Apollo’s actions were unacceptable, and didn’t she have an obligation to her readers to expose injustice? Especially when it came to the gods? And maybe, if the story was good enough, she wouldn’t need to write that exclusive.

Hours later, Persephone was still awake and unable to move. Sybil’s head rested in her lap, and Lexa snored, fast asleep on the couch opposite them.

After a moment, Sybil shifted and spoke in a sleepy whisper.

“Persephone, I want you to promise me you won’t write about Apollo.”

Persephone froze for a moment, holding her breath. “Why not?”

“Because Apollo isn’t Hades,” she answered. “He didn’t care what people thought and was willing to listen to you. That’s not Apollo. Apollo covets his reputation. It’s as important to him as music.”

“Then he shouldn’t have punished you,” Persephone answered.

She felt Sybil’s hands curl into the blanket around them. “I’m asking you to not fight in my name. Promise.”

Persephone didn’t respond. The problem was, she was asking for a promise, and when a god promised, it was binding, unbreakable.

It didn’t matter that Sybil didn’t know of Persephone’s Divinity.

She couldn’t do it.

After a moment, Sybil looked up, meeting her gaze. “Persephone?”

“I don’t make promises, Sybil.”

The oracle frowned. “I was afraid you’d say that.”

CHAPTER IV - A TOUCH OF WARNING

CHAPTER IV - A TOUCH OF WARNING

Persephone lay awake, listening to Lexa’s shallow snoring and Sybil’s wheezing breath. It was three in the morning, and she had to be up in four hours, but she couldn’t stop thinking about everything that had happened today. She considered the pros and cons of writing the exclusive Demetri and Kal wanted. She supposed it was one way to control the information she released, except that she was being forced to offer up details of her personal life. Worse, they’d taken the choice away from her, and she hated that.

But could she give up her dream job? She’d come to New Athens with dreams of freedom, success, and adventure. She’d had a taste of each, and just when she’d shook the chains of her mother’s custody, she found herself shackled with another restraint.

Would the cycle never end?

Then there was Sybil.

Persephone couldn’t let Apollo get away with his treatment of the oracle. She couldn’t understand why Sybil didn’t want her to write about the God of Music. He needed to answer for his behavior. There was also a part of her that hoped an article about Apollo meant Demetri and Kal would be less interested in the story of her relationship with Hades.