Chapter 4 #2
“I understand perfectly,” she shot back. “Your reputation took a hit because you took a human to the wrong spring.”
“It’s more than reputation,” he said.
“Is it?” she said sharply.
“Yes.”
The single word landed heavier than the rest. For a moment, neither of them spoke. Then he stepped closer.
She felt it immediately, the heat of him, close enough now that it pressed into her space, wrapped around her before she could brace against it.
It dragged something sharp and unwelcome to the surface, her inner thoughts flashing back to the spring, to water and heat and the way she’d let herself go with him.
Her breath caught and she shook her head slightly, forcing the memory back down where it belonged.
“You have to come back with me.”
“No.”
He reached out instinctively, his fingers brushing her arm. The contact was brief, but it was enough.
A flash. Not an image exactly, but more like a door slamming open in her mind.
Stone halls. Voices raised in argument. The cold weight of disapproval pressing down like a physical force. A towering basilisk with emerald scales speaking sharply while others watched in silence.
Maldenis standing in the center of it.
Alone.
The memory surged toward her, pulling her deeper—
Liora slammed the door shut in her mind. Hard.
The effort hit her like a punch to the gut. Her vision blurred for half a second as she forced the memory away, burying it before it could take hold.
Not now. Not him. Not here.
She sucked in a slow breath and straightened.
Maldenis frowned slightly. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“You look—”
“I said I’m fine.” The edge in her voice cut him off.
He studied her for a moment longer, concern flickering there again, but she refused to meet his eyes. Instead, she stepped back.
“No,” she said firmly. “I’m not going to Solkaris.”
“You haven’t even heard what—”
“I don’t need to.”
His frustration finally showed. “You are part of this whether you like it or not.”
Her eyes snapped to his. “Watch me.”
“Liora—”
“Leave,” she said.
He didn’t move.
“Go back to your family. Fix your political disaster. Tell them whatever you want.”
He stared at her.
“But I am not getting dragged into it.”
“You already are.”
“No,” she said flatly, stepping around him. Then stopped just long enough to add, without turning back— “Leave me alone.”
Another step away. “And don’t follow me.”
She walked back toward the building without looking over her shoulder, every muscle in her body tense. Behind her, Maldenis didn’t say a word.
A few days later, Liora stepped out of the elevator and into the main floor of their office in Alindale. The space still amused her every time she saw it.
It was sleek and modern, all glass walls and open workspaces, but threaded with ancient details that reminded you exactly where you were.
Soft rune-light glowed along the edges of the ceiling instead of harsh fluorescent bulbs.
Old stone columns had been left intact between polished metal desks.
Screens floated beside carved archways etched with spells that predated most human languages.
It looked like someone had taken a tech startup, blended it with an ancient temple, and then given the whole thing a minimalist makeover. And somehow it worked.
She walked past the main tables toward the hallway that led to the private offices. Medusa had sent a message asking her to come to the office—alone—she had been…surprised and a little suspicious.
She reached the final door in the hallway. Medusa & Perseus, it said on the name plate. Liora smiled faintly. Of course, they shared an office. The two of them couldn’t stay apart for long.
Perseus was part wolf shifter, which meant that when the bond between him and Medusa had slammed into place, it was instant, unstoppable, and dramatic as hell. They’d fallen in love right after meeting the triplets in Valle Trigenico, deep in the mountains of Bolivia.
That entire adventure had been chaos—it was the beginning, tracking Zeus’s children, Perseus admitting Zeus was his father, then getting attacked and almost dying—but somehow it had ended with the two of them hopelessly devoted to each other.
She raised her hand and knocked.
“Come in,” Medusa called.
She pushed the door open. The office was larger than most, one entire wall made of glass overlooking the city. Alindale stretched below them, stone towers mixed with modern buildings, magic threading through the skyline like faint sparks.
Perseus was leaning against one of the desks, arms crossed, looking relaxed in that deceptively dangerous way he had.
Medusa sat behind the main desk, snakelets around her shoulders, mirrored aviators firmly in place.
“Well,” Perseus said with a faint grin, “there’s our resident troublemaker.”
Liora closed the door behind her. “I resent that.”
“You should,” he said easily. “But it’s accurate.”
She crossed the room and leaned casually against one of the chairs. “So,” she said. “I was told this was a me-only meeting.”
Medusa nodded. “It is.”
“That’s ominous,” Liora raised an eyebrow.
