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“When a Valari says that, feel free to cut your imagination loose,” Jaden inserts.
“Professor North has a really big imagination, J.”
There’s obvious—and uncharacteristic—awe beneath Kell’s comment, bringing bug-eyed doubletakes from both her siblings.
I’m mildly stunned myself, but for a different reason. My worldly buddy is alarmingly oblivious to the woman’s admiration. Unless Jesse’s gotten better at the aloof Mr. Darcy thing? Or—more likely—that he already sniffs Arden Prieto’s claim all over Kell?
If so, I don’t blame the arrogant succubus. If Kell is already under Arden’s skin as swiftly as Kara burned beneath mine, I understand in too many ways to admit. More ways than I ever want to fight.
Jesse’s close enough to extend a friendly hand toward Kara. “Hey. Congratulations.” And then toward me. “To you both.”
I clap a hand on top of his. “Thanks, man. It means a lot.”
“But?” he prompts.
“But it’s a little complicated.”
“More complicated than wondering how you’ll handle a hotter Uncle Jesse than the one from that cheesy TV show?”
“Considerably.” I throw in an eye roll as a token thanks for his levity. “And regrettably.”
Jesse nods, unoffended. “So…it’s complicated. The kind ofcomplicatedthat’s connected to your little head-butting fun with Erin Levin back at the library?”
He’s scoffing, of course. Or so I think—and hope. But there’s not enough cynicism in his reference to Erin to ease my mind.Damnit. How much of the truth is he really starting to piece together?
“We weren’t butting heads.”
He snorts. “Are you seriously throwing syntax in my face? The room had glass walls. You remember that part, right?”
“And now who’s evading their point?”
The rubber rope handthwacks his palm for the final time. After tucking the thing away, he stabs me with the full force of his gunmetal grays.
“Who is she, man? I mean, who is shereally?”
There are moments in which I both loveandhate my best friend for that brilliant brain of his. I rip my regard from him to check for Kara’s approving nod about disclosing this to Jesse, and I don’t waste time once it comes.
“Erin Levinis the name for her human form. She’s actually a harpy and a member of Hera’s inner circle.”
“Hera?” His stare isn’t so intent now. That tension rolls back into his shoulders, which slam against the back of his chair. “As in, Z’s righteous queen? The one who basically hates your guts for simply being born?”
At once, I yearn for the eye-rolling good times of five minutes ago. “That’d be her.”
Jaden adds his own grunt to our mix. “And I thought casting directors were brutal.”
Jesse crunches a frown. For reasons beyond my fathoming, the expression always emits a swoon-now-or-die signal to every eligible female in his sphere. Apparently, for better or worse at this point, that description still includes Kara’s younger sister.
She grips the edge of the dining table as he hurls a new question toward me. “So back at Alameda, you requested that confrontation alone with her…why?”
I dart another look toward Kara. Her idea about the nondisclosures was wiser than I gave credit for. We’re essentially asking these three to keep some cosmic-sized secrets. But she gives me another solid nod, so I quash the wariness and move on.
“We thought she’d transported back to Olympus after revealing herself the night after Hades’s earthquake swarm. She found us on the patio outside the crisis response center while we were signing the discharge paperwork for Kell.”
“What?” Kell is the first to tee up with a startled look. “Why?”
“Why not?” Kara’s injection is threaded with sister-to-sister subtext. My theory is confirmed when the women expel matching huffs. “Mean girl by proxy,” she elaborates. “Hera wants us to stay out of her neighborhood, and Megaera is making sure the message really sticks.”
“Damn.” Kell parks a full hip against the dining table now. “And I thought theDaily Spillblog writers were brutal.”
