“My… The woman who raised me in Mise used to make a similar drink,” she said to Thanatos.
He nodded slowly. “She was the granddaughter of a mortal woman who was in this house many times.”
“Nyx’s spy. I know.”
Thanatos shrugged. “A friend too. She doted on you as a youngling.”
“How did you manage it? Making sure I was born to her bloodline?”
His silver eyes wandered over to Nyx. “You forget, your mother and her twin created this world. We merely followed the path they forged, and that includes Kronos.”
Soren was about to reply when Vulcan joined them, grim-faced and rubbing his crooked nose.
As soon as Nyx saw him, she stood. “What?”
Vulcan looked around the room, his gaze landing on Soren. “There’s been a complication.”
Her stomach dropped, and panic whooshed through her ears. “Where is he?”
“Gone,” Vulcan said, snapping his nose back into place with a wince.
Juno’s eyes flashed, and a tremor went through the room. “What did you tell him?” she demanded.
“He’s my son, Jun. He deserved to know there might be a way?—”
“A way that just might damn us all!” she bellowed, a wave of power throwing Vulcan back against the wall.
Soren pushed off the counter and slowly walked over to Vulcan, who was straightening and dusting off his dark tunic.
“What did you tell him?” she asked in a low voice.
He briefly looked behind her to where she knew Thanatos stood then met her eyes. “Juno saw something. I believe the demi-god girl, your friend, did too—a future, one in which you and my son live.”
“Fate is fickle,” Juno hissed. “You know that, youeejja.”
“She means ‘idiot,’” Vulcan supplied. “Which I might be, yes. But perhaps, if Kronos is weakened enough, the tether he created to your soul could be snapped. It might require some convincing, but Vane has grown stronger over these years?—”
Soren looked back to see Nyx rising from her seat. “One cannot bargain with Kronos! And besides, even your heir is no match for him.”
“Yes, you would know all about his bargains,” Anabeth muttered, looking down at the cooling mug of cocoa she held between her pale hands.
Nyx shut her eyes. When she opened them, they were swimming with bright ether. “Do you think Iwantto have my only child torn from me forever? But this is the only way. We all know that.”
“Where is he?” Soren repeated softly, turning her head back to Vulcan.
Vulcan hesitated. “I meant what I said,” he told her. “I was always watching over him, waiting for the day he would be ready.”
“You knew about us. You could have told anyone. I’m sure Kronos would have rewarded you greatly for it.”
He shook his head. “But I didn’t want power. Like you, I was only after one thing.”
“I don’t understand?—”
“Love.” He let out a soft, incredulous laugh. “Believe me, my dear, you are not the first god to fall for someone of mortal blood. My Thora was as strong as she was breakable, though. She ran with our child as soon as she realized what I really was, thinking she could protect him from the horrors and wonders of Arcadia. But sickness took her, and I was powerless to stop it. I wasn’t going to waste her sacrifice by pulling our son into a conflict he was not ready for.”
“But I did,” she whispered.
Vulcan nodded, though he didn’t look angry. “Fate will twist our hands, even when we do not want it to.” He paused. “He went to the palace astride Heles to try and do the impossible—defeat the king. Thessilnn remains, waiting for you.”
