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)
To find that he didn’t murder her…
I clear my throat. “Yes, we have history. Ancient history.” Losing Circe broke something in me that will never be repaired. It was only finding Atalanta and having her there to pick up the pieces that saved me. Saved, but never healed. Not fully. Even if Circe isn’t dead like I believed for damn near twenty years. I attempt a smile, though it falls flat. “It’s a nonissue.”
Atalanta snorts. “You can lie to everyone else with aplomb. Don’t lie to me. I know better. It’s an issue.”
Damn it, I hate when she perceives me. I sit back and kick my feet out over the drop to the street. “It won’t be an issue in the way you mean. It will hurt to see her again, but you and I have been working for damn near fifteen years to give Olympus a chance to fix itself. Having my ex show up to blow the place to smithereens is not the distraction you think it will be.”
“Yeah. Sure. I’ll believe it when I see it.” Atalanta sighs and hefts herself to her feet. She looks particularly fetching in her black fatigues. I never thought I’d have a thing for pseudo military types, but who wouldn’t have a thing for Atalanta? She’s gorgeous with her medium-brown skin, her curls styled back into a mohawk, her scars cutting through the lines of her face in a way that feels like staring into a mirror sometimes.
She gives me a severe look. “We can’t afford to drop the ball now. They’re scrambling, but not enough.”
“I know.” I don’t lift the binoculars again. There’s nothing new to see. Circe might have offered the perfect distraction, but her arrival also gave the Thirteen a chance to unite for the first time ever.
They didn’t, of course. Instead they bickered and backstabbed and talked and talked and talked. But they could have. Zeus being wicked enough to unite the three legacy titles and engage in a coup—even a limited one—wasn’t on my radar, either. He normally plays things by the book, and it’s a testament to everyone’s desperation that formerly steady people are acting wildly out of character. Which is good. I want them desperate. What I don’t want is for any alliance to stand strong.
Now Atalanta and I have to ensure it doesn’t happen. “You have Athena’s ear.” In hindsight, we should have placed her with Athena from the start; Atalanta’s skill sets certainly fit there better. But we needed eyes on Artemis—and Hephaestus, by extension—because those two were reckless and selfish and unpredictable. Athena, on the other hand, will always be one step behind Zeus, will always be steadfastly serving Olympus in the best way she can. There are no surprises on that front.
“No shit. I’m charming and logical.” She grins. “I’ve already started poisoning the well between her and Zeus. He helped loads when he orchestrated that cute little coup without discussing it with her first. She’s one minor inconvenience away from dropping a building on his head and taking her chances with… Well, I guess it would be Helen who would claim the Zeus title as the next eldest Kasios? Which leaves the Ares title hanging, and no one has time to put together another tournament to get a new person in there. So, yeah, it’s going swimmingly.”
I want to pretend I don’t have a conscience, but it tends to rear its goofy little head at the most inopportune of times. Like now, contemplating Zeus’s death. It was a lot easier to do with the last one. He was evil, and murdering him was a blessing for everyone in the city. His son, our current Zeus, is still in his fledgling monster stage. It’s possible someone could pull him out of it…
“I’m worried about Hera,” Atalanta says abruptly. “She’s got too many connections. She might be able to pull them out of this death spiral.”
I shake my head. “She hates the Thirteen. She’s more likely to set them on fire than lend a helping hand.”
“Hermes.” Atalanta puts an emphasis on my title. I am one of the Thirteen, too, after all. “Hera is daughter of Demeter, married to Zeus, and sister-in-law to Hades. Not to mention she’s got connections to Eros through Psyche, and he’s one scary motherfucker.”
“He’s a pussycat.” I wave that away and keep going before she can snap at me. “We’re not threatening Psyche, so he won’t bother with us. Easy-peasy.”
“We have different definitions of easy-peasy.”
I laugh. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll keep an eye on Hera—and Zeus—to ensure they don’t make any more progress trying to bring the gang together.”
“That does make me feel better, actually.” Atalanta leans down and presses a light kiss to my forehead. She’s gone before I have a chance to react, the little asshole, striding away to the edge of the roof. A few seconds later the ladder on the other side creaks as she climbs down.