I didn’t know where the courage to argue with the enchantress came from. All I knew was that I felt the visceral need to contradict her - to correct her. Though she spoke with passion and a fever that couldn’t possibly be all pretense, I sensed something dark and scheming underneath her words that loosened my tongue.
“That’s not true,” I said, and to my eternal surprise, my voice sounded strong and sure, almost combative. I let the living urge carry me as far as it could, and it pulled me along behind it. “I was put here to preserve mankind, not to see them wiped out. Zeus’s influence isn’t irreversible. When he’s gone, his absence will let them heal.”
Circe’s eyes widened in an expression of mocking astonishment, and she tossed my wrist away in disgust. “Oh, really! So the mortals are j
