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“I wouldn’t have let that happen, and you know it. To either Jaden or Kell.”
Circe’s sigh takes her energy in the opposite direction. She’s resigned. Sad.
“No, Goddess. Idon’tknow that. Not anymore.” She doesn’t flinch when Hecate wheels around, brandishing a full glower. “I hardly know you anymore. You’re so obsessed with this scheme… Do you honestly not see the desperate danger of your actions?”
“Scheme?” the goddess chirps out now, wielding a high laugh. “So that’s actually what you think this is?”
Circe rolls her head from one side to the next. “To be honest, I don’t know what to think. Can you make the case for anything different?”
Hecate’s lips twist. She rocks back with a blithe expression. “All right, then. Let’s go ahead and call it ascheme. But what do I really know of schemes? You’re the expert about all this, right?”
A tentative stillness from the enchantress. “What are you talking ab—”
“I mean,Inever lured a whole battalion of soldiers to my private island and then spelled them into pigs. I also was never able to keep their pretty leader on said island for a whole year, feeding and bathing and gods-only-knows-what-else-ing him into compliance.”
Circe’s cheeks darken by several shades. The malachite in her gaze is now the shade of burnt copper. “Don’t. You. Dare,” she growls.
“Do what?” Hecate scoffs. “Play out the subjectyoustarted?”
“Odysseus stays out of this. He’s an innocent too!”
“He’sdead. A mortal who passed centuries ago. And if you want his descendants to live out their own lives as peacefully as he did, do your duty as an Olympian. Defibrillate that aching heart and check the steel in your spine. Only girders survive storms, lustre. Especially the one that we’re about to bring.”
The shallow breaths I’ve been permitting myself are again ordered to a stop, counterbalancing the small creaks beneath my feet as I angle for a better look at the troubled enchantress.
Come on, Circe. Don’t go soggy hay on me. Challenge her! I need more details!
So many more details.
But mostly just one.
What the living hell is Hecate planning here?
But just like yesterday in the kitchen, the goddess wins again. Circe shuts off her fortitude like a light switch, demonstrated by the swift sag of her shoulders and the sharp dip of her head.
Which plunges me into the same clueless darkness as before.
“Forgive me, Goddess,” she finally mumbles, though to anyone’s ear the words are full of a different message. Something betweenfuck you, Goddessandcan I punch the wall now?
“Nothing to be forgiven for,” comes Hecate’s maddening croon. “None of this is easy, but we must remain steadfast. Your heart is good, Circe, and it is bound to a true cause. In the end, you will see that with clarity.”
It’s a good phrase for them to leave on. I grab some much-needed breaths as soon as the witches exit the building, while wasting no time in blending the creaks of my new steps into the barn’s groans from a new canyon breeze.
But my abundance of caution doesn’t have me rushing down the loft’s ladder yet. I can jump into action right from where I’m at.
Because with the new knowledge I’ve gained, sparse as it is, sitting still is no longer a comfortable option.
It’s time to figure some shit out.
To do that properly, I’m going to need help.
Despite the resolution, I’m scowling as I swipe to the contacts page on my phone—and hit the name that shows up as most recent. I roll my eyes, hardly believing I’m doing this, but one of Hecate’s silky one-liners actually comes in handy.
Urgent times call for bold decisions.
Though I’m still not sure if this is bold or just stupid.
“We really must stop meeting like this, darling,” Arden croons over the line against a backdrop of heavy traffic.
