Cassandra had been on her hands and knees for forty minutes with hot water and sponges and carpet spray, but the blood wasn’t coming out. Still, she kept scrubbing, wiping sweat from her brow and pretending that the minutes weren’t crawling by as she waited for someone, anyone, to come home.
She raised her head at a set of headlights. They didn’t slow. Maybe none would. Maybe her parents would go to the emergency vet and grab Henry and drive away without looking back. They’d check into a hotel and send the police for her. The girl who was no longer their daughter.
No. She glanced toward the entryway, where Lux lay with his nose on his paws. They’ll have to come back for him, at least.
“Should we not have told them?” Thanatos asked from where he knelt, scrubbing at another stain.
“There was no choice,” Cassandra said.
“That doesn’t mean you can’t resent the fact that you had to.”
“I know. And I do.” She sat back and blew a few wet strands of hair out of her face.
“We’ve got a steam cleaner around here somewhere,” she said, and got up. “How did you know to come anyway? Did you feel them? The Moirae?”
“Yes,” Thanatos said. “But I didn’t come fast enough. I was worried for you.”
“Were you? Or were you curious? Thought they might have solved the puzzle of what I am?” She wiped at her hands with a pink-stained towel. “They did, you know,” she said. “They crawled into my head and solved the mystery. Told me straight up.”
Thanatos’ eyes were somber. His fingers were stained red as the towel, and he’d stayed with her after the rest had gone. He’d stood beside her when her parents had walked past without a second glance.
“Congratulations,” she said coolly. “In a few days, I’ll be a goddess of death. I’ll be like you.”
Thanatos set down his sponge.
“Was this what you suspected?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said. “And what I was afraid of.”
He was doing it again, looking at her, and into her. Only now his curiosity was gone. He looked at Cassandra as if he wanted to remember every curve and color of her face.
“I didn’t think death was afraid of anything,” Cassandra said.
“Not many things. And not often.” Thanatos reached out, slowly, and touched her throat. He drew closer until both hands were on her and he was near enough that Cassandra could feel the cool of his skin. She wondered what his kiss would feel like. She wondered if he could still kill her that way. But before she could protest, he dropped his head to her shoulder and gently brushed his lips against her collarbone.
Her heart didn’t stop. He was cool but not cold, and when she shivered it wasn’t because of a chill.
“What are you doing?” she asked. It had been a long time since anyone had touched her like that. Her hands slid around Thanatos’ waist and grasped his back.
The Saturn and the Mustang pulled into the driveway.
“Something foolish,” he replied, and kissed her fingertips.
Lux got up and scratched at the door. It bounced back and forth. It wouldn’t close properly anymore. Athena had broken it.
When Andie and Henry came into the house, Thanatos tried to leave, but Cassandra took his hand. There was a lot to tell about her time on the road hunting gods, and Athena’s plans for the Moirae. About Calypso. She could use a shoulder to lean on.
* * *
Cassandra’s mom flinched whenever their hands touched. She didn’t even try to hide it. They needed time, Athena had said. But her parents glanced at each other like prisoners in a yard, plotting escape. Maybe not today, or this month, but eventually Cassandra would come home from school to find an empty house, and a note on the kitchen table if she was lucky.
She didn’t blame them. But she wouldn’t wait around for it, either. After she and Athena had dealt with Atropos, she would join the Moirae. Cassandra would disappear again, only this time, they wouldn’t worry or search. This time they’d be relieved.
Henry sat at the table eating bacon, half a strip for him, half a strip for Lux, in a slow, salty pattern. He hadn’t said much since she’d told him about the Moirae’s plan. And about Calypso. The truth about Calypso.
But she hadn’t told him everything. Her intent to join the Moirae she kept to herself. Because no matter how wrong she was, or how tainted, he and Andie would want her to stay.
There was still life here worth living. Cassandra looked down at the dishrag in her hand. If only her mess could wipe away clean.