Zara blinked. “Well, that escalated.”
Elian rubbed the back of his neck, bewildered. Hektor frowned toward the house while Brontaios looked deeply uncomfortable.
“What are we going to do now?” Zara asked.
The group instinctively formed a loose huddle in the middle of the cul-de-sac, voices lowering as they began to talk over each other.
“He’s not going to open that door again,” Elian said.
“Not after that,” Hektor agreed.
Brontaios sighed heavily. “This clan will close ranks if they think outsiders are threatening one of their own.”
While the others spoke, Maldenis moved away from the group, and Liora followed him. They drifted a few paces down the path where the others couldn’t easily hear them. For a moment, they both looked back at the house.
A child lived in there. One who had no idea why strangers had just shown up asking questions about gods.
“She should stay with her clan,” she said quietly.
Maldenis looked at her.
“If nobody knows,” she continued, “then she’ll be safe.”
He raised a brow. “That’s not how this works.”
“It can be,” she insisted. “If she keeps living her life like normal.”
He shook his head slightly. “Liora?—”
“When I was a kid,” she continued, her voice tightening, “I was told not to use my powers. Ever. Not around people. Not unless I absolutely had to.” She glanced back at the house. “And it worked. I stayed under the radar for years.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“It is the same. If no one knows she’s Zeus’s kid, then nobody comes looking for her.”
“We were able to figure out she’s Zeus’s kid.” He dragged a hand through his hair.
“But that was because ofourpower,” she shot back. “Because we went looking.”
“You don’t think the hunters aren’t magical?” Maldenis let out a humorless laugh. “Or backed by the divine?”
Her jaw tightened. “That doesn’t mean they’ll find her.”
“It means we can’t assume theywon’t,” he countered. “We’re not the only ones with resources.”
“She has a whole clan protecting her,” she insisted.
“A clan that hates magic and doesn’t even understand what she is. That’s not protection, that’s a blind spot.”
“Or it’s exactly why she’s stayed hidden this long.”
“And how long do you think that lasts now that groups are actively searching?”
Her arms crossed tightly over her chest. “Long enough if we don’t go around announcing it.”
“So, your plan is to walk away and hope no one else figures it out?” His eyes flashed.
“My plan,” she snapped, “is not to be the reason her entire life gets torn apart.”
