“It’s not a threat. It’s simply fact. He is Greek and of a bloodlinenearly as old as yours. He is required to be what he was made to bewhether he wishes it or not. He swims against the current, Ari. He thinkshe can outrun his fate. He cannot. No one can.”

“Now I’ve officially seen everything.” Leonidas muttered. “Howoften do you see them?”Ari laughed weakly. “Do nightmares count?”Leonidas bent down to look in her eyes. “Nightmares alwayscount.”

“She bit the inside of her cheek. “You wouldn’t keep secrets from me, would you? I mean we’ve been friends how long?”"We have been friends, thirteen years, eight months, two weeks, four days,” The wheelchair stopped and Ari watched the long shadow look at his watch. “Sixteen hours, four minutes and forty seven seconds and counting I’d say; give or take thirty minutes. Or if you want the short version: five thousand and four days plus or minus a few hours."She put her hands to her face and laughed to keep from crying. “Please tell me you made half of that up. Who actually keeps track of time like that?”

“There probably are, but you would need a thaumaturge for that.They have books upon books of old magic. We only have Google.”

“It’s a shame they do that,” he says, thumbing through the pages. “Requirement ruins even the best of books.”

“I would bring down the sky, if it meant I was able to stay with youalways.”

“His gaze settles on the discarded book. He leans, reaching until his fingertips graze Dante's Inferno, still on its bed of folded sheets. "What have we here?" he asks."Required reading," I say."It's a shame they do that," he says, thumbing through the pages. "Requirement ruins even the best of books.”