Terena frowned. “Huh?”
“You look like you drank spoiled milk. What’s wrong?”
Searching for a good place to start, Terena let the silence stretch as she discarded thought after thought.
Hermes rapped on the table, snapping her out of her head.
“What is it?”
Sighing, Terena settled her arm on the table, her finger idly tracking the grain of the wood. “Is there any reason… I could not use… an amulet, like the cyphers do, but Sonah could?”
Hermes frowned. “No.”
“I could use it, too?”
The god shook his head. “No. And neither could Sonah. But,” he shrugged and took a sip of his drink. “You don’t need to. You have powers of your own. And she does as well.”
“So, you’ve never heard of a god… using an amulet with powers from another god?”
“No.”
“And it’s not possible?”
“No.”
Terena’s mind whirled. Cassandra had seemed so certain of the vision she’d seen.
According to the seer, there was a party or celebration of some sort and when someone called out to Sonah, she’d turned around. The emerald at her chest glowed so brightly it had blinded Cassandra and she’d broken from her trance, but she was adamant it was Sonah with the amulet.
“What’s troubling you?”
Terena lifted her eyes to Hermes, who watched her with concern. A part of her desperately wanted to share this burden with him. He was a god thousands of years old. He would know what to do. And yet, a part of her kept her from telling him about it.
Instead, she gave Hermes a tight smile, ready to lie and tell him nothing was wrong. Everything about Cassandra’s ridiculous plan was flawed but, if she was right and it worked, they would save Daris. But what if Daris still died? Soulmate bond or not, he’d still be mortal. Terena feared what his death would do to her.
Rubbing at her forehead, she made to stand when a thought struck her.
“How did you make Rydon immortal?”
Hermes blinked. He gazed at her long enough for the ever-present silver in his eyes to snake around his eyes twice. “Why?”
“Is… can I do that? CanImake someone immortal?”
Hermes shook his head. “No.”
“But you can.”
His face shuttered. Long seconds passed, and she worried he would not respond. Her knee bounced as she waited, unwilling to drop his gaze.
“You know I can,” he said softly.
Terena exhaled as her pulse ratcheted up. “Do you… would you do it for me? As a favor?”
Hermes’s eyes turned calculating. “Croak?”
Tears sprang to Terena’s eyes, and she breathed heavily through her nose to stop them from falling. “No. No… not Croak. Although, maybe.”
Hermes grabbed his knife and speared a piece of lamb, chewing on it as he continued to regard her. “Daris?”
