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It was infused with magic that was at once familiar and strange, sung to her in a key that thrummed through her bones and made her third eye throb.

The stone was in her hand before she thought about picking it up. The song wasn't asking for anything. It told her there was more of it somewhere far below, in a place she had been swimming above.

Penelope cradled the stone to her chest, trying to soothe it like she would an upset child. The song paused for a moment before reaching out and touching Poseidon's magic inside her.

It fluttered in excitement, recognizing the god of the temple it had once lived in.

She closed her eyes and saw the temple around her, felt the breeze on her face, and smelled the sweet incense in her nose.

Oh, Alexis, I can feel… home.

Penelope let herself drown in the magic until something large settled behind her. The familiar smell of spicy cinnamon and sandalwood drowned out the temple incense, and a warm hand closed gently around hers.

Alexis let it rest there for a long beat before her fingers lessened their grip, and she lowered the fragment back into the box. He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm where the magic still burned.

"You have been listening to it for the whole afternoon," he said, pressing her palm to his cheek.

"It only felt like a moment." Penelope leaned back into him, and he pulled her gently into his lap and wrapped his arms around her.

"I read about how you found it," she said, her fingers brushing over his heavy rings. "I was going to get a glass of wine and come find you, but the villa led me here."

Alexis kissed the top of her head. "I should have known it would try something."

"All of this," Penelope said, gesturing at the collection. "This is what you devoted yourself to so you wouldn't go mad, wasn't it?"

"Yes, though there is an argument to be made that going mad would have been healthier," he admitted.

"The song I heard," Penelope whispered. "It's similar to the one I hear when I dive. Maybe it's another piece of the altar or something else made of the found orichalcum? I don't… I don't know. It recognized my magic, Alexis. The part that is Poseidon." She felt like an idiot every time she tried to talk about the god's power, but Alexis's long fingers tangled with hers in reassurance.

"That explains why it sings a happier melody with you, cara. It only sang to me of grief, but it sings to you of more."

She shifted so she could look up at him. His indigo eyes were the same color as the sea that she had seen in her vision.

"We have to find it. Whatever it is. We can't let anyone else get it, Alexis."

"Sì, cara. Whatever is down there, we will find it together. I promise you," he said, brushing her cheek with the back of his hand.

Penelope shifted in his lap and threaded her fingers into his dark curls, giving them a little tug.

"You are also forbidden from going into the middle of a goddamn siege ever again. If you try, I'm going to kick your ass."

"But what if there are some really good books that need rescuing?" Alexis asked, brushing the tip of his nose against hers.

Penelope paused, her head tilting to the side. "Maybe, in that rare case, an exception can be made, but only if I get to come with you."

Alexis's eyes sparked with magic and mischief. "I wouldn't dream of leaving you behind, cara."

"Someone has to keep you out of trouble," Penelope said, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him.

Beside them, the stone sang of home from their past, and Penelope smiled against Alexis's lips as the magic of the moíra desmós that bound their hearts together sang back of the future.

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