I drew in a shaky breath. “You . . . you’re not . . . ?” I couldn’t even bring myself to say it, because saying it out loud sounded so crazy. I mean, a lot of things I once thought were just some insane old myths were actually very real, but this . . . No way.

“Are you asking if I’m a Gorgon?”

My heart dropped into my stomach.

“Once upon a time, I was something very different. A priestess in Athena’s temple, but then Poseidon found me.” Her smile faded, and one of the tight curls that rested along her temple swayed and then stretched. The tip of the curl wasn’t a tip.

Oh my gods.

The tip was the head of a tiny snake. My eyes widened as it opened its mouth and hissed, revealing a forked tongue. The librarian was Medusa.

“He took from me what was never his, and Athena, being the goddess of reasoning and intelligence, turned me into a monster.” Her upper lip curled as she snorted. “Great judge she makes. I was punished for Poseidon’s actions.”

“That’s so wrong.” I didn’t know what else to say.

“That’s the way the gods are,” she replied.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing—who was standing in front of me. “But I thought you . . .” Oh man, how did I say this? “I thought you were killed.”

“By that little punk bitch? Perseus? Please.” Medusa laughed. “He couldn’t fight his way out of a pack of declawed kittens without his daddy Zeus stepping in.”

I opened my mouth, but I really didn’t have any response to that.

“You are so incredibly naive.” She tweaked my nose with cool fingers, causing me to blink. “It’s cute. Not flattering cute. But cute.”

My brows lifted. Did Medusa just tweak my nose? What was this life?

“There are myths and then there are truths. Perseus decapitating me is obviously a myth. People needed a hero then. The gods gave them one. Well, namely Zeus gave them one, most likely to anger his wife, considering the little demigod was his bastard offspring.” The tiny snake curl hissed before it settled against her cheek. “But Perseus tried to fight me. He did not succeed.”

It took me a couple of moments to find my voice. “What are you doing here, in the Covenant library?”

“A form of punishment.” One shoulder rose. “I have anger management problems.”

“Oh,” I murmured.

She turned sideways. “When my skin turns green, it’s not a good thing.”

That . . . that made sense. Kind of like the Incredible Hulk. “And . . . um, your eyes? Do they turn people to stone?”

“You’ll know the answer to that in a few moments.” Turning back to the wall, she waved her hand.