When we sit down to dinner, I tell my mother and sisters about Thanatos’ warning, but I don’t mention the encounter with Ares. I don’t need them knowing he’s still interested in me. We all agree that Thanatos is likely bluffing and that even if the Oracle has foretold my downfall, it’s probably just psychotic ravings. To be safe, however, my mom feels we should increase our vigilance.
“I know you girls don’t always lock the door to the basement, but from now on, it gets locked.”
I groan. “But it’s such a pain to have to enter the code every time one of us needs something down there.”
“I know, but you’re the most vulnerable when you’re down there. You sometimes take your shears out of your workroom. If the Keres somehow accessed the basement, they could steal them. Keep your shears inside your workroom and keep that door locked, too. This may be all bluster, but a little extra caution on our part can’t hurt.”
“I promise,” I say.
“And I’ll increase the protection spell on the outside of the house. They shouldn’t be able to get beyond that,” Mom says.
I think this is all overkill, but I see her point. I’ve had enough fights with the Keres over the years to know I don’t want to find them anywhere in this house.
After our strategy session, I go downstairs to work. The death show always goes on, even amidst threats and broken romances. After cutting a few hundred lines, I emerge from my workroom to find Lacey hunched over a table loaded with astrological charts. I watch as she reads one chart and then turns to her scale. A newly spun lifeline rests in one scalepan. Into the other, she places blobs of green goo that she scoops from a jar on her desk. She keeps adding and removing goo until the scale balances evenly. After that, she removes just a tiny bit more until the lifeline overbalances the goo.
The green goo represents this person’s financial health. Lacey is setting this person up to never have quite enough money. They won’t live in poverty, but neither will they be comfortable. Her job fascinates me, probably because it is more about creation than destruction. I’d like to create something once instead of always destroying.
I let her finish her task before approaching her desk. “What do you really think?” I ask her. “Do you think the Keres have anything to use against me?”
She keeps her back to me, still messing with the scale. “No. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t looking. They could get lucky one of these days.”
“You’re probably right,” I say. With those words, I remember the whole reason I’d been in the woods today. “Crap,” I say.
“What?”
“I’m supposed to take Alex somewhere on Sunday. That was why I was in the forest when Thanatos showed up. I went to see Zeus.” “Maybe you just shouldn’t go,” Lacey says. “Put it off for a few weeks until the Keres back off again.”
“I don’t know when I’ll have another chance. He’s getting sicker.”
She shrugs. “Where are you going?”
“I wanted to take him up to the ruins of the old Oz theme park. He has all the books, so I know it’s something he’d like.”
Lacey leans back in her chair and stares at me. She tilts her head, considering. I brace myself for some cutting remark or joke about my involvement with a lowly human.
“I know I gave you crap about him the other day, but you really feel something for him, don’t you?”
I’m surprised. Lacey and I don’t really discuss personal things. Our relationship has always been coolly professional, even distant. Her showing some concern for me throws me off.
“I don’t know. I’ve only known him a few days. I’ve barely talked to him.” I don’t mention the day on the mountain. Lacey doesn’t know about that, and I want to keep it that way.
“Sometimes things just aren’t rational. You, me, and Chloe know that better than anyone.”
“They are with me. I make them that way.”
Lacey laughs. “You think you do,” she says. “But control is an illusion.”
“Whatever. Look, I can’t afford to like this guy or any other human. My job is killing them, not liking them.”
“Who said it has to be one or the other?” she asks. “Ever since Ares, you’ve acted as though there’s some law that says you can’t have feelings for anyone. Maybe it’s just time to give that up and try loving someone. It might be a positive experience.”
“Humph,” I grunt, plopping my hip down on the side of her desk. “Now you sound like Mom. I’ve watched enough humans and gods suffer through love and loss to know that very few people find the experience to be positive. Gut wrenching, painful, stressful, and scary, sure. Positive? Not so much.
“So, back to the original question,” I say, eager to change the subject. “Do you think it’ll be safe to take him to the park?”
She shrugs. “Should be. Hardly anyone knows those remains are even up there. Besides, you won’t have your shears with you and those are what the Keres really want.”
“You’re right. We’re being paranoid for nothing,” I say. “This won’t come to anything, although I’ll take my weapons just to be safe.”
“Of course I’m right,” she says. “I’m always right.”
There’s not a hint of teasing in her voice. She’s serious.
“And there’s my sister,” I say.
She just smirks at me. The sisterly bonding moment is over, and we’re back on familiar ground again.