“Come on Mum,” Zoe said. She wove her fingers into long, slender digits of the night goddess. “Just one, little clue?”

  “It’s not that I don’t want to,” Nyx said, extracting her hands gently from Zoe’s. “We just don’t like prematurely declaring your Ascended name, just in case…”

  Just in case? Zoe said, raising an eyebrow. As if reading her mind, Nyx continued.

  “Like I said, plenty of humans have potential to Ascend. Most will never fulfill this potential. We just do not like to speak too soon. I believe humans call it ‘jinxing’.”

  “Wow,” Zoe replied. “I didn’t think that gods and goddesses could be superstitious as well.”

  Nyx snuck a look over her shoulder at Ever then lowered her voice. “I’ve spoken with the other Primordials and can tell you that you shall be Ascending next week.”

  “What?” Zoe blurted. Mimi jumped slightly, earning Zoe a reproachful look from Ever as he resumed patting his dog to sleep. “So soon?” She whispered.

  Nyx nodded. “Next week is the last week of winter. Having you Ascend just as Spring starts will be a welcome Boon. There will be celebrations in Olympus as life begins anew.”

  “Life…” Zoe’s hands cupped her tummy. “What happens with my baby?”

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  “The babe shall be born a minor god in their own right,” Nyx said. “Ever will of course be busy once his apprenticeship is over, but I’m sure he’ll make time to spend it with you and his child.”

  “My colleagues…” Zoe said. She lay back and closed her eyes. “I’ll need to say goodbye to them.”

  “Nothing is to say you could not continue with your mortal vocation,” Nyx said, “it is actually your work helping animals thrive and live happily that…”

  Zoe started twitching.

  Seconds later, her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she dragged laborious breaths in, foaming at the mouth as she pushed them out.

  “What’s happening?” Ever said, rushing over. He grasped Zoe’s hands, her fingers warped into grotesque claws by the seizure gripping her body.

  “I do not know,” Nyx replied, standing up. She glanced up at the door. “I must go. I shall be back next week, my son.” She slipped through the glass, reforming into the night sky outside.

  The door flew open.

  “Code Blue,” Dr. Yang said into his pager, “Code Blue.” He calmly inspected the monitors, then pulled out a penlight, shining it into Zoe’s left, then right eye before pulling out his pager again. “I need any available doctors to come to Room 131 with 50ccs of Lorazepam.”

  He hooked it back to his hip before joining Ever. “Help me turn her on her side.”

  Ever mutely did as he was told, cradling Zoe from below her hips and splaying her legs so that she couldn’t roll back onto her back and risk swallowing her tongue.

  “Damn it, do I have to do everything myself?” Dr Yang growled. “I’ll be ten seconds, max. Keep her on her side.” He loped out of the room, steps long and quick, leaving Ever with Zoe still intermittently seizing.

  Barely two seconds had passed before Ever looked up. There were slow, deliberate footfalls that were echoing far too loudly down the hallway.