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gawked at her until he noticed the tears on her cheeks.
    My poor, sweet, Gertie.
    Before she could utter a word, Jeno moved between them and said, full of anger, “Tell me who was responsible for the destruction of our caves.”
    Hector had no ability to stop his thoughts. Athena.
    The demigod caught Jeno by the throat and forced him against the side of the building once more. “How could you let this happen to Gertie?”
    Gertie read Jeno’s thoughts along with Hector. It was never my intention. I only meant to save my father from the Angelis boy.
    “Klaus?” Hector asked.
    “He planned to destroy my father along with his brother,” Jeno said in a strangled voice.
    “You know it’s true,” Gertie said. “Now please, let him go. He lost his sister today.”
    Hector took a step back and freed Jeno. “I’m sorry, man.” Yet his thoughts revealed his true attitude: But she was already dead.
    “Is that how you feel about me?” Gertie asked.
    “You can still be saved.”
    “By killing my father,” Jeno said. “Is that your plan?”
    “I’ll do whatever it takes to save her.”
    Jeno hissed and charged at Hector, who drew his sword and swung, nearly decapitating the vampire.
    Gertie flew between them and held them off of one another, a hand flat against each of their chests, her elbows locked. To Hector, she shouted, “What if I don’t want to be saved?” Yet, she couldn’t hide her thoughts. She would like to be human again. She longed to rejoin the Angelis family. She hoped one day to walk again in sunshine and to no longer crave human blood. And she missed Hector—she missed him so much.
    “I love Jeno,” she insisted. And she could never hurt him. She could never take his father away from him, especially after what had happened to his sister.
    Hector’s face paled. Gertie wanted to cry again, but she fought back tears.
    Jeno glared past Gertie at Hector. “Why would Athena destroy her own monument?”
    “Athena never wanted your kind living beneath her temple in the first place,” Hector said. “When she overheard your leaders making plans to attack her favorite city, what did you expect her to do? Sit back and watch? You tramps don’t know what you’re up against. You need to back off and be grateful for what you have.”
    “ Grateful ?” Jeno sneered. “You think we ought to be grateful ?”
    “You live leisurely lives with plenty of willing humans,” Hector accused. “What more could you want? The gods don’t begrudge you anything.”
    “How about status and respect?” Jeno practically spit. “You yourself refer to us as tramps. Others call us freaks and beggars. The gods should treat us equally with mortals, but they look at us with disdain. And we do nothing to deserve it.”
    “That’s a lie,” Hector said. “I’ve seen plenty of vampires take humans against their will and sometimes leave them for dead. Have you forgotten Alexander?”
    Gertie screamed, “Enough!” She just couldn’t take it anymore. “Go away, Hector! Leave us alone!”
    “But Gertie, I…”
    “Go away!” She narrowed her eyes at him viciously and wished him gone. She hated his attitude toward the vampires. It made her feel sick.
    Hector just stood there, dumbfounded.
    “Or better yet, we’ll go,” she said. “Come on, Jeno.”
    She took her fellow vampire’s hand in hers and together they lifted up into the sky, leaving the heartbroken Hector behind.
     
     

Chapter Six: The Winter Solstice
     
    The next several days were short, and the nights were long as the winter solstice approached. During the day, the vampires kept to the crowded caves and either slept, prayed, or talked about their eagerness for war. Sometimes Homer told stories of the epic wars of ancient times. They speculated about when their Lord Dionysus would finally answer their prayers and lead them into battle. Some felt it was time to take matters into their own hands.
    During the nights, Jeno and Gertie flew to Athens to