Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 95458 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95458 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
He nods slowly. “I’ll think about it.”
“Think fast.” I eye Orion and start to slide past them to the door. “You’re running out of time.” I can’t force him to listen to me, but I’d actually be sad if Poseidon died. He and Apollo are both too damned honorable for this city. If they survive the conflict brewing in the university district, I hope they actually get the fuck out of this city, once and for all.
I barely make it out of the shipyard before my phone buzzes against my hip. It’s not a text this time. When I realized Circe would set up her base in the university, I created a series of triggers to notify me when she streamed to the large screens being set up around the quad.
She’s streaming now.
My foolish heart lodges in my throat, bloody and beating hard enough to choke on. She looks good, if tired. It’s calculated, I’m sure, to appear more approachable. One of them. She is one of them, or at least was a very long time ago. I was, too. Her short blond hair is perfectly styled and her makeup is sparse, having made no attempt to cover up the circles beneath her green eyes. She’s wearing normal enough clothing, too, in an attempt to be one of the people.
Circe motions with a graceful hand. “We move into the future of Olympus today by meting out justice to the first of the monsters who harmed me and so many others. When Zeus saw me, took me, this woman was the one who planned our wedding, ignoring my protests that it wasn’t something I wanted.” Her voice is cool and practiced, but a thread of tension vibrates beneath the words. She’s telling the truth, and her words are all the more powerful for it. “I begged her to free me. Instead, she reported to Zeus every word I said. Knowing I refused to play along only stoked his rage, which resulted in the attempt on my life.”
I shake my head slowly. There’s only one person she could be talking about, but that’s impossible. The last Aphrodite was exiled nearly a year ago after she attempted to kill Psyche Dimitriou; Psyche had been clever enough to video the entire thing. The public outcry forced the new Zeus’s hand, and he chose exile over a more violent punishment.
On my screen, Circe continues. “But I’m not the only one she harmed.” Her gaze cuts to something below her. “How many people did she send her son after, cutting them down before they had a chance to threaten her? One of them sits in this auditorium right now.”
The camera cuts to a pale Psyche, her hazel eyes too wide. Next to her, Eros is coiled and seems ready to spring into action. He’s the son in question, the one the past Aphrodite sent after people she viewed as her competition. The former Aphrodite might be more of a monster than most, but she’s still his mother.
“Fuck,” I breathe.
I don’t hold any fondness for the last Aphrodite. Both for the reasons Circe has stated and because she was a constant pain in the ass in general. The only reason she was exiled instead of executed for her crimes was because Zeus was too new to his title and her alliances were too strong. He didn’t dare do more than banish her.
So, no, I don’t care about Peitho, the former Aphrodite, for the sake of who she is. I care about her because she’s Eros’s mother. He’s my friend, and I don’t want to see him hurt. If Circe tries to kill his mother in front of him, he won’t stand there and let it happen. And if he tries to stop Circe, she’ll kill him, too.
“This was supposed to be as near to a bloodless coup as we could manage,” I snarl. It doesn’t matter that there’s no one around to hear me. The only people who were supposed to be hurt were the ones who deserve it. And, sure, Peitho does deserve it, but not like this. Not in front of her son. Eros has killed more than a few people, but he’s turned his back on that life and embraced love and happiness with a new murderous family that doesn’t actually need him to be their fixer. And only Demeter and Hera are murderous, really, though Persephone has a ruthless streak a mile wide.
I have to stop this. I’m not far from the university, barely a mile. Circe says she’s only going to kill those responsible in fair trials, but this is more trial by public opinion than by a jury of Peitho’s peers. Over the sound mixing, I can hear the jeers and cheers from the audience as Circe continues to detail the many sins of the woman kneeling at her feet.