“And I will vouch for them still,” Hermes answered immediately.
“Then escort them back to your home until the morning. My queen and I have much to discuss. Until then, keep a better eye on them.”
Hera turned incredulously to her husband, “You’re letting them go?”
He let out a ragged sigh and replied, “I am weary, wife. Let me have some wine. Let me greet my brothers and sisters. The Siren and her musician can wait until morning.”
With ice in her veins and stone in her heart, Hera reminded him, “Your brother is dead, Zeus. Do you not think it wise to punish those who have killed him?”
“My brother ruled the Underworld,” he gritted out. “He was already halfway there! Now be silent woman and let me be glad to be home!”
Hera’s mouth snapped shut and she stormed out of the building. Lightning snapped overhead, violent bolts of light chasing each other across the sky in her wake.
Smith turned away from me to answer questions from some of the other gods, but I felt his attention stay with me.
I thought about approaching him, but before I could move my feet, Nix leaned over and murmured in my ear. “Soon, Ivy.” His lips brushed over the shell of my ear and I tried not to shiver from revulsion. “You’re almost mine.”
I opened my mouth to give him a piece of my mind, but he had already disappeared into the crowd. Hermes appeared in the next second. He wrapped his hand around my bicep until I winced from the burning pain. He had Ryder in his other hand and he dragged us out of the temple like we were naughty puppies.
“You’re going to get yourselves killed,” he snarled vehemently.
Intuition punched through my gut. “You might be right about that.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
We were silent the rest of the walk to Hermes house. I got the impression he was afraid that we would be overheard.
Nobody followed us down the road, but plenty of Greeks had moved onto the steps to watch us walk away. Gods and goddesses of course, but there were also servants that paused to watch the show.
The ones who had given me the most cause for alarm had been the Furies. They watched us with undisguised malice. Their focus had been unnerving, but the power that danced around them in a palpable field of energy had been terrifying.
Hermes had noticed them too and his tight grip on my arm had eased. I thought he might have felt sorry for me.
“Tell me exactly what happened,” he demanded as soon as we were through the door to his mansion.
I rubbed my bruised arm and opened my mouth to confess my deal with the Fates when small arms suddenly wrapped around my middle. I inhaled the fresh scent of my little sister and lost a battle to instant tears.
I struggled to get her to let go of me so I could spin around and hug her back. “Honor,” I croaked. “For real?”
Her head moved frantically against my back. She held me so tight I could barely breathe, but I didn’t want her to let go.
“I’m so mad at you!” Her voice was muffled because her face was smashed against my spine.
I laughed, unable to deny myself this joy for a second longer. “For leaving?” I guessed.
“You could have at least said goodbye! Or told me the truth! Or like, a part of the truth!”
I pried her hands from my midsection and turned quickly so I could latch onto her too. “I’m sorry,” I whispered into her golden-streaked, auburn head of curls.
“I’ll never forgive you,” she hiccupped, still burying her face against me.
My heart sank and I lost all motivation to finish this damn fight. “Do you mean that?” I knew I sounded pathetic, but Honor had one of the last good opinions of me. And I’d messed that all up. I’d kept secrets from her about her true identity, I fled the country without even sending a text and I maintained radio silence for almost a year. I didn’t blame her for hating me.
“No,” she admitted. “I’ll forgive you. But I