[This post is from Marin’s point of view.]
“Damn,” I breathed, feeling my stomach sink. A dull pounding was starting to rise behind my eyes and I rubbed at my temple, exhaling quietly. “What else, then?”
He sighed quietly. “I’m not sure how it’s all pieced together.” Matt poured two cups of coffee, handing one of them to me before he settled down with his own. He sat on the ground, against the log I sat on, staring up at nothing for a few seconds, as if collecting his thoughts. “Obviously, Persephone’s situation is linked to what we’ve faced out there with Olympium. I think that part goes almost without saying. There’s more to it, though. My gut’s screaming. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Menhit and Anhur.” He hesitated for a moment. “And then there’s Leviathan, who’s due any time now to come make good on his threat. Not sure how we’ve escaped for so long without him showing his mug.”
“Bigger fish to fry, maybe,” I murmured. The thought of Leviathan going after someone else—possibly with an aim to recruiting them to his side as well and meting out consequences for refusal—sent shivers skittering down my spine.
“I hope not,” Matt said, as if he’d read my thoughts. “That’s the last thing any of us need—him with more allies or just more blood on his hands. Either way, doesn’t bode well.” He scrubbed a hand over his eyes. “He’s got a game. I just don’t know what it is.”
“That is also the story of our lives,” I said, taking a sip of coffee. “Do you think it’ll do us any good trying to figure out what it is?”
“Does it ever?” Matt shook his head. “Only if it somehow ends up letting us know when something’s about to hit us and at this point, I think that’s anyone’s guess—who’s coming and who’s going to be first.”
“You’re both forgetting something,” J.T.’s voice said, weary. “There’s Vammatar’s sisters, too.” He slumped down onto the log next to me. “They’re coming, too—sometime, who knows when—and they’re going to want revenge, too. There’s going to be no quarter given there. I’m more afraid of them than anything else.”
That reminder shot another shiver down my spine and I caught my lower lip between my teeth.
When it rains, it will pour.
