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 can’t let it happen. I refuse to.
I drag in a breath and pull a robe on. Dionysus came home sometime in the early hours of the morning. He tried to be quiet, but I haven’t slept well since arriving here—aside from the night he put a sedative in my wine. It’s impossible to ignore the danger I’m constantly in. I have no doubt that he doesn’t want to hurt me…just like I have no doubt that if Hera decides I’m more trouble than I’m worth, Dionysus is going to step aside and let her people cut me down.
His room is the one part of the penthouse that I haven’t investigated, so it feels strange to pad down the hallway and knock lightly on the door. When there’s no answer, I sigh and bang on it. “Dionysus! I need to talk to you.”
“Come in.”
I hesitate, but only for a moment. His room is bathed in shadows, courtesy of the blackout blinds pulled down over all the windows. I suppose it makes sense, seeing as how he’s a night owl. Even so, I’m not walking into that darkness. “Can I turn on the light?”
“Hold on.” He curses and there’s the sound of him fumbling around for a moment before a lamp flicks on.
Dionysus’s bed is startlingly normal. I don’t know why I’m so surprised. It’s a standard king, and though the thread count is no doubt exceedingly high, the comforter and sheets—both gray—are downright mundane.
He rubs a hand over his eyes. “As much as I adore your lovely face, this had better be good.”
Just like that, I remember why I sought him out. “It’s actually really bad.”
“That’s what I was afraid of.” He motions for me to continue. “What’s gone wrong now?”
I know it’s not technically my fault, but I can’t help feeling guilty as I relay what Asterion told me. I finish in a rush and then swallow hard. “He doesn’t want me meeting him out in public right now because it’s not safe, so he requests that you allow him up here.”
“Requests.” Dionysus snorts. “More like he gave an order and probably threw in a threat of violence for spice.”
I flush because he’s mostly right. “Well, uh, more or less.”
“Okay.” He curses again. “Okay, give me thirty minutes to pull myself together. Can you get coffee going?”
I don’t know why I expected him to just hand this problem off to someone else. Dionysus might be a bit flighty and irreverent, but he seems to care more than most beneath all the intentionally distracting trappings. I back out the door. “Of course.”
“Ariadne.”
I stop. “Yes?”
“We’ll figure this out, one way or another.” He makes a face. “I doubt the solution will be one anyone is particularly happy with, but we’ll ensure that building doesn’t come down with all those people in it. I promise.”
I want to believe him. Truly, I do. Unfortunately, I’ve seen what my father and his people are capable of. Even with Asterion working against him, there are no guarantees. But arguing with Dionysus won’t accomplish anything. Maybe he’s even right. Maybe this will all work out and there’s some simple solution that I just haven’t thought of.
Maybe.
I back out of the room and shut the door softly behind me. Exactly thirty minutes later, a freshly showered Dionysus appears, wearing his dressing robe and slippers. He catches me looking and shrugs. “I’m awake, but there’s no reason I can’t be comfortable.” It takes me a few minutes to doctor his coffee just how he likes it, and then he sits across the kitchen island from me. “Okay, first order of business. If the Minotaur gives his word that he’s not going to murder me horribly, he can have access to the penthouse. Today.”
I don’t miss the limit he puts on it, but I don’t hold that against him. If I were him, I wouldn’t want Asterion coming and going freely from my personal residence, either. “Thank you.”
“You understand that I have to call Hera and the rest of them in. Or at least update them. We might have been willing to stand by and allow that tower to come down, but without the ability to get innocents out, this changes things significantly.”
I’m also aware of that. I don’t know what that means for Asterion, for Olympus, or for me. It’s tempting to ask Dionysus, but I manage to hold the question inside. He’s not the one I made a deal with. Hera is.
“Ariadne.” Dionysus holds his coffee cup in both hands and peers at me over the rim. He’s as serious as I’ve ever seen him. “I get that this isn’t your fault, or your brother’s, for that matter. But Hera is…” He sighs. “You have to understand. Your people are a direct threat to ours.”
I try for a smile but give up halfway through. “I understand. My deal with Hera won’t stand if I can’t uphold my part of the bargain. As for our marriage—”