And this time, there was something different in his touch. The previous kiss had been tender, light and careful—the caress of a man whose lover is suffering. This one was all passion, hard and demanding, and full on from the start. It awakened a fire in me that had nothing to do with pain, and everything to do…

With power.

Not stolen from a god, but ours, thrumming through the bond between us and sweet, sweet, so damned sweet, like honey dripping onto my lips. It healed my flesh, sang in my veins, and for a moment, all I could do was cling to him, licking it up. I felt my strength returning, my vision clearing, the ringing in my ears beginning to ease—

And then Zeus jerked us halfway across the room.

We hit the floor, and Pritkin’s body went up in strange, black smoke underneath me. I stared around at the dissipating clouds, and wondered if I was somehow imagining all this. But part of it was real enough. Zeus was sucking me dry, and in the process was throwing me physically around the room, using his power like a whip—

And, yeah, I got the irony, I thought, right before he slung me against a wall.

People outside were yelling, fists were beating on the door, and enchantments were being muttered, which did exactly nothing, because that was coven magic sealing me in, and the war mages didn’t know it. And a good thing, too. If they tried to interfere, they might get themselves killed, and add changing time to the clusterfuck of the last few days.

But I wasn’t doing so well on my own. I was dragged along the floor, suddenly grateful for boards that had given up all their splinters ages ago, only to stop when I hit the side of the tub—with my head. The blow was hard enough for me to see stars, but I found purchase on the slick side anyway, bracing myself and pulling back.

Which did nothing except to almost break my leg when I was ripped out of place and dragged over the top.

Agnes flickered into view for a second, a red-faced girl in a filthy gown that she’d never had time to change. I opened my mouth to warn her, to tell her to get out, but I didn’t have a chance. Because she was suddenly gone again, looking as surprised as I was.

Redirect spell, I thought. Rhea couldn’t keep anyone with the Pythian power from shifting in, but she could lay spells that sent them elsewhere whenever they tried it. I wondered where she’d sent Agnes as I was flung back across the room.

I landed on the bed, flipped over, and looked up—

And saw a furious woman flash back in, wearing a filthy gown that was now also dripping wet.

Oh, that was where.