In the living room Natasha was typing away furiously, head bent over her laptop. Alice moved as quietly as she could, coming up behind the woman so she could look over her shoulder. Sure enough the garish colours of the conspiracy blog were up on the screen. Alice reached forward, leaning over the edge of the couch and put her hand on the laptop, pressing it down, stopping short just above Natasha’s fingertips.

The computer hacker looked up, mouth open and brows drawn together, clearly about to protest. Instead, her eyes met Alice’s and she stammered and went bright red. “I-I was just updating—just a previous blog post that’s all.”

“Don’t lie to me.” Alice tried to hold her amusement back at the wide-eyed look the other woman was giving her. The computer hacker looked like she thought Alice might turn her into a frog on the spot.

“You can put up whatever you want after all of this is finished.” Alice straighten up and put her hands on her hips. She was fully aware she was channeling Azura now. The older witch had an arsenal of scorching expressions when she thought someone was misbehaving. “If I catch you doing anything other than checking your email on that thing, I’ll put a spell on you that glues your fingers to the keyboard. Clear?”

The colour had slowly drained out of the Natasha’s face. “Clear.”

It was almost easy to feel bad for the woman, but Alice kept the stern look on her face. It was unlikely that the gods were keeping an eye on a ridiculous website like the God Conspiracy, but it paid to be cautious.

“Come on, let’s go downstairs. I’m hoping Azura will be back any minute.”

In fact, as Alice descended the stairs, the computer hacker following closely behind her, it occurred to her that it had been a little bit too long now. Azura should have been back by now. Of course, traveling by magic was fast, but perhaps she’d taken a long time talking with Peggy, or maybe she was trying to convince her to give up information and the other woman wouldn’t. Just from meeting the Czec woman for a few minutes, Alice doubted she’d been an easy one to convince if she didn’t want to do something.

When they arrived downstairs it was to find Gabriel, Maya and Shakra crowded around the fireplace. Azura was back, apparently. She was sitting in the armchair, a cup of tea in her hands. Alice felt her stomach drop when she saw how white her mentor’s face was.

“Azura. What happened? Are you okay?”

Azura held up one hand as Alice rushed over. “I’m alright. It’s not me.” When the older witch met her eyes, Alice could see how serious she was. “It’s Peggy. When I arrived there, she was gone. Her shop’s been trashed. All the windows were smashed, the place was turned upside down.”

Alice could feel her mouth hanging open, too stunned to say anything. Natasha didn’t appear to have the same issue. “They were looking for something?”

“I don’t think that was it.” Azura frowned. “There were drawers they didn’t go through. They didn’t punch holes in the walls to look for hiding places. It was more of a…message.”

“Because Peggy…Monica, I mean, was part of the Halfmoon Order?” Alice flinched when she realized she was talking about the woman like she was dead. “I mean, she is part of the order. Right?”

“It certainly looks that way.” Azura set her tea cup down, her hands shaking. “And I would wager that the gods are uncovering them. They may have just discovered that the Halfmoon order is helping you, and that they’re more of a threat than they originally thought. Now they’re taking them out.”

                “We have to move.” Alice turned abruptly, moving towards the back room. “I can’t wait around for them to come here. Adam knows where I am.”

“Which means he’s biding his time for some reason.” Shakra’s dark brows were creased. “Or…he thinks you won’t leave. That you’ll come to him.”

“No,” Alice said firmly. “I know I’ve said I hate running before, but this is too much. He got into my dreams somehow, and now there’s two of them. Even if Cupid says he’s on our team, I’m still suspicious. And I’m not comfortable with one god in the city I’m staying in, never mind two.”

Shakra and Azura exchanged a look, but they both nodded, and Alice turned around and marched into the backroom. She paused, noticing that Natasha hadn’t moved. The computer hacker’s eyes were shining. “I’m coming too.”

When Alice hesitated, Natasha pushed her glasses up her nose and sniffed. “Come on now, you really think the gods don’t know about me helping you? If they know about Monica, they know about me. If you leave me here I could die.”

It was a convincing enough argument. “Alright. You can come. We’ll go somewhere and then you can catch a plane safely home from wherever we end up.”

Natasha pressed her lips together and nodded once, and Alice wondered if she was going to have another tag-along. She was still getting calls from Trisha and Lacey occasionally, and they’d practically forced her to agree to take them to Hawaii again next year. Maybe Altair was right about her collecting strays.

Speaking of Altair... “I’ll be right back,” she told Natasha. “Think about where we should go. Somewhere obscure. Think about somewhere the gods would hate.”

She took the stairs two at a time, shoving the door open to lean in and yell into the apartement. “Altair! Buckle yourself up! We’re leaving.”

There was only silence, and Alice frowned. She’d been expecting some kind of smart-aleck remark. “Altair?”

Nothing, only silence.

By now the hairs on the back of her neck were raised, and Alice stepped cautiously forward, entering the apartment, reaching above her head to snag a handful of magic. The threads tingled along the surface of her arm, and she resisted the urge to let them melt past her defenses and into her body. Now wasn’t the time.

Quietly she snuck forward, feet making no noise on the carpet in the living room. The kitchen was dark and quiet. The door to the spare room was open, and a quick glance showed her it was dark and empty. Her heart was racing in her ears now, and her own breathing sounded loud in the stillness. She was probably paranoid though, he was probably in the bedroom.

The bedroom door creaked when she pushed on it, making Alice jump. She peered around the doorframe. The light was on in the bedroom, and the bed sheets were tossed back. They hadn’t made the bed that morning. Everything was the same as ever, wasn’t it? Just…empty.

