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His famous temper looked like it was teetering on the edge, too.

“Pritkin,” I said, low and forcefully, not that it mattered.

“Ifailed you,” he said.“But I thought that, after we got you out of there, it was over, that you could begin to heal, and in some ways, you have.You’ve been far more resilient than even I expected, and I know your strength.But that’s become the problem, hasn’t it?”

“What has?”I said, confused.This conversation wasn’t going where I’d expected.

“Yourstrength.Most people in your position would have curled up into a ball and become non-functional for God knows how long.And that would have been a valid response!But not you.

“You did the opposite.A few days later, you were going toe to toe withZeus—”

“I didn’t have a choice!”

“Maybe not,” those disturbing eyes were steady on mine.“I don’t know, as I wasn’t there.But you had one tonight, and what did you do?”

I tried to speak again, but he was on a roll.And while he didn’t look like he was enjoying this conversation any more than I was, he was determined to have it.Sometimes, Pritkin’s stubbornness could be a real pain in my ass.

“You ran straight at the danger, somehow making your way through a throng of the darkest of dark mages, and then, when you saw the odds against reaching Caleb, what did you choose?To stay back, out of the way, and trust me to handle it?To attempt a rescue by using your allies to cause a diversion?To make any attempt with a reasonable risk?

“No.”The very word vibrated with anger.“Instead, you sent up a bonfirea hundred feet high, deliberately drawing the attention of any god in the fucking Midlands!Just like you dueled Zara and looked like you were enjoying it instead of attempting to escape—”

“And how the hell was I supposed to do that?”I demanded.“We were cornered—”

“Which is what I told myself because that’s what I wanted to believe.But you weren’t tonight.You could have stayed where you were—”

“I was worried about you—”

“So you summongods?”

He seemed fixated on that point.

“You said it yourself.We needed a distraction.I provided one.”

Pritkin stared at me.“Yes, the most dangerous, over-the-top one possible!”

“As opposed to?”I noticed that my arms had crossed, and my stance was mirroring the one he’d had a moment ago, while he was currently far more animated.

“Anything?” his hands waved about as far as the walls would allow.“You could have used the witches; God knows they love an excuse to start a fight!The place was full of necromancers; you could have stolen some of their creatures and sent them on a rampage.My father was there, bellowing orders from the top of that damned scaffold; you could have called on him for help—”

“You know how dangerous that could be—”

“So you summongods?”

“Stop saying that!”

“Someone needs to say it!Like someone needs to point out that you’re suddenly taking terrible risks all the damned time—”

“I am not—”

“Like hell!You used to hide from danger, and rightfully so—”

“I still hide.I hide all the time.I hid from that thing that almost caught us when we came out of the portal at Zara’s—”

“Yes, when you were exhausted and half-drowned.I wonder what you would do now?”

Iwondered what he thought had changed, as I was still sitting on empty, not to mention still filthy, as someone was too busy yelling at me to let me bathe.

“The same thing,” I began, only to be cut off yet again.