Chapter 10

“And the sword? How did you know it was Theo?”

“I didn’t. Well, I suspected. I’d asked to spend eternity with him, so the gods, with their twisted sense of humor, decided to make it impossible for me to die and impossible for him to live.”

Your blood. My blood.

“I cut myself on the sword when I was cleaning it,” Annie said. “I got blood on the rubies. Theo said…he thought my blood was what got him out. Or changed him, maybe, since the sword’s completely gone now.”

“I’ve never tried to understand how the gods work, or why it ever happened. I was a soldier. I wasn’t interested in divine intervention after I figured out how they screwed me over. Why would your blood unlock the prison he’s been in?”

“I don’t know.” She hesitated, though she knew she had to suggest it. “Maybe Theo does.” Carefully, she extricated her hands from his. “You should probably go unlock him out of the storage room. I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about.”