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)
To a boat waiting for them in the warehouse district.
We’d suspected they might have come from the upper city. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Our network of cameras and intelligence on this side of the river is hardly exhaustive, but it’s thorough enough that they shouldn’t have been able to evade us for this long.
Unless they weren’t staying here at all. It takes a particular ruthlessness for Circe to require her people to cross the river—and the boundary—every time they want to attack us, but it’s the only way they had a chance of escaping cleanly each time.
Until now.
“Hades.”
“I heard you.” He sits back with a sigh. “I am the fucking lord of the lower city, and they came into my territory and fucked with my people, destroyed my property, and shot at my wife and unborn children. They wanted my attention. They have it.”
Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of. Hades hasn’t lost his shit like this since he discovered my uncle kept the truth about his family—or, more accurately, his father—from him. I thought he’d kill the old man, but in some ways his punishment was even worse. Exile without actually being exiled. He sent Andreas to a retirement home in the country. Every need is catered to, the best care money can buy, but Andreas is miserable.
I don’t blame Hades for making that call, just like I don’t blame him for making this call today, but when his family is involved, sometimes he behaves irrationally. It makes it hard to protect him.
He won’t agree to stay in the car, just like he didn’t agree to stay back at the house. I’m sticking to his side like glue. I readjust my grip on my own tablet and lean over. “In that case, let’s go over this again. Our people in the area were able to take care of the boat before they could cross back to the upper city. They retreated to this warehouse here, and they know we’re coming. Here’s how I would like to proceed.”
By the time we park one block over from our target, we have a solid plan in place. We have eyes on the streets around the building, but not inside. Since we don’t know what we’re walking into, we can’t just blow the place up. Civilian casualties are not acceptable. Beyond that, explosions mean fire, and the last thing we need to do is set fire to our own damn warehouse district.
No, we go in quiet. We know there’s at least five of them, but it’s entirely possible there are more. We take out all but two. The survivors, we’ll transfer back to the house and lock up for questioning. Minos keeps acting like he doesn’t know anything, but these soldiers definitely do. I don’t look forward to the possibility of torture, but I’ve done worse in the name of protecting the lower city.
I check my vest as I come out of the car. Next to me, Hades does the same. We exchange a look, and it’s clear he’s not going to let me take the lead. This is the same man plagued with guilt from when he shot Eurydice’s attacker…except he’s not the same at all.
That Hades was sure that his actions, his so-called monstrousness would lose him the one person he cared about more than any other.
But this Hades? This Hades has taken full ownership of the lower city in the last year, guarding it possessively and making the hard calls to ensure his people stay safe. This Hades has a pregnant wife who he will commit untold acts to protect. He’s not going to balk at pulling the trigger this time.
There’s a part of me that mourns the man he used to be, but I can’t deny that he’s a much more effective ruler this way. He’s become the boogeyman that they always accused him of being. Ironically, it’s not hate that made him this way. It’s love.
That, I understand intimately.
I check my gun, ensuring there’s a bullet in the chamber. “Let’s go.”
There are ten on our team, including me and Hades. We split and wait for several precarious minutes while the other team reaches the second exit. I motion at Arai. “Take care of the doors.”
They nod and scurry off. They’re a lean white person, with close-cropped red hair and a penchant for getting into places they shouldn’t. I’m nearly one hundred percent sure they’re a cat burglar in their time off, but they are loyal to a fault, so I don’t question how they spend their evenings as long as it doesn’t bring any heat from the upper city. They’re also a genius when it comes to explosives.
The next few minutes are tense and seem to last forever. Arai works best alone, and when they don’t want to be seen, they’re practically invisible. That doesn’t stop the worry worming its way through my stomach until I hear the faint, “Got it. Doors out of commission in three…two…one.” Faint pops sound in the afternoon air, almost like fireworks going off.