Page 51 of Lost

“Who the hell are you?”

Kevin pressed himself back, wishing he could become a shadow. “I’m no one. Neferet didn’t send me here. I had no idea she’d be here. I had no idea you’d be here.”

“Then what the hell do you want?” Aphrodite asked again.

She looked so cold, so unlikehisAphrodite, that Kevin’s anger began to simmer along with his fear. If she screamed or cried out, a Son of Erebus Warrior would surely hear her. He’d be hauled out of the gardens for disturbing Neferet’s Prophetess and become the center of attention—without any stinky blood perfume.

He’d be discovered as different, and that would suck on many levels. So he hardened his voice and fueled his anger with fear.

“Hey, I already told you. I don’t wantanythingfrom you. I don’t even want to be here—at this awful place of death in this awful fucking world!”

He could see that his words took her aback. There was a long silence while she stared at the sitting shadow that was Kevin. When she spoke, her voice had lost its bitter edge, and her simple question surprised him.

“Did you lose someone you loved?”

The question settled over Kevin, bringing with it images of a lost world… a missed life… Zoey, laughing with her Nerd Herd. Grandma Redbird, gifting him with a medicine bag and trying not to cry as she told him goodbye. The other Aphrodite, smiling at him as her eyes sparkled like gemstones with humor and her special, snarky brand of intelligence. Damien and Jack, holding hands and looking so, so happy and in love, and red and blue fledglings playing peacefully in the snow, surrounded by cats and love. Always love.

“Yes.” His voice broke and he had to clear his throat before he continued. “Yes. I lost my whole world.”

Her face changed again then. It softened, and one tear slid down her smooth cheek, and Kevin thought he’d never seen anyone look sadder or more beautiful.

“Yeah, me too. I lost myself. Same damn thing.”

Then she turned and left the meditation garden without another word or glance his way.