She narrowly missed me when she abruptly threw her plate at him. Ares was as shocked as I was as her mashed vegetables splattered all over his gold armour before she turned to stalk out of the camp. His expression darkened with his fury as he stepped in the direction she had gone, but I shoved him back several steps.
“You have said quiteenoughtonight,” I snarled.
“I will go,” said Amira, and even though I didn’t want to let her out of my sight for a second, I nodded.
“What the fuck was that?” I growled at Ares once the two women were gone. He looked like he might opt to walk away to avoid my questioning, but Helena took up a position behind him and crossed her arms with a frown. He refused to look at either of us, so I got close enough to put myself right in his face.
“What is the problem here? Sowhatif she’s mixed?”
“She had a choice about who to align herself with and she chosethem!” he shouted back.
“I cannot imagine why. You make such a compelling case for the Ktínos,” mutteredmitéra.
“She is always saying how she is not like us—”
“Because she isnotlike us! She is part of two worlds that cannot touch. Can youimagine?” Helena demanded. “At least we all have each other to hold onto. She is the only one of her kind.”
“She would have had no choice, Ares. Magic is not something she could have ever hidden among our kind. Whatever Ktínos senses she possesses would be much easier to conceal among the Imítheos,” I reasoned. I had spent more time than most other Ktínos among Imítheos, so I knew this without doubt. Magic could also become volatile if it was not properly trained and used.
“But why continue to hide while acting like we were so beneath her?” Ares insisted.
“My guess would be fear of the very thing you proved to be reality. Being both and neither Ktínos nor Imítheos means that she is hated by both people instead of just one or the other,” Helena said sadly.
That gave Ares pause, his temper finally cooling as he considered her point more logically.
“I would not have hated her if she did not lie.”
“I doubt that,” I assured him before turning to grab a napkin to throw at him. “Clean yourself up.”
Amira
Sofia had not gone deep into the forest, just far enough that the firelight disappeared through the foliage. I could hear the occasional shout behind us, but I trusted Orion to wrangle Ares while I comforted my friend.
I found Sofia hunched over sobbing, and it broke my heart because I knew it was at least partly my fault.
“I am so sorry,” I whispered as I walked around her to pull her into my arms, and she hugged me back.
“How does he even know?”
“Your… grandfather said it last night,” I admitted.
“Gods! He is determined to ruin my life,” she snarled, shaking her head over my shoulder.
“It is my fault. I… He knew we had gone to the docks, and I was so angry that I spoke before thinking. He knew somehow that you must have told me about your mother, and he defended his actions by mentioning your heritage. And I meant to tell you about the conversation, but there hasn’t been time. Sofia, I amsosorry! I should have just kept my stupid mouth shut about it,” I admitted in regret, growing nervous when she became quiet and tense. I was worried she might pull away from me before she finally gave a resigned sigh and relaxed in my arms again.
“They were going to find out eventually. And I know how Castor can be with his manipulations and word traps. Not your fault. I am appreciative of what you did for my mother, and what you will do at the docks. It has become natural to hide, but it’s been a long time since I started to long for an authentic version of myself,” she admitted.
“If it makes you feel any better, Ares is really just an angry asshole. I would not gauge the attitudes of other Ktínos by his behaviour,” I reassured her.
“I really hope you are right,” she whispered haltingly. “But he is not wrong. What differencehaveI made?”
“You are one person, Sofia. The weight of the Ktínos oppression is not your burden to bear alone.”
She nodded, but I could tell she did not believe me.
Once her tears had dried, we sat huddled together for a time on a log. But the forest was so cold and damp, it was not long before Sofia consented to return to the campfire. She ignored the Ktínos who looked at her as she moved to her bedroll with her head down. Ares wanted to speak, but I caught his eye with a look that promised to fry his ass if he said a word. And he wisely shut his mouth.
Before I could sit on my own cot, Orion took my hand and tugged me back toward the cold darkness of the trees with a blanket in his hand.
