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“Avery,” Daphne said on a long exhale. “You could have said something. We cover tuition costs for the entire staff.”

Not to mention that Daphne and Sabina made sure tuition was kept affordable.

Avery’s eyes were shining with something close to shame. “I know that now. But they got to me before I started working here.”

“Can you talk specifics?” I said, trying to keep my voice calm. Avery was young and desperate. He wasn’t entirely culpable for getting in way over his head. Especially when it was for his family.

“I think I can,” Avery said carefully, as if testing the waters. “The problem is, I don’t know anything. They kept me in the dark.”

Daphne tensed at the same time I did. Lorenzo, or whoever was running the conspiracy, was covering their bases with a skill that made me want to raise my defenses. “Who recruited you?”

Avery’s head dipped. “This guy found me at my old job. I was doing security at a hospital in Rome. He pulled me into the room and explained what he was looking for and…I’m sorry, but it didn’t seem like that bad of an offer at first.”

“What was the offer?” Daphne asked gently. “Specifically.”

“I was told I’d be helping someone spy on you, Daphne. He said they weren’t sure what you’d been doing that year. I thought he worked for you, Lukas, or Adrian or somebody.”

Pity flared, but I kept it off my face. Avery wasn’t stupid. It made sense that I would be looking for her. Or Adrian. Everyone knew he kept a full staff dedicated to intelligence. “How’d you find out you weren't?”

Avery’s shoulder rolled, the same arm that housed his blistering circle tattoo. “When I got the tattoo, about a week after I got here, I overheard some of the other staff talking about Rose's attack. They said there were no survivors, and I started to get suspicious. They said someone from the Thanatos Society was involved and he was the one who told me that the tattoos had a failsafe. He just didn't tell me it was fuckingdeath.”

Daphne’s breathing thinned. When we were at Sounion, she’d told me how much guilt she harbored about not being there for Rose after the attack.

“Was he high-ranking?” she asked.

Avery shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Do you know what it is?”

“I think there’s some spell on it,” Avery said, glancing down. “It’s clearly trying to eat my fucking arm.”

“We’ll stop it,” Daphne said quickly, trying to tamper the panic in his voice.

“If you promise to help us,” I added. I felt bad for Avery, but he’d still participated in a plot to hurt Daphne.

He hurt her, but it affected far more. The rising concern had commanded countless family’s businesses for the past few months. Let alone my own stress.

The unrest still wasn't quelled, and this was only bound to make it worse.

Avery agreed in a sputtering rush of words that was overly eager. Daphne smiled kindly at him, then rose to inspect his arm further. I had more questions for him and Piper, but I paused to summon Zale.

He burst into the room heavily armed but stopped short. “Should have known Daphne would have handled it,” he muttered.

I had to laugh at that. It was the only joy I got for the next handful of hours. Zale and I focused on Piper, who answered questions like we had a knife to the throat.

She was zero fucking help. Whatever they had done to her was airtight, letting nothing leak through. The only time she actually spoke in full sentences was when I brought up her punishment.

She damn near burst into tears, begging not to send her to our own dungeons or, worse, to Prometheus. I didn’t bother to correct her. Half the world still thought Persy ran a brutal prison.

Piper pleaded, saying “Anything, just not that.”

“A memory wipe, then?” I offered, far more generous than I would have preferred.

Piper nodded. “Fine, yes. They told me to stop weeks ago, anyway. I kept doing it because it was clear people were starting to get upset with Daphne.”

My hands curled into fists. “You didn’t want to mention that before?”

Piper blinked at me like she hadn’t even considered that. I cursed under my breath then nodded at Zale to deal with her. Any longer staring at the person who’d hurt Daphne and I would break. There was already too much energy buzzing under my skin, trying to fight its way out.