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)
Zeus steeples his hands before his face. “They paid dearly to enter the city. That kind of money doesn’t just appear when someone wishes upon a star.”
“I’m aware, but maybe Poseidon should have asked more questions before he arranged transport.”
“That’s his prerogative.” Zeus leans back. “If I start asking too many questions, he’ll start growling about overreaching.”
He’s not wrong. Poseidon doesn’t participate in most of the political squabbling, but he’s no pushover. “This is important. Surely he realizes that.”
“Possibly.” Zeus shrugs. “But that’s less important to him than protecting his territory and his power base. We know he brought in Minos and his people. That’s enough. He was entitled to do so, thanks to the tournament. It’s open to everyone.”
I hardly agree that it’s enough, but I let him move us along all the same. Ultimately, all that matters is that Minos and his people are still here despite the tournament being over. “It’s no accident that Minos pushed his way into the city and is now brokering secret information about Olympus’s enemies in order to stay.”
“I know.” Zeus sighs. “He was planning this from the beginning. If one of his people became Ares, we’d have less maneuvering power than we do now, but we’re still not in a good position to ignore whatever information he claims to have.”
If there is an enemy capable of taking the city, we need to know about it before we lose our main defensive measure—and so far, Minos has given us very little of what he supposedly knows. “I’ve spent the last few weeks searching, and there’s nothing. Either Minos is bluffing or this group rallying against Olympus is good enough that they’re essentially invisible.”
“Fuck.” Zeus presses his fingers to his temples. “We can’t risk it if he’s not bluffing. The information he’s already let drop is enough to make me think there really is a threat.”
“I agree.” I, of all people, am aware that knowledge is power. There’s no telling how much this shadowy enemy might know about us. Olympus might not broadcast all its secrets, but there are always exiles and I imagine most of them would be willing to talk for a price. Or out of sheer spite. “We have to assume worst-case scenario, that they know plenty about us.”
“And we know nothing about them. Not without Minos.”
Minos is well aware of the position he’s put us in, and he’s leveraging it for all he’s worth. That’s why we’re having this meeting today. He’s offering to tell us all he knows about this supposed enemy. In exchange, he wants money, a home, and Olympic citizenship for all the members of his family.
The first two are easy enough. The latter is complicated because Zeus granting citizenship is as good as elevating the family to the highest levels of Olympic society. It will change the balance within the upper crust of the city, and we might have a revolt on our hands as a result.
If there’s anything Olympus hates, it’s change, and we’ve had more than our fair share of it in the last year.
“We have to give him what he wants.” Zeus curses. “This had better be worth it, because we can’t take it back without an even bigger mess.”
That’s what I’m afraid of. No matter what steps we take today, the consequences are far-reaching. “If you give me more time—”
“I can’t do that.” Zeus pushes slowly to his feet. “Every day counts right now, and we’ve already spent too long trying to find a different solution. Another week or two won’t make a difference.”
Impossible not to feel the sting of his blunt statement. It’s my job as Apollo to be plugged into information streams that aren’t accessible to anyone else. I’m essentially Olympus’s spymaster, and even with my team and all the resources at my disposal, I’ve failed. Between this and my inability to figure out why the boundary is failing, I can’t help bristling. “There has to be another way.”
“We’ve looked. There’s not.”
“You can’t deny this feels like a trap. He has the whole world. Why settle here?”
Zeus sighs, suddenly looking a decade older—and even more like his father. Sometimes I wonder what it must have been like growing up knowing that someday the role would be his. Zeus has been a Kasios since the founding of the city. My distant relatives have been Artemis, Apollo, Hephaestus, and even Athena, but there are no guarantees among any but the three legacy titles. There were no members of the Thirteen in my parents’ generation, so they were particularly pleased when I was named Apollo thirteen years ago.
Each position within the Thirteen is filled a little differently. Demeter is voted on citywide. Aphrodite names their successor upon stepping down. As Apollo, I was appointed by vote among the Thirteen.
I’ve been trying to live up to the expectations of that appointment ever since. In this way, I suppose, Zeus and I are the same.