“Perhaps,” Adroa agreed. “I know you look at me and pity me but this existence isn't so bad. I do miss intimacies with... oh, you know. But other than that, I'm content. Adro, though, he has desires that can't be fulfilled without hurting others. Desires that should have been controlled by me. He may not pity himself, but I pity him, and I hope that all of you will as well. He found a way to reproduce but knows no love—he can't conceive of it, not even for his children. He has nothing to bring him true joy, nothing good to delight in. Only evil can give him satisfaction. That is no way to live. It is simply a very, very long and lonely death.”
“And death for those he targets,” Hades added in a soft but stern tone. “We need to stop him, no matter what his goals are. Can you help us?”
“Help you?” Adroa blinked his single eye. He lifted his hand and waved it to indicate the room. “How could I possibly help? I can't leave this place nor can I contact Adro. We are two halves of the same person but we're eternally separated in every way.”
“But you were once whole,” I said urgently. “And you once lived on Earth. Even though it's been a long time, you must have some memories of it. Can you think of anything that might help us find Adro? Anything that might help us trap him?”
Adroa thought about it for a long time. No one rushed him.
“The children,” he finally whispered.
“What about them?” Mukasa asked.
“You said that the Adroanzi killed children?”
“That's right,” Thor confirmed, leaning forward urgently. “They followed them and bit them.”
“Oh.” Adroa deflated.
“Why? What difference does that make?” Odin asked.
“I thought they were being sacrificed.”
“They are,” Odin insisted.
“Yes, but not in the way that our people used to sacrifice their children,” Adroa argued. “Following people home to protect those who trust them and kill those who don't, is an Adroanzi myth bound by the rules of belief. They may have found a way to give the power of the kill to Adro, but their kills are not sacrifices per se. If Adro wanted the full strength of a child sacrifice, he'd need someone to kill that child in the ritual manner of our people. And that ritual would leave a link between Adro and the child's parents. I would have recommended that you attempt to find the link and follow it to Adro.”
“If he's not getting additional magic from them, why go after the children?” Teharon pondered.
“Maybe those kills were mistakes,” I whispered.
“What do you mean, V?” Torrent asked.
“What if the Adroanzi meant to abduct the children but the kids fought back?” I asked. “What if theyaccidentallykilled them? Or rather, killed them too soon.”
“He said it was nearly over,” Odin murmured thoughtfully. “Perhaps this is his big finale.”
“A large sacrifice of children to give him a final boost,” I growled.
“We have to look for missing kids!” Horus declared as he jumped to his feet.
We all stared at him in surprise.
“What? Come on, this is a lead, right? Let's go!”
“I'm so sorry to rush off,” Odin said to Adroa, “but Horus is right. We need to start investigating missing children from the Austin area immediately.”
“I understand, of course.” Adroa held up his hand to ward off Odin's concern. “Please, if there is anything I can do, come back and let me know. I will adjust my wards to allow all of you through. In fact, return anytime, even to just visit.” He grinned. “I'd love the company.”
“I would be honored to.” Odin clasped Adroa's hand. “Thank you for your help.”
“Good luck,” Adroa said sincerely.
“I will stay a bit longer, I think,” Mukasa said.
“Wonderful!” Adroa smacked his palm on his thigh. “We can have dinner on the terrace.”
We made our goodbyes and hurried back to Adroa's tracing cloud as I wondered what eating with half a mouth would be like.
