"This is not a good idea."

"Duh, that's why we're doing this."

"I'm not kidding, Taryn," Kirphis said, trying desperately to keep up with her and Ele. "You saw what happened to that Freed."

"You don't have to follow, you know." Taryn wished they were in a forest. Forests always had branches she could pull back to slap the mortal behind.

Kirphis snorted. "And let one of you die? Not a chance."

Ele gasped and clutched the spot below her stomach. Taryn wrinkled her nose at the sight. She could tell the girl wasn't hurt, but she still blamed seven years of sisterly instinct for overreacting.

"You wound me, Phis," Ele said, giving Kirphis her trademark puppy-dog eyes.

"'Phis'?" Kirphis wrinkled his nose. "What kind of nickname is that?"

"A great one, Phis."

"Yeah, Phis. A great one."

---

As Persefóni left the Underworld to return to the surface, the days warmed. Taryn felt the warmth on her face as she strode ahead of her mini-group of mortals. She always liked the Spring. It was-

Laothoe.

Taryn skipped ahead, her familiar target caught in her view. Ele giggled and ran after.

She slipped into an alley a yard away from Laothoe and her friend. Antilochus, was it? Eh, it didn't matter.

"You got them?" Maybe-Antilochus asked. "We can't do anything without it."

Phis caught up by that point and looks sick. His fault for staying behind to slow them down. He knew his body wasn't built for sprints.

"Yes, I do," Laothoe snapped. "And you're one to talk, hypocrite."

"I'm not a hypocrite! Also, that was once, get off my back."

Laothoe held up a small, transparent bag filled with white dust. "I think you're forgetting who holds the power here, Antilochus. You're lucky I didn't tell Orcus you momentarily lost last month's shipment. There's no telling whether you'd be alive if I did. And I'm always his go-to assassin."

Definitely-Antilochus swallowed as Ele shivered. Taryn put an arm around her and zeroed in on the dust. The dust wasn't familiar, but it had to get out of Laothoe's hands.

Laothoe handed the bag to Antilochus, mocked them one more time for being a klutz, and pulled out a container. The same container they gave the now-dead Freed the last time Taryn followed them.

The liquid - water? - sloshed in the metal bottle as Antilochus dumped the dust into it. Laothoe sloshed it around some more before capping the container.

"Have you ever wondered what it tastes like?" Antilochus asked.

"No. And don't even think about it." Laothoe glared at them. "If you ate this, Orcus would kill you before this does."

Phis paled and shrank back. For once, Taryn didn't blame him. Kill? Not surprising, but both this Orcus dude and the dust weren't painting the prettiest picture.

"Who are they giving that powder to?" Ele asked, slowly. "Why do they want them dead?"

"The mortal they gave it to last time was a Freed and a Sóma." Taryn turned to Phis. "Give your two cents."

Seeing he had no choice, Phis gave his two cents. "Um... they may be trying to learn more about chemistry?" Taryn would have preferred actual drachmés, but that would suffice. For now.

"We're lucky that announcement arrived yesterday."

Huh.

"That'll make the legalities a lot easier once the Sómata are considered lower than animals. If that's what it meant."

Well, tickle her pink, wasn't this just fantastic? Two mortals and perhaps an entire operation of hateful cult members were dead set - a joke, ha - on killing off the opposite group of mortals with what could only be described as a less tasty version of a candy a stranger uses to get you in their wagon. Delightful.

Ele looked up to face Taryn. "Are... Are they going to kill Cenus?"

