Page 118 of Never Enough

It was Medusa who spoke, her face inscrutable behind the smoke-tinted glasses she wore. “The simple version is that, as Gem told you, they’re an organized crime family. Mythos’ entire mission is to shut them down.”

“How is it no one has heard of them?” TB asked. “Midas and I have been pretty active on the dark web for years, and we’ve never heard a whisper of them until Flame was taken.”

“And you shouldn’t have even heard of it then, but that’s moot now.”

She took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Gilgamesh got up and went over to a cabinet in the corner and pulled out a bottle of painkillers. When Medusa opened her eyes, she squinted against the light. Loki hit a button on his remote control to lower the light. As the lights went down, her eyes opened wider.

“Holy shit!” Demon whispered from his place across from her.

“Yes, sorry. I know. They’re startling until you get used to them.”

Medusa’s pupils were nearly white, with just the barest ring of mint green around the outside. “It’s a rare condition. Sorare, in fact, that there’s no name for it. Probably some form of albinism.” She shrugged. “Sensitive to light, hence the glasses.”

“And the colored contacts,” TB added, “when you’re out in public because they’re awfully recognizable.”

She nodded.

Steel chimed in, “Hence the name ‘Medusa.’ People freeze when they see them.”

Waters chuckled. “Nice try at distraction, Medusa, but I’m still waiting for information.”

She smirked. “Touché.” She laid the glasses on the table. “Women are not valued amongst the Salieri. In fact, there are none in their ranks or even in their families.”

“They’re celibate?” Nemo asked.

“We could only be so lucky,” Loki grumbled.

“No, they procreate,” Medusa admitted. “But the women are used only for that, and they do not raise the children.”

“I still don’t understand how people don’t know about them, then,” TB said. “These women clearly know of them.”

“Yes, but… they’re not around long enough to share the knowledge.” She sighed. “The women are carefully selected for a variety of attributes and characteristics. They are offered a great deal of money to serve as mothers. If they say yes, they live in the ultimate luxury up to the birth of the child.”

“And after?” Nemo asked hesitantly.

“They’re killed,” Loki expelled bluntly. “And if the child is a girl, the child is killed as well.”

The men were so stunned they couldn’t even swear.

Haskell jumped in, “My guess is that those girl children in the mines were daughters of men they’ve recruited into their ranks. It’s possible adult females are used as additional breeders, but we haven’t been able to confirm that. In any case, all of the female line is sacrificed. No exceptions. Now you see why the work is so important.” Hereyes went to Nemo, even though her words were meant for the entire table.

“What’s next?” Waters questioned.

Loki closed the project folder he’d been given and pushed it toward the center of the table. “Gilgamesh, Medusa, Gem, Cerberus, and I will be taking the children to a compound in an undisclosed location. They’ll be provided with food, shelter, whatever they need. We have counselors and teachers on staff. They will be well cared for and, hopefully, adopted into loving families.”

“An orphanage, then,” TB sneered.

“Not like you experienced, TB,” Loki promised. “It’s more like a boarding school. The children are very happy there, but I don’t expect you to take that at face value. Haskell can vouch for them, as can any of the team.”

“Call it what you want,” TB argued. “They’re still unwanted children in a facility.”

Medusa spoke up. “Except they are wanted. We want them, and so do all the staff who work for us. I… We… will accept nothing less. The children want for nothing, not even affection. If someone applies to adopt, the child must also agree to the process, or they stay with us. And if a child is not adopted, at eighteen, they can choose to leave, with as much support from Mythos as they want or need, or they are welcome to stay at our safe haven until they choose to leave.”

“Do you have any who choose to leave?” Waters asked.

“A few,” Loki admitted, “but it is rare. Most who leave have met someone and married, so they go to their own homes. The damage for some is too difficult to surmount sometimes, but we continue to try.”

Nemo brought up the question he’d been curious about. “The hit on Gem. What are we doing about that?”

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