Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 95187 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95187 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
But… “You’re proposing a coup.”
“A temporary coup.” He holds my gaze. “Athena and I have an agreement. I’m not going to use this situation to set myself up as dictator.”
There’s so much going on beneath his words. I suck in a sharp breath and try to think. Athena is smart and savvy and ruthless to a fault. She’s not going to give up her power to a coup willingly, not unless Zeus is being honest about it being temporary. “Athena is participating in this?”
“Yes.”
I clear my throat. I’ve been embroiled in more plots in the last year than in the last fifteen combined. All because of Zeus and Hera. “What about your wife?”
“Let me handle my wife. She’s none of your concern.” He shifts slightly. “Just know that I’m never going to let this happen again, even if I have to kill most of the Thirteen and hand select their replacements. One way or another, we will be united once the threat of Circe is removed.” He picks up the gun, not quite pointing it at me but the threat is clear. “So I’ll ask you again—where does your loyalty lie?”
There’s only one answer. There’s only ever been one answer, no matter how my striving for it has taken me down strange and stranger paths. “I want what’s best for Olympus.”
“Glad we see eye to eye. We’ll discuss the specifics later today. I’ll text you the location.” He moves toward the door but stops before opening it. “Bring your little captive with you when you come.” He walks out into the night, closing the door softly behind him.
I stand and stretch carefully. There isn’t a sliver of a chance that I’m going back to sleep now. I should be focusing on everything Zeus said—on his coup—but Icarus steps out of the bathroom, derailing my thoughts.
Just like that, his betrayal comes crashing back. “Give me my phone, Icarus.”
23
Icarus
I don’t have any strong sense of allegiance to Circe, but fuck if she doesn’t have a good point about the corruption in this city. She’s all but literally knocking at Olympus’s gates, and the people in power are all too busy stabbing each other in the back to do anything useful in response.
I might be doing a bit of stabbing myself, but it’s not like I’m one of the people supposed to be running this place. And I didn’t betray Poseidon, no matter what he obviously thinks.
Poseidon holds out his hand without looking at me. “My phone,” he repeats.
My skin heats with shame even though I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I pass the phone to him. “I wasn’t betraying you.”
“I didn’t ask.”
My shame gains new weight and intensity. He has no reason to trust me. And I have no reason to mourn the intimacy we shared in the bed only a few feet away. I could have waited to call Deo. I could have talked it through with Poseidon first. He knows I have blackmail that could help Olympus. I’m the one who told him about it. All I had to do was ask for the phone and I bet he would have given it to me, no questions asked. He probably even would have left the room and let me make my calls in privacy—or at least the illusion of it.
But I wasn’t thinking about any of that when I snagged his phone and slipped into the bathroom.
Something flutters beneath my sternum. I know better than to fight to make someone see me when they’ve already decided they know everything they need to. I know better. But I still find myself saying, “I told you I had blackmail on Circe’s generals. I couldn’t use it unless I contacted them. So that’s what I did.”
He keeps watching me, but there’s none of the warmth I’ve come to associate with him. I didn’t even realize how much I enjoyed it until it’s gone. I wait for him to condemn me or yell or tell me I’m worthless, but he simply waits.
This isn’t a tactic my father ever employed. He was a volcano constantly on the verge of eruption. He might have been able to charm and coax people outside our household, but he saved the worst of himself for me. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that it left scars, that I’m already tensing in preparation for Poseidon to cut me down to the bone.
As the silence stretches out, gaining a weight I swear I can feel against my skin, words spring from my lips, so quick I’m almost babbling. “It will take a little time for Deo to convince them to realize they don’t have other recourse and that the best option is to do what I want. They will all need to independently verify that I actually do have the blackmail I claim to. But they will do what I want and sail their asses back to Aeaea. Without them, it will be that much easier to sink Circe to the bottom of the bay like Zeus wants. It will be over.”