Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
“I fucked up.” Desperation makes my voice harsh. “I spent all day hacking into Dodona Tower, when I should’ve been hacking into the Olympus clerk’s records. I don’t have the blueprints. If you give me another day—”
“Ariadne.” He waits for me to stutter to a stop before he continues. “You have the address. You have the time. I expect you to be there.” He hangs up.
I stare at my phone. That motherfucker just hung up on me. I immediately call back, but he doesn’t answer. His voicemail is the generic one that comes with the phone, and it’s everything I can do not to curse it out. He knows me well enough to anticipate that I could probably argue my way out of this if given half a chance—so he’s not giving me a chance. Damn it.
I could just not show up. But if I don’t, he’s likely to follow through on the threat to come to me. The thought makes my stomach do strange things that I refuse to examine. I stand and stretch and have a weak moment where I consider changing into more flattering clothing. Fuck that. He’s forcing me to come to him, so he gets what he gets. I throw my hair up into a ponytail and pull on my boots. I only packed a light jacket, and it does little against the chill of the night air when I finally make my escape.
Even with Dionysus’s extra security, it’s pathetically easy. Once the cameras are on a loop, I just take the elevator to the second floor, descend the stairs to the first, and take a side door out to the street. Between my escape and Asterion’s attack, Dionysus should fire his entire security team and start over from the ground up.
I’ve been in Olympus long enough to note the changes that my father’s plans have brought. When we first arrived, there was a boisterous nightlife in the center of the upper city. Even on weekdays, from my window I could hear people partying and giggling and chatting as they walked down the street in groups. These days, people seem to retreat to the relative safety of their homes with the setting of the sun. Even the streets seem colder in a way that has nothing to do with the coming winter. The few people I see out walk with their heads down and shoulders hunched as if bracing against a freezing gale-force wind.
It’s…eerie. I don’t have another word for it. I haven’t traveled much—my father has always kept me close at hand—but I’ve never seen a city voluntarily locked down like this. It makes my skin crawl.
It takes longer than expected for the car I call to arrive, and by the time I show up to Asterion’s address, I’m ten minutes late. I pull the thin coat tighter around me and press the buzzer for the appropriate apartment. Asterion doesn’t answer, but a few seconds later, the door clicks open. There’s nothing to do but go up.
I’d like to pretend Hera is invested enough in my safety to ensure I leave this place alive tonight, but I know better. I’m only one small component, and I failed in my task today. She’s obviously playing a deeper game, and she’s not going to show her cards before she’s ready.
I’m on my own.
The apartment door is unlocked, and I step inside to find a room bathed in shadows. This isn’t a building I’ve been to before. My father keeps two apartments in a building a few blocks away. I wonder if he’s aware Asterion has another residence. I suppose it doesn’t matter. “Hello?”
No answer.
I frown and take several steps into the living room. It’s not like Asterion to play games. “Asterion?”
Large hands come down on my hips, planting me in place even as I startle and shriek. He jerks me back against his body and then his rumbling voice is in my ear. “You don’t have the blueprints.”
I open my mouth to speak, but the feel of him overwhelms me. It’s been months since that day in the maze. Months since he touched me even in passing. This isn’t incidental; he’s plastered against my back with his lips brushing my ear. Gods help me, but I close my eyes and melt against him.
I missed him.
No. Damn it, no. This man is under orders to kill me. Nothing he feels for me will be enough to stop him from following those orders. “Let go,” I manage. Barely. “If you’re going to…hurt me…the least you can do is look me in the face when you do.”
“Ariadne.” He says my name roughly, as if it’s a curse. As if I’m the curse. “You were put on this earth to drive me out of my mind.”
He still hasn’t let me go. I should step away. I need to. Asterion might not be hurting me right now, but he’s going to. I failed to bring him the blueprints. More than that, I left him. Betrayed him.