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)
“Hermes.” Minos practically growls her name.
“What do you want me to say, Minos? There are no guarantees in this world. You asked me how to accomplish your goals and I provided the information.” Her voice goes hard, harder than I’ve ever heard it. “Now, stop toying with me and give me the information that was promised.”
Silence for several beats. I don’t have to see his face to know that he’s debating whether he can risk crossing Hermes. Finally, he curses. “Very well. The woman you seek is my benefactor.”
“Excuse me?”
“She approached me a year ago with an offer that centered Olympus as the prize. She’s not among those I brought, though.”
“Minos.” Something dark and dangerous flits into Hermes’s tone. “You have strung me along for months with the promise of precise information on her. I have provided you a house, insider knowledge, and a vote to bring you into Olympus as a citizen. I sincerely hope you have more than ‘she’s my benefactor’ as payment.”
I can barely process what I’m hearing. In all the time I’ve known Hermes, she’s been something of an enigma. Even when I shared her bed, there was always part of her held in reserve, and I respected that because I, too, held parts of myself back. But I never doubted for a moment that the protection of Olympus was her main goal.
I…
I close my eyes and try to keep my breathing under control. I don’t know who she’s talking about or what’s going on, so all I can do is listen. I can have an emotional reaction to this later, when it’s safe.
But…
What the fuck, Hermes?
Minos is silent for so long, I begin to think he might not respond to her threat. Finally, he sighs. “I agreed to those terms before I realized you know more about her than I do.” A hesitation. “I have a way to contact her, though I can’t guarantee anything will come of it.”
“Is that all?”
I flinch, but Minos doesn’t seem affected by the icy anger Hermes exudes. “She’s not one to make herself available, which you should damn well know. This is all I have.”
A tapping of a foot against hardwood floor. “I am very displeased, Minos. You can play the rest of the Thirteen all you want, but playing me?” She laughs sharply. “I highly suggest you come up with something more—and soon.” The slide of a chair. “Do not tell her that I’m looking for her, or you won’t live to see your little plan enacted.”
“I understand,” he grits out.
This is winding down. I didn’t get nearly enough information to figure out what Hermes’s game is, other than her wanting information on…someone…but I know enough. There’s only one law they could be speaking of, and it’s one I am entirely too familiar with thanks to my parents’ ambition.
Minos means to kill a member of the Thirteen and take their place.
Possibly multiple members of the Thirteen.
The thought makes my entire body break out in goose bumps and I shudder. I hold little love for the Thirteen as a general whole, but Minos is an unknown in a number of ways. I saw his foster sons’ brutality in the arena. If they bring that same violence to the ruling body of our city…
I won’t be here to see it. Maybe that should mean I don’t care, but I do.
There’s no help for hiding my footprints and Hermes is too savvy to miss their existence, unless she’s distracted by the new information, but I can’t hope for that unlikely occurrence. Wiping away the proof is a waste of time, too.
In the split second it takes me to realize I have no way to conceal the fact that someone overheard, Hermes and Minos are wrapping up their conversation. I’m out of time.
I hurry back down the passageway as quickly as I dare, unable to resist casting looks over my shoulder. The door remains closed as I turn the corner and rush back through the mirror and into the bedroom where I left my shoes. I look down at my dirty feet, but there’s no help for it. There’s no time.
The temptation to confront Hermes is strong. Even now, when I’m questioning everything else, I don’t question that she means me no harm. She wouldn’t have warned me away from this place, this party, if she didn’t care what happened to me.
Similarly, I can’t believe for a second that she’d set Dionysus up on the chopping block. She must have negotiated his safety ahead of time with Minos.
But everyone else?
The thought leaves me cold. I slip on my heels and stride out the door, careful to close it softly behind me. I want to rush back into the living room and grab Apollo and get him as far from here as possible, but I make myself walk slowly to the bathroom and slip inside. I take the time to wash my hands. To attempt to steady myself, though it feels a fool’s errand. My reflection stares back at me, too pale, eyes too wide. I’m shaking and I can’t seem to stop.