**WARNING**  Trigger ALERT: Content below contains Sexual assault references

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A thin strip of sand bordered the edge of the pool tucked behind the waterfall’s façade. It was
remote and quiet, and offered the nymphs a place to speak without being overheard.

 

Kait leapt right back in. “Don’t you remember my mistake? Have you forgotten what those
bastards did to Willow?”

 

Jezlem put up her hands. “I know. I know how this looks, but let me explain.” Kait crossed
her arms, waiting. “He’s different, Kait.”

 

Kait scoffed, pressing her fingertips to her temples. “You can’t be serious. After all the
lectures you gave me when I told you the same thing. Don’t you remember our fight after you
and Tahlia brought me back from that alley? Do you remember what you called me? Ignorant.
You berated me, asked me how I could have ever believed his lies. All immortals use, all
immortals take. Yet when it happens to you, it’s different. How can you be so hypocritical?”

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“Please, please,” Jezlem whispered. “Let me explain.”

 

Kait set her lips in a firm line, anger frothing behind her teeth. Jezlem dug her toes into the
wet sand, pausing to see if Kait would interrupt. When she remained silent, she spoke.

 

“It happened so fast. One minute, I’m circumnavigating the current, and the next, I’m in his
arms. I fell and hit my head on a rock. Adrianne was downstream and didn’t see. The blow
knocked me unconscious. When I woke up, he was holding me, pressing his robes to the gash in
my head. He gave me some water to drink and supported me until Adrianne found us.”

 

“Who?” Kait stressed. “Who was it?”

 

Jezlem shook her head. “None of the greats. He’s a lowly god. He took us out for dinner at a
local eatery. Have you ever tried kushari?”

 

Kait ignored the question. “What’s his name?”

 

“Basil. He was doing research on the humans along the Nile, masquerading as one to learn
more about the Egyptian gods they worship. Conversion is his goal; however, he isn’t hopeful.”

 

Kait frowned, disliking the admiration in her sister’s tone. “When was this?”

 

“Nine days ago.”

 

“And how many times have you seen him?”

 

“Relax, Kait. He’s harmless.”

 

“How many times?”

 

“Tonight makes our fourth meeting.” She lowered her voice. “Look, don’t make this into one
of your quests. Not every immortal is like Hermes. I’m a big girl. I know what I’m doing. Now,
if you will excuse me…”

 

Jezlem wiggled her fingers, twisting them in an intricate formation as she stepped into the
languid ripples reaching for her. The water enveloped her, welcoming her back like a forlorn
child craving its mother. It splashed playfully around Jezlem’s calves, responding to her cheerful
mood.

 

Kait’s heart dropped as the pool washed over her sister’s feet, erasing her flesh as she began
to transform. She needed to stop her before she raced away to the Hall of Portals.
“Aeryn, Nirina, and Calliya.”

 

Jezlem turned, fixing Kait with a hard look. “Are they supposed to mean something to me?”

 

“Three nymphs whose halos were taken by a rogue immortal in the last five weeks,
victimized by some mysterious god they couldn’t name.”

 

Jezlem’s brow furrowed. “How do you know this?”

 

“I heard two members of Queen Rajhi’s court speaking earlier today, and a group of naiads
were discussing Nirina when I was in Orlon. Calliya was found in Lourdes. The other two turned

up in northern Spain. All three of their halos had been absorbed. They were left vulnerable and
mortal in the human realm. Bia tracked you the last time you left. The sensors placed you in San
Sebastián. That’s quite a coincidence.” Kait narrowed her eyes as Jezlem swallowed roughly.

 

“Can I ask where you’re meeting him tonight?”

 

Jezlem licked her lips, her gaze unblinking. “Luz-Saint-Sauveur, France. He said the African
sun was too harsh and suggested we head north.”

 

“I’m not well versed in the finer points of mortal geography, but I think it’s safe to assume he
has other plans in mind for your date.”

 

“No. No, Basil would never—he couldn’t—” Jezlem shook her head. “He’s so kind and
gentle. He would never hurt me.”

 

“Look at the facts, Jez. Three nymphs—three—have lost their connection to the realm. None
of them had any injuries or recalled being raped, so what is this god saying to them? Why are
they lying with him willingly?”

 

Jezlem was silent, but the water betrayed her blank features. The once calm pool boiled with
agitation. Frothing waves slammed against the beach.

 

Kait glanced at her sister, whose golden complexion had turned sickly yellow. “You know,
don’t you? What did he say? What did he promise if you slept with him?”

 

Fat tears raced down Jezlem’s cheeks, but she didn’t brush them away. “He wasn’t so vulgar
as to come right out and say that, but he mentioned something else…”

 

Kait grasped her sister’s hand, grimacing as the cold waves crashed against her knees. “What?
What did he say, Jez?”

