“But why am I going to save her life,” Ryder pressed. “What is the point of all of this?”
“Zeus left the mountain nineteen years ago and nobody has been able to get ahold of him since. Hera hasn’t heard from him. He has not checked in. He has not made himself known in humanity. Nineteen years is not so long for those of us from the mountain and under normal circumstances we would not have cause for any alarm. But then…”
“Then me,” I finished for him. “So I really am different than other Sirens?”
Hermes’s eyebrows lifted and he didn’t bother to answer my question. “Poseidon has taken the opportunity to gather the more depraved of my brothers and sisters and incite a coup. Poseidon has always envied the seat of power. He’s been plotting to overthrow Zeus for as long as I can remember. And he’s not the only one. Hades and especially Ares have wanted the throne for just as long, if not longer. Now that they have their weapon, they will stop at nothing until Olympus belongs to one of them.”
“What about Hera?” Ryder asked with a surprising amount of insight. He must have noticed my surprise because he shrugged one shoulder and explained, “I told you, I’ve been reading up on this thing. I don’t know how much of what I’ve read is accurate, but it’s highlighted the major players.”
Hermes smiled at him, “I like that… the major players. It’s true, your human account of our history is skeletal at best, but if you pay close attention you’ll be able to get the gist of what and who we are.”
Selfish, greedy, petty, incestuous bastards?I pressed my lips together to keep that thought from slipping out.
“Hera resides over the mountain whilst Zeus is gone,” Della answered Ryder’s question. “But Zeus has been missing for too long and he’s thought to have hidden himself in the human realm. Possibly surrounded himself by females. She is, understandably, incensed. If a play for power was made, we are not sure whom she would side with.”
“How does one take a mountain?” I asked.
Della and Hermes shared a meaningful look. I scooted closer to Ryder, suddenly afraid of their answer.
“With power,” Hermes finally answered. “Our hierarchy has always tiered from most powerful to least. Zeus has historically been the most powerful among us, although occasionally Hera has superseded him. When Olympus lost control of the human race, Zeus happened to be the one at the top of the food chain. He’s remained there ever since and because not one of us has been able to collect more power, he’s never been challenged.”
This was definitely a fascinating conversation, but I still had no idea what I had to do with any of it. “How do you collect power?”
“Patronage,” Della answered. “Whichever god has the strongest patronage holds the most power. It might seem strange to you, but their strength is pulled from humans. In ancient days the gods derived power from the temples made in their honor. They had entire cities that would worship them. Priests and priestesses to offer sacrifices in their honor. Their power was nearly unlimited. These days… worship of the gods is nearly obsolete, but the world is bigger than ever. If a god could tap into that type of power, imagine what kind of omnipotence would be at his fingertips.”
“You mean that Nix wants humans to worship him again?” I nearly laughed. That was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard. Greek mythology was just that these days…mythology. Humans were way too cynical to jump on board with the idea of a Pantheon of gods and goddesses to worship. I tried to picture all of the people I knew building a temple to the god of the sea and bowing down in worship to someone as awful as Nix. “There’s no way! Maybe he could convince a few crazies to pay him homage, but the majority of people these days would laugh in his face.”
“But he has a weapon, Ivy,” Della explained carefully. “He won’t be the one that convinces them to do anything.”
I let out a slow breath. The humor died on my lips and I felt my blood slowly turn to sludge in my veins. “What is it, Della? What is the weapon?”
One whispered word brought everything into sharp focus for me. It all made sense. Everything. I finally understood the big deal with me and why Nix wanted my power so very desperately.
“You,” she breathed.
Chapter Thirteen
“Me?” The word fell from my mouth like a stone.
“You’re right when you say that no one will pick up the Pantheon like a religion again,” Hermes offered. “This humanity would never answer to one god, let alone an entire mountain of them. Not if they were thinking for themselves anyway. With you, he can bypass original thought and simply have you tell them what to do, what to believe, who to worship.”
“Oh, my god.” I felt sick to my stomach. He wanted to use my Siren call to manipulate humanity into worshipping him? So he could have unlimited power? Not a chance in hell. “I don’t even have that kind of power! I mean, the most damage I’ve ever done was like a one block radius and I seriously gave it my all.”
“You gave it your all on dry land,” Della corrected.
My blood tingled ominously. The water whispered its Siren Song and I had to fight the urge to go to it, to sink my feet in the wet sand and let the water lap at my ankles. There was power there. There was more power than I knew what to do with.
“I only have an effect on men,” I argued. “Women would see through me in a second.”
“Ivy, you’ve never used your power in water before. You have no idea what you’re capable of.” Della’s glittering blue eyes muted with sorrow.
I stood up and stumbled away from them. “Neither do you. You have no idea what I’m capable of. This is all… all theory. I don’t know why Nix feels that I’m any more valuable than other Sirens, but I’m not. I’m the same. And it doesn’t matter anyway, because there’s no way that he can make me do that. He can’t make me turn on humanity or manipulate them into worshiping him. I would die first.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that, Ivy,” Della said patiently. “But we’re hoping to avoid that. If we plan this properly, we can stop him before you have to make that decision.”
“But it’s not just Nix we have to stop, is it?” Ryder growled. “There are plenty of other gods willing to step in when he fails. Ivy will never be safe.”
“Not all of my brothers and sisters want the throne,” Hermes grimaced. “Plenty of us are happy to let Zeus, when he’s around, keep his precious seat. But yes, there will always be someone who thinks they can restore our old power.” He shot us a cheeky smile. “What can I say? We’re an opportunistic bunch.”
