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I laughed under my breath. Persy already had a warm disposition that drew people in like a moth to flame, but if she didn’t, her baking would be enough to do the trick.

“Adrian is dealing with a Jupiter-related problem,” Persy answered. “Or Zeus, if you prefer,” she added with a nod at me and Lukas.

I snuck a glance at Rose, who didn’t look even remotely bothered to be considered on the Roman side of things. Rose still carried love for her Greek roots, but I knew she was happy to shed the Hades title when it was supposed to belong to her brother. She'd even switched to using Jupiter-based epithets.

“Is it his power?” Dominic asked. “Or his kingly duties?”

While we all had realms to rule, Adrian oversaw the godly system in addition to the skies.

Persy laughed lightly. “Astute question, Dominic. But I’m afraid I’m going to leave that to my brother to answer.”

“It must be serious enough to keep him from this meeting,” I noted. Not in judgment, but just a fact. “Is everything okay?”

Persy’s eyes softened. “Yes. I’ll say this—it is not a new problem.”

I didn’t know what that meant, but Dominic and Lukas immediately straightened, sharing a pointed look. I glanced over to Rose to see if she knew anything, but the only expression I found on her face was curiosity. It wasn’t abnormal for there to be secrets. Lukas, Dominic, and Adrian shared a tight bond and there was personal history there.

As long as it didn’t affect Rose or I as a god or a ruler, there was no need to know.

Curiosity and a healthy dose of instinct made me want to, though. Especially with all the instability.

Persy took a seat right next to Rose. “Anything you wish to say to him, you can say to me.”

“Of course,” I said. “You should be involved.”

No one mentioned that she in was deeper than just including her as Adrian’s sister. She was his heir. Zeus forbid something happened to him, Persy would take over.

Persy smiled at me, pouring a cup of tea, and taking one of her cookies for herself.

“Okay,” I began. “I am just going to run through this and then we can talk strategy.”

Lukas’s hand tightened its grip on my leg.

“The issues with the catches were a result of one of our court poisoning me. She was put under some type of spell that prevented her from talking. But we’ve gathered enough to assume that there is someone very powerful at the head of this and it’s a man. He may or may not be working with other people. As for why I was targeted, my best guess is that whoever is behind this thought that they could experiment with me. If something went wrong, Sabina would just pick up the slack.”

Everyone was tensing with each word out of my mouth.

“No one knew how much of Lukas’s power I’d absorbed already. We talked to Sebastian—we didn't tell him details, just asked why it didn't affect my Athena side—and he said the poison went after that because it was most recent. One of our guards was involved too. He had the same tattoo that the people who attacked you did,” I said, looking at Rose.

Her eyes closed on a wince. “Is he dead?”

I shook my head. “We had to amputate his arm. Corinna is making him a prosthetic as a favor. We are going to add back the tattoo and are going to try to have him reintegrate as a spy.”

“Adrian will want to meet him,” Persy said after a sip of tea.

“I figured. We’ll bring him in so we can work with his spy network,” I said. “But the most concerning part,” I paused, looking at Lukas. “Is that we are pretty sure its Lorenzo Romulus and Claudia Juno behind this.”

I recounted the entire conversation, subtle jabs and all, that we had with them at my university.

The news fell like a boulder crashing through glass. I was just thankful that I now had Lukas to hold onto. The last time we had a meal like this, I didn’t.

Dominic and Rose shared a look between them, while Persy let out a giggle.

I didn’t have to look at Lukas to know he was raising an eyebrow at her.

Persy waived a hand. “Forgive me. I’m just constantly impressed by some people’s ability to hold a grudge.”

“Is that what you think it is?” Dominic asked.