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Hekate tested Rehema the same way she’d tested me, looking into her body, and she did the same to Lucian.
They were both okay, thankfully. But I was so deep in thought, I didn't realize Hekate had moved to my side until she stepped in front of me, blocking my view of the portal.
I tilted my head back to look up at her.
“Are you okay, Natalie?" she asked, and I cleared my throat before nodding.
“I’m fine. It’s just that she was the second one in two days. This is getting serious. What's going to happen to the girl? She's just a child.”
“It’s been serious for some time.” Hekate’s voice was soothing, but her eyes remained unreadable. “And we’ll take care of the girl.”
She didn't walk away, and the silence stretched out between us. Finally, she turned away from me.
"I’m sure I don't have to tell you all how important it is to keep silent about this." She snapped her fingers, and the broken pots, crushed plants, toppled tables, and chairs repaired themselves.
The shattered wall and door went back to the way they were, and within minutes, the café looked exactly as it had before, as if nothing had happened.
No one said anything, and Hekate looked at Rumir pointedly before entering the portal. It closed, leaving us in silence. Just then, Rehema’s father, Itsuki, teleported into the café.
“Rehema! What’s going on?”
* * *
Natalie
Behind the counter, Rehema gave her father a false story about what had happened. Because small animals liked to sneak into the shop to feast on the plants, Itsuki had installed a security system using god magic. And so when the fae had shown up, he’d been notified.
Now Rehema was being forced to lie and tell her father that she’d had an accident on the second floor where she grew and cared for the plants they sold and that the fae had come in to help her.
Itsuki was such a nice man. I felt terrible that he was being lied to, so I couldn't imagine how Rehema felt. But as much as I hated it, going against Hekate and the other gods wasn’t a good idea.
If we hadn’t been so involved right from the start, we probably wouldn’t know anything either.
Eventually, Itsuki switched from English to his native language, Japanese, and he and Rehema moved to the back of the shop.
“She could have died a soul death,” Brian growled. “What did the gods say, Rumir? This is getting out of hand.”
Brian had joined us shortly after Itsuki arrived. I'd sent him a message explaining what had happened so he was up to speed. As for me, I was still trying to figure out my strange reaction to the fae.
The voices hadn't been coming from her, but once they started, I’d become hyper-aware of her presence.
Lucian simply looked at me, his eyes full of questions. Even though Hekate had once again confirmed I wasn't infected, he was probably wondering about my odd behavior. Honestly, I was wondering about it, too. I wasn't infected, but I wasn't myself either. Something was definitely wrong.
Now, Lucian knew it too.
“I didn’t get much from Hekate, but she did say the virus isn't from this realm,” Rumir said gloomily, running his hand through his hair. “She didn’t say which realm, though.”
“A virus from another realm?” Brian repeated. "Maybe someone traveling between realms caught the bug and brought it here."
“Perhaps.” Rumir, who was standing beside me, crossed his arms. "Either way, she's afraid. Whatever is going on, it's bad enough to scare the gods."
“That’s horrifying,” I mumbled. “This is going to get worse. I can feel it.”
But I was feeling more than just that. My body ached. It had started out as a slight discomfort in my right arm after Brian arrived, and then it began to spread. Pressing my wrist to my forehead, I took a deep breath.
What was wrong with me?
“At least now we know one of the gods isn’t behind it. You said they’re always fighting among themselves," I said.
