“What happened to her?” she asks. “Her world burned,” I say. “Her family died, then her friends. She lost too much not to lose herself along the way.” A great wave of pity overcomes Emory. “Hold on to that feeling,” I say. “It will be easy to hate them, but both Thea and Hephaestus have suffered far more than you can ever imagine. Whatever they are today, it wasn’t their choice, and they didn’t deserve it.”
