Page 125 of For the Love of the Gods

“Did you ever see a tattoo on his arm?” Rose asked.

“No,” Alyssa said, shaking her head. Okay, so it was fairly recent. “But whenever he was being weird on the phone, he would end the call by saying maiden or something like that. He was always whispering like a creep.”

That was such an innocuous word but could mean so much. A connection to Hera or Juno maybe. Or a statement of purity.

“And he was the only one you knew to be involved with this?” Raiden asked.

Alyssa nodded. “The only person. But then I heard about the attack, and he wasn’t at our meeting last night and thought he might have been involved somehow.”

I was sure it was already all over the news. Fucking great. Adrian would be two seconds away from an aneurysm by now.

“Thank you, Alyssa,” Rose said, smiling genuinely. “Anything else?”

Her eyes went sad. “That’s all I know, I’m sorry.”

“Oh, no, you’ve been beyond helpful,” Rose said. “Dominic and I will be sure to stop by soon to thank you for your help.”

“That would be awesome!” Alyssa exclaimed. Now I was really sure this was the best day of her life.

After a quick goodbye and a few tears from Alyssa, Raiden ushered her out, passing her off to someone to take her home.

The entire room heaved a sigh.

Rose turned to me, and I leaned in, letting her speak just between us. “We need to tell Adrian.”

“Shit, we need to tell the whole Council at this point,” I said. No good would come from keeping it a secret. “But I think we should keep it between Lukas, Adrian, and us until we know more.”

Rose nodded in agreement. “If we go to them right now, it will just freak everyone out.”

“Daphne too,” I added, and Rose’s eyebrows perked up.

“Really?”

“Adrian told me the other day that we can’t afford any more disruptions. That was before the attack. I imagine he’ll tell Lukas to hunt Daphne down sooner rather than later.”

Rose shivered at the thought, then turned back to the group. “I don’t think I like how little we know.”

I grunted in agreement. We knew shockingly little and that was not how I functioned.

“Maybe we should do some more in the Upperworld,” Rose suggested, looking to our guards for confirmation.

“Over my dead fucking body,” I grumbled.

Rose shot me an incredulous look, but I didn’t back down. My stomach felt tight at the memory of her bloodied, bruised, and crumpled on the floor. “I’m never finding you like that again.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“If we do anything, we are doing it together,” I said, pulling her hand to my mouth and placing a kiss on her open palm. “I can’t lose you. I refuse.”

Rose’s eyebrows lifted in the center and her eyes shone with repressed tears. “I can’t either,” she said softly, pressing her fingertips into the back of my hand.

“No one is going anywhere,” Raiden cut in. “There are multiple ways to get information. There are people who know way more than they are letting on. Especially once you involve Lukas and Adrian. And Fates know Daphne probably has information.”

Of course, he heard. Raiden had hearing like a fucking bat. I turned to Rose to see her reaction to the comment about Daphne but found her looking at her lap with the wheels in her head turning at a lightning-fast pace.

Rose lifted her head slightly and looked over at Marcus under her brows. It took him a second, but Marcus seemed to clue in on whatever idea had just popped into her head.

“Not a bad idea,” he said.

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