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I was shooting in the dark, here, but wasn’t it justified? “Plus, if there’s nothing, it’ll be a nice bit of sightseeing. We could hike from the cave I want to see into the actual town of Delphi, and visit.”

Hiking was certainly not one of my favorite activities, but there was a tiny chance the journey might be worth it in the end.

“I’ve never been. All right. I wonder if Gideon fancies tagging along?”

“Ronan might, too, if you don’t mind the company.”

I smiled, remembering that time my best friend and I hiked up the mountain, age sixteen, tipsy through most of the trip. He ended up shouting questions at the Tholos, until I told him that temple was actually Athena’s. The runes of the temple of Apollo were far less impressive, but he shouted all the same.

“Sounds good. He seemed lovely. When should we go, tomorrow?”

I shook my head. “I have another idea for tomorrow. Besides, I technically need to request the use of the temple’s portal.” Permission would be immediately granted, but that was not the point. “How about next week?”

I was reluctant to bring Kleos too far from my dungeon until after Friday, just in case.

“Sure. Let’s ask the temple and plan. What did you want to do tomorrow?”

I pointed to the question at the corner of my note.Practice?

“Your attacker didn’t suddenly jump to human sacrifices, and so expertly got away with it without leaving much of a trace. I’m thinking they started small. I want to visit the animal sanctuary we have down here, check if they’ve been notified of sacrifices marked like the three victims.”

She sucked in a breath. “That’s…brilliant. How the hell didn’t we think of that before?”

I smiled. “Wouldn’t have thought of it if you hadn’t asked about mixing up rituals. I guess it takes a few minds on one project.”

“I can’t believe how much further I’ve gotten today than, well, inweeksof research. I mean, I still don’t have the exact rituals, but look! It seems like there’s a precedent of ritualistic runes marked in this biography. It temporarily allowed the caster to imprison a dark sorcerer who’d been luring and murdering little children at the time. I so wish she’d written the spell, but it could be mine.”

I checked the reference, making a note to read the book too.

“I haven’t found anythingclosebefore.”

“Herald Lewis. The name rings a bell. I think he was from here, from the city.” I wrote down the name of the author, too, to research it.

I might have journals, or other literature which could shed more light on the ritual.

I was about to say as much when we were both interrupted by the sound of a minor earthquake. I stared in disbelief at Kleos’s midriff. “Did that just come from you?”

“Well, not all of us can subsist on a diet of cupcakes, brownies, and cookies.”

Chuckling, I checked the time. “Oh, no wonder. It’s already ten.”

I would have never guessed we’d been here for over eight hours, but I often lost time in the library.

With a sigh, Kleos shut her book and got to her feet. “I’d better go. Gideon will want an update.”

I…didn’t like that. “Stay.”

I couldn’t say I meant to blurt that out, but the offer was made in any case.

“You can call Gideon while I cook. It’s the least I can do, after letting you starve like a terrible host. My father would disown me if he heard.”

She flushed. “Oh, you don’t have to.”

“You’re famished. It’ll take you an hour to get home, and longer to cook. Let me feed you. I can walk you home after. Or you can even make use of one of the many spare rooms, given that you’ll be right back tomorrow.”

She hesitated. “You don’t mind?”

“It will be my pleasure. And Zazel’s,” I added, with a general wave toward the demon on her lap.