“Thank You,” I whispered aloud, because I needed to hear the words. “Thank You for bringing him to me, even if it was messy and violent. For teaching me that faith isn't about following orders or trusting institutions or praying the right words in the right language. It's about choosing love even when it costs everything. Even when it means walking into darkness. Even when you know it might destroy you.”
I opened my eye and stared at the door Lorenzo had walked through.
I'm not Your sword anymore. Not the Church's. Not anyone's but my own. But if You're listening, if any of this matters, if there's any mercy left in You after everything You've watched happen, keep him safe.
That's all I'm asking.
That's all I've got left to ask.
Amen.
I stood on shaking legs and crossed to the small bathroom, where I splashed cold water on my face. My reflection looked hollow. Raw. The bandages covering my missing eye were stark white against red-rimmed skin.
I looked like a man who'd just prayed for the first time in his life.
Maybe I had.
I dried my face, straightened my shoulders, and went downstairs to face whatever was coming.
Lorenzo looked up from the bottom of the stairs. When he saw me, he held out his hand, and I took it.
Hades stood in the entryway in a plain black shirt and slacks. "Rhadamanthys is waiting outside," he said. Then he stepped closer, his voice dropping low. "Before you go, if you would permit an old man’s superstitions?”
Lorenzo looked at me, and I nodded. “Of course.”
Hades placed one hand on Lorenzo's shoulder and one on mine. "Ogun guide your hands. Ori protect your steps. The fire of your ancestors burns before you, clearing the path of those who mean you harm. May your shadows walk behind you, not before, and may you return with your names unbroken. Go with courage and come back whole. A??."
He withdrew his hands with a nod.
"Thank you," Lorenzo said quietly.
I opened the front door, and cold Montana air rushed in, carrying the smell of pine and rain. Dawn was breaking over the mountains, painting everything gold and red.
Outside, Rhadamanthys stood beside a black SUV, his face grim in the early light.
Lorenzo's hand tightened in mine. "Ready?"
No. I'd never be ready. But I nodded anyway.
Rafael told me heloved me this morning.
I held Rafael's hand as Rhadamanthys drove us through the narrow streets of Rome. He loved me. I still wasn't sure I deserved it, but I was done pretending I didn't want it.
The car stopped on a boring cobblestone street, and we got out, following the Judge. He adjusted his bolo tie and stepped onto the sidewalk. We walked the short distance to the Knights of Malta Square in silence, Rafael and I still hand in hand.
Tourists clustered around the famous keyhole in the green door, taking turns peering through to see St. Peter's Basilica framed perfectly in the distance. They laughed and posed for photos, completely unaware that two men were about to descend into a labyrinth to fight a man who'd orchestrated our entire lives.
Rhadamanthys stopped at a different door set into the wall about twenty feet from where the tourists gathered. It was smaller, plain-looking. Exactly the kind of door the Pantheon would use.
Rafael's fingers tightened around mine, and Rhadamanthys pulled out a wrought-iron key and slid it into the lock. The door groaned on ancient hinges, and Rhadamanthys held it open for us.
The garden on the other side was breathtaking.
Green grass stretched out in front of us, bordered by ancient stone walls covered in ivy. Orange trees grew in neat rows, their fruit bright against dark leaves. The air smelled of citrus and rosemary. Sunlight filtered through the branches, dappling the ground in patterns that shifted when the breeze moved through.
Judge Aeacus stood at the end of the path beside a marble fountain. I recognized her from Luka's trial, though her hair was braided now and pulled back into a severe bun. She stepped forward, her black suit immaculate.
"I was beginning to think you wouldn't make it on time." She looked at Rafael and me, her gaze lingering on our joined hands and the eyepatch covering Rafael's ruined eye.
