19. The Devil You Don’t Know

Alexis sits with Lena, Oron, and a group of naked sirens, realizing others hear only rasps when she and Nyx speak. The sirens grill Alexis about her human past and sex life; she admits she is a virgin, prompting dramatic wails. They play a knife-grab card game fueled by ambrosia, and Alexis, giddy but anxious, joins their dares and antics.

As Alexis mock-strips for laughs, commotion erupts: the pianist is Kharon, whose presence recalls Corfu. Before Kharon reaches her, Augustus seizes Alexis by the throat and yanks her toga up, radiating possessive fury. Oron tries to comfort Alexis; she panics. Augustus throws Oron across the room and declares that anyone who touches Alexis answers to him.

Shamed and spiraling under ambrosia and panic, Alexis tries to leave on her own terms, but Augustus hoists her over his shoulder and carries her out despite Lena’s protests and a scuffle breaking out. As they exit, a siren convulses and foams at the mouth. Augustus insists others will help and stalks across the grounds with Poco clinging to his leg, threatening Alexis with a cryptic one-hour punishment if she resists.

Alexis, overwhelmed, stops fighting and "plays dead" as Nyx mutters that Augustus is savagely drawn to her. Alexis despairs at his control and at her own fragility. She falls asleep en route.

She awakens alone in the academy library before dawn, tucked under a blanket, bruises on her thighs where Augustus gripped her. Reliving her discovery that she can speak to sentient beings, she turns to study Thagorean equations for solace. An index card slips from her textbook, scrawled with messy ink, hinting at a new message.