“NO!” Terena rubbed a hand over her face.
“Everyone who comes to the oracle has a million questions they want to ask. But there is one question, only one, whose answer theyneedto know. So Apollo allows one to be answered.”
“Apollo,” Terena said, her voice barely above a whisper as a shiver, something… strange shifted inside her. “You speak of a god long dead.”
The woman smiled. “Apollo is not dead. He and the other Olympians are just… not here.”
Gods, what the hell does thateven mean?
Terena’s head pounded, whether from what the woman was saying—and not saying—or from the drug, she wasn’t sure.
“How—”
“Is that the question?—”
“Stop. I get it already,” Terena sighed.
“Good,” the woman said, clasping her hands in front of her.
“You’re very patient with me,” Terena said grudgingly as she tried to stand.
The woman held out her hand to stay her, and Terena stopped, thankful as another wave of nausea hit her.
“You are important,” the woman replied, taking a few steps closer. Terena craned her neck to look up at her, carefully avoiding those weird eyes.
She opened her mouth to ask why, but then remembered. One question only.
“Would you like some water?”
Terena nodded. “Aye, thank you.”
The woman turned and Terena heard steps coming from her left. She looked up and started, grabbing for the sword at her hip that wasn’t there; the dagger on her left was also missing. She got to one knee, every fiber of her body ready to fight the man who approached, a glass of water in his hand.
“Who the fuck are you?” she snarled at him as he handed the glass to the woman. The man wore clothes similar to the Magi who’d attacked her in Agraboda. But his tunic and leggings, the scimitar at his hip and the scarf draped across his neck were all much finer than that of the three Magi they’d bested in the ruins.
Was he the one watching?
“Is that the question?—”
“Let’s assume that, for the time being, I’m not asking the question I came here to ask,” Terena bit out, never taking her eyes off the man. He did not move to leave, his scarred hands settling at his waist as he watched her, his face impassive.
“That works for me,” the woman said pleasantly as she bent down, offering Terena the glass of water.
“I’ll assume it’s not poisoned, since you invited me here, and probably could’ve killed me when David blew the drug in my face.”
“I could’ve had you killed in Agraboda if that was what I had wanted,” the woman replied.
Terena’s eyes shot to her. “You sent the Magi?”
The woman arched an eyebrow.
“Are you staying?” Terena asked the silent man, who continued to watch her.
“He is not.”
Terena looked at the man expectantly. He stared at her a few seconds longer, then exchanged a look with the woman before pivoting, striding off to some exit Terena could not see.
David had told her no one had ever seen the oracle. Was that a lie or did he not know about the Magi?
