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)
“Oh, we’re bargaining now?” She raises her eyebrow, seeming to settle a little bit more within her skin. “All right. Let’s hear it. What’s your condition?”
It’s a risk, but everything we do these days is a risk. She already knows I feel enough for her to complicate things. And if she doesn’t know, then it’s because she’s being intentionally obtuse. Everyone else fucking knows. “After this call, once we get the all clear from your doctor, you’re coming home with me tonight. And you’re staying there all night. Tomorrow, you’ll accompany me to the countryside.”
She narrows those pretty hazel eyes. “Not to stay in the countryside.”
For all that her mother’s scheming is enough to keep even the most composed person up at night, Demeter cares for her daughters deeply and would throw herself in front of a tank to save them. It would never come to that, of course. She has schemes within schemes within schemes, all designed to secure power and increase it. If a tank threatened, she’d bribe the driver and turn it on her enemies. If bribery didn’t work, she’d find something to blackmail them with. She’s formidable in a way even my father was wary of. There are few places safer for my wife than at her mother’s side.
But I don’t want Callisto so far from me. Selfish. Foolish. Pick your insult. It’s all true and more. I’m a damned fool for her; despite all her murderous impulses, I don’t want her to leave the city proper. “Not to stay. Poseidon thinks Circe might be planning something in relation to the mountains. It’s possible she has knowledge of a pass through them that’s been lost in Olympian history. I’m going to take some of Ares’s people and look into it. You can use the opportunity to spend some time with your mother and Psyche.”
“That’s…thoughtful.” It sounds almost like an accusation coming from her. She’s not entirely wrong to be suspicious. If she’s ensconced in her family’s bosom, she’ll at least be safe while I investigate the perimeter.
“Do we have a deal?”
She only hesitates a beat. “Yes.”
Now for the truly challenging part. I pull out my phone and dial Demeter before I can think too hard about what’s coming. I barely let her get a greeting out before I cut in. “There was an incident involving Persephone and Callisto. They’re both fine and expected to make a full recovery.”
“A full recovery.” I’ve never heard three normal words sound so threatening. Not even my father could quite pull off the same level of polite menace. “I am going to need more details than that, dear Zeus.”
I glance at my wife and then partially turn away from her. I may take the fall for this, but she’s not fully free from blame. “They were meeting on the banks of the River Styx. There was a sniper. They and their two guards were all wounded but not severely enough to endanger their lives. The worst was Orpheus, who needed surgery, but he came through just fine and is well enough to be transported back to the lower city, alongside Persephone and Medusa. That was the first order Hades issued upon arriving at the hospital.”
“He did what?”
Maybe I’m a coward, but if I’m willing to take the fall for my wife, I’m sure as fuck not for Hades. If I can throw him to the wolf that is Demeter in the process? All the better. Let him deal with her fury. “He charged in here and took both Persephone and her guards to the lower city. I’m not sure that any of them were actually discharged.”
She’s only silent for a moment. “And the extent of Hera’s injuries?”
“She has a graze on her arm that required stitches and a few bumps and bruises, but she’s otherwise perfectly fine. I’m taking her home and keeping her there tonight, but I will bring her out to the countryside tomorrow for you to spend some time with and reassure yourself that she’ll make a full recovery.”
“Very well. I’ll see her tomorrow and get full answers then. In the meantime, I have a certain lord of the lower city to call.” She hangs up without saying goodbye.
I turn back to find Callisto watching me with a strange expression on her face. Her lips curl the tiniest bit. “That was mean.”
“If he’s going to make dramatic statements and grand gestures, then he can deal with explaining why to Demeter.” He’s not going to be any happier with her than he is with the rest of us, and it’s just as well. The safest place for Persephone is in the lower city behind that barrier. At least while it still stands. I have no doubt Circe has plans for it to be destroyed as well.
Personally, I could use Hades’s help, but it’s clear his priorities are his wife and the twin babies she carries. I can’t fault him for that. Callisto doesn’t even know that I know she’s pregnant, and it’s everything I can do not to package her up and ship her away—or lock her in a room until this is over. She’d hate me for either choice, but at least she’d be safe.