it felt like forever,” he insisted. Apollo stepped out behind them, crouching as Phoe turned and tackled him next. “There’s my boy,” Apollo said warmly, lifting him with ease. “Did you survive this whole time without us?” “Nope,” Phoe said cheerfully. “But I had so much fun.” “That sounds suspicious,” Apollo replied. Phoe’s eyes lit up instantly. A fit of g

It took a while before the shock really settled. At first, I just stayed in his arms, breathing him in like I was afraid the moment might vanish if I moved too fast. The truth still rang through my chest, bright and impossible and perfect. Apollo. Zeus. The same man. The stranger who had once held me as if I were his fantasy in the dark, and the man who now held my entire life in his hands. Fate had a strange sense of humor. I pulled back slowly, studying his face as if I were seeing it for the first time. The familiar lines. The warmth in his eyes. The mouth that had kissed me a thousand times, and once before I’d ever known his name. “I’m so happy even though apart of me can’t believe” I whispered. He smiled softly. “Believe it.” I laughed then, not loud, not dramatic, just breathless and stunned. “You know what this means, right?” I said, tilting my head. He raised a brow. “That destiny has excellent taste?” I snorted. “That you lost a bet… and accidenta

I kept hearing it. The name. Just… spoken. Casually. Naturally. “Zeus, come have a drink.” “Zeus, you’re needed here.” “Zeus, stop pretending you don’t hear us.” Every time they said it, something in my chest tightened. Every. Single. Time. At first, I told myself it was coincidence. A nickname. A joke between friends. But then I noticed the way Apollo responded, not confused, not questioning, just instinctively turning toward the voice, answering as if that name had always belonged to him. And every time he did… My heart reacted. A slow, dangerous hope began to bloom in my chest. I hadn’t meant for it to. God knew I hadn’t. That night in another country had been sealed away in my memory tender, surreal, wrapped in velvet and anonymity. The masked man. The warmth of his voice. The gentleness that had surprised me. The way I had felt seen without ever seeing his face. How drawn I had felt towards him. And how drawn I had felt towards Apollo when I had first me

The calm didn’t leave all at once. It lingered even after Apollo stepped away to take a call, even after the house stirred with the movements of everyone going about. I stayed where I was for a moment longer, hands resting over my stomach, breathing through the steady rise and fall beneath my palms. I’d get to see my Beanie and Cashew tomorrow at my check up. They were both growing inside of me, I still had a ways to go but I couldn’t wait to hold them. To feel their warm little bodies pressed against my own. To engrave their faces in my memory. Sometimes I still couldn’t believe I was pregnant, the thought still startled me. The drive to Dr. Jane’s office passed in a blur of city streets and muted radio noise. This was the first I was leaving the estate since the tabloids. Apollo was holding on to my hand as he spoke on the phone. Even though I told him I’d be fine coming for the check-up alone as he had an important international call. He insisted, that he would come, he wa

A sense of calm slowly began to return, not the kind my sister would soon have to face with her new role, but the quiet kind I needed for myself. With everything that had happened, stillness felt earned. My appointment with Dr. Jane was creeping closer. Soon, I’d be hearing the results from my last round of blood tests. Honestly, with everything unfolding around us, I’d nearly forgotten it was coming up. I was still taking my pills and supplements, and my last checkup with Sam had shown the twins were doing well. That reassurance had carried me farther than I realized. It had been a couple of days since I’d gone into the office. Apollo likely would after today, work had a way of calling him back, no matter how much he tried to put it off for me. Phoe was spending time with Amir today. Just the two of them. Apollo had been hesitant at first, but I’d seen how Phoe relaxed around him, how naturally the bond was forming. It wasn’t replacing anything. It was expanding. And that ma