“And if I don’t, are you saying they’ll kill her?”
Stellan clears his throat as Meg gasps. “It’s been a pleasure, Your Highness, but our time is up. I am sorry it had to be this way. You seem nice, just born into a difficult circumstance.”
Stellan motions to his men and thanks the Erinye sisters for their hospitality. His footsteps echo as he strides toward the door.
Panic rises in my throat, its coppery tang sharp on my tongue. I have to stop him. But he brought a dozen armed men with him. He came prepared, while I had not.
“Stellan—” I start, but Gianna steps between him and the exit. Her short frame is no match against his much larger one. Stellan blinks, surprise flickering across his face.
“Move, girl,” he growls, but Gi stands firm, her chin lifted in defiance.
“You are making a mistake,” she says.
Leigh rises to her feet. “Gi, don’t,” she warns, but Gianna ignores her, her gaze locked on Stellan.
Stellan scowls at Gi. “I disagree. Epsilon like your father?—”
“Youare my father. And as your daughter, I am begging you not to do this. Don’t turn your back on Leigh. You can’t trust Zeus,” Gianna declares.
The room falls silent.
I grip the chair, staggering from the impact of Gianna’s words. Stellan is her father. I had assumed he had information on her father’s identity because of his role as a journalist, not because he was the man himself.
Stellan stares at Gianna, his eyes wide with shock. His mouth opens and closes as he struggles to find the right words.
I stand there, my world rocked to its core. Stellan betrayed us, Leigh betrayed me, and Gi kept the truth from me. I am an idiot for believing I could fix things.
I look at Leigh, searching for some sign of remorse, some hint of the woman I thought I knew. But her eyes focus on Gianna and Stellan, and her expression is unreadable.
Did she know about this? Was this another secret she kept from me, another lie in a long line of deceptions? What is left of my resolve disappears. I trusted her and believed in her, and now I don’t know what to believe anymore.
Stellan has a daughter, an Epsilon-raised daughter, which somehow changes everything and nothing simultaneously.
Stellan’s face crumples. For a moment, he looks lost, like a man adrift in a storm-tossed sea. But then his expression hardens, and he shoves past Gianna, his movements jerky and uncoordinated.
“I have to go,” he mutters.
“Wait!” Gianna cries, but Stellan’s guards block her from getting to him. The door slams shut behind him with a sense of finality.
The following silence is deafening, broken only by Gianna’s soft sobs.
Leigh slumps back into her chair. “That was a disaster,” she murmurs, and I can’t help but agree. But it’s her fault, too; her secrets and lies have brought us to this point.
“You could have tried harder,” I snap.
“Me?” Leigh laughs, the sound hollow and acidic. “Did you not hear me? Zeus has my grandmother! Stellan’s helping him!”
I shake my head. “How do you even know that?”
The door opens, and I expect to see Stellan standing there, maybe with a change of heart, but I jerk back as if I’ve seen a ghost.
The sudden onslaught of rain has made her red hair longer and plastered to her face. Instinctively, I summon fire to my palms. “Marlowe?”
Marlowe offers me a smile. I see red.
The last time I saw her was at the Domna Trial. She had plans to blow up the capitol. After I forfeited the competition, she’d skipped town, knowing I’d leave that arena and come for her. She abandoned Nyx’s cause and left her scruples. I shake my head, not believing that she’s here to turn herself in. She wants something.
“Wilder, before you do anything stupid, you should know I am here to help you,” Marlowe says.
