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)
“How luxurious.” The smile is clear in her voice. “Is it worth the breath to tell you to do the same?”
I haven’t seen Atalanta since the ill-fated kiss with Circe that resulted in a drugged stupor that laid me out for several hours. Just long enough for Circe to make her move, stepping into the public eye with Demeter as her right hand. I managed to extract Zeus and Hera and ferry them to Hades’s sanctuary, but I was almost too late. A couple hours later, and they would have been in the middle of the caravan and as close to untouchable as a prisoner can be.
I also haven’t told Atalanta about the kiss.
Guilt pricks me even though we’ve made no promises to each other. The possibility of more has stood between us for years, but the downfall of Olympus must come first. If I allow myself to be happy… Well, Circe’s return already caught me flat-footed. How much worse would it have been if I allowed myself to fall in love with my best friend?
Happy people don’t start revolutions. They have too much to lose.
I clear my throat. “I managed a little sleep before staging my daring rescue. I’ll hold awhile longer.” I hate that it feels like a lie… Probably because it is a lie. Yes, I’m not as tired as I was before my forced nap, but it was, in fact, a forced nap.
“Text me once you’re done with Poseidon and heading for Apollo. We’re about to hit the last legacy family, and then I’ll do my best to convince Athena to make a tactical retreat to the lower city.”
“That’s my girl.” Damn it, I didn’t mean to say that. I clear my throat. “I’ll keep you updated. Stay safe.”
“You too.” So many emotions linger in those two words. I have a moment wishing things were different. What would have happened if I let Atalanta’s steady presence heal me fully? If I let myself love her the way she deserves instead of hatching a plot that still leaves me breathless with its ambition? If we’d settled down in the country, adopted some cute babies, and made a life there?
I shake my head and start down the stairs. It’s a pretty fantasy, but ultimately nothing would have changed. Circe, the love of my life, the woman whose death made my world dull and gray, still would have returned. She still would have sought the blood of those responsible for her pain. She still would have made her plans to conquer Olympus.
At least, this way, I have a chance of stopping her.
2
Atalanta
There’s something wrong with Hermes.
It’s not the setback—we’ve had plenty of those over the years. She might use the flicker and flare of cheer to distract people from the person she is beneath the mask, but she is positive to an overwhelming degree. The nature of this ambitious scheme is isolation. We’ve been able to talk more regularly in the last few weeks than we have in years, which has been a welcome change. When we set out on this path, we decided that there should be nothing to link us, to give the vultures of Olympus reason to look deeper. For years, we communicated solely through little messages passed secretly back and forth.
Even so, I know Hermes.
The worst part of being a soldier isn’t the discipline or ruthlessness required to fulfill the mission. It’s the personal sacrifice. The mission has to come first. Any distractions can mean literal life and death, not just for me, but for the people of Olympus.
I believe in what we’re doing. The Thirteen have spent generations isolating themselves more and more from the common people, turning their attention away from the growing suffering in Olympus. If it happens outside the glass and steel and concrete perfection of the center of the upper city, it might as well not happen at all.
Things have to change.
I’m just…tired. So fucking tired. We’re in the middle of a thankless task, and we won’t be praised at the end of it, even if we manage to figure out the Circe problem. Hermes says she has it under control, but I can’t help the doubt sprouting inside me.
There’s no time, though. I have to jog to meet Athena before she approaches the last family—Apollo and Orpheus’s parents. She waits for me just outside the doorway, a trim Black woman with warm medium-brown skin and a fade cut. She’s carrying—she always is—but because this is a diplomatic mission, she’s wearing one of her perfectly tailored suits, a deep plum today.
Athena gives me a cool look. “We don’t have time to waste.”
“I know.” I don’t bother to apologize. I won’t really mean it, and Athena hates people wasting their breath and her time. “I’m ready.”
“I dislike this.” She leads the way through the lobby, bypassing a frazzled-looking receptionist and using her override code for the elevator. A number of legacy families have discovered the unfortunate reality that Hermes isn’t the only title in Olympus who can get through a locked door. Thanks to Bellerophon’s skill with technology and Athena’s override codes, we’ve walked into every legacy family’s home like this.