“Nothing. Everything’s fine.”

But it was obvious she was lying. Her voice was thick, and her eyes were red. Persephone peered over her shoulder to find a rejection email for a job.

“Sybil,” Persephone said gently, placing a hand on her arm.

“I knew it would be hard, but I don’t think I realized how difficult. No one wants a god’s discarded...plaything.”

“You are no such thing, Sybil,” Persephone said quickly.

“That’s not how the world sees it,” she said. “My worth is equal to the desire a god had for me. It has been since my powers manifested. Now I don’t even have those.”

Sybil turned into Persephone and sobbed against her chest. The goddess stood there, soothing her friend.

“It’s going to be okay,” Persephone said. “I’ll help in any way I can. Let me talk to Hades. I’m sure they need more help at The Cypress Foundation.”

She’d been so angry about Leuce, she’d forgotten to ask about openings.

“I can’t ask that of you, Persephone,” Sybil said, pulling away.

“You’re not asking.” She offered what she hoped was a comforting smile.

Persephone introduced Leuce to Sybil and poured three glasses of wine. Persephone was starting to feel like she was running a home for displaced women. They sat in the living room, watching Titans After Dark and talking about life. At some point, the inevitable topic of Apollo made its way into their conversation, and the longer they spoke, the angrier they became.

“He’s as horrible as I remember,” Leuce commented.

“Oh, girl, you don’t even know,” Sybil said, she took a drink from her glass. “He is so controlling. He punishes his lovers for being independent! It’s pathetic!”

“Can you believe Hades told me I couldn’t write about him?” Persephone said.

“If you want to write about Apollo, you write about Apollo!” Leuce said.

They were all on their fourth glass of wine. Despite this, Persephone expected Sybil to protest. Instead, she said, “Get the laptop, Seph!”

Persephone grinned and ran into her room to grab her computer. When she came back, she sat cross-legged on the sofa.

“Write this down,” Sybil directed. “Apollo, known for his charm and beauty, has a secret—he cannot stand rejection.”

“Oh, that’s good!” Leuce encouraged.

“Oh, oh! Hold on,” Persephone said, typing quickly, the words coming faster than her fingers would move. When she was finished, she read the piece aloud:

“The evidence is overwhelming. I would have his many ex-lovers vouch for me, but they either begged to be saved from his wily pursuits and were turned into trees or died horrible deaths as a result of his punishment.”

“Yes!” Leuce cried.

Persephone continued, adding the stories of Daphne, the nymph who was turned into a tree, and Princess Cassandra, whose accurate predictions were dismissed.