A stone dropped in my stomach, and I groaned loudly, anger mounting along with my desire to disbelieve. “Are youserious?” I demanded. “What kind of warning isthis? How wasanyonesupposed to figure that out?”
“I mean, we figured it out just now.”
“No,youfigured it out,” I emphasized, “and you neededAlex’stalent to do it. I would never have known! And somehow I don’t think our meeting was part of Hades’ plan.”
Thanatos shrugged again, way too calmly for my liking. “Well, I mean…it’s prophecy. Divine thought passing through mortal lips. Are they not all like this?”
“Like insensible riddles with no purpose but to soothe some god’s conscience before they start destroying shit?” I fumed. At this, Alex raised an eyebrow at me, and I let out a long,irritated sigh. “Ugh! Well…fine. Actually, yeah. They usually are.”
He nodded to me sympathetically. “Regardless of the morality of it, we now know what is meant to happen. What is more important,” Thanatos considered, “is the identity of this child. You know your parishioners by name, do you not? It should not be too difficult to make the determination.”
“You say that as if I would recognize ademigodupon meeting him.”
“Perhaps not, but we know much more now than before,” he countered. “Your hero is a boy of eighteen, an orphan with golden hair. He would beexceptionalin life. An archer, maybe? A warrior, or a healer? You must know of someone like that.”
I strained to conjure a list of young soldiers, wishing I had a better memory of faces and hair color. All of our best archers were far too old, and I had no better luck considering the healing arts. Fortunately, Alex was quicker than I was.
“It’s Leon,” she said quietly, first to herself and then again to the rest of us. “It’sLeon. It has to be.”
At first thought, it didn’t make any sense, but the longer I dwelled on it the more certain I became that itwashim. Leon the young musician, whose skill delighted anyone who listened. He lived with the other collectively raised children. He had to be about eighteen. And his hair…I’d always thought those curls to be annoyingly pretty.
“Yeah, it’s Leon,” I agreed, surprising myself with my confidence. “Holy fuck. He has no idea. And he’s not a soldier.”
“He is probably doomed, then,” Thanatos remarked. I glared at him, but he persisted. “What? He is. Do you want me to lie to you?” he asked rhetorically.
“We’ve got to tell him,” Zoe said at once. “He deserves to know.”
“You cannot tell him, nor anyone else,” Thanatos warned, an edge of panic in his voice. “Apollo did not give this knowledge to you, so spreading it could alert him to the impostor in your midst. Who knows what he would do then.” His gaze softened as it fell upon me.
“Well, what if we just warn him without being specific?” Zoe asked. “The three of us have sensed auras of danger before. That much wouldn’t be out of the ordinary.”
“I suppose that would be safe.”
“Then we’d better hope he comes to pray really soon,” Sophie pointed out. “None of us can go to him. We can’t leave the grounds.”
Alex nodded. “Youcould tell him,” she said, glancing fearfully at Thanatos. “You can go anywhere.”
I knew that he wouldn’t do it, and I was right, of course. He let out a patronizing chuckle before he shut her down. “You want me to interfere in Hades’ plan? The one he created onmybehalf? That will not be happening. I have probably already done too much, telling you these things.”
“Then what are we supposed to do?” she shot back. “We can’t just do nothing!”
“You are supposed to besafe,” he answered. “This is but a warning to take shelter until the storm has passed and Hades has claimed what belongs to him. Cyrieherselfis a warning. The cityunderstandsit as a warning. Heed it.”
My sisters gave no response save for unsatisfied grumbles, but after a stretch of heavy contemplation, everyone agreed. There was nothing to be done but wait for Leon to visit. If he didn’t come, then we would be the only ones who knew the truth when his mysterious trial arrived.
“There is nothing more to discuss here,” said Thanatos. He offered me his hand. “Come with me.”
“What are you talking about?” Sophie interjected before I could accept. “Look at her! She needs sleep, not sex!” She stepped forward as if to protect me.
“I—do you think that’s all we do?” Thanatos stammered.
I chuckled at his defensiveness, and regretted it immediately when my headache intensified. “It’s fine, Soph,” I told her as I stood up. “We’re just going to cuddle.”
“Oh. Fine, then. We’ll see you in the morning.”
“I will take care of her,” promised Thanatos. “Do not worry.” He wrapped his arm around me, and when she nodded, we vanished together into darkness.
“I like Sophie,” he said when we emerged into our bedroom. “She is brave to step between a god and his desire. Such actions have not proceeded favorably for mortals, historically speaking.”
