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)
He presses a quick kiss to my forehead and drops his hands. “All right. If you’re not leaving, let’s go see what’s next.” He pauses. “No going anywhere alone, Cassandra. I won’t risk you.”
“Okay. I won’t. I promise.”
Apollo takes my hand. “Come on.”
We find the rest of the guests gathered back in the living room. Aphrodite sits on the couch next to Dionysus, her arms crossed and dark eyes furious. He blinks at her but for once doesn’t seem to have a witty comment ready. In fact, he looks to be in danger of losing his lunch, pale skin waxy and sweat dotting his forehead.
Theseus sits next to Adonis on one of the other couches. They aren’t quite cuddled up, but Theseus has sprawled his big body out so that he’s pressed against the other man…and Adonis doesn’t appear to be complaining for reasons I can’t fathom.
They do look quite the pair, though.
Adonis, for his part, has his charming smile in place. I’ve never been able to figure out if he’s truly so easygoing that nothing ruffles his feathers or if he’s got the best mask I’ve ever seen. I can’t honestly say for certain, which would bother me if I gave a shit about Olympus politics beyond determining who to actively avoid.
Theseus, though? He’s got a terrible poker face. Satisfaction comes off him in waves, there in the possessive way he touches Adonis and the smirk he sends in Aphrodite’s direction. Considering I haven’t seen him look twice at the other man since they arrived, this must be for her benefit.
Aphrodite has managed to piss off one of Minos’s foster sons—maybe just by virtue of being related to Helen, who caused him so much damage and stole his chance to become the next Ares—and it certainly looks like he’s going to make her choke on his “date” with Adonis.
If Minos intends to match his children with powerful people, Adonis shouldn’t be on the list. He’s arguably the least powerful person in this room, excepting me.
It makes about as much sense as attacking Pan.
I’m missing something. Something important. If I just had some time and space to reason it through…
“Cassandra?”
I startle and glance at Apollo. It’s only then that I realize I was staring at Theseus and Adonis too intensely. I try for a smile. “Just thinking too hard.”
He doesn’t look like he believes me, but then I’m a normal human being who just went through a shock. Little tremors keep shifting my limbs without my permission. I don’t understand how everyone is chatting easily as if one of Minos’s people isn’t in the library, cleaning bloodstains out of the rug. Only Charon and Eurydice seem bothered, and they make some vague excuses and leave the room quickly.
Even Apollo seems mostly fine as he guides me over to sit near Dionysus and Aphrodite. He drops into their conversation easily, charming Aphrodite enough that she stops sending murderous looks at her boyfriend and Theseus. Mostly.
This is what it means to be one of the Thirteen.
I knew they functioned differently than the rest of us, but spending so much time with Hermes and then Apollo lulled me into a false sense of thinking I truly understood what that meant.
I didn’t then.
I sure as fuck do now as the afternoon stretches toward evening…and dinnertime.
I would like to say that I focus heavily on all the conversations around me during dinner. Minos is there playing his charming king routine. The others are speaking about…something. But all I can think of is that Pan was nearly killed and not a single person has inquired about an update from the hospital. Not even Dionysus, who is the reason Pan was at this party to begin with.
Everyone is very carefully not looking at me. They all think I’m paranoid and weak. Even Charon and Eurydice, who are handling this a thousand times better than I am. And why not? Neither of them have seen exactly what the elite in Olympus are capable of.
Is this how the Thirteen acted after they ordered my parents to be murdered?
Did they sit around and drink and laugh while Athena’s assassins chased my parents through the streets of downtown, ending in their fiery death?
It was a different Apollo who held the title during that time, but I can’t pretend that my Apollo would have made a different call. Not when his priorities are vividly clear. He will do anything to protect Olympus. Even if it compromises his personal morals. He knows what would happen to this city if information about the assassination clause got out. He wouldn’t relish sentencing my parents to death, but he’d do it to serve the greater good.
If it had been me in the library, bashed over the head and left to die on the floor? I can’t guarantee he’d do anything other than what he’s doing right now—chatting easily with Aphrodite. He might enjoy me, might care about me on some level, but he won’t put me before the city.