Vane’s hands were ablaze, strands of faint ether in his eyes as he looked down at his father, covered in blood and sprawled on the gleaming, dark wood floor.
“Fine,” he snarled. “Let’stalk.” Soren met his eyes, and he gave a short nod, warning the other gods, “Touch her and?—”
“You’ll set the house ablaze?” Juno mused. “Dismember us? We know, and we do not plan on harming her where she was born.”
“I’ll be fine,” Soren assured him. “Find me after.”
He still had flames in hand, but he replied, “I will. I love you.”
Her throat tightened; she knew just why he was making sure to tell her. Each time now had the potential to be the last.
“I love you,” she said softly before turning and following Juno and her parents into the other room.
Nyx led them past the second, more casual sitting room and down a long hallway. Streams of weak sunlight filtered in from the windows as they passed.
“He’s very intense,” Juno commented, brow raised.
Soren didn’t laugh. “He watched me die and then lived a hundred years chained under a curse Kronos created while all of you did nothing. He’s the only one who ever fought for me.”
Juno was quiet for a while, but as they reached what appeared to be an airy kitchen, she spoke, her voice a shade softer. “I understand, then—why you fell in love with him.”
Soren didn’t reply, especially not as she saw a familiar figure sitting cross-legged in one of the wide rocking chairs in the corner.
“Ana?”
Anabeth muttered, “Thank all the idiot gods,” and rose, racing for Soren and pulling her into a tight embrace.
Soren slowly wrapped her arms around her, but as Anabeth pulled away, she asked, “How are you here?”
Anabeth smiled tightly. “My mother came for me finally, my brother too. It’s amazing what kind of tricks the gods can pull when they need something from you.”
“Cion wanted to talk to you.”
Soren wasn’t sure why those were the first words out of her mouth, but as she said them, Anabeth lowered her gaze and said quietly, “I knew she would. I will offer my own explanation to her once this is over. She didn’t deserve to be lied to, but I didn’t… There were some truths I spoke to her.”
“You do love her, don’t you?”
Anabeth lifted a shoulder, her smile tight. “She is not blameless in the horrors her father inflicted upon so many, but neither are we.”
“You don’t need to apologize. We can’t always choose who we love,” Soren said. “Cion will make a good queen. You should be at her side if she still wants you to be.”
Anabeth blinked rapidly. “I hope she does. But first…” She took a deep breath. “First, we need to kill a god.”
Soren didn’t let her fear show, didn’t even let it surface enough to quicken her heartbeat. “Indeed.”
Thanatos was in the kitchen, making what smelled like cocoa, and Juno and Nyx had settled at the worn breakfast table. For the kitchen of the night goddess, the room felt oddly open and airy, though sheer curtains were closed over the windows, obscuring the world outside.
As Juno spoke in low tones to her mother, Thanatos asked, “Do you still like cream on top of your cocoa?” Soren realized the whole thing felt oddly domestic.
“Was it…always like this?” she asked Anabeth quietly.
The demi-god smiled, just barely. “It’s strange, isn’t it? They created this entire realm, and then they just play house while they plot the murder of their king.”
“Duality, dear,” Thanatos said, setting two clay mugs of cocoa in front of them on the counter. “Everyone is capable of such a thing, even gods.”
Soren eyed the cocoa warily but took a sip. It was rich, with a hint of warm, familiar spices. It tasted oddly like…
Home.
