I curled up into a ball, wrapping my arms around my legs as tightly as I could. I felt like if I let go, I would fall to pieces. I tucked my head down and squeezed my eyes shut tight, as if that would erase the thought of Carlo’s final moments.

I told myself that I could have ten breaths like this and then I would get up. This was not the time to be weak.

I had to return my gift to the gods and leave this place. The sooner, the better. If I lived out the rest of my life as a Nescient, I wouldn’t even have to bother with whatever this Faction was. I would be safe. More importantly, I would be free.

I uncurled from my fetal position and unlocked my phone. Feeling the sudden need to hasten our plan, I sent a message to Adrian.

Have you found it?

Chapter Sixteen

It had not even been a half hour when I received a disappointing reply from Adrian.

I can’t find my sister’s card—sorry, A.

I searched for my backpack and pulled out my laptop. The internet probably wouldn’t yield any insider tips about the Hellenicus, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try.

I had learned about our origin myth back in Hellenic school, so all I needed was to dig deeper into the gods and goddesses. I started with Apollo since he had been the one tasked by Zeus to help the Hellenicus find their soul mates. I tried to find insight into the whole mind-reading thing but nada. After all, the Hellenicus are very secretive and would never allow the Nescient to have easy access to information.

I was moving the cursor to click on Eros when a high-pitched sound pierced my ears. The noise kept going as I searched for the source.

“Shiitake mushroom!” The source of the obnoxious sound was on the floor, half-hidden under the couch—my dad’s cell phone. Geez, Zeus! Could he have picked a more annoying ringtone? “Hello?”

A deep, manly voice shouted back at me. “Hawke! Where are you? We’ve been waiting for more than an hour now! You were the one asking for an emergency meeting, at least have the decency to inform us if you want to call it off!”

Who?

I brought the phone closer once I knew for sure that the man had finished yelling. “There is no Hawke here, sir.”

“Lincoln, is that you?”

“No, sir, there is no Lincoln either.” I borrowed Domenico’s polite formality and Kris’s patience as I continued, “I think you may have dialed the wrong number.”