Perseus chuckled softly. “It might be.”
Liora looked between them. “Should I be worried?”
“That depends,” Medusa folded her hands on the desk.
“On what?”
“On whether you’ve recently gotten yourself into…unexpected complications.”
Liora’s face stayed perfectly neutral. “I’m always in unexpected complications.”
Perseus tilted his head slightly, studying her. “Yes,” he said slowly. “But this one is…specific.”
“I feel like I’m missing context.” Liora forced a small smile.
Medusa held her gaze for a long moment. Then she said calmly, “A certain basilisk came by the office yesterday.”
Liora’s stomach sank, and her brain scrambled for the least dangerous option. “Pythorus?” she asked weakly.
Perseus shook his head. “No.” He let the moment stretch just long enough to make it painful. “Maldenis.”
Liora exhaled slowly through her nose. Well. There it was. She didn’t say anything. Didn’t ask questions. The less she said, the fewer holes she dug for herself.
Unfortunately, Perseus didn’t seem interested in letting the silence sit.
“The spring was sacred,” he said.
I know that, Liora thought grimly.
Perseus continued, voice calm but increasingly edged with irritation. “Their elders are not happy. His family’s standing has taken a serious hit.”
She stared at the floor.
“And,” Perseus continued, his patience clearly wearing thin, “when a basilisk house is shunned, no one deals with them. No alliances. No information. No cooperation.”
She looked up slowly.
“And no one,” Perseus finished flatly, “will talk to us about Zeus’s kids.”
The words landed like a weight in the room.
“The whole point of our mission.”
She bit the inside of her lip. The pieces slid together in her head with unpleasant clarity. If Maldenis’s family was ostracized…then the basilisk community would close ranks. Which meant any demigods among them—any children of Zeus—would remain hidden.
Unwarned and unprotected.
Her chest tightened.
Perseus pushed away from the table and crossed his arms. “Fix this.”
Then he turned and walked out of the office, and the door shut behind him with a quiet but decisive click.
Liora stood there for a moment, staring at the floor. She didn’t want to be the reason those basilisks were left vulnerable. The triplets were there to find them. To warn them before something worse found them. If the basilisk community shut down…they’d lose that chance.
She rubbed her forehead slowly. She hated this. Hated the pressure tightening around her. Hated that it came back to the same impossible fact.
She didn’t want to be married. Not to a basilisk she barely knew. Not because of some ancient ritual spring. Not because a group of elders had decided it counted. But the consequences of walking away were suddenly a lot bigger than just her pride.
Medusa watched her quietly for a moment. Then she said gently, “He seemed worried.”
“Of course he did,” Liora let out a humorless laugh. “His family’s reputation is exploding.”
Medusa tilted her head slightly. “I don’t think that was the only thing he was worried about.”
Liora didn’t look up. “Well,” she muttered, “that sounds like his problem.”
Medusa watched her for a moment longer, quiet and patient in that unnerving way she had.
“I can see that you don’t want anything to do with Maldenis,” she said finally.
Liora let out a short breath through her nose. “That obvious?”
“Yes.”
Liora rubbed the back of her neck.
“But,” Medusa continued gently, “there’s a bigger picture here.”
“Yeah,” Liora muttered. “I know.” She shifted her weight and glanced toward the door Perseus had stormed out of. “How mad is he?”
Medusa shook her head slightly. “Don’t worry about that.”
“He looked pretty mad.”
“He is,” Medusa admitted. “It’s just…different for him.”
Liora nodded slowly. “I get it.”
Perseus took the mission personally, especially since they were technically looking for his half-siblings. And even though he hated Zeus, he couldn’t let others be harmed. It was part of the reason he and Medusa had started this whole operation in Vale Crossing in the first place.
And if a group of basilisks out there were about to lose access to help because of her…Yeah, she understood why he was furious.
She sighed and dragged a hand through her hair.
For a moment, she just stared at the floor again, trying to untangle the mess in her head.
She didn’t want this. Didn’t want the marriage.
Didn’t want the politics. Didn’t want Maldenis showing up in her life like some walking reminder of a very questionable decision in a very nice spring.
But the reality was sitting there, whether she liked it or not. Basilisks who had done absolutely nothing wrong might get caught in the fallout. Halflings, Zeus’s kids, who wouldn’t know they were in danger.
She exhaled slowly. “Well,” she said quietly, more to herself than anyone else, “this is great.”
Medusa didn’t interrupt.