Page 39 of Seph

They had unanimously declined Demeter’s invitation to sleep at the farmhouse. Simeon said they’d get a room in Boise and report back if they learned anything.

“Only another immortal. Zeus could do it. But why would he?”

“To have his way with her, Van Helsing. Mythology is full of his unsavory liaisons.”

“Okay, to play devil’s advocate here—”

“That’s what you’re doing. This whole trip, bein’ my knight in shining armor.” Simeon fluttered his lashes at her as he put the car in reverse. He checked again that the H-Drive was off, and then whispered in a hesitant voice, “Youdowant to stop and get a hotel room in Boise, right? We could pop home?”

“No. No, we should stay focused. Which means you can’t interrupt me,Crow.” She flounced her hair. Simeon’s eyes lingered on her.Still got it.

Damn it, why do I want to have it??

“Right, sorry. Be my advocate.”

“If Zeus can mess with someone’s memory, why wouldn’t he do what he wanted to her, then make her forget?”

Simeon pulled the car off the dark, rural road which twisted and dipped. “Hang on. Got a thought. Want to make a call.”

Emily nodded and waited as Simeon tapped the cell phone Hades had told him to carry. In a second, the god’s magically magnified voice boomed throughout the car.

“Well?”

“Quick questions. Can Zeus modify people’s memories?”

“What? No. No, that’s not something any of my siblings can do. Not even my nephews or nieces, and thanks to Mr.-Can’t-Keep-It-In-His-Tunic, I have lots of them. Milly and Zag are your best bet at gods who can manipulate the mind, and believe me, they’re not doing this. I— Cerby! That’s not your bone! Go give that back. Well, bury it in the Asphodel. Good boys! Spawn of Lilith, if you’ve called me, you’d better have a reason.”

“Your mum-in-law seems awfully confused, but she remembers that Zeus showed up that day. I don’t want to upset you, but... Do you think he might have her someplace?”

“No. No, I made him swear on the River Styx that he hadn’t touched her. I made him swear he would never lay an unwanted hand upon her, or his immortal soul would be mine to punish.”

Emily tapped Simeon’s elbow frantically. She mouthed, “What about awantedhand?”

Simeon ignored her. “Question two. I thought she had to come back every six months. The food of the dead, the pomegranate seeds, and all that?”

“Quite right. That’s how it works. Every six months, she was supposed to journey to the mortal world to visit Demeter. But that was an arrangement we put in place to appease Zeus and make him feel that he’d negotiated a deal. Seph went to see hermother whenever she wanted. She almost always came home at night, or every other night. We... I’m a busy man, but I always made time for—hr-hrm. Romance was important.”

“Aww.” Emily felt an unfamiliar sensation. If she were to use terms from her recently acquired hobby of reading romance books from the Pine Ridge Library, she’d say her insides “went gooey.” “That’s adorable.”

“Is that Miss Van Helsing? Hello, Miss Van Helsing. Nice to hear from you again.”

“Again? I ... Right. Near-death adventures. Mr. Lord of Darkness, if Persephone has to return to the Underworld every six months, how is she surviving?”

“I don’t know. If she doesn’t come home, she’ll get weaker. The only thing that might... that might help her is ambrosia!” Hades sounded as if this idea had just occurred to him.

“The salad with fruit cocktail, whipped cream, and marshmallows?” Emily demanded, nose wrinkling. “My mom used to make that sometimes. My father hated it.”

Simeon rubbed his temples. “The food of the gods, you ninny. Hades, a godhasto be in on this. A god who has ambrosia and who can mess with people’s minds.”

“I agree. It’s a god. Find me which one. I’ve searched Zeus’ palaces. I have souls everywhere, reapers, and your kind, too. No one has found a trace of her. That’s where you come in. I think— Oh, damn it all to here! I have to go. 6.8 earthquake in Java. Incoming! Zag! Put on a pot of coffee for Charon!”

“The line went dead.” Simeon looked at the phone as it blinked off. “Ha. Went dead. Get it?”

“I get that Hades is missing a few pieces. He made Zeus swear that he hadn’t touched her. He made sure Zeus wasn’t holding Seph in his palaces. Hades made Zeus swear he would never lay an unwanted hand on her. Don’t you get it? Seph ran off with Zeus on her own. There’s no kidnapper, there’snounwillingkidnapping. Demeter is lying to protect her daughter and her more powerful brother. Seph is changing her appearance so Hades’ spies can’t find her, and Demeter and Zeus are giving Persephone ambrosia to keep her healthy.”

Simeon digested her words slowly. “No. I don’t buy it. I don’t... If you had seen what he showed me... She loved him. Loves him. Loves her children. I can’t believe this. I can’t just stop looking for her because you’re sure it’s an affair of epic proportions.”

“Stop looking? Oh, hell no. No, we’re going to find this girl and march her back to her undead living room and have her work out a divorce, or the immortal version of marriage counseling, or whatever. She’s not going to get you sucked into hell just because she married the first dark, handsome, mysterious older man who appeared in a dark alley and whisked her away with rumors of danger and the first real... chariot she’d ever had.”

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