Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
It’s worth it.
I finish packing and drag my suitcase to the door, cursing its broken wheel. I’ll have to call a car before I go downstairs. Apollo would shit a brick if he knew I’d taken my things and waited on the curb. The neighborhood is safe enough, but he worries. I smile a little.
I’m so distracted, I almost miss the fact that I’m not alone. Almost.
I straighten and look at my ex. “What are you doing here?”
“Our meeting ended early with a bang.” Hermes moves around my tiny kitchen, poking at things. “Apollo won’t be home for ages, though, if you’re worried about your timing. Zeus has him, Aphrodite, Athena, and Ares in a little war meeting. It’s all very dramatic.”
“Hermes.”
She exhales slowly. “I’m sorry. I should have realized that Apollo would get over that moral high ground he clings to so sweetly and bring you along if he was invited to the party. I failed to anticipate that development and you got hurt because of it. I never wanted that, Cassandra.”
“I didn’t get hurt.” Even as I say it, it feels like a lie.
She gives me a look that speaks volumes. “You witnessed a murder, honey. And two attempted murders. That’s harm. I honestly thought if you heard me and Minos talking about the gory details, you’d leave. I didn’t expect you to develop a white knight streak.” She makes a face. “He’s rubbing off on you.”
I scrub my hands over my face. This has been the longest few days in existence and I’m not at my best right now. There was a time when I didn’t bother to worry about that kind of thing with Hermes, but after the last twenty-four hours… “How could you? A man is dead because of the knowledge you passed on.”
She leans back against the counter and crosses her arms over her chest. “If you had all the information, you’d see that this was the only course of action available to me.”
“Then give me all the information.” I know, even as I say it, that she won’t.
She confirms my suspicions with a shake of her head. “If things go well, it won’t matter because we’ll have headed off the danger at the pass.”
I don’t understand her. How can this be the lesser of two evils? But I know better than to ask. She’s more than proven she won’t tell me. “They’ll hate you for this.”
“Maybe.” She shrugs. “Or maybe they’ll thank me in the end.” She starts for the door and stops to squeeze my arm. “I’m happy for you, Cassandra. Apollo’s the best of us, and he’ll treat you the way you deserve to be treated. Like a queen.”
I swallow hard. “I didn’t say I was going to him.”
“Didn’t you?” She gives a bittersweet smile. “Try not to hate me too much. I’ll be sad if I’m not invited to the wedding.”
“I sure as fuck didn’t say we were getting married.”
“You will. Just like you’ll live long, happy lives and have half a dozen children. Yes, by the way, I’d love to be a godmother.” Hermes moves past me to the door. “Oh, and I called you a car. It should be here by now. Things won’t be as safe as they used to be in the city, at least for a little while.”
I barely wait for the door to close behind her to rush to open it, a thousand questions on my lips. Hermes, of course, is nowhere in sight. “I hate it when she does that.”
Her words swirl through my head, threatening to distract me, but there’s not much I can do about the greater Olympus problem right now. I can, however, set my path on the course that will bring me the happiness I’ve been too afraid to take for far too long.
True to her word, a car idles waiting for me at the curb. It’s only when I climb into the back seat and direct them to Apollo’s building that I wonder if this could be some kind of trap, but we make the trip without issue. It just confirms my ongoing belief that Hermes never meant me harm. It makes my feelings about everything that much more conflicted.
I walk through the fancy lobby, waiting for someone to tell me that I’m not allowed to be here, but no one stops me. They barely even look in my direction.
Upstairs, I use the key Apollo gave me years ago to let myself into his penthouse. After the slightest consideration, I change into an oversize T-shirt that’s so faded, I’m not entirely sure what the graphic started out as, tuck my suitcase into the closet, and climb into bed. I fully intend to stay awake until he comes home, but my body has other ideas.
I jolt awake at the feeling of the mattress giving as someone sits down next to me. I open my eyes to find Apollo staring down at me like he just found his favorite gift beneath the Christmas tree, but he’s afraid it’s not truly meant for him.