I swallowed and forced my gaze not to wander to Hermes. He hadn’t been exactly forthcoming with all of this information. “Yes,” I said.
Hera’s half smile turned into a full, victorious grin. “Good,” she laughed. “Because he’s here. And if you do not succeed, he will destroy us all.”
Just as I went to ask her a million questions, the ground shook beneath my feet. It wasn’t enough to knock me over, but I felt the impact as someone landed outside the gates. When a second, third and fourth rumble quaked through the temple, I went from nervous to petrified in a half-second.
“Messenger, why don’t you show your guests to their rooms,” Hera suggested.
Hermes nodded quickly, then turned to briskly walk out what could only be described as the back door. Ryder and I followed him without giving the temple another thought.
Stairs bordered the entire structure and a road led away from the temple down the opposite side of the mountain. Houses, that fell somewhere between the simple structures we’d passed on the way to the temple and the palaces that dotted the hillside, lined the road. We did not stop at any of them though.
Hermes walked for a long time before he found the place he was looking for. Even though he set a hurried pace, he did not run. Anxiety burned through my blood and I wanted to scream at him toget us out of here.But I managed to stay quiet and appear calm.
The only thing that kept me from panicking was Ryder’s hand over mind. I didn’t think Hermes wanted me to die, but I also didn’t think he had the same sense of urgency when it came to Nix that I did.
If Ryder hadn’t come with me, I would have died of a heart-attack by now.
Eventually we came to one of the many palaces. It sat at the peak of a grassy hill, magnificent against the horizon. Vibrant, green ivy climbed the limestone pillars in front, stretching toward the warm sun that hovered so closely. The estate seemed to go on forever, taking up acres of space. Fat cherub statues danced along the roof. Beyond the doorway, I could see a foyer made with marble tile and a dangling crystal chandelier. A golden fountain held more dancing angels shooting water into the air and the pool that circled them.
“My home,” Hermes muttered as we passed the first set of columns and fountain.
We walked into the main part of the house to find more white marble and more stately pillars; gold accented everything.
The house was eerily quiet. I had expected servants or concubines or… I didn’t know what. But it seemed we were the only people in the entire residence.
“Why didn’t you beam us here?” Ryder asked and his voice echoed through the rest of the house.
Hermes didn’t bother to slow his stride or turn around. “Beam you here?”
“You’re disappearing act,” Ryder growled. “We walked all this way. I’m just curious why you didn’t use yourpowers.”
“My brothers and sisters can feel my powers on the mountain. Our comings and goings are not secret here. Nothing is secret here. I was attempting to be discreet.” His reply only amped up my nerves. “Here,” Hermes went on. He stopped in front of an arched door. With a push of his hand, he swung it open and revealed an expansive room, decorated in pure whites and glittering golds. “Ivy, this is for you.”
“We’ll share,” Ryder announced before I could say anything. “We’ll share a room.”
“Wh-what?” My heart jumped to my throat and I suddenly felt very unsupervised. Not that I needed to be, er, supervised. It was just the first time in a long time that I truly felt the absence of an adult in my life.
Even more so than my entire year on the island.
“I’m not leaving you, Red. Not even to sleep.”
“Fine,” Hermes cut in before I could freak out some more. “It’s easier that way for me as well. But if you need… space, there is a room made up for you right next door.” Hermes swept his arm to the left and I saw a second arched doorway not far away.
Ryder nodded his approval, but did not offer to stay there.
I stepped inside the room and inhaled the fresh air breezing in from the open balcony. I quickly absorbed the huge bed in the center of the room, a sunken bath tub in one corner and a lounging area with white settees in another. There was a door on one wall that I hoped led to a bathroom.
“There’s a lot of furniture in here.” I ran my fingers over the silk sheets on the bed.
“Were you expecting… less?” Hermes asked. Some of the amusement had returned to his voice and I could tell how much more at ease he was in his own space.
“The temple was completely bare.” I turned around and raised my eyebrows. “I expected something more like… this.” I gestured around at the wealth represented here. I knew the hearts of these gods, minimalism wasn’t their style.
Hermes smiled and his expression turned devilish. “Zeus once said that there is only enough room for our egos in the temple. We have tried furniture in the past, but it has not… lasted long.”
“It deteriorates?” Ryder guessed.
“It is destroyed,” Hermes corrected. “When we quarrel.”
