Melpomene's heart was thrust right up into her throat at Sparta's bark, followed by the sound of another voice. She'd set Telos down in his cot and used her body to cover the doorway, both hand pressed against the frame, body feeling the panic even though it was only Marcie.
No, it didn't matter that it was only Marcie, and that Ares was still here and a hundred or more times stronger than his daughter. The panic happened whether there was logic behind it or not. "Telos is here," she answered, because there was only one he in her vocabulary right this second. "And none of you are ever getting your hands on him ever again, or I'll rip you apart myself."