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"How many visions have you had?" said Persephone, and the sticks burst into f lah the f ire I could see shadows in the deep lines etched into his face,hied "Three, I think All to the same place"

"Have you been able to control theular intervals?"

"No" I stared down atJames "Did you ever sleep with Henry?" Persephone didn’t say anything for a lanced at her, her face looked oddly contorted in the firelight

"It’s okay," I said "You don’t have to answer" Our eyes htened, her expression s out "Have you?" I nodded "Once, in March It’s October now," I added

"I think"

Persephone tugged on one of her blond curls and sighed

"I used to be able to tell Even after I died, ed colors with the seasons, but after a while it stopped" She smiled faintly "It’s stuck on summer now" That explained why her hair had been a different color in Henry’s ref lection "What--what season did it turn strawberry-blond?" I said

"Fall," she said "It grew redder with the autuhtened into brown in the spring"

Of course James had explained to me that a ref lection wasn’t an accurate depiction of what had happened It hatever the creator wanted And what Henry wanted was for Persephone to be s when she saw him each fall

"I didn’t mean to sleep with him," I said, and I paused

"That sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Part of the test was lust, and Henry had me so well-protected that Calliope didn’t have the chance to killus an aphrodisiac"

Persephone clicked her tongue disapprovingly "You’ve certainly had it rough, haven’t you?"

"What do yousar-castic?

"Well, I assuood you’re there for him He deserves to have someone who loves him" She hesitated and said reluctantly, as if she were ad some deep, dark secret, "I worry about him sometimes It’s terrible that the one time you’ve been with hilared at Ava "Aphrodite ruins everything"