She forced herself not to back up, in spite of instincts screaming for her to do otherwise. Athena wasn't going to hurt him, if she could avoid it, not like that. But she felt like a live wire in human skin.

"I don't know," she says miserably. "I woke up like everyone else did, when things were all dusty, and I thought 'maybe it's just the dust' but we cleaned it up and I showered like twelve times and it wouldn't go away--"

She takes a breath. "I can't touch people. I can't touch them without wanting to claw my own skin off."