Alice frowned. She hadn’t seen him walk past when they were downstairs with Azura…and Altair would have stopped to ask if the older witch was okay. So where…

Her eyes were drawn by the curtains at the window flickering slightly, and her heart lodged in her throat. She was drawing her hand back to throw a spell when she realized that the widow was simply open. It was only the wind rustling the fabric. Instead of relaxing that made her heart beat faster. Why was the window open?

It was cold. Stepping into the bedroom further, she realized she was shivering. Not only that, but the room smelled different. There was something in the air, a scent that grew stronger as the breeze continued to come in through the window. A sharp, pleasant smell. Tropical flowers maybe.

Perfume. And not something that she’d ever worn.

Something was wrong. She had to tell the others. Alice was turning, about to run out the door, when the writing caught her eye. It was on the far side of the room, just to the left of the door. She’d had her back turned to it up until now. Bright red scrawl, written in an elegant hand.

Saw him at the book signing and simply had to have him.

He’s mine now. Come and get him, little witch.

There was noise and commotion around Alice, that much she knew. It was hard to concentrate on it though, her ears were ringing with shock. If felt like someone had stolen her breath away, right after she’d shrieked for Azura. The older witch was examining the writing now, frowning, muttering to herself.

Shakra’s face swam into view, and Alice stood up straight, trying to shake herself out of it. The Indian woman smiled, taking her by the arms. “There you are. Now come, this isn’t the time to fall apart.”

Alice nodded. The shock was swiftly being replaced by anger. “This was another god.”

“Not Adam?” Gabriel was biting his thumbnail, staring at Alice anxiously, like he was afraid she was about to do something reckless. He was probably right. She could feel the rage begin to pulse inside her, and the urge to lift her hands up and draw all the magic into her was nearly overwhelming.  She could do it, it would be like when she’d stormed into Ambrose’s mansion, only now she would actually have the magic inside her. She’d be a hundred times more powerful.

But still, these were gods. More than one. She was sure of it. “This isn’t Adam speaking.” She gestured at the writing. “It’s a woman. A goddess.”

“But which one?” Natasha spoke up finally, adjusting her glasses as she frowned up at the words.

“Aphrodite,” Alice said grimly.

Maya raised a brow at her. “You didn’t even hesitate. How did you know?”

“Because it’s written in lipstick.” Alice yanked open her closet door, ignoring the others. “You guys go downstairs and wait for me. I’m going to put on something more appropriate, and then we’re going to go find him.”

There was a moment of silence, where Alice was sure the others were looking at one another, probably wondering what her plan was. Then Azura began to usher them out the door. The older witch paused on the way out, saying softly. “Don’t do anything reckless, Alice.”

Alice stiffened, stopping in the middle of yanking a black sweater off a hanger, but she didn’t turn around. “I know.” She hoped her voice sounded even.

The door shut quietly, and Alice waited until she heard the older witch cross the living room and shut the front door as well. Then she turned around and reached up for the magic, tilting her head back, calling the threads down from the ceiling.

They came, and she could feel them rest on her skin, snaking up her arms, resting on her shoulders. The tingling electricity sent warmth shooting through her. She opened herself up, letting the magic sink in through her skin, letting the electric warmth pulse through her inner core. The feeling was heady, better than anything she’d ever felt. The rush of power that came with it was intoxicating. For a moment she just stood there, reveling in it, letting the power surge through from her feet to her fingertips.

But…there was a reason…Altair.

Alice’s eyes snapped open and her stomach dropped suddenly. She couldn’t let herself go to the power completely. She was only doing this to rescue Altair.

She strode forward – even her footsteps felt light, like she was floating on a cloud of magic – and reached down to flip up the bed sheets. Even Altair didn’t know what she kept under there, a full arsenal of ready-made spells and a broomstick. She’d been attacked too many times, and since the Fury sisters had snuck into her apartment and nearly killed her, she’d taken to storing protection below the bed, as well as a way of escape.

The broom would work in this case. She’d go out the same way Aphrodite had come in, the window. Her fingers were going numb, she was clutching the wooden handle of the broom so hard. Azura had definitely known that she was planning something like this, and yet, she’d let her go. She’d gone downstairs with the others. Maybe her mentor knew this was better. That Alice had to take care of this herself. She was constantly putting the others in danger. And now Altair had been pulled into…whatever this was.

It made her furious to think about it. She still didn’t know why the gods were so obsessed with her, but it was something that kept getting her friends in trouble. And maybe it was going to get them seriously hurt someday. She would never forgive herself if that happened. If any one of them was killed in one of these wars, she would never be able to live after that.

 It certainly wasn’t going to stop unless Alice herself somehow put a stop to it. And Aphrodite, the goddess of passion, was no small fry god. She was big. Maybe she would know something. Maybe Alice could confront her and demand answers. Figure out why all the gods were so drawn to her, why they all wanted something from her.

She felt the comforting weight of the golden arrow when she slung her bag over her shoulder. For the last few days she’d taken to carrying it around with her. If she got the chance to get to Aphrodite, she wouldn’t hesitate to use it.

For the first time, Alice noticed that Emmy had snuck into her room, probably while she’d been engrossed in the magic. The little grey tabby was sitting on her bed, staring at Alice with that cool, impenetrable stare.

“What?” Alice made a face at the cat. “Are you going to tell me not to be reckless too?”

She almost expected the tabby to say something, to suddenly start talking and tell her she was being a fool. Instead, the cat yawned in apparent boredom and curled up on the bed.

                “At least you’re not worried,” Alice said. “God, it must be nice to be a cat.” She turned for the window, sucking in a deep breath, shutting her eyes once more. The power surged inside her, and she realized her lips were curling in a smile. She might die doing this. Aphrodite might kill her. But at least she’d go out feeling really good.