The other gods had filled Momus in while we were gone, and he looked sad and sedate; sitting on one of the couches between Amphitrite and Ariadne. The women were trying to console him, but a man like Momus doesn't take comfort in hope. He knew better than that. Momus lifted his gaze to mine as I entered the room with Trevor. One look at my expression, and he knew what I hadn't found.
“They're dead, aren't they?” Momus asked despondently. “They're dead, and we're all fucked without them guarding the threads. It'll be a right up tangle now.”
“Tangle,” I whispered. “That reminds me of something.”
“The prophecy,” Dionysus said as his gaze shot over to me. “The one Silenus gave you at your wedding. Didn't he mention the threads?”
“Yeah, that's right,” I confirmed. “He also warned me not to kill those rainbow gods and the bottled water goddess.”
I looked over at Trevor, and he cursed.
“What just happened there?” Dionysus stood and pointed at Trevor. “What's that about?”
“One of the rainbow gods warned Narcissus that Vervain would be entering his mirror,” Trevor said.
“We think he was the one who made sure that Re bought the Mirror in the first place,” I added.
“And now, the Fates are missing.” Dionysus cursed and shared a worried look with his wife.
“What the fuck does a prophecy about not killing gods have to do with the Fates?” Momus asked.
“There was more to the prophecy,” I said. “It warned me not to take action but then there was something about the threads of Fate tangling.”
“Let the threads of Fate lie untouched or they shall tangle,” Trevor quoted. “I'll never forget it; it gave me chills.”
“Lie untouched,” I murmured. “We could be making more of this than we should. No one's touched the threads.”
“No; they've only touched the Spinner, the Alotter, and the Unturnable,” Momus said; using the titles of the individual Fates.
“It's another coincidence,” Azrael said, “and too many of those leads to conclusions. Qaus manipulated you into the Mirror and now, the Fates have disappeared. All of them are tied to you through the future and the threads. The prophecy is neither helpful nor harmful; it's too damn general to be of use simply for its meaning. The only bit that's beneficial is the second line it has drawn between you, those gods, and the Fates. Two coincidences equal one conclusion.”
“Yeah, but the conclusion is not necessarily Narcissus,” I said. “So far, Narcissus has no tie to the Fates.”
“Beyond the fact that they foresaw his entrapment and didn't warn him about it,” Momus huffed.
We all stared at him with slack-jaws.
“What?” He asked grumpily.
Chapter Forty
There was nothing more to be done. Momus stayed in the night-shrouded, Avatar territory, and the rest of us went home; Athena and the Greeks to their territory, and my men and me to ours. The Apollo trap had failed, but they were going to attempt it again; this time with bigger groups who could watch each other as well as Apollo. The Olympians were bunking at Athena's palace, all sleeping in one room so they could keep an eye on each other even before they laid their trap. I hoped it worked, but there was nothing I could add to the plan. Instead, I went home and tried to relax enough to let my mind come up with a solution to the Narcissus conundrum. Sometimes, when I worked too hard on a problem—when I thought too hard—I'd only draw a blank. But if I forgot about it for awhile, the solution would simply pop into my brain.
So, I tried to forget about the disappearances. It took a lot of steady focus on my husbands to do that, but I was finally able to find some oblivion in their arms.
In the morning, I awoke refreshed and relaxed. I stretched languorously and rolled onto my side to nuzzle against Odin, who had spent the night with me. Odin groaned grudgingly awake and opened his stunning eyes. He smiled at me softly; his gaze trailing over my face and then downward, where it stopped suddenly. Odin reached out took a lock of my hair between his fingers, and lifted it up to show it to me. It was my starlight streak and it ended far sooner than it should have.
“What in the world?” I stared at the cleanly-cut tip. “How did that happen?”
“It wasn't like this when we went to bed last night,” Odin said with absolute certainty.
“Would one of the others—”
“No,” Odin cut me off. “Perhaps Lesya?”
“She shouldn't have access to scissors, and I don't think her claws could slice like this.”
“Who the hell would come in here and take a lock of your hair?” Odin asked.
The blood drained from my face, making me feel faint. At least I was lying down.
“Vervain?” Odin asked as he sat up in concern.
“A lock of hair, Odin,” I whispered. “Who likes to take locks of hair?”
“Narcissus!” Odin hissed as he stared around the room warily. “But how would he have gotten in?”
“I have no idea.”
Odin got out of bed and started searching the room buck naked. When he circled back, he picked up his discarded pants and slipped them on, but he did it distractedly. I got out of bed and hurried to the dressing room to put something on before I went looking for Narcissus. The last thing I needed was a naked confrontation with that hair-stealing wanker.
On my way out of the dressing room, I stopped by the intercom and hit the button. “This is Vervain, who's on duty?”
“It's Jake, Tima,” my werelion said.
“Jake, I need you to sound an alarm and get everyone searching the palace for intruders; specifically for Narcissus.”
“Yes, Tima!” He didn't bother to question me, just did as I asked.
Within seconds, the clanging of a bell echoed through the palace and then the sound of pounding, werelion feet joined it. The Intare were already searching the palace by the time Trevor carried Lesya downstairs
