I whirl on the spot. Within a few heartbeats I've swept past Syn and back into my chamber. My movements have a fluid immediacy to them now that I can't help but marvel at, easy and instinctual as they are.

I'm halfway to the door when Syn clears his throat from behind me. A noticeable contrivance, coming form a Synthe.

My heart beats rapidly and my chest heaves, burning with a sudden, intense frustration at the interruption. For the first time I realize that it's not just my senses and physical abilities that have heightened. It's my emotions, too.

When it comes to Aidoneus, at least.

I turn on my heel, raising an eyebrow at my new Companion.

"Yes?" I snap, surprised at how harsh I sound.

Syn's eyes go wide at my tone, and he hesitates. "Never mind."

I turn away from him again, calling to the door at the stony end of the room to open. It obeys immediately, its frame darkened by the king waiting at its other side. His eyes widen in surprise as he takes in the sight of me, mouth working silently for half an instant as he brings up a hand and runs it through his hair.

From the careful way he averts his eyes, I notice for the first time that the simple robe I'd woken in has fallen almost completely open. I'd been so focused on my surroundings and sensory experiences, I'd barely paid any heed to my actual body.

Oh!

I'm an idiot.

Snatching the robe closed, I tie the sash tighter about my waist with as much dignity as I can muster.

"I'm so sorry, Kore," begins Aidon, obviously flustered. "I know you just woke up, and normally I'd give you more time to adjust before imposing company on you. It's just that...I thought you should hear the news from me."

I freeze.

"What is it?"

His expression pained. "I think we should sit down."

"No. Just tell me."

He takes a deep a breath. "It's your sister, Eurydice. She was...attacked. It just happened. The identity of the assassin—"

"Assassin?" My knees go weak. "My sister is dead?"

His brow twists, his hands twitching upward briefly before curling into fists. "No. It was a failed attempt. She's hurt. Very badly hurt. But she's still alive. The assassin is unknown. They reprogrammed a medical Synthe."

"Is she...is she going to be alright?" I clutch at my robe's lapels, taking a few faltering steps backward, hands twisting in the fabric. Aidoneus follows me in, the door closing quietly behind him. I sink onto a low, cushioned bench against the wall to one side of the entrance, eyes searching Aidon's face as he kneels on the ground before me.

"Probably, but I don't know for sure. I received the news minutes ago, and the incident occurred less than an hour before that. Kore, I'm so—"

"Can I speak to her? Can I get her on screen?"

"She's unconscious right now. They'll probably keep her that way for a day at the very least as she's healed."

He squeezes my hands, and I look down in shock—I don't remember him taking them. A subtle shiver runs through my skin at the awareness of his touch. It's warm to me now, and comforting—and it would be so much more than that, too...if it weren't for the fact that someone's just hurt a person I love.

Stolen story; please report.

"What does this mean for Gaia? If she doesn't recover..." I choke up, unable to continue the thought or conjure the words.

"She will. And if she doesn't there's always the Dusk. The young and Immune will be able to survive there just long enough for a new heir to come of age and restore the dome. But it won't be necessary. The Renewal will happen as planned. It's not for another four months."

I gnaw my lip. A new heir.

"But the treaty between our families...we're to marry within three days of my rebirth. I don't suppose there's any way she'll be able to make it—?"

But his expression tells me everything I need to know.

I take a shaky breath.

"You'll be alerted the instant you can speak to her," he assures me. Rising slowly, he pulls me with him.

"I'm sorry you had to learn of this now. Sorry it happened so early into your transition. That it happened at all. But there's no way I could allow it to be kept from you until later."

"No." I look up, meeting his gaze. His pupils flare wide as I look into them, actually noticing my own reflection in the mirror of his eyes for the first time since my change. "Thank you for telling me."

He squeezes my hands again before releasing them gently. "If you have more questions, Syn can answer them. He'll be fed the information as we receive it. I'm afraid I have to go, now. There's a lot to be done."

"Ok," I say, voice breaking as I think of what that means—imagining the millions of ways in which Eurydice might have suffered. But I'm determined to hear every detail of what happened, as if that'll help her somehow.

"Please, order yourself some real food. Syn will show you how. And clothes, too. You'll need something a bit more formal for tonight." His lip twitches upward.

"Tonight?"

"Family dinner, to officially welcome you to the House of Hades and receive my mother's blessing. I know," he says, expression twisting in sympathy at the look on my face. "Believe me, Kore, if I could spare you of all this I would, with everything you're going through. All I ask is that you make an appearance, and then—"

"I'll be alright," I say, drawing myself up and setting my jaw. Deep breath in, deep breath out. "It's part of what I agreed to."

His eyes search mine for a moment, but then he nods. "Thank you, Kore. I'll see you this evening."

~*~

I sit on my bed, frozen to the spot as I watch the security footage play out on the enormous wallscreen mounted across from it. We look almost exactly the same, my sister and I. We have the same masses of rose-red hair, the same oval-shaped face and smattering of freckles. Her eyes, wide in shock and fear, look just like mine probably would—if the doctor I'd trusted all my life suddenly turned on me.

If it tried to plunge a syringe of poison into my neck and failed. If it then powered up its lazer scalpel and slashed me open with it from chest to hip.

I watch until the very end, when her guards—human ones—rush in, doing the job of her disabled Guardian and destroying the Lepis model before it can finish carrying out its corrupted directive.

When it's over, the screen goes black. I sit in silence, staring at my reflection in its glossy surface.

I want to scream, and I know that if I move so much as a hair's breadth right now, I will. So instead I become a sculpture. Questions rage through my head. Questions like why did this happen? And who did this? And how can I catch them and make them pay? But the questions don't have answers right now, and the more I ask them of myself the more I feel as though I'm picking at a wound. The only good I can do right now is to stop.

And so I get lost in the sight of myself.

My new self.

My skin, formerly peachy-pink, has cooled to a blue so pale it's only a few shades away from pure white. Like snow in shadow—and with the same glimmering sheen when the light hits it. My pupils are like Aidoneus's now, catlike slits that widen and expand as my focus shifts. And my eyes, once hazel, are the same color now as the River Styx. Even my hair has taken on a colder tone, more a desaturated fuchsia than red.

Syn keeps his distance for a time, but eventually he drifts back over, concern twisting his sculpted brow. My attention shifts to his face. He's remarkably well-made.

"Lady Kore, you really should eat now. Please."

I eye his neck, but he gives me a stern look.

"I mean ordinary food."

"I'm not hungry right now. Nothing sounds good." My eyes flick back to the screen, images of my sister and the medical Synthe flashing across the forefront of my mind.

Syn's silent for a moment, thoughtful. "Would you like to see your closet? Or how about the rest of the palace?"

I finally look up at him, frowning at an unwelcome thought—how do I know he won't fall to the same corruption as Lepis? But if he were going to try to kill me, I suppose he could have done it several times over by now. If it were something to be concerned about, surely Aidon would have said something?

The Synthe smiles, flashing pearly ceramic teeth, and extends a hand to me.

"Come. Let me give you a tour."