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made me uncomfortable. The guardian priests were well-trained.
    They scanned both blades.
    “Please step through the detector.”
    I walked beneath the archway. A light flashed green.
    “I’m not picking up any hidden charms. Do you have any magic to declare?”
    Which meant, in layman’s terms, was I packing anything that could be hidden from the detector? If I lied and they found out, I’d be banned. I felt in my pockets to make certain that I hadn’t inadvertently brought any charms along.
    “Nope.”
    “You can go through.” He handed my sword and dagger back to me. I slid them back into their sheaths and he waved me on.
    As I headed toward the elevator, I heard him whisper to his coworker.
    “That’s Fury ,” he said in a low voice. “Hecate’s favorite.”
    I couldn’t hear what the other guard replied as I crossed the hall to the elevator and punched the button. But if I was Hecate’s favorite, it was news to me.
    The great hall of Naós ton Theón gleamed in shades of ivory and gold. Statues of the gods lined the hall, a bench beside each one for supplicants to sit and meditate.
    Each god had their own chamber, complete with offering font and gallery. The main gallery was used for large gatherings and holidays. Draperies embroidered in ivory and gold sectioned off areas of the main hall, sweeping down from the walls, tied back with golden tassels. The temple seemed fairly empty, but here and there a supplicant sat near one of the statues. A woman was weeping next to Hera’s statue. By the gray shawl draped around her shoulder, I pegged her for a recent widow. Either that, or she had lost a child.
    The elevator doors opened, and, as I entered the car, I silently wished her peace of mind. I knew what it was like to lose someone. You never fully got over it. As the doors shut, I flashed back to events that I tried to leave in the past, but never fully went away.
     

     
    I was thirteen, and it was a chill winter night. My mother had taken me to a factory party with her. It was near Solstice and the Metalworks, where she held a job for ViCad Corp, threw a huge holiday party for all the workers and their families every winter, complete with a buffet, pageantry, and games. When my father was alive, we went as a family, given he had also worked for ViCad. But now, it was just my mother and me.
    It was icy cold, with six inches of snow on the ground, and we were waiting at a Monotrain platform. But the train had broken down—the trains back to the Trips, where we lived, always had problems any time an ice storm hit. The readerboard flashed that it would be another hour before it arrived.
    “We can’t just stand here. We’ll walk.” Marlene, my mother, glanced up at the sky. The storm had lifted, and stars twinkled down at us through the icy night.
    I didn’t want to walk but kept my mouth shut. Marlene did her best to keep our lives together, even after my father died from blue-lung disease. ViCad was known for its poor health practices for its workers, but times were rough and jobs scarce, so neither one of my parents objected. And the fact that I was a Theosian brought in a little extra cash. ViCad had a vested interest in keeping the parents of Theosians employed, hoping at some point to use our powers.
    She crossed her arms, tucking her hands under her armpits as we picked our way through the frozen slush and ice. “Damn, it’s cold out here.” Her breath hung in the air, freezing into vapor.
    I was cold, too, but she had managed to buy me a new coat and a hat, and my boots were new, so I wasn’t going to complain. It was the end of the month and food was scarce until payday, but the party had offered a good chance to fill up our pockets with finger foods to tide us over until her next check. I had at least ten biscuits, three apples, and a half-dozen pastries hiding out in my backpack.
    I stomped my feet as we stopped by a lamp post to catch our breath.
    She flashed me a rueful look, her teeth