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"She’ll co himself Then he raised his head "They’ll both come"

Wait Both?

"She already came and left with a blade buried in her chest," Henri said "Athena is either dead or wishing she was"

"No, shifter She is not dead Nor is she finished with the gorgon or this city You have seen but a fraction of what Athena is capable of You all"--he gave us each a long, measured look--"will soon discover what it means to stare war in the face You must sacrifice your fear on the altar of protection," he told Violet, giving her a nod she seemed to understand "And, you," he said to me, "you must find the Hands of Zeus or you will lose your faain She will make her twin hurricanes of years past feel like a sureatest desire and you, we all, just ht survive"

His words made my pulse pound I drew in a deep breath to steady myself "You knohat the Hands are?"

"Athena’s child, frozen in stone like the hands that hold it, yes" The sneer in his voice was unmistakable "And no, I don’t knoho the father is"

"So I find the Hands Then what? Turn them over to Athena so she spares us? She knohat I can do She’ll want me to resurrect her child" And then she’d kill od-killer run loose was a risk she wouldn’t tolerate I leaned forward, gripping the edge of the marble countertop "I need to find someone who can undo the words she cursed me with now"

The old witch’s stare collided with linted I could al Finally he shifted "Of course you do Of course You find the Hands, return them here to me, and I will lift your curse myself"

I blinked, immediately suspicious It was too easy "No offense, but how do I know you can?"

He straightened, his chest puffing out as if I’d pricked his ego "I trained with Hecate herself, a goddess older than the Olyon You bring the Hands to ive them to Athena The choice is yours"

I didn’t like the River Witch, though I couldn’t exactly pinpoint a specific reason He’d raised Violet, which was a point in his favor, but he was also cunning and obviously kept his secrets and motives close to his heart

"I don’t knohere to start," I finally said, but uess was on Josephine Arnaud, Novem council member and head of the Arnaud family of vampires She had either hidden them in the vast dimension of the Novem’s library, placed them somewhere else, or destroyed thee of the Novem You must ask yourself why the Bloodborn Queen cares so ain?"

Bloodborn Queen?

"Josephine is a queen?" Violet asked, intrigued

The witch chuckled "Josephine Arnaud" He stuck his pointer finger into the oil and swirled it around in a circle "There was a tis and queens ruled their kind in Europe Unknown to huo The Arnaud family once ruled the vampires in France; they once held hu therandfather was instru the rise of the Capetian dynasty over the Carolingians in the tenth century Had tione, had vampires not retreated further and further away fro themselves, she would be queen of the French vampires But such is life"

I could see it Josephine acted like a queen and would gladly rule over all of New 2 if she could

"Titlesthese days," the witch said wistfully

Teeks ago in the ruins, during our last battle, Athena had demanded the return of Anesidora’s Jar, the nainal contents that were inside it when the jar was gifted to the Nove the exchange between Athena and the Noveinal contents" than anyone else It wasn’t a ju to do with their disappearance

And apparently, the River Witch thought so too

"So Josephine is our target," Henri said I glanced at hiot the Hands or knohere they are Obviously she has some sort of beef with Athena Makes sense she’d take what Athena wants"

The River Witch stayed quiet, returning his attention to the blood sylethe Hands was all that mattered

Hope stirred in my chest, but I tamped it down No reason to trust in him just yet He knew tooon Until I kne, I’d keep hih the bloody oil, then reached over the counter and drew a syer "Your day is co, little one Just like we talked about; face fear head-on Putting yourself in har"

Violet didn’t flinch or blink She si his words and accepting thehtenedhis ominous words one bit I felt Henri stiffen beside me

"Leave her alone," I said "She’s just a kid"