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"Hello?"
My bottom lip shook. How familiar must this be to him? Calling through walls to his fellow captives. Was this how he and Typhon became friends? Deja vu threatened to shake me, and I hadn't even been locked up under the Damned House.
"Who have they caught now?" a caustic voice bit out—female, American, and … young. Fuck, she sounded really young. The shock was enough for me to pull my shit together, hug Em in thanks, and approach the wall too.
"My name's Wane," my mate replied to the girl, his tone completely changing—soft, tender, and worried. I fell so deep in love with him right then, as if I wasn't already head over heels. "I'm here with my brother Emlyn and my mate, Haley. We were captured by Aphrodite. How did you get here?"
The girl sighed, and when she spoke I tried to place her age. Sixteen? Fifteen? Younger? She had a natural bite of sarcasm that made her seem older, but I knew that bravado; I'd worn it most of my life.
"Hephaestus grabbed me out of my bed. Fucking perv. Apparently I aided a psycho titan in overthrowing the current regime and a whole lot of other bullshit."
"The same reasons we were," I murmured, a deep sigh punching out of me. I stared at the solid white wall.
"If you ask me, they're a little too quick to throw suspicions around. Usually means someone's covering up something."
"Should we tell her what's happening?" I whispered to my mates, softening all over again at the blazing anger on Emlyn's face. We were all on board with being furious that Aphrodite had locked up a kid. Hephaestus was her husband and dog's body if I remembered my myths correctly. He was devoted to her and would do anything she said, apparently including kidnapping a girl from her bed.
Emlyn shrugged, but Wane nodded, his brows a dark slash over his eyes and his shadows all but receded.
"There's a titan—Cronus—who used to rule this place, but he was dethroned by his sons eons ago," I told her, keeping my voice low but strong enough that it would carry to her.
"Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon," Emlyn put in, his arms crossed over his chest. "They locked him in Tartarus, where he stayed for millennia. But he manipulated us into breaking the seal, and now he’s free."
There was quiet for a long moment, and I bit my lip, waiting for her to laugh or scoff.
"Yeah, that makes sense," she said eventually. "I kept having these screwed up dreams. And then the guy from my dreams turned up in my foster home, which is fucked up enough. But then he got really pushy about using my magic, said I needed to be stronger."
I sighed, shaking my head in disgust.
"To cut a long story short," the girl said, her voice louder—did she move closer to the wall? "He kidnapped me, put me through 'trials' and I killed him. I thought I got away with it until that god dick kidnapped me."
"Sounds familiar," I said dryly. "Are you okay?"
She laughed, a rough bark of sound. "Sure, I'mamazing."
"She's like a mini you," Wane whispered, stroking down my arm to clasp my hand.
I debated how to reply, but if she was a mini me, she'd appreciate two things above all else—the truth, and revenge.
"It's almost 100% certain that the god who kidnapped you, and the bitch who grabbed us are working for Cronus; that's why I'm sentenced to death. He wants me dead for two reasons—he's trying to take over the world and devouring me will give him more magic; and there's a prophecy tattooed on my back that says I can kill him. So I'm going to kill him. He'll pay for everything he's done to me—and to you."
The girl was quiet for so long that Em, Wane, and I glanced at each other.
"The air's full of magic," she said eventually. "It fucks with your head, makes you see and hear things that aren't here."
"Thanks," I said, a smile creeping across my face. I understood the exchange of information for information. If she'd grown up in foster care, we were more alike than I realised, and just telling methatmuch was significant. "That's good to know. I'm Haley."
"Verena," she replied.
"We'll get you out of here, Verena," Emlyn promised in a rush, like the words had been desperate to escape for minutes. I stroked his back, feathers skimming my knuckles.
"Doubt it," she replied, "but thanks for the sentiment. My death's scheduled for tomorrow."
I went as stiff as an arrow. Without a single word, my mates and I were in agreement.
"We'll get you out of here," Em repeated firmly. "Non-negotiable. You'll be safely returned home to your family by tomorrow night. I swear."
Verena laughed hollowly. "What home? What family?"
