“It was warm,” she said. “Crowded, when it was all six of us. But there was always enough to eat. His father had the loudest laugh I’ve ever heard. His mother doted on both her boys, and on me and Beru when they took us in. She’d always wanted a daughter, but she loved her sons fiercely. Hector worshipped Marinos. He had a temper, even back then, and Marinos was the only one who could calm him when he really got going. Well—Marinos and sometimes Beru.”

Jude glanced at her and Ephyra met his gaze. “He risked his life for me,” Jude said. “You all did. But Hector’s the only one who actually lost his. And I just keep thinking—I have to do right by him. I don’t know how, but I have to make it count for something.”

“Make what count?” Ephyra asked.

“My life.”

“We can’t go back,” she said, remembering Hector’s words. “Only forward. We can’t undo our choices. We can only make new ones. Different ones. But—for the record, Jude, I don’t think a single one of us would’ve chosen differently. I don’t think Hector would’ve. He loved you. Not perfectly, not infallibly, but he loved you.”

Jude met her gaze, but he seemed lost in thought.

“Ephyra,” Anton called from outside the shrine. His voice was even, barely louder than his usual speaking volume, but there was an edge of alarm that sent adrenaline spiking through Ephyra’s blood. By the quick, worried glance that Jude shot her, Ephyra could tell he heard it as well.

They rushed back outside. Ephyra took two running steps past Anton and then stopped.

Dusk had fallen, turning the light an eerie violet-gray as the last vestiges of sunlight glowed between the sea and the sky. At the edge of the cliff, backed by the rays of dying light, stood the goddess.

“I came to pay my respects to Hector and his family,” she said.

Ephyra’s heart thrummed. It was so hard not to think of the girl in front of her as her sister. Hard to remember that it wasn’t Beru meeting her eyes across the yard.

It had been almost two weeks since she had disappeared in the aftermath of their attempt to slay the creature inside her. Almost two weeks since Ephyra thought she’d never see her again.

Ephyra took another step toward her.

“We’ll meet you back on the road,” Anton said gently, taking Jude’s hand and leading him away.

“Beru,” Ephyra finally choked out. “Beru.”

And then she was walking toward her swiftly, throwing her arms around her. Beru let Ephyra embrace her, one hand coming up to rest between her shoulder blades.

Ephyra felt something inside her break at the touch, tears spilling from her eyes.