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“Artemis,” warns Apollo.
“Daisy’s never murdered anyone,” she says, even louder, each word sparkling and clear. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I’dloveto know,” Demmy says from off to my left.
“My sistersaw you kill me.” Kenneth grits his teeth, and if I wasn’t surrounded by my family, he’d have come after me. “You sent a curse to her in a dream.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes youdid, witch.”
I run my hands over my face. “Are we really doing this?”
“You’re a fucking demon. You’re a witch. She knew what you were and so you sent visions into her brain that drove her out of her mind.”
“How would I havedonethat?” One slip, just one, years and years ago and suddenly I’m the cause of every bad dream and intrusive thought she ever had. I’m exhausted again. This is exhausting. “And, like, what is the criteria for being a witch? Is it anyone your sister dreams about?”
“She dreamed about youkilling my parents, and then me, and laughing with your creepy, black witch eyes, and she spentyearsbegging me to do something about it before it was too late. And Ididn’tdestroy you first. So now my entire family is dead. Because ofyou.”
“Yikes,” Poseidon says softly.
There’s a light calm in the room, but it doesn’t feel steady, as if the person making it happen actually wants to kill Kenneth, too.
“She dreamed of me killing you?” I say, as if somehow I’ve already forgotten about this.
“Yes.”
“But…” I lift both hands in front of me. “I haven’t.”
“No, you just made sure I had to live when everyone I loved was dead, but—”
“I said Ihaven’t.As in, I haven’tyet.”
Kenneth’s eyes widen slowly as the adrenaline of confronting me fades into awareness that Iamthe threat. How is the man so far behind the curve? He’s in my father’s house. Gio tied his hands. He’s badly outnumbered.
I could kill him, if I wanted, and everyone in this room would help me dispose of the body.
Hercules lets go of Kenneth’s hair and steps away. He stands next to Demeter and crosses his arms over his chest.
I take that as my cue to move forward, into the library. Kenneth scrambles, pushing himself harder into Gio’s legs.
Demmy’s husband frowns down at him. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Away fromher,” Kenneth yells. “Don’t touch me.”
I get closer and closer until he pulls his knees up to his chest, breath shallow. Then I crouch down until our faces are level and look him in the eyes.
He’s afraid.
He thinks my eyes are creepy, too. I get it. A lot of people do, and those people aren’t tied up in my parents’ library. He’s in too deep, at the end of the line. And he’s alone.
“I’ve always felt bad that I accidentally scared your sister,” I tell him. “Whatever curse she talked about was something that already lived in her. Nothing I put there. If a scary part of me woke it up, I certainly didn’t mean to. I’ve spent a lot of time and effort tryingnotto scare people, believe it or not.”
“I don’t.”
“It’s not a requirement.” I keep studying him. The easily breakable bones. All the soft parts of him, inside and out, that form a map I didn’t know I could read until now. Sorrow. Pain. Fear, above all, a yawning chasm of it inside him. “I’m sorry to hear she died. You must feel awful.”
“Just like you wanted, demon bitch,” he says through gritted teeth. I’d almost admire his bravery if he wasn’t trying to murder us. “I know you. You made sure I’d be the last one, so I’d suffer longer.”
