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)
“Hours.”
“Yes, sweet, hours. It’s one of my little concoctions.” She crouches next to the bed, putting herself in my fading line of sight. “I can’t risk you developing a sudden case of heroics. I meant what I said, Hecate. I never stopped loving you, and it’d break my heart to kill you. Don’t make me.” She presses a soft kiss to lips that I can’t feel. “I’ll be back for you when it’s all over. Wait for me.”
I try to call her back, to tell her not to do this. In all my scheming, I never even considered that things could play out this way.
I pass out before the first word leaves my lips.
24
Hera
The sun is well on its way to its peak in the sky by the time we manage to leave our penthouse apartment. We don’t speak much, but we don’t have to. Even though nothing is resolved and everything outside our bedroom is terrible, I can’t deny that something changed between Perseus and me. It started before we had sex, before I was shot, before we started using each other’s real names instead of our titles. Maybe it started even earlier than that. I don’t know. I’m having a hard time thinking.
Guilt is a live thing inside me. Circe’s threat continues to rattle around inside my mind. I forgot. Yes, it was only for a little while, but forgetting at all is downright unforgivable. She’s clearly working within some kind of timeline. She’s not going to wait for me to get my shit together, especially when it’s becoming increasingly clear that I don’t have the right words or a convincing argument to make my family step down.
I text Ixion to let him know the plan as we step into the elevator. I should have updated him hours ago to ensure he and the others could meet us here before we left. There was plenty of time to make that happen, to shatter the strange peace Perseus and I have floating between us. Except…I didn’t.
As a result, when Perseus holds open the door for me, there’s no one to remind me I’m more than capable of taking a second car so I don’t have to spend hours longer in his presence. There’s no one to look on disapprovingly at the way his hand presses lightly to the small of my back. There’s no audience to how I hesitate the tiniest bit to relish the connection.
I slide into the back seat and he follows me in without hesitation. The second the door closes, his woodsy scent surrounds me, bringing to mind all the delicious things we were doing to each other just a short time ago. I shift in my seat, my body hot and restless. Damn it, no. I have to focus. The devil on my shoulder may be whispering that we have hours before we arrive in the countryside, but there’s work to be done.
Zeus doesn’t need the reminder. He gives my hand a squeeze and releases me to pull his phone out. Headphones are next, and then he might as well be on another planet for all the attention he pays me. There is relief in that. His self-control ensures I don’t have to rely on mine. And if it irritates me, well, that’s a small enough price to pay.
My phone vibrates in my hand, a call coming in from Ixion. I sigh. This isn’t going to be pleasant. “Ixion.”
“With all due respect, Hera, it’s very challenging to protect you if you aren’t communicating your plans with us. This is the second time in twenty-four hours you’ve gone off without a guard. Do I need to remind you what happened just yesterday?”
My spine straightens instinctively. “Check your tone, Ixion. I may be deeply grateful for your loyalty, but you work for me. If I choose to take a calculated risk without your presence, that is my choice. You aren’t in charge.”
“You make that abundantly—” There’s a scuffle on the other side of the phone and then Imbros comes on the line, zir tone perfectly even and absent of any of Ixion’s irritation.
“What Ixion is trying to say,” ze starts, “is that we take our jobs very seriously and we worry about you. When we heard you had been shot, we were deeply concerned. Before you contacted me to bring you clothing, we had to get information about your status secondhand from Ares.”
My anger threatens to drain away, but I hold on to it with both hands. I have too many people to worry about right now, I don’t need more. I can’t have more. “You can meet me at my mother’s current residence in a few hours. I have my husband’s full security detail with me, so I’ll be safe enough in the meantime.”
“Understood.” There’s a strange note in zir tone, but I can’t quite divine it before we hang up. It’s just as well. I don’t have it in me to manage that trio’s emotions. Even wanting to says something I’m not prepared to examine. There’s a lot I’m not prepared to examine these days.