WHO Marcella, Ares, Melpomene WHEN Monday evening WHERE Melpomene’s apartment WHAT Where is Kaden??? WARNINGS talk of violence,
It had been three days since Melpomene’s public post saying that Telos had been found, and three days of calls going nowhere until the voicemail of the number Kaden had given her was full. Three days also of silence from Hecate.
And now, a post saying they were back in New York, back in the state at least, and probably only an hour or two away from home.
Marcie chewed the edge of her thumbnail as she walked, her blood racing. No Kaden. Ares coming home, and No Kaden. There had to be an answer. He couldn’t be- he just couldn’t- but how would she know, if nobody was likely to offer an answer? If Hecate hadn’t made it, if she’d been caught up somewhere else, if she was dead too?
She ended up walking past Melpomene’s apartment, her phone in her hand in her pocket, feet moving quickly as she looked up, but nobody was there yet. Looping back around the block, she took a breath for courage and went in to knock on the door.
Nobody home. But it let some of that nervous energy ebb away, and Marcie turned and found a coffee shop, where she could sit and listen to music and drink three frappes very slowly while trying not to watch the road. She knew it was a risk facing up to Ares again, but somehow, she couldn’t walk away.
The rumble of the car caught her attention, and she looked up, feeling a slam in her chest. That was him, it had to be him, and she was rising to her feet, eyes fixed on the vehicle as it found a place to park. She watched, her breath coming quicker, as Ares got out and looked around, as two huge dogs jumped out of the car, as the curly head of Melpomene bent over the back seat to lift out the tiny baby and clutch him to her breast. Ares lugged bags out of the back of the car, making a show of carrying everything at once as they headed inside and up.
Marcie felt scared, very truly scared, but her feet walked her out and onto the sidewalk and across the street because she had to know.