Josephine laughed. “I think you’re forgetting, Athena. You killed the only god capable of crafting you a new Aegis. Losing your mind along with your wisdom, perhaps?”

Oh shit. My eyelids fluttered. Not only did Michel have a death wish, but so did Josephine. Her words made Athena’s fingernails dig deeper into my skin and pierce the flesh. The sting shocked me, but just for a second. Blood streamed in a slow, thin line down my forearm.

Athena’s anger mushroomed. A suffocating, heavy energy enveloped us. “I don’t need to wait to use her now. I think I shall like seeing you die first, Josephine.”

“You cannot use the girl,” Josephine countered. “She hasn’t reached maturity.”

Athena’s cruel mouth quirked. “Well, how about I speed up that process?” She shoved her palm against my chest.

“NO!” Josephine lunged, breaking the circle. Athena flung out her other hand, sending Josephine flying back into the wall. Sebastian appeared behind Athena.

Michel shouted, “Sebastian, don’t!”

Sebastian’s arm went around Athena’s neck. A headlock. He squeezed hard, but her flesh gave way just long enough for his arm to pass through. He fell backward, with nothing to hold on to.

Heat spread beneath the goddess’s palm, seeping into my chest, through my body and into my head. The same astounding pain I’d had in the street engulfed me, burning my brain, enlarging the blood vessels that ran under my scalp and making them throb and stretch. A screech erupted from deep within my core, rising, until it burst from my mouth. It didn’t sound human.

Just as my eyes drifted closed, I saw Michel holding Sebastian back from attacking again and Josephine standing to realign the circle. The council members began chanting, the line of power among them thickening. But it didn’t matter. I was dying. My head was going to explode, or implode, or melt.

I never knew I could scream so hard, so loud, or for so long, as though the sound was fed from the pit of my soul.

I saw flashes, then, in my mind. A beautiful woman who looked like me. Kind. Loving. Devoted. In a temple, a temple by the sea. A baby crying. So much death. Through the ages. Misery.

It had to stop. It had to stop. God! I didn’t want to die!

I grabbed Athena’s wrist with my right hand and clamped down hard, trying to pull her palm away and end the agony.

Anger suddenly came to the surface, for a brief second blocking out the pain in my head. My chest swelled with it. All those images, all that death, all that hurt on my family because of Athena. I’d done nothing wrong, none of us had.

I opened my hot eyes.

My hand squeezed so hard, with every ounce of strength I had. My eyes locked with Athena’s. “I . . . hate . . . you,” I hissed, wanting to get it out before I died. “For all that you have done to them . . . for being an evil . . . fucking . . . bitch!”

Athena flinched, eyes widening for a fraction of a second. Just a small flicker of pain and a jerk to her arm. My jaw tightened. She pressed harder against my chest, but I was somehow pulling her hand away.

I glanced down at my hand wrapped around the goddess’s wrist, where Athena’s white skin was turning hard and gray.

What the hell?

Both shocked, we let go at the same time.

But I took the advantage. I was good at shoving things aside and saving them for later. All that mattered now was the fight. I balled my fist and gave a swing that would’ve made Bruce proud. My fist connected with Athena’s jaw, sending her head snapping sideways.

My heart pounded. The pain inside my head made my vision waver. I couldn’t feel my knees and wasn’t exactly sure how I was still standing, but I put both hands up, ready for a comeback.

Slowly Athena’s hand went to her jaw. Astonishment swam in her emerald eyes, and I swear I saw a glimpse of vulnerability and embarrassment. I took a wild guess and decided that no one had ever slugged the goddess of war before.

And then she was gone.

Just like that. There one second, gone the next.

My legs gave out and I dropped to my rear on the dance floor, the gown billowing around me, making me feel very small and very much like the child everyone called me. A child pretending to be a big girl in her frilly ball gown. A child who didn’t know anything about the world she found herself in. A child compared to the old and ancient beings I’d come to know.

Michel released Sebastian. He ran over, skidding down to his knees. “Ari. Are you okay?”

Numb, I could only nod.

Josephine marched forward, her heels clicking on the floor, and yanked me up by the arm. “Get up. We have work to do.”

“Josephine,” Michel’s low voice boomed. “That is not the way to treat the person who just saved this entire house from annihilation.”

She opened her mouth to argue, but the other members had moved closer too, obviously not happy with her treatment of me. She dropped my arm. “Fine.” She turned to them. “Athena has gone back to lick her wounds, but this is only the beginning. She will wage war over this child.” She lifted her skirts and swished away, yelling at the maids to unlock the doors and motioning for the stunned orchestra to begin their music again.

