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Jesse steeples his fingers, still steadily regarding me. “And you thought, with her mission accomplished, that she flitted—or whatever—back to Hera’s side.”
I nod. “She dissolved into glitter dust before our eyes.”
Kell wrinkles her nose. “Flashy exits only work in Vegas.”
“And don’t stick in LA at all,” I say. “I already got wind of the fact that she hadn’t taken as huge a powder as we’d hoped, but I still didn’t think I’d see her at McCarthy’s side on campus.”
Jesse presses his fingertips together. “What’d she say when you asked about her realm loitering?”
“She’s a good little soldier,” I offer. “She was probably ordered to.”
“A clear given,” Jesse concedes. “But why? Pretty sure Hera didn’t just tell her minion to hang with the locals and try to overhear conversations in the coffee shop. There had to be a clearer directive. A much bigger campaign, to warrant the extended stay. Did she even drop any hints about it?”
I hesitate before answering. There’s a thing such as communication with my best friend, but then there’s dragging the poor guy into an informational vortex that might be the first stroke of a signature on his death warrant. Do I want to be the jerk with that symbolic pen in my hand?
“That’s an astute question, Professor North. Perhaps I can be of some help in answering it.”
But now I see, as soon as my eyes adjust from the voice behind the new light burst in the room, that I never held the pen in the first place.
“Oh no!” Kara rasps, though she’s nearly muted by Kell’s concurrent comment.
“Nowthat’stoo flashy for anentrance.”
“What the—” Jesse blurts. “Who are you?”
“Oh, my word. Where are my manners?” our new arrival murmurs, stepping forward in an ensemble that’s still flowing with her typical earth mother theming. Though I have no idea how she’s accomplishing that with the strands of gold chainmail draped over her long purple tunic. Keeping her mane of curls contained is more of the defensive steel, crafted into an elaborate headpiece that culminates in a triangle-shaped gemstone at the center of her forehead. The setting for the black opal is ornate and ancient, but not so old that the seven spokes that radiate from its top aren’t visible.
The rays that match the eager beams in her eyes and the odd charisma beneath her preternatural smile.
“I am usually called Goddess Hecate,” she informs Jesse with the same strange serenity. “But to my friends, I am simply Goddess.”
I’ve probably never been more impressed by my friend, who receives that information with barely a blink of reaction.
“And to your enemies?” he asks.
Hecate returns his droll brow notch with a contraction of her gaze that would send most people into instinctual retreat. When Jesse holds his line, one side of her mouth inches higher.
“Well, that depends, sir. Which areyouexactly?”
CHAPTER TWO
KARA
I cover the four steps to Maximus’s side before any other thought intrudes. But once I’m there, the temptation to wrap both my arms around one of his becomes another instinct entirely.
It’s not my normal need to burrow against him.
This is stronger. Scarier.
A visceral necessity to push him back and then step in front of him. In front of Jesse, Jaden, and Kell too.
“Hecate.”
But my voice emerges as a minor, mealy plea. It’s paltry and pathetic, yet somehow enough to dial backherdemeanor. The attitude she’s brought to match her new outfit accents.
Her whole look, from the thick velvet of her gown to the war wear that’s masquerading as jewelry, is on purpose. She has to know that I see it all, though I’ll be damned if I fully acknowledge it. Especially not with this new secret Maximus and I share. A truth we have to bury, from her more than anyone, for as long as we possibly can. Every thread in my senses affirms it. Screams it. But luckily, at least right now, doesn’t have to focus on it. There are more pressing worries to claim the majority of my mind.
“What’s going on?” I demand. “Hecate? Are you okay? Is everyone else at Iremia?”
