"I smell blood."
The exquisite white silk embroidered with gold thread was stained with blotches of blood, clinging tightly to Athena's wrist. She paid no attention to her soiled white nightgown and continued using her bare hands to feed slippery, bloody chunks of human liver to the three giant owls standing on the balcony. As the animals pecked at the flesh between her blood-soaked fingers, they kept their eyes fixed on the tall human standing behind their mistress. She was unaffected by the newcomer's extraordinary charm, but the three owls had gone tense, their feathers standing on end as they prepared to flee at any moment. A venomous snake coiled around her ankle had already completely fainted, lying limp on the floor with its belly facing up. "I'm glad you remembered your duties, my child. Those Witches failed to erase your will. I was very satisfied with the Snake Person souls you gave me last time. I'm curious—whose blood and soul do you intend to offer me next?"
Athena did not turn around. Compared to the past, she now appeared even more radiant, supernatural power gleaming in her eyes. She fed the last few chopped pieces of liver to the owls, then waved them off the balcony. "You come here every time before starting a war, but I don't want you to come looking for me only at times like this." She picked up a handkerchief and wiped the blood from her hands. The flesh she had fed them came from Latverian prison cells, smuggled into New York through illegal ports, then prepared by local gangs and delivered in refrigerated storage boxes. "You haven't lived in my apartment for a long time. I prepared some food for you. Boston lobster season is over, but it's sea urchin season now. I