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)
I glance at Perseus, but he’s deep in conversation with someone. It only takes a few sentences for me to realize it’s Poseidon. He’s filling the other legacy position in on our plans to follow up on the possibility that Circe has infiltrated the countryside by way of the mountains.
I could tell him she’s actually in the city and not the countryside, but even with my ill-fated meeting, I think his instincts are right. If Circe had enough people to cause a true problem, she already would’ve done it instead of offering veiled threats. Either she’s waiting for backup or something else is going on. It doesn’t hurt to be thorough.
I can’t stall any longer. As much as I’d like to call Persephone, I can’t risk Perseus hearing what I have to say. So I take a deep breath and I text my sister.
Me: I’m sorry about yesterday. But I need you to reconsider.
Bless my sister. She doesn’t make me wait long for a response.
Persephone: I said what I said, and I expect you to respect it. I understand that you’re worried about us, but we have things well under control.
Me: Except you don’t. There are enemies in the lower city right now. If you had things under control, they’d already be dead.
Before I can talk myself out of it, I send her two of the videos Circe sent me. One of her and one of Eurydice. I don’t send the threats against Psyche and our mother. There’s nothing Persephone can do about either, and worrying about them will distract her from what she needs to be worrying about—herself.
Persephone: What is this?
Me: Exactly what it looks like. They’re close to you. There’s no doubt Circe will continue being a threat. If you want me to stop worrying about you, then take care of it.
My phone rings but it’s not my sister calling. It’s Hades. Fuck. I glance at Perseus, but there’s no avoiding this call. “Hades.”
His deep voice comes on the line, rife with tension. “How long have you had these pictures?”
That horrible guilt worms inside me. I shift uncomfortably. “A couple days. But the threat—”
“I have participated in your mother’s power games without complaint for months. Nothing has been accomplished except to exasperate the issues we already suffer from in Olympus. The enemy is in our city, targeting my wife and children, and you, our supposed ally, are not relaying relevant information in a timely manner.”
The guilt gets worse until I’m choking on it. “I had things under control.”
“Clearly, you didn’t. Do you have any actual useful information, or are you going to continue trying to terrify my pregnant wife?”
Anger flares, beating back the worst of the guilt. “She might be your wife, but she was my sister first,” I snap.
“True. But which of us has taken better care of her?” While I flounder in the face of that question, my jaw working but no sound coming out, he continues. “I’ll deal with the threat against Persephone and Eurydice. Have no fear of that. Instead, you should be worrying about the rest of Olympus, Hera.” The emphasis on my title, instead of my name, stings as much as anything else he said.
Worse, I deserve it. “If you’d just step down—”
“Don’t be naive. That may work with your mother, but it won’t work with me. Circe won’t allow the risk of the legacy titles rising against her in the future. She has to kill all three of us—which means she has to kill Persephone, too. It doesn’t matter what you do, because that truth will not change. Stop dancing to Circe’s tune.” He hangs up before I can come up with a response.
It’s just as well. I have no response. The only assurance I have of my sister’s safety is Circe’s promise to not kill her if everyone steps down. In hindsight, Hades is right. I’m being incredibly naive. I let hope tint my vision until all I could see were the possibility of roses. Not the truth.
Fuck.
I slump back into my seat and close my eyes. There’s a way through this, but I can’t see the path. Circe on one side and Hermes on the other, both working toward the total destruction of Olympus as we know it. To date, Hermes hasn’t directly threatened my family, but the threat exists all the same. I have no doubt Hermes is capable of murder, should the situation call for it, and Circe has already proven she’s all too willing to kill her way to the top.
But it’s not just those two I have to worry about. Even if Perseus was willing to step down, he wasn’t part of Circe’s offer. She won’t let him walk away…which leads me to wonder if she’ll let me walk away if I insist on keeping the baby. Without thinking, I press my hand to my stomach. You can’t have my baby, you bitch. I’ll kill you first. Except I don’t know how. Every time I turn around, I’m being outplayed and outgunned. I’m just as helpless as every Hera who’s come before me. I’m fucking failing.