“Josephine is right.” Michel offered Sebastian a hand to help him off the floor.

I brushed off my skirts as Sebastian rose, standing across from his father, a father he hadn’t seen in years. He glanced from his father’s face to their linked hands. Emotion swam in his gray eyes, and he suddenly looked like a child as well. Michel pulled him into an enormous hug.

I left them alone, watching as the guests came back into the room. The orchestra began playing, and a line of waiters came in carrying trays of hors d’oeuvres and champagne.

But the one person I noticed above all others was Violet, gliding across the floor with a spring in her step, the purple skirt flouncing, her mask down. She came right up to me, lifted the mask, and said, “What’d I miss?”

The absurdity of what had just happened finally took its toll. I laughed. I couldn’t stop it once I’d started. Violet just stared up at me with her usual stoic eyes. Then she said, “I’m tired. Let’s go home.”

I blinked, the laughter fading.

Home.

The threat of tears stung my eyes. I opened my hand. Violet slid her tiny hand in. “Yeah. Let’s go home.”

Screw the council. We were leaving.

We strolled out of the ballroom and away from Josephine’s call to come back.

Athena wouldn’t lick her wounds forever. I knew that. But right now, I needed to go back to the old house in the GD and try to be normal for a little while, even if it was just for the night.

“Hey! Wait up!” Sebastian caught us as we exited the house. I stopped in the middle of the street. The parade was over, but people still hung out in groups, still not ready to end the party.

Sebastian looked happy for the first time since I’d met him, like the dark cloud constantly hovering above him had lifted.

“You’re not staying with your dad?”

“I don’t want you going back to the GD alone.” His face colored slightly, and he shoved his hands into his pants pockets. “If there wasn’t a goddess after your ass and bent on destroying the Novem, then, yeah, I’d stay with him for a while and catch up.”

“She’s not alone, Bastian,” Violet said, offended.

Sebastian smiled. “I know, Violet. But the more protectors Ari has the better.” He met my gaze. “My dad wants you to consider staying with him. It’s safer at his house.”

I knew where I wanted to be. “I’ll think about it. Right now, I want to get out of this dress and eat. I’m starving. And the first places Athena will look for me are the Novem’s houses, not some run-down place in the GD.”

Sebastian nodded. He made a flourish with his hand. “Shall we, ladies?”

A funny feeling swept through my chest. He’d chosen me. He cared. Yeah, the world as I knew it was basically falling down around me and my life was in the balance, but the happiness I felt in that moment erased it all. We walked down the sidewalk, heading for the streetcar that would take us home.

Sixteen

WE FOUND DUB, HENRI, AND CRANK IN THE PARLOR, SEATED on the floor around the coffee table playing poker with a pot consisting of coins, gold teeth, cameos, and an assortment of old jewelry. There was a container of gumbo and used bowls on the table. It smelled awesome.

“Where the hell have you guys been?” Sebastian asked tiredly, plopping onto the couch and stretching his legs.

“You went to a ball!” Crank tossed her cards on the table, eyes devouring the gorgeous black-and-white gown as I parked my butt on the arm of the couch, wincing as the belt around my thigh rubbed the sore spot on my skin. Dub cast an odd look at Crank, and immediately she went indifferent. “Looks like it itches.”

“It does.” I wished I could’ve stripped the dress off right then, but I was too damned tired to make it upstairs. One thing I could do was relieve myself of the blade. Standing, I angled my thigh away from the others, lifted the skirt, and removed the blade, setting it and the annoying strap on the side table.

When I turned back, it was to see all eyes on me. “What?”

Dub’s pale eyes went from the blade to me. “I really like her.”

Crank grinned. “I vote we keep her.”

Henri tossed a card facedown on the table. “Yeah,” he said on a sigh. “She does fit in with the rest of you weirdos.”

“Oh. Ha-ha,” Crank said, dealing him a card. “So what ball?”

“Arnaud Ball,” Violet answered in a singsong voice, skipping out of the room. Her footsteps echoed on the stairs.

Sebastian let out a long exhale and dragged his fingers through his hair. “What about you? I thought you guys were coming back to the house after I left.”

“We decided to do a little ransacking along the way.” Dub nodded to the pile of treasure on the table. “Whoever wins the pot gets to sell it to Spits.”

I pulled off my boots. “Who’s Spits?”