Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 92659 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92659 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
We walk back into the bedroom together to find Orpheus awake. He makes no move to get out of bed, just watches us with a tense look on his face. “Morning.”
I’m still deciding how to handle the situation when Eurydice props a knee on the bed and presses a light kiss to his lips. “We have to go to a meeting, but we’ll bring lunch when we get back. You should probably call your brother.”
Orpheus makes a face. “I don’t need to report to him like I’m a child.”
“I know. Just like I know Apollo worries. Be a good boy and throw him a bone.”
His expression goes slack for a moment, and then he chuckles. “It’s hard to argue when you say things like that.”
“How strange. I had no idea.” She grins and heads for the door.
I take a step to follow, but then half turn to him. “Go back to bed, Orpheus. You need to rest.” He doesn’t look as hopeless as he did when he first showed up on our side of the river, but we’ve been running him ragged, and he wasn’t particularly well rested before. “We’ll talk when we get back.”
“I’d like that.”
“Me too.” I turn and head downstairs. I find Eurydice standing out by my car. “Next time, wait inside the front door.” I want to believe the lower city is still safe, but the growing unrest in Olympus and the attack on the greenhouse proves otherwise. Until we figure out who’s causing problems in the lower city, I don’t want her going anywhere alone. Even the sidewalk in front of my town house.
Eurydice takes one look at my face and wisely decides not to argue with me about this. “Okay.”
“Thank you.” I open the door for her and move around to the driver’s seat. It takes no time at all to drive from my place to Hades’s residence. I park but make no move to get out of the car. “We’re going to talk today. Really talk. I want everything out in the air so we can deal with it, one way or another.”
“I would rather not.” She doesn’t look at me when she says it.
Yeah, I’m not surprised by that. “You don’t get the cocks without the men attached, baby. If we don’t iron our shit out, it’s going to blow up in our faces. I don’t want that for you, I don’t want that for me, and I don’t want that for Orpheus either. I know this shit isn’t easy for you, but it’s necessary.”
She seems to consider that for a moment and then reaches for the door. “Let’s go.”
I don’t press her. There will be plenty of time for that later, and she’s right that there’s no benefit to us putting off what comes next. When we make it to Hades’s office, I’m not remotely surprised to find Persephone there as well. The person who does surprise me, though, is Hera. She sits next to her sister on the couch, perfectly coiled rage in a pretty package. She and Persephone might share their mother’s coloring, but Persephone and Eurydice actually look a lot more like each other if you were to line the sisters up. Callisto—now Hera—is a blade sheathed in beauty. I don’t know what possessed her to marry Zeus, and frankly I don’t need to know, but the thing that no one seems to understand is that she was already one of the most dangerous people in Olympus before she took the title of Hera.
Eurydice crosses to her sisters, and they rise to meet her. They exchange hugs and kisses on the cheek, but the tension in the room doesn’t decrease in the least. When she’s done greeting them, I expect her to sit on the couch between them—clearly, they expect it as well. She doesn’t. Eurydice moves back to stand with me in front of the desk. A soldier ready to report. The comparison isn’t lost on me. A quick glance around the room says it’s not lost on anyone else present either.
“Persephone, if you would be so kind.” Hades motions to the door. He waits until she obeys and returns to her spot to pin us with his dark gaze. “I do not appreciate being cornered into giving my word without all the information. While I will not go back on it, I would like a full report. Now.” Even though he speaks mildly, his displeasure colors the air.
He’s furious.
I open my mouth, but Eurydice gets there first. She straightens her shoulders and lifts her chin, her voice calm and collected. “When I met Ariadne at the house party, we had an instant connection. I know that Apollo thinks she has more information than she’s sharing, so I took it upon myself to make friends with her in an effort to gather that information. We’ve been speaking secretly since then, and so when she came to me for help, it was the opportunity I couldn’t ignore.”