"...I did tell them about the last part," he added.
"Who?" I said. "You told who about what last part?"
"I told them you'd seen me," he said, combing his fingers through his hair with a sigh, as if I hadn't spoken. "...I requested permission to make the ID permanent, to begin your training. But, Allie..." He looked back at me, his eyes serious. "...My request was denied."
"Denied," I repeated.
"Yes."
I stared at him. For a moment, I couldn't think of anything to say. It didn't help that a few hours earlier, I'd been drunk, then forcibly drugged...then jacked up on adrenaline as I waited for my imminent death by fire. I guess it was all starting to catch up with me. So I folded my arms, tried replaying all of his words again, only this time inside my head.
It didn't help.
Finally, I shook my head.
"What?" I said blankly, looking up at him. "What are you talking about, Simon?"
He sighed a little, again running his fingers through his hair.
"Allie," he said tiredly. "You already heard part of this."
"Heard part of what?"
"What they told you. It was true." He paused, studying my face. After his eyes focused on mine for a few seconds, he frowned again. "...Not the part about being a Snake diety. The rest of it. About you being an intermediary. About you being a seer."
"Oh," I said, nodding. "So only that part, huh?" I smiled wanly. "Not the part where I have to die by fire to cleanse the soul of humanity and prevent the end of the world?"
I'd meant it as a kind of off-color joke, but suddenly, I felt my adrenaline spike again.
"Are you talking about that sacrifice thing?" I said. "You're not, are you?"
"No," he said, impatient. "I mean about your race. About what you are."
I just stared at him.
After another pause where he just looked at me, he sighed again.
"I still don't understand how those Mythers found you," he said. "I was told that identifying your race by genetic markers alone would be nearly impossible. The real risk was supposed to be when you started to display secondaries spontaneously...on your own, I mean." At my blank look, he shrugged. "So far, there have only been little things. Your light is being monitored constantly by a select group in the Seven. They've been shielding you since they found you, which wasn't long after you were adopted by your human parents."
I blinked maybe, trying to wrap my mind around his words. But otherwise, I think I was still pretty much gaping at him.