Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 83786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
They’re not wrong about my unraveling at the edges, but I’m not in the mood to cooperate. If they want to do an intervention, they can spell out exactly what I’m doing that’s so worrisome. “If you’re not talking about the coup, what are you talking about?”
Eris hesitates, actual worry flickering over her expression. “Today—in the middle of the day—you were recorded fucking your wife in a godsdamned bar in the theater district.”
I’m out of my chair before my brain fully processes her words. I snatch the phone out of her hand, horror and fury rising with each racing beat of my heart. “Who the fuck dared record us?” I can count on one hand who knew we were there in the first place.
If I thought for a second that Ixion was responsible, I’d be happy for an excuse to kill him with my bare hands. But as soon as I see the video, I know it couldn’t have been him. The short recording is grainy in a way that suggests it was an interior security camera. That means there’s only one possible culprit. “The bar owner sold this to MuseWatch.”
“That’s not really the point,” Ares cuts in. “The rest of the Thirteen already didn’t have much confidence in you, but you’re actively undermining it. You look like a fool. Everyone believes Hera and Circe are leading you around by your nose in turn.”
I’m barely paying attention. Upon closer inspection, I’m only moderately relieved to note that the footage is too low quality to see the details of our nudity. Not that it matters; the motions themselves are clear. The video stops when we do, cutting off well before that moment where she said my name, the moment that might have been a turning point for us.
It won’t be now.
Olympus has made sure of that.
This fucking city. It takes and takes and takes, and the trade-off might be power, but what the fuck is the point of power when I can’t protect my sisters, can’t even shield my wife from a godsdamned sex tape?
“Perseus.” Eris snaps her fingers in front of my face. When I look up, she snatches the phone from my grasp. I fully expect her to lay into me, to be like Ares and belabor the point that my relationship with my wife should be the least of my concerns right now. She doesn’t. She glances at the phone and sighs. “I’m sorry.”
Ares pushes off the desk and flops into the chair next to mine. She pulls off the band holding her hair back and drags her fingers through the newly freed strands. “This is such a clusterfuck. We evacuated everyone to save them from the invasion, and now there’s no invasion and no blockade. We look like fools. We’re losing the confidence of the civilian population, disrupting their lives for no damned reason.”
“There is an invasion,” I snap. “It just looks different than we expected.” Except I’m not certain of that, am I? Even after all the time I wasted today, I’m still not sure the woman spotted in the video was actually Circe. If it was, she allowed herself to be seen. Like she wanted me to play the fool, searching for her when she’s nowhere to be found.
Like she wanted me distracted.
“Maybe she’s not in the city at all. At least not anymore.” I sit upright. “Are we tracking people leaving for the country?”
“With what manpower?” Ares throws up her hands and slumps back into her chair. “Everyone is either on perimeter, searching for Circe, or managing the civilians who waited to evacuate. There’s no one left to monitor those on the road, and why would there be? They’re allowed free movement.”
Eris moves around to take the spot that Ares vacated against the desk. “Perseus.” She waits for me to give her my full attention. “You’re grasping at straws. We might not know if Circe is actually in the city, but what we do know is that the Thirteen are fracturing and the city will pay the price of that fracture. That’s the problem that needs to be your focus. We have all the resources available searching for Circe. We need you to stabilize the public’s perception of what’s going on in Olympus. You need to convince the rest of the Thirteen that you’re not a power-mad dictator in waiting.”
I don’t care about Olympus or the Thirteen.
I don’t say it. I can’t admit that finally holding the Zeus title, the one thing I spent my entire life working toward, has only made it clear that this isn’t what I want. It’s never mattered what I desired, though. It’s about duty. “If you feel so strongly about the stability of Olympus, you never should have stepped down as Aphrodite.”
Ares curses, but Eris doesn’t flinch. She meets my gaze steadily. “Walking away from the title doesn’t mean I stop being able to observe, to think. You need to take your own advice, Perseus. Stop reacting and think. Sele isn’t me, but they’re doing a fine job as Aphrodite. More than that, there isn’t another alternative.”