Piers speared a hand through his hair and started pacing. “No, it’s not good at all. I tried to get Cat exiled from Thalyria to keep her from bringing more danger to my family. I didn’t want her dead, just gone—permanently gone—and she’s always picking fights and getting into battles, so I stupidly thought I’d give her a taste of her own medicine and turn her over to Ares, the god of war. I managed to get his attention, which was a colossal error. He would definitely take someone away with him, just not Cat. I didn’t count on how strongly the gods favor her, the plans they have. Three Olympians showed up and debated who to seize in Cat’s place. Ares threatened to take Kaia—to take my little sister away forever and throw her into endless wars—so I did the only thing I could think of to fix the mess I’d made. I offered myself instead.”

Sophie swallowed hard. Of course, he did. She wasn’t surprised at all.

“And Cat… She forgave me. Griffin didn’t. He won’t.” Piers’s voice rasped hard. He cleared his throat. “Ares could’ve taken any of us—whoever he wanted. I could’ve doomed my brother or my little sister to eternal war, but Athena stepped in and argued that I could be useful here, in her world.”

“You’ve been useful to me,” Sophie whispered.

Piers prowled back to her, his gray eyes two pain-filled thunderclouds. She’d almost stopped noticing his slightly swollen nose and scraped chin, the scratches on his arms…

“Did you fight with Griffin?” she asked, gently touching his jaw.

“With Cat. She could’ve killed me. She didn’t.”

“Maybe she’s not so awful, then?”

“I’m the awful one,” Piers bit out. “I tried to control forces I didn’t know enough about and nearly ripped my family apart. As it is”—he laughed harshly—“I’m the only one who got torn from everything. From everyone.”

“Does your family know what happened to you?”

“They know Athena took me to Attica. She said she had scientists ‘running amok with sensitive information,’ and that I might be of help.”

“So they know you’re gone? Forever? They must be devastated.” Tears burned her eyes. She’d only known Piers for two days and already knew his family was everything to him. She imagined the devotion went both ways. How could it not? Terrible families didn’t make a person like him—loyal, kind, caring. Everything she’d always wanted in a man.

He shrugged, then shook his head. “I’m dead to Griffin. I know that. Cat’s pregnant.” He swallowed. “I didn’t know that, but my actions could’ve taken his wife and child from him in the blink of an eye. I did that. I just did.”