Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107826 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107826 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
“This is a mistake.”
“You can’t keep ignoring your responsibilities.” Adonis doesn’t look at me. He’s tense, almost angry, and I find it interesting that he’s obviously trying hard not to direct it at me. What a novel concept.
I deserve his anger, I guess. I married his woman, and I’m sleeping with her, which seems to be the more upsetting development. There’s a thread there to tug on, but I’m weirdly reluctant to do it. At the end of the day, there’s only our deal holding Adonis to me, and there’s nothing real stopping him from walking away.
It’d be better for him if he did.
I cross my arms over my chest. “They’re doing just fine without me.”
“Undoubtedly.”
I glare. “Then why bother going in there? It’s a waste of time.”
Adonis sighs, a nearly soundless exhale. “Because you are Hephaestus.”
“Theseus.” I don’t know why I argue. He’s not wrong, but I hate that fucking title in his mouth.
He finally turns to face me, and I’m struck all over again by how beautiful he is. More than any other person I’ve met, except maybe Helen. Certainly more beautiful than my wife.
Adonis snaps his fingers. “Stop looking at me like that. This is business.”
Right. I should know better than to forget. There might be a spark of attraction between us, but I’m an enemy of Olympus and Adonis is its beloved son.
When he seems satisfied with how I’m looking at him, he continues. “You are Hephaestus,” he repeats. “You took the title, and now you have to own it. That means dealing with the responsibilities that come with it.”
“Seems like there’s nothing but responsibilities with this shit.”
“Now you’re beginning to understand.” He smiles grimly. “The Thirteen might be the most powerful people in the city, and they might abuse that power regularly, but they are also the ones who keep the city running. You are now responsible for keeping the city running. You can’t do that if you’re hiding from your people.”
I know what he’s attempting. He’s trying to leverage my pride to get me to do what he wants. I’m fucking irritated to discover it’s working. “It’s not that easy.”
“Of course it’s not. The last Hephaestus was hardly universally beloved, but he was good at his job.”
I’m not beloved or good at my job.
I glare up at the building where all of Hephaestus’s work is done. I want to get the fuck out of this car and away from this place. The problem is I can’t pretend that if I’d been successful taking Apollo’s title, things would’ve been any better. Really, I’m suited for Ares, and no other.
But there’s no getting out of this.
Adonis leads the way through the sliding glass doors and into what could be every other building in downtown Olympus. Glass and marble and steel. Don’t these fuckers ever get tired of this decorating scheme? Apparently not.
We take the elevator up to the tenth floor. I’ve only been here a handful of times, but it always plays out exactly like this. I’m a little surprised to feel humiliation sink in as we step through the elevator doors. Several people look up from the cubicles scattered through the space. The instant they recognize that it’s me, the whispers start.
The feeling of humiliation grows when Brontes approaches from the back office. Xe is a short person with light-brown skin and a haircut that looks like a toddler got ahold of some scissors. Xyr straight black hair is all different lengths and I can grudgingly admit that it looks good despite myself.
Xe is also a giant pain in my ass.
Brontes stops in front of us. Xe manages a bright smile for Adonis, and I can’t say I’m surprised. The man seems to walk in a permanent beam of sunshine wherever he goes, and people react accordingly. The look Brontes gives me is significantly less pleasant. “So. You’re here.”
I glance at Adonis, but he seems content to let me take the lead now that he’s dragged me here. Traitor. I clear my throat. I don’t even know what to ask, which just makes the feeling beneath my skin worse. “I need an update on all current projects.”
Brontes raises xyr eyebrows. “All of them?”
I’ve made a mistake, but I can’t admit it now without admitting I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing here. “Yes. All of them. I need to be brought up to speed.”
If I hadn’t known I’d fucked this up, xyr delighted smile would have informed me. Brontes gives a neat little bow that somehow manages to make me feel like even more of a lumbering fool. “Of course, Hephaestus. If you’ll wait in your office, we should have that ready for you in about, oh, three or four hours.”
Three hours.
Fuck me.
Brontes doesn’t lead us to the office, and I’ve only been in there once, so it takes me three tries to find the right one. All the while, that fucking terrible feeling at the back of my neck gets worse.