 

A strangled sob stuck in Jezlem’s throat. She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes. “It’s
hard to recall, like a memory of a dream. We were discussing our future, trying to gauge how

long we could keep seeing one another without interference from the Council. He’s my ideal
partner, Kait. He’s smart, sensitive, thoughtful…but he’s an immortal. I can’t believe how
quickly I fell for him. I was crying at the thought of losing him, and…” Jezlem exhaled a shaky
breath.

 

“What, Jez? What did he say to comfort you?”

 

“He said that if we weren’t different, we could be together. He told me he knew a way, a way
to…change me. Said it had been done before, with the queen.” Jez bit her trembling lip. “He
promised…”

 

Kait looked into the sky, focusing on the top of the waterfall, willing Olympus to appear.

 

“Immortality,” she whispered.

 

“That way the Council wouldn’t deny our union.” Jezlem chucked her silver clutch into the
thin trees, then gripped her hair with angry fingers. She started pulling, yanking, ripping out the
pins and delicate comb until her curls sprung madly from her skull like Medusa’s serpents. “He
played me for such a fool. How did he do this to me?”

 

Kait took a step forward and placed her hand on her sister’s back. “If this is the same
immortal that assisted Hermes and Apollo one hundred years ago, then he’s had centuries of
practice.” Kait leaned closer, sniffing Jezlem’s hair. The same cherry scent was tangled in her
locks. “Did Basil ever give you anything to drink? Hermes slipped me a tonic straight from
Aphrodite. The one I drank affected me physically. It ignited my desire the moment it touched
my tongue.”

 

Jezlem nodded. “I didn’t think anything of it… When we dined in the human realm at mortal
restaurants, he volunteered to get them from the bar so we wouldn’t have to wait. I’m such an
idiot.”

 

Kait didn’t argue. “I can’t be sure, but I think whatever he gave you is still in your
bloodstream. Maybe a type of tonic that creates feelings of affection. That’s why you keep going
back to him, why your scent is off. Mixed with the offer of immortality, he’s brewed the perfect
concoction to convince nymphs to sleep with him.”

 

Jezlem growled, spitting venom. “And I fell for it, every word.” She slumped down,
collapsing onto her backside. “The worst part is how happy he made me feel. I thought it was
real. I thought I’d finally found my perfect match.” She kicked the sand.

 

Kait sunk down as well, hugging her knees to her chest.

 

Jezlem cocked her head. “Go ahead, say it. Say I told you so. All these years you’ve
petitioned the queen to cease working in the mortal world for this precise purpose. We called
you—I called you—paranoid and neurotic. After the Council punished Hermes and Apollo, I
thought the consequences were too great for another god to seek euphoria. And if one tried, I
thought I was too smart to be tricked. I’m sorry.” Jezlem nearly choked on the last words, but
even though she didn’t move to hug or embrace Kait, her gaze was earnest.

 

Kait answered her apology with a weak smile. They’d always fought to outdo one another,
which bred an unhealthy rivalry between them at times. It pushed them to train harder, but it also
drove a thick stake between them and discouraged any signs of vulnerability on either side. This
competitiveness combined with Bia’s nervous tendencies meant the triad wasn’t as emotionally
bonded as it should have been. Still, a willingness to protect one another burned brightly within
them all.

 

Kait stretched her legs across the sand. “We need to report him to the Council.”

 

“No.” Jezlem shook her head. “We don’t have any proof. If we take this before the Council
with only a simple accusation, Basil will disappear.”

 

“So what do we do? I’m not letting him get away. He won’t stop.”

 

Jezlem threaded her fingers together and raised them behind her head. “We set a trap of our
own. If we can get a vial of that tonic, it’ll prove our story.”

 

Kait bit her lip, the hair on her hairs prickling with uncertainty. Her gut revolted at the idea of
getting close to another immortal—of returning to the human realm in general. It went against all
her self-imposed rules. “But what if he figures it out?”

 

Jezlem twisted her fingers. A fierce waterspout crested atop the pool. All the water needed
was a blast of wind to create a biting hurricane. “Please, I need you. Together, our magic is
strong enough to beat him.”

 

Kait met Jezlem’s pleading gaze. Her heart pumped viciously; her stomach clenched. She
couldn’t face another immortal. The moment she saw him, the memories would swarm and break
down the carefully constructed wall she’d thrust them behind. She wasn’t ready, wasn’t strong,
but she recognized the determination in her sister’s features. If Kait didn’t accompany her, she’d
go alone, with nothing and no one to protect her.

 

“What if he fights back?” Kait asked.

 

The waterspout collapsed with a deafening boom, and the pool over owed, licking their
calves. Jezlem smiled and cocked her head. “Then we fight harder.”