Mars moved to the center railing and looked up.

Cass was peering down.

“We’ve been had,” he called.

“What?” Mars asked.

“She was leading us away,” Cassius shouted as Mars felt the others join him at the railing. “Those volumes are about the prophecy. If they did not before, they know about us now.”

“Fuck,” Mars clipped.

“Is that all?” True called.

“Ellie’s checking.”

Silence pressed in front of him, her head down, but her voice loud when she yelled, “Tell her two-one point five-seven. Two-one point five-nine. Two-one point six-three. And two-two point naught-one.”

She was reading from numbers she’d commandeered a quill and inked on the palm of her hand.

“Louder!” Ellie’s disembodied voice could be heard from above.

Silence started shouting but Mars pulled his queen to his front, took her wrist, and boomed a repeat of the numbers.

“Right!” Elena called.

Mars kept his wife close even as he released her wrist and looked to True. “Do you feel like a bloody fucking fool, standing in a library amongst a slew of dead bodies, accompanied by an ignoramus, shouting at each other?”

“Yes,” True answered.

Silence giggled.

Mars did not find anything amusing.

He felt this less so when he sensed movement above, looked up, saw Elena was nearly hanging over the railing, her honeyed hair swaying about her face, and her voice was urgent when she called, “Aramus? Do you know what the ‘Mouth of Triton’ is?”

Aramus looked to True. To Mars.

Then he raced up the stairs.

They all raced up after him.

152

The Pursuit

Teddy

Aboard the Passenger Galleon, the Pentacle

STRAIT OF MEDUSA

“I never in my life thought I’d go to Mar-el,” Moira, standing in the curve of Saturn’s arm at the railing of the ship, breathed as they saw land come into view. “This is so exciting.”

Saturn looked over her head to Faunus.

He did not share in his woman’s excitement.

“I love seafood,” she declared. “We never had it, except once, when I was a little girl, and we went for a holiday in Seil Haven. So that’s why I know I love it.”

Saturn grunted.

She twisted her head to look up at him. “You don’t like seafood?”

“I have no idea, gioia,” Saturn murmured. “I have never tasted it.”

Her eyes got large. “Truly?”

His face softened a tad. “Truly.”

“We must go to an eatery the minute we disembark,” she decreed. “Get you some white fish fried in batter. It’s delicious.”

“You do know,” Saturn began carefully, “we are not here to holiday.”

“Yes,” she mumbled, now not looking at any of them, “of course.”

She turned back to face the sea.

Her excitement had deflated, and Teddy knew precisely what she was feeling, but he loved her all the more for trying to make this into a delightful adventure.