Alexandra

My hands fidget with the strap of my bag, a nervous habit I haven't been able to shake since... well, since everything started feeling so wrong. I know Cass hates it when I fret, but how can I not? First the Ares trials, then the party... Hephaestus is dead. And the gossip sites are buzzing about the assassination clause like it's just another juicy rumour — not something that explains why powerful people are ending up dead. It feels like the city is holding its breath, waiting for the next awful thing to happen. And all of it seems to revolve around Cass and her job, and... and Apollo. I pull out my phone again, scrolling through the articles. The pictures are blurry but the words are stark and terrifying. Minos Vitalis. The Minotaur. Theseus. The Thirteen. Cassandra told me she was just going to a party, doing her job — but it was clearly so much more than that. She always tries to shield me, bless her. But this feels too big, too dangerous for her to handle on her own. And now she says she has a way out. A way for us to leave. It sounds like everything we've ever wanted — but my stomach twists when I think about the price she might have paid for it. Was it... was it Apollo? She likes him, I know she does, even if she pretends she doesn't. And I think he feels the same. She looks up from her phone. Her eyes find you — and for a moment she just holds the question, like she's deciding whether she can bear the answer. "Have you heard anything? About the party — about what happened to Hephaestus?" Her voice drops. "Is Cass okay. Really okay. She says she is, but she always says that. Especially when she's not."