“Two ways that I can think of,” he said. “Either Zeus closed everything down to prevent an invasion there and anyone from tracking me here, or the invaders have gained control. I’m really hoping it’s the first one.”

“Invaders?” Marina asked.

“From another world,” Alexios said. “We think the faction from our world that is attempting to take control has aligned themselves with some group from another world.”

“Holy crap!” Halcyon said. “How many other worlds are looking to knock off another species?”

“You probably don’t want to know,” Alexios said. “It would just make it harder to sleep at night.”

Marina threw her hands in the air. “Then what good does it do to find the ring if you can’t even get it back to them?”

“If Zeus closed everything down as a preventive measure, he’ll get word to me somehow,” Alexios said. “And he’ll arrange a way for me to communicate any success with the search so that the ring can be safely returned to our world.”

“And if your world was taken by the enemy?” Halcyon asked.

“Then your personal crisis won’t matter,” he said quietly. “Nothing will matter.”

Marina’s thoughts whirled as his words sank in. If she chose to believe the ring existed and that she had some sort of special calling, then she didn’t have the luxury of ignoring the negative aspects of the situation. Very negative aspects. And his expression left no doubt that Alexios was seriously worried. In fact, he looked stressed out of his wits.

“Isn’t there something you can do?” Halcyon asked. “You’re half god, right? Doesn’t that count for something?”

Alexios frowned. “I’m afraid my godly abilities only extend to not being killed by your weaponry, walking through locked doors, and living in an invisible condo. I can’t see that those would help.”

“They might,” Halcyon said. “If we need to spring Avery from prison and stash her somewhere, I’d say you’re first on our list to call.”

“No one’s going to prison,” Marina said, her breath catching in her throat. She looked at Alexios. “Okay. All of this sounds really, really bad. What do I need to do?”

“What you’ve already agreed to do,” he said.

“How the hell is she supposed to bop around playing Lord of the Rings when her daughter is sitting in jail?” Halcyon asked. “Do you understand what kind of stress that places on a mother? Mothers have killed people because their daughters didn’t make cheerleading teams. I think this is a bit worse.”

“I suppose killing this woman pressing charges is an option,” Alexios said. “Unfortunately, I can’t do it.”

“Why not?” Halcyon asked. “You could do the job and whisk away in your magical condo. No harm. No foul. Unless you don’t have the stomach for such things.”

“It’s not my stomach that’s in question,” he said. “It’s against our rules for any of us to kill humans. There were too many using your kind as entertainment and Zeus didn’t like it. Except in the case of self-defense, if we kill a human, we go to the gods’ equivalent of prison. And trust me, what you have here is the Ritz-Carlton compared to where Zeus sends you.”