Page 82 of Edge of Stars

My sister arches a brow. “Yet one whole star anyway?”

I shrug. “Because stress sex is kind of fun.”

It’s a level-up from our normal sibling banter, but no situation in our lives has justified it more. Since we can’t both wait on Hecate’s response with half-gallon glasses of wine in hand, Kell will understand my conversational equivalent.

Or…not.

I look on, wavering between amusement and bafflement, as my little sister lets my quip fall to the ground along with her stare. At the same time, Jesse rubbernecks his concentration toward the sky.

While I’m still wondering whether to harbor hope or worry about the development, Maximus is my awkward-moment savior. “What’d I miss?” he asks, pressing a kiss to my forehead and a glass of club soda into my hand.

“Hmmm. Intriguing question.” I finish with a small frown when his reaction tops Kell’s on my surprise meter.

But as thoroughly as my mind wants to write The Tale of Kell and Jesse, complete with a Madame Voracity original of her own and lots of pretty cousins for Nikoleta, it’s my sister herself who yanks us all back to the harsher reality of right now.

“So how long do you think this is going to take?” She raises her head for the sole purpose of nailing me with the stare that practically matches her kohl makeup. “I’m serious. On a realistic one to ten. I mean, it’s not like the Iremia crowd is sitting around comparing social feeds…”

“Unless Circe needs the Hathaway Harbor recap,” Maximus supplies.

“Ah, damn it,” Jesse mutters. “Did you have to tell me that? Commonality with one’s enemy is dangerous, man.”

“They’re not our enemies,” I rush to protest. “Not all of them, okay?” I push that part directly at my husband’s instant glower. “We spent significant time with them, Maximus. You helped Liseli and Kiama with the animals. Morgana baked us the best morning scones on earth, and Marie can sing like Beyonce and Ariana’s love child. And you just spoke about Circe with more than a little affection.”

Jesse clears his throat. “And she is a fellow Hathaway Harbor addict. So there’s that.”

Maximus grunts. “Why are you right about the weirdest things?”

“The diamonds aren’t monsters. Yes, their leader has careened right off the deep end, but I choose to believe the rest of them, women I called my friends a short month ago, are still struggling to stay on the better side of the ledge. Their fingernails might be bleeding and the tears might be stinging, but they’re there. Trying to hope. And trying to make sure that our mothers do the same thing.”

I’ve never been more grateful for my little sister’s ability to hopscotch over my head and wrestle away the social reins. While her usual sweep of a smile isn’t in place, at least her flawless call to action is.

“I vote for taking a quick walk down to the beach.” She nods toward Jesse. “You’ve got the all-terrains on right now, and the shoreline here is pebbly.” And I was wrong about the smile. It appears tentative but gorgeous at the far edges of her shiny crimson lips. “If we have to be in Hecate’s waiting room, let’s middle-finger the receptionist with ocean breezes and dolphin sightings.”

Maximus juts his bottom lip and lifts a grin of his own. It’s one of my favorite looks from him, so I’m too busy dealing with my somersaulting heart to catch the beginning of Jesse’s reaction. But wow, do I notice the end. His reverent gaze up at my sister is trumped only by the soft admiration in his voice.

“Now that’s an even better idea than looking up today’s Hathaway Harbor recap.”

“Damn right,” she counters, handing over her wineglass to him. As Jesse secures the vino in his chair’s cup holder, Kell steps around to rest hands on his shoulders as we start down the paved path with its curved approach to the shoreline.

The closer we get to the waterline, the better and calmer I feel—whatever calm can truly be in circumstances like this. I feel Maximus trying to do the same, inside and out. Though his aura is still pensive and tight, his palm is warm and strong against mine. In return, I thank him with a long squeeze of my fingers, though I know they aren’t repaying the favor for steady reassurance. We’re all dealing with the tension in our own ways, even if that means we’re all putting up with Jesse’s off-key rendition of the Hathaway Harbor theme tune.

Until, suddenly, he’s not.

As we round the last corner of the path behind him, around a tall crop of boulders and trees—

And see we’re really not in the waiting room anymore.

She’s there.

She’s here.

Hecate.

As luminous and daunting as the first night I ever beheld her.

Only, when she was floating over my family’s swimming pool, facing off against the king of hell, her serene smile glowed even more than her magical energy. Now, Hades is standing with her, positioned just beyond her left shoulder—and there’s not a single trace of a smile near the firm, stern line of the goddess’s lips.

Still, she croons as if we’ve decided to meet up for a friendly look at the moon, “Well, here you are indeed. So lovely to see you once more, sweet one.”