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 clear my throat. “My father commanded him to kill me.”
“I see.” Dionysus finally picks up his mimosa and drains the first glass. I’m not quite sure how he manages that with the bubbles. I’d be impressed if I didn’t feel so twisted up inside. He nudges a plate piled high with pancakes toward me. “I won’t pretend there’s nothing to fear. We’re experiencing a scary moment as a city, and it’s only going to get scarier as time goes on. But I’ll protect you from him.”
It’s sweet that he offers, but it’s an impossible task. Asterion proved on the first night that he can get to me anytime he wants to. The only reason I’m alive is probably because he still needs those blueprints.
I don’t know if Dionysus knows about the blueprints, though. So instead of answering, I just smile and take a bite of my pancakes. They’re the best pancakes I’ve ever eaten, but I can’t really enjoy them because it feels like they turn to lead in my stomach. I feel pulled in a thousand different directions. No, that’s a lie. The only pull I feel is for a man I can never have. One who’s dangerous, not just to other people but to me.
“I have to be honest with you, Ariadne. While I did want to chat about your stalker problem, this is a bit of an ambush.” He must see the panic on my face because he holds up both hands. “That was a poor choice of words. You’re not in any danger. I promise. But it’s been brought to my attention that you were tasked with providing the Minotaur with something specific. Since Hera has chosen to intervene, that means you’ve been co-opted into our little…”
“The word you’re looking for is coup.”
For the second time in as many days, Hera’s appearance startles the shit out of me. This time, I can’t keep my reaction locked down. I slide all the way to the end of the booth and nearly hit the wall. Because she’s not alone.
At her shoulder stands a massive white man with a shock of red hair and shoulders even wider than Asterion’s. Poseidon. I recognize him from my father’s files; he looks even bigger in person, as if he could cart around shipping containers with his bare hands. He doesn’t seem particularly happy to be here.
Hera flicks her wrist, and Dionysus slides farther into the booth to make room for her. Unfortunately, that leaves Poseidon to sit next to me. I can’t help cowering a little. He looks different from his pictures, more worn down and haggard. He’s attractive enough in an earthy kind of way, but everything I read about this man says that he prefers to keep to his shipyard and avoid politics. As one of the legacy titles, he never had to jockey for a position. He might have inherited it unexpectedly when his uncle and cousins died from some kind of sickness—the details escape me—but he was always part of that family. He always had power. The fact that he’s here doesn’t bode well.
Hera, of course, looks immaculate. She’s wearing tailored slacks and a lace top that’s just shy of inappropriate. Both in black, of course. She eyes the spread of food before us and then plucks an untouched mimosa from Dionysus’s flight. “You’ve brought her up to speed. Good.”
The shock of their appearance slowed me down, but I’m just beginning to register what she said. Coup. I already knew she wanted her husband dead. But for her to be saying as much here, in the presence of two other members of the Thirteen? They have to be in on it.
Guess I’m not betraying Dionysus after all.
“I was just getting to the important part.” Some of Dionysus’s glow seems to dim, and he turns serious dark eyes on me. “You see, for the moment it appears that your father’s aims and ours are in alignment. While we have no intention of telling him that, there’s no reason not to use it to our advantage.”
I glance at Poseidon again, but he’s glowering at my stack of pancakes as if it insulted him personally. I clear my throat. “You as well?”
“I don’t have to explain myself to you.”
“Poseidon.” Hera’s tone is almost cheerful…as long as you don’t notice the sharp edge beneath it. “Play nice.”
He sighs and his big shoulders drop. “This mess isn’t figuring itself out. Following Zeus has gotten us to this point. It’s time to make some changes.”
“You met with the Minotaur last night.”
I search Hera’s face for some indication that she knows exactly what I spent hours doing with Asterion in that apartment. If she’s aware of how quickly I folded without any kind of actual pressure from him. If she is, she keeps it to herself. I lift my mimosa with a shaking hand and take a quick sip. The bubbles burn my throat. “Yes.”