Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 92659 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92659 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
“Does the name Circe mean anything to you?”
I search the faces on the screen, looking for recognition. I don’t know who this person is, but I can connect the dots when they’re laid out in front of me. She is Minos’s benefactor. Which means she’s the enemy. I’m not comforted by the confused looks on everyone’s faces—except three. Zeus, Ares…
And Hermes.
Hermes bursts out laughing. “Gods, it took you long enough to figure it out. I thought I was going to have to send a carrier pigeon.” There’s a sound in the background, sharp and booming, and she looks over her shoulder. “Oh damn, I have to run. Have fun, darlings.” A second later her square disappears.
Hades sits back with a sigh. “Apparently some of you are in on the secret. Her name is unfamiliar to me.”
Zeus shakes his head, and for the first time, something resembling an actual expression appears on his face. “What you’re saying is impossible. Circe is dead. She died fifteen years ago.”
Ares is so pale, she looks like she might pass out. “Perseus, her body was never recovered. At the time, I thought it was Father covering things up, but…”
“But?” Aphrodite stops short and seems to try to compose themself. “What are you talking about? Who is Circe?”
“You wouldn’t recognize the name because she’s not from one of the legacy families. It happened so fast, everybody was focused on who she became, rather than who she was.” Ares tucks her hair behind her ears with shaking hands. “She was only a couple years older than me at the time, but it was pretty clear right off the bat that Father bit off more than he could chew. He didn’t wait long to make his move.”
Pieces fall into place, one by one. I see my suspicions reflected in the faces of the people in the meeting, in the sudden tension in Hades’s shoulders. The last Zeus had a reputation as a wife killer. His first wife, mother to his four children, died from an unfortunate fall down the stairs. An accident, Zeus claimed, and supposedly he wasn’t anywhere in the house when it happened. His third wife died from a rumored overdose. The official story is that she accidentally mixed meds and had an adverse reaction, but whether that was intentional on her part—or her husband’s part—is anyone’s guess.
But the second wife?
A drowning accident during a romantic trip to the coast during their honeymoon.
Hades leans forward and props his elbows on the desk. “Are you saying that Circe, Minos’s benefactor, enemy to Olympus, is the previous Zeus’s second wife?”
“It’s understandable that her real name doesn’t ring any bells.” Zeus smiles, but not like anything is funny. “When you would’ve known her, her name was Hera.”
Things devolve pretty quickly after that. Hades manages to get out the rest of his information, including the fact that apparently when Circe slipped out of Olympus, she took a piece of the barrier with her. She’s the reason it’s failing. No one has a good solution. Athena offers to send one of her people to take care of the problem quietly, but Zeus tells her that the situation is already beyond that point. Artemis refuses to believe that a Hera could be the source of all these problems. The new Hephaestus promises to take a look at the barrier, certain that xe can find a solution that no one else has managed to before now.
In short, it’s a fucking mess.
Two hours later, when Hades cuts off the call and sits back with a groan, no solutions have been solidified. He rotates his chair so he can look at me. “What do you think?”
“There was always a possibility that the enemy originated from the city. The information Minos had was too specific to come from an outsider. The assassination clause is too cleverly hidden. This mostly confirms what we already knew.” I drag my hand over my face. “If she was married to the last Zeus, even for a short time, she has more than reason enough to hate the city. Everyone stood by and let him do whatever the fuck he wanted for far too long. Can’t blame her for wanting revenge.”
Hades nods slowly. “No, I can’t blame her for wanting revenge, but I can blame her for all the violence and suffering her plans have caused. If she had only come back and killed him, I would have shaken her hand and been done with it. She’s responsible for a number of deaths and an increasing amount of unrest that means the violence is just beginning.”
“Not to mention the attacks on the greenhouse and the club.” She has to be behind it. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if she gave the order directly or if Minos did, because she is his benefactor.