I probably have. I’m not sure why I decided it was easier to give in. Maybe because if I didn’t she would probe my brain until she found out on her own. This at least gives me a chance at controlling the conversation.

Her only response is to ask, “Why?”

I stiffen my spine before answering. All in.

“Because I need ruby pomegranate seeds for an offering to Chronos.” When she tilts her head a fraction to the right, I add, “So I can travel back in time and stop my parents from getting banished.”

I clench my jaw.

As I watch Stella’s reaction, I expect her to be outraged. To act all snooty and superior and then run tattle to her headmaster daddy, but not before she gives us a scathing lecture on breaking one of the unbreakable rules.

Scathing lectures are her favorite pastime.

I think we’re all holding our breath.

If Stella turns us in, we’ll all pay the price. It was a stupid move. I should have kept my mouth shut and just focused on blocking her out of my brain. We’re all done for now.

After the longest silence of my life, Stella walks to the door. I shake my head, waiting for her to run to phone her father and tell on us.

Instead, she closes the door, turns back to face us, and says, “Without my help, you’ll wind up rotting in an Olympic dungeon.”

“Or trapped in Hades for all eternity,” Troy offers.

I cut him a sharp scowl. Returning my attention to Stella, I sneer. “You want to help?”

When she nods, I turn to my friends for support.

They seem just as confused by her response as I am. The last thing I expected from Stella was an offer to help. But if she’s offering, I’m not going to turn her down. We’re at a dead end.

“Great.” I cross my arms over my chest. “If you have any brilliant ideas for finding a way into Hades, I’m all ears.”

“I don’t,” she says, walking over to a chair in the corner of the room, “but I know someone who does.”

“Who?” I ask.

She grins. “My boyfriend.”

For the love of Zeus, why don’t we involve the entire island in my superillegal quest? This is getting ridiculous. But if Stella thinks Xander Katara will have a solution, then let’s add one more to the circle.

Honestly, I can’t imagine anywhere I want to go less than Hades. Not for the normal reasons—the whole rotting, gloomy land-of-death-and-despair-that-I-might-never-come-back-from thing. No, Hades is at the top of my must-avoid list for one simple reason: Persephone.

She’s pretty much an embarrassment to all womankind. What kind of vapid airhead gets herself trapped in the underworld because she can’t help herself from popping a few pomegranate seeds for the journey home? Talk about lack of willpower.