Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 95187 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95187 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Icarus steps out of the bathroom and stops short. I can barely see him in the darkness of the room, but apparently he can see me clearly enough. “You’re awake.”
I guess we’re having this confrontation whether I want to or not. “Yeah, I’m awake.”
He moves to the nightstand and flips on the light. His hair is still tangled from my fingers, but I swear the circles beneath his eyes have gotten darker in the last few hours. “Listen, Poseidon, it’s not what you think. It’s—”
Three hard knocks on the door of the apartment cut him off. I search his expression, but there’s only surprise there. Whoever is at my door, I don’t think they’re here because Icarus called them.
Which means they might be here to harm him.
I don’t hesitate. I climb off the bed and shove him back into the bathroom. “Stay there.”
“But—”
I slam the door before he can argue further and yank on my pants. I don’t particularly like guns, so I don’t have any in this apartment. I’ve never felt the lack until this moment as I grab a baseball bat, feeling like the worst kind of fool.
The door has no window in it, so I crack it open, angling my body to hide the view of the rumpled bed behind me. I’m so ready for a fight, it takes me several long beats before I recognize the man standing on my doorstep.
I blink. “Zeus?”
“Are you going to keep standing here are all night, or are you going to let me in? I’ve already wasted too much time tracking you down.” Despite the late hour, he looks like he just stepped out of the office. His suit is perfectly tailored and doesn’t have a single wrinkle, and his blond hair is styled just like it always is.
Shock has me falling back more than anything else. I deal with Zeus when I have to, and I work very hard to ensure I don’t have to more than absolutely necessary. This one might be different from his father, but he’s still Zeus. I can’t trust him.
He steps into the apartment and closes the door softly behind him. Those cold eyes take in the place in a single sweep, and I have no doubt that he clocked every incriminating piece of evidence. The lube and condoms on the nightstand. The scent of sex in the air. The light under the bathroom door.
Zeus comments on none of it. He merely walks to my table and sinks into one of the two chairs, as regal as a fucking king. “We need to talk about Circe.”
I exhale in a huff. “It’s three in the morning. What could you possibly have to say about Circe that hasn’t been hashed and rehashed in the countless meetings we’ve held?” I shake my head. “No. This is ridiculous and an overstep, even for you. You shouldn’t be here. Get out.”
“You’re right. The meetings have accomplished nothing but wasting everyone’s time. Circe will be actively burning the city to the ground and the Thirteen still won’t vote to go to war.”
I open my mouth to tell him to get out when the details finally register. The differences. Zeus has always been a cold bastard, even when he was still called Perseus, but somehow he’s even colder right now. There’s absolutely no emotion in his voice. He’s talking the same way a person would about the weather they couldn’t care less about. It’s eerie.
I glance at the bathroom door, but Icarus is apparently smart enough to stay out of sight. Or maybe he’s using this opportunity to make more calls. I push the suspicion away. There’s only Zeus and me. “The vote is the only path forward. If not that, then what’s your solution?” I ask carefully.
He reaches into his suit jacket and pulls out a gun. I tense, expecting him to open fire, but he sets it carefully on the table…pointing in my direction. “There’s no more time for squabbling and power plays. There’s no uniting the Thirteen with reason. So we’re going around them.”
“We?”
“Yes.” He taps his finger on the barrel of the gun, and I can’t stop my flinch in response. Zeus ignores it. In this situation, his late father would have been preening and showcasing a bravado bordering on mania. Not this Zeus. He’s just as cold and contained as the moment he walked through my door. He meets my gaze. “The only question I need answered before moving forward is where your loyalty lies: with me and Olympus…or with my wife?”
Suddenly, there’s not enough air in the room. “What did you say?”
He doesn’t move, doesn’t lean forward, doesn’t do any of the traditional movements that telegraph threat into body language. He just looks at me. “You heard me.”
“How did you…?” It’s not the important question, but it’s the first one that I manage to voice in the strained silence between us.