"I'm going to be straight with you." Taryn wrapped her arms around the smaller girl while Phis hovered behind them. Like a terrified idiot. "I highly doubt it. But if they try, they won't succeed. Not if we have anything to say about it.

~~~

"This is not a good idea."

"I know this doesn't help, but you sound just like Kirphis."

Ever since the Freed gave their announcement, Nikas insisted they should leave. He said it was "better to get out of whatever's going on before it becomes dangerous." Hallie begged to differ. They had a job to do. And that was to feel an unfounded sense of responsibility to protect the capital of their country from itself.

"You know what will help?" Nikas asked. "Leaving before whatever's going on becomes dangerous. Or at the very least not doing this."

Perialla stopped walking and gave Nikas a sad smile. "Nikas, take it from someone who's lived with the most stubborn person in Synoliká, you won't change her mind. It's best to just roll with it until it's necessary to step in."

Nikas raised an eyebrow at her. "Yet you convinced Taryn, the quote 'most stubborn person in Synoliká', not to meet and quarrel with Hoiples."

"Touché."

"Nikas is right, though," Miscenus said, urging Perialla to continue walking. "This isn't the smartest thing we could be doing. Especially after what happened last time."

"You can say it out loud," Hallie said indignantly, crossing her arms. "Besides, it wasn't even a panic attack. Plus, we're following Hero this time."

"Right, apologies."

Hallie gave him the benefit of the doubt and dubbed that incomplete sentence not sarcastic.

"Where are we going?" Perialla asked, squinting her eyes and scanning the street. "I hate to be that mortal, but I don't think we have any idea where we're going."

"We do, I know where Hero lives. She bragged about her house so many times in the past five years I have the place memorized, and I haven't been there once."

"Oh, yeah," Hallie mused. "I think I remember, now. It's in the nicer part of town, right? By the giant cluster of bookshops?"

"Yup." Nikas pointed ahead to the most extravagant and quaint shop Hallie ever saw. It rose from the ground to build three floors and an attack, complete with a balcony acting as a terrace overgrown with lush vines. And despite being a Kardián establishment, it held no pompous or cocky air.

"Strange, I expected it to be made of gold."

"How are we going to get in?" Perialla butted in. "And who's saying Hero's even here? I swear, we really need to start thinking."

Miscenus smirked. "Someone's agitated."

She lowered her eyebrows. "Don't test me, Miscenus Matthiou."

Why did that feel like a parent full-naming a child? Was Perialla older than Miscenus? Did Miscenus really find that intimidating? There were so many questions Hallie didn't know the answers to. Except for the last one. Yes.

Nikas cracked his knuckles. "Don't worry, Perialla. We're going to knock on the door and ask to speak with Hero. Step two will be to ask her for help to find new jobs. Before or after that we can steer the conversation over to whatever we plan on getting out of this encounter. I don't even know what that is anymore."

"What happens if she offers a job working at the bookshop?" Hallie asked. "Or refuses to see us?"

Nikas shrugged. "We accept. I figured if you insisted, we might as well get something beneficial out of it. And as for the second question, we'll leave. No harm, no foul."

"Oh, there could be a lot of harm," Perialla muttered.

"Great!" Hallie bounced up and down. "I love it."

---

"You want us to what?"

"I never said I wanted you to," Hero said, indignantly. "It was just a suggestion. In fact, I'd say I would be most displeased if you were to become a Blessing."

Miscenus and Perialla looked horrified, but Nikas was only exasperated. "Of course I didn't think of what to do in this situation," he muttered under his breath. Then he shot a worried glance at Hallie. Why would he-

Oh. He wanted to make sure she didn't have anoth- a panic attack. Sweet, but he didn't need to worry. She was fine. Yeah, her heart was racing, and it took everything she had not to shake, but she was fine. Just fine. She wouldn't burst into a fit of tears like last time. She was fine. In fact, she was already over it. Like she said, just fine.

Perialla cleared her throat, giving Hallie a suspicious eyebrow raise. "I don't think that's the right course of action for us. But tell me more about what you do there. I would like to know." Smooth, Perialla. Smooth.

"Not much." Hero slumped down in her chair, rubbing at her face. "Just try to convince other Sómata to stand up against the Taktikoí and take what is rightfully ours. Recent events, however," she spat that part out. "Made that harder."

"Yes, that must make your job a lot harder." Wow, she was such a good actor. Perialla sounded absolutely disappointed. "I was there when they announced that, all of us actually."

Hero shot up, involuntary static electricity stinging down her arms and buzzing like a bee. "Really Did they have a weapon? Is that why you didn't attack?"

Miscenus waved a hand. "Sure."

"A knife? Sword? Greek Fire? Ballista? Trojan Horse? Aigís?"

He thought for a second. "Yes."

"Wow... The nerve these Taktikoí have!" Hero clenched her chair's armrest. "They think they can just prance about, threatening us this way and that, and get away with it? No!"

Hallie flinched and curled into a ball.

"It isn't the best, but what's there to do?" Perialla said, shrugging. "They have their advantages, and we have ours."

Herp paused, then erupted into a wicked grin. It stretched from ear to ear and was as menacing as a hornet.

"About that..."

"About what?" Miscenus asked, eyeing the sudden change in demeanor.

"Well," Hero held out her arm to him. "I'm not supposed to tell or show anyone, but..."

Miscenus gave her a quizzical look before angling his head down and yelping.

"What..." His mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for water. "How..."

Hallie unfurled from her ball to lean over and see just what worked Miscenus up into such a tizzy.

She blinked.

Right there, on the tips of Hero's arm hair, was a small spark of a fire. And it raced up and down her arm, leaping from one hair to another, completely under Hero's control.