“So …,” Milo says.

I smile sadly. “So …”

I feel totally dumb for forgetting our date today. And I don’t know when I’ll be able to reschedule. I barely know what I’m doing tomorrow. Who knows what will come up the day after that? For all I know, the whole monster realm could break free and take over the city.

I wish we could make tomorrow work.

“Wait, I have an idea,” I blurt. Why did it take me so long to think of this? It’s the perfect solution. “How about I come to your practice? It won’t be like a date or anything, but we could, you know, talk.”

I can hear the smile in his voice when he repeats, “Talk. Sounds perfect.”

“Great!” I flop back onto my bed, relieved. “I’ll be there as soon as school lets out. I get out earlier, so I should beat you there.”

“Great,” he says. “I’ll see you then.”

I sigh. “Good night, Milo.”

“Good night, Grace.”

As I set my phone on the nightstand, I feel like I could probably float all the way to my boring white ceiling.

Tomorrow, I’ll get to see Milo and we’ll talk. My parents forgive me. Now, if only Thane would come home. And my sisters and I could figure out how to rescue our kidnapped ancestors and survive the looming war. Then my world would be pretty much perfect.

CHAPTER 9

GRETCHEN

I text Nick to meet me at the Peace Plaza in Japantown because it’s between his place and Union Square. It’s also very public and very neutral. A safe place, in more ways than one. I find him waiting for me by the Peace Pagoda.

“Hey, how was your—”

“I’m starved,” I say. “You like Korean?”

He blinks, like he’s startled by my abrupt question. But, to his credit, he recovers quickly. “I like food, period.”

I nod and then turn to head into the east building, to one of my favorite restaurants. I don’t say another word until we’re seated in a cozy—and discreet—booth, the waitress gone to get our drinks.

“I am going to ask you a series of questions,” I say. “If you don’t answer them to my liking, I’m walking away.”

For a second he looks as if he wants to make a joke. His dark eyes sparkle and the hint of a smile plays at the corners of his mouth.

“Permanently,” I add, just in case I’m not being clear enough. “I just saw Sthenno get kidnapped. Ursula—Euryale—is already taken. My sisters and I were nearly killed last night. And there’s a war coming that we’re not prepared to fight. I need answers. Either you’re useful or you’re not.”

He makes a choking sound.

I spin my chopsticks on the table. “You won’t like what happens to useless things.”

He regroups and says, “Okay. I’ll answer everything I can.”

Everything he can? I snort. He’d better answer everything he can’t too.

I’ve had the entire drive here to gather my thoughts, to prep my question, to decide on my first line of attack. There are so many things I need to know, and right now he’s the only one who might have answers. But where to start? Since Ursula told Grace she’s safe, I have to assume that she is. And that Sthenno will be too. For the time being.

The critical question then is whether my sisters and I are safe. Which makes the first question a no-brainer.

“Who wants us dead?” I ask. “My sisters and me, who’s trying to kill us?”

The waitress returns with our drinks, a pair of root beers, and Nick waits until she’s gone with our food orders to respond.

“I can’t know for certain,” he says. Not the answer I’m looking for, and when he sees my scowl he adds, “But I can make a guess. When the gods sealed the door, the ritual included a clause stating that after a time the door would be reopened.”

“By the Key Generation,” I say. I take a sip of my root beer. “That’s me and my sisters. I know that.”

“Right,” he says, giving me a look that shows he doesn’t appreciate the interruption. “Well, over the years—the millennia, really—some of the gods changed their minds. They grew complacent and lazy. Deluded themselves into believing that it would be best to maintain the status quo. They decided that reopening the door, even with the Key Generation to guard it, would be a huge mistake.”

“They want us dead,” I say, trying to fill in the blanks, “so we can’t break the seal.”

He nods.

“Which gods are those?” I ask. “The ones who changed their minds.”

Nick shakes his head. “We don’t know for sure. Zeus is probably one of them. He’s tired and checked out and doesn’t want to resurrect old concerns. If that is true, then his allies are on that side as well. But that’s supposition. We only know that one faction wants you taken out before you can break the seal.”

Zeus. I shake my head. It’s one thing to think about the gods as a vague kind of idea. To think I’m distantly related to them, that I’m part of their family tree. But it’s another thing to realize they’re real and fallible and acting in ways that affect my life. To know they’re aware of me and planning to kill me. It’s … annoying. Can’t they just leave me and my sisters alone to do our jobs? It’s not like we asked for this destiny.

“Well, that explains the bounty,” I say, thinking out loud.