Zara cracked the door open, and leaned her head inside. “Perseus, Medusa, good morning, I?—”
Her sentence died instantly.
“Um, sorry for interrupting.”
Perseus and Medusa jerked apart a little too quickly, guilt and flustered affection blooming through the air in a burst Zara felt as clearly as if someone had turned on a heater. She politely kept her face neutral, though they all knew she’d sensed it the moment the door opened.
“Not at all,” Medusa cleared her throat, trying for dignity. “We were just…finishing up moving in.”
Sure. Moving in. Zara bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling.
“Thanks for coming in on time,” Medusa added briskly.
“Of course.” Zara stepped fully into the office. “I’m excited to get started and see our headquarters. But”—she glanced back over her shoulder—“the reason I knocked is because we have visitors.”
She held the door open wider.
Psyche stepped in first, her brown hair shimmering as the light caught it, followed by Lord Eros, radiating casual divinity.
“Psyche, Lord Eros,” Medusa greeted warmly. “What a pleasant surprise. To what do we owe this honor?”
“Oh, we thought we’d pop by for a visit,” Eros said, slipping into that cheerful tone he always had around his mate. “And I realized Psyche has never been to Vale Crossing, so I figured I’d show her around.”
“I don’t usually care for unfamiliar places,” Psyche looked around with bright curiosity. “But I have to admit, this place has piqued my scientific curiosity. And Eros said there might even be fossils around here.”
Medusa blinked. “I don’t know anything about fossils. Though you probably could find someone at the university who specializes in them.”
“There’s a university too?” Psyche’s hazel eyes widened with the kind of excitement that made Zara like her instantly.
“Of course,” Medusa replied. “Alindale’s a modern city. We have libraries, parks, shops, cafés.”
“It kind of reminds me of London or Paris,” Perseus added. He smiled at his sister, “Anyway, I’m glad to see you, Psyche. Since Eros is your mate, I’m sure he won’t mind ferrying you back and forth.”
Eros smirked, arrogant and unbothered. “Still upset I won’t ferryyouacross dimensions just so you can get a little ‘Netflix and chill’?”
“Hey—” Perseus started, bristling.
“Quit it, you two,” Medusa snapped before turning back to Psyche. “How are Leo and Jean?”
“They’re great,” Psyche said, with obvious fondness for her parents. “And they said hi.”
She paused, then added, “They’re also asking if you need anything else to help with…you know. Finding Zeus’s offspring.”
Zara’s stomach did a small, startled flip.
Right. That part. The expansion.
The project had grown so quickly that it still felt surreal, what started as tracking geryon descendants had now officially widened to include locating Zeus’s offspring. Which, technically, made them Perseus’s siblings.
Great,Zara thought dryly.Because this family tree wasn’t complicated enough already.
She folded her arms loosely, trying not to picture how chaotic the next few months were about to become.
“They’ve done more than enough,” Medusa replied. “And we really want to get started, but there’s still a lot to do.”
“We need to recruit more people, for starters,” Zara added. “We’ll get started right?—”
The rest of her sentence was torn away as the office door exploded inward, reduced to splinters in an instant. A shockwave of unfamiliar power ripped through the room, pressing against Zara’s senses with a force that made her gasp.
