Her fingers touched her collar, and then she felt the lock. “I could beat this, but at no time during my transport was there ever a time to escape. And as for here: the corridors are guarded, and this compound is patrolled. Even if I got past that, I’ve got no extraction strategy.” She looked at me. “You’ve got superior strength, though, and you can fly, courtesy of the patronage of your Goddess?”
“No,” I said, smiling sadly. “I lost all my powers after I knelt before him.” I sighed and stroked her cheek. “I’m just an ordinary woman now, like you. We are both slaves under his domination. He controls our lives, and we must obey or be whipped or killed.”
She took my hand in both of hers. “You sacrificed everything for your brother’s life?”
“His life and the lives of the other Olympians;
