(Marlow) Weird, how?
(Nia) He knows something’s off with me and knows I’m withholding stuff, but of course I can’t really tell him. Damn, Mar, how did you do this for so long?
(Marlow) I didn’t think any of it was real. Gaslighting myself helped.
(Marlow) Kirby should be answering, though. I know Ella has meetings with gods, but they can’t realm-hop unless Kirby is bonded. Ella’s meetings have to be on earth. They can’t even fast travel. They’ll be doing things the human way.
(Nia) Are the realms not on earth? Isn’t it just like…another dimension?
(Marlow) You know, I have no idea.
(Nia) I think my boss is going to close the office for the week.
(Marlow) What? Why?
(Nia) People are doing it all over the world. A lot of people are going home to see their families. Churches are packed. People are looking for answers. And, uh, it’s no secret that you’re involved somehow. You were at the concert with an angel and a demon, and you just mysteriously happened to have written about the Greek pantheon and then they’re on the Athens morning show? The world’s in upheaval.
(Marlow) Fuck.
(Nia) That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?
(Nia) …Marlow?
I turned my attention away from my computer as the intercom rang.
Silas looked up from where he’d been poring over the fifty newspapers he’d had delivered once he’d figured out the Butler Service app. We exchanged confused frowns. I slowly got up from the couch and crossed to the system and pressed the button.
“Yes?”
An audible stutter was the first thing to cross the line. Then I heard the receptionist’s voice. “Miss Thor—um, Miss Finnegan? A Ms. Alessia Clovis and company are here to see you. Shall I send them up?”
My stomach fell into my toes. I exchanged horrified looks with Silas.
He was on his feet in an instant, whispering, “Why are they here?”
“You don’t have to whisper,” I stage-whispered in return. “I’m not pressing the button. They can’t hear us.”
“Fine.” He stressed, “How did she find where you live, and why is she here? And who’s with her?”
I pressed the button again. “Yes, I just need a few minutes. Please ask my forgiveness for making them wait. Did Ms. Clovis’s companion give a name?”
An electronic crackle. “Oh?”
O. The advisor.
“I’ll ring down in a few minutes,” I said hastily. I asked Silas to boil the kettle for coffee as I sprinted into the bedroom for anything that wasn’t schlubby sulking attire. I ran a brush through my hair as quickly as possible before twisting it up into a bun. I tore a turtleneck from the hanger and a pair of gray pants with a bundled waist and a bow. Though they looked like dress pants, they’d been made of wrinkle-proof fabric and purchased at an athletic shop. The clerk had asked what sports I did and laughed when I’d said my only sport was lounging. The pants had been a godsend on the few occasions I’d needed to look polished in under thirty seconds.
I dotted concealer beneath my eyes, applied deodorant, and looked at the electronic clock on my bedside table. I’d only wasted two minutes. I put on mascara, a spritz of perfume, and emerged to see Silas pouring the boiling water into the French press.
“You clean up fast,” he commented.
I took to the living room, gathering evidence of my negligence into my arms and carrying it into the guest room. Silas had made his bed, which annoyed me, for some reason. Why should he be so tidy and put together when the world was falling apart? I lit a second candle to cover any lingering scent of takeout and then pressed the intercom. “You can send them up now. Thank you.”
I fetched a mug from the cabinet just for something to do with my hands a moment just as the knock came at my front door. I took two quick breaths before plastering an easy smile across my lips.
I opened the door and greeted two powerful, intimidating women.
“Alessia! O! What a pleasure. Come in. We’re just making coffee. Would you like some?”
