“So you won’t feel so lonely and scared. Is it working?”
“No,” Zerina said drily.
Jinx’s tinkling laughter filled the room. “You always make me laugh. You’re my favorite cousin.”
“Only because I was the one who didn’t leave when you appeared. Things tend to go wrong whenever you’re in a room.”
Jinx’s head tilted to the side in question. “Why didn’t you leave when others would? It’s not my fault things happen. Fate still blames me for falling down that flight of steps, doesn’t she?”
“Maybe a little. You did bump into her.”
“Even your father doesn’t like me, and he’s supposed to be a Saint.”
Zerina glared. “Supposed to be?”
Jinx shrugged. “Can a Saint be an adulterer?”
“He made a mistake. He said he had never been tempted by a woman until you convinced him to try to teach you potions.”
“He blamed me for that? I only wanted him to teach me how to make a love potion. When he refused, I attempted it on my own. Is it my fault he drank it before I could throw it away?”
“Yes! You could have told him the truth when he asked what you were making instead of lying and telling him it would make someone stronger.”
“How did I know that he would see Juno? That was an accident, pure and simple.”
“I don’t know about that,” Zerina said doubtfully. “How about Achilles?”
“That definitely wasn’t my fault! I told his mother how to protect him. How could it be my fault that she forgot to dip his ankle?”
“Hercules …?”
“How is that—”
“You convinced Deianeira to use a love potion on Hercules, which poisoned him.”
“I offered her my love potion, not to make her own,” Jinx argued back.
“Did or did not Mother warn you to stay away from earth? Despite that, did you come to earth, to New York, and when there, confide to one of the humans that money was useless? It took years for the earth to recover.”
“Okay, that one might have been my fault. If everyone is always so worried about being around me, then why did you always stay and talk to me?”
Zerina’s face flushed in embarrassment. “Transporting is my weakest gift.”
Jinx laughed harder. “You stayed because you were afraid of where you would end up?”
“Yes,” Zerina confessed.
“And I thought you stayed because you liked me.” Her laughter died. “I don’t know how I feel about that.”
Zerina sighed. She couldn’t understand how a woman capable of producing such devastation could be so sensitive.
“Are you still trying to find a way in to help me?” Zerina prodded when Jinx remained silent.
“No, I’m resting. I’m trying to decide if I still want to help.”
Zerina began kicking out at the image at the bottom of the bed.
“What are you doing?” Jinx asked.