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)
He stares at me for a long moment. “You really think you can turn him.”
I don’t know what I think. My husband obviously has feelings for Adonis, and he’s treated me with more care than I imagined possible. But Pandora knows him better than anyone and she has her doubts.
Oh well. I’ve scaled unscalable odds before.
But why? Why not just let Perseus kill him and be done with it?
I don’t have an answer to that question. “Before you ask, he’s a terrible liar and if I get him on our side, he’s not capable of being a double agent.”
Perseus sighs. “You’re playing a dangerous game.”
“We all are.” I drop my arms. “If that’s all?”
“It is.” He straightens. “Don’t get killed, Eris. If you do, if Helen does, I’ll become the villain they want me to be.”
A chill drips down my spine. My brother is not demonstrative and he’s certainly not one to let his emotions get the best of him. I drag in a breath and strive to keep my tone even. “If one of us gets killed, you will do what’s best for this city just like you’ve always done.”
He turns and looks out the window, shielding his expression from me. “Does the city really deserve our blood?”
The chill gets worse, worming right into my bones. “Perseus?”
“I used to think it did, but now I wonder. The first chance they got, they turned on us like feral beasts. Maybe our father had the right idea about ruling the way he did. I can’t manage his level of charm…but fear is always an option.”
I cross to him and tentatively touch his arm. “He was a monster.”
“We’re monsters, too.” He’s still not looking at me. “We never had a chance to be anything but monsters.”
Actual fear takes hold. Our chances of making it through this aren’t overly optimistic at this point, but they fall to damn near zero if my brother buckles. I steel myself and shove his shoulder hard enough for him to spin to face me. “That’s enough.”
For once, he’s not glazed in ice. His blue eyes are fiery and furious. “I have tried not to be him. I have tried to work with the other members of the Thirteen. I have fucking tried to bring peace to this city.” He laughs, harsh and bitter. “You have three days before I take action. If they won’t see reason, then I’ll give them something to fear.”
30
HEPHAESTUS
I meet Pandora at a coffee shop a few blocks from Dodona Tower. She’s sitting at a corner booth tucked out of sight of the windows to the street. I slide carefully into the seat across from her. “Why here?” It would be more secure to talk in Minos’s penthouse… Unless she doesn’t want him to overhear this conversation.
Honestly, that works for me.
My head is still spinning from the meeting with the rest of the Thirteen and my wife’s concern for me. I want to say she’s totally off base with it, but the more I think about it, the less sure I am.
“I didn’t want to deal with going back there.” She passes a cup of coffee across the table to me. “This is a mess.”
“Yeah.”
“What are you going to do?”
That’s the question, isn’t it? The fact that it’s a question at all is a problem. I haven’t wavered in fifteen years, and I can’t waver now. I close my eyes and inhale deeply. It never used to be tricky to remember everything I owe Minos. It never felt like a burden instead of a blessing. “What am I supposed to do?”
“Theseus.” She bumps her foot against mine. “You know I’m in your corner, no matter what, right?”
“Yeah.” It’s never been a question, even if we butt heads on a regular basis. “I know that.”
“Good.” She sighs. “I’m worried. This plan doesn’t make sense. Even if Minos was able to replace the entirety of the Thirteen—which he doesn’t have enough people to do—it doesn’t change the fact that that ridiculous clause means every one of them will have a target on their back. The people won’t follow them.”
She’s not wrong. The growing unrest in the city almost feels like a physical weight in the air. It’s dangerous, and a shit ton of people are going to get caught in the cross fire if these individual attempts on people’s lives turn into a mob.
I’ve only seen a mob once before and that shit gave me a lifetime of nightmares. People stop being people and the violence is enough to make even me sick. If the citizens of Olympus become a mob, there won’t be much left of the city.
“He’s not trying to replace the rest of the Thirteen. The house party was a one-shot.” He’s a good enough liar to fool the Thirteen this morning, but what he said matches the conversation I overheard a few days ago. “He’s got something else going on. Some shipment coming in through the port. I don’t know the details.”