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)
I don’t look at her, sure that any sharp expression would give away that she’s not telling the full truth. I don’t know what her motivation is for covering for the former Aphrodite, but I don’t like it. Now’s the time to speak, to let everyone in the room know that she’s still not telling the full truth.
I don’t. Maybe that makes me a traitor. I don’t know. At the end of the day, Eurydice has shared the relevant information. Hades isn’t a fool; he knows better than to trust other members of the Thirteen, and he has even less reason to trust Eris and her new husband, Theseus. Eurydice keeping Eris’s name out of this ultimately won’t change anything.
I will be asking her why she is still lying later. If I don’t like her answer, I’ll be the one to tell Hades the full truth.
Persephone starts to say something, but Hades holds up his hand, commanding silence. “You took an unnecessary risk.”
“It paid off.”
“That changes nothing. It was still a risk. Don’t do it again.” He steeples his hands before his mouth. “But I will give credit where credit is due. You’ve managed to pull off something no one else even got close to. If you can get the information out of Ariadne that we need to meet the threat that Minos’s benefactor presents, then I’ll seriously consider not tossing you to your mother’s mercy.”
Eurydice startles. “Excuse me?”
“Your sisters and I aren’t the only ones you answer to, Eurydice. I haven’t informed Demeter of this little stunt, but that doesn’t mean I won’t.” He raises his brows. “How do you think she’ll react when she hears about the risks you took?”
“That’s not fair,” she whispers. “What if Ariadne doesn’t know anything?”
“You took this risk, and so the consequences are yours. One way or another.”
Persephone makes an angry noise. “That’s not fair, Hades. She needs more security, and—”
“No.” He still doesn’t raise his voice. “I understand you wanting to protect your little sister, and I respect the desire. But she wants to play in the dangerous arena of politics. She’ll do it with or without our blessing, little siren. Which means we go about this in the proper way.”
22
EURYDICE
I don’t know whether to be elated or terrified. It feels like I fought so hard to be taken seriously, but now that it’s happening, I don’t know where to look. Persephone isn’t happy. It’s written there in the tenseness around her mouth and the sharpness in her hazel eyes. Strangely enough, Callisto isn’t looking for a knife to sharpen. She merely watches our brother-in-law with a strange expression on her face.
I realize they’re waiting for a response and clear my throat. “What is the proper way?”
“As the protected younger sister of my wife, you’ve been given a gratuitous amount of leniency. I’ve allowed you to come and go from the upper city with no restraint while you recovered from last year’s events. We have devoted resources to keeping you safe without asking for anything in return.”
“Hades.” My sister’s voice snaps into the space between us. “We were happy to help.”
“Yes, we were.” He nods to Persephone. “Understand that I don’t hold that time against you. My assistance was freely offered without strings. However, if you intend to immerse yourself in the politics and dangers of Olympus, then there are conditions to be met in order to maintain the protection I’ve offered you.”
In all the time I’ve known him, part of me has always wondered why he is so feared. He is one of the kindest men I’ve ever met, and as he said he has offered me safety and freedom with no stipulations. He’s been a soft older brother, totally and completely nonthreatening.
That’s not who is standing in front of me right now.
This man is the king of the lower city. He’s the one so many people in the upper city fear, and with good reason. I’m having a hard time not wrapping my arms around myself. He’s right. I’ve been a treasured guest for the last year. I have a feeling that if I told everyone in this room that I had made a mistake and I had no intention of doing it again, I could go back to being that guest. A flower in a glass vase, never able to put down roots or reach my full potential.
He’s giving me a chance to take that potential…to earn it.
I lift my chin and hope no one in the room notices that I’m shaking. “What are those conditions?” I don’t offer to agree to them without hearing what he has to say. I’ll do damn near anything to not go back to the way things were, but that doesn’t mean I have to be foolish. Hades might be ruthless when it comes to protecting the lower city, but he’s not without a heart. His conditions will be fair, even if I don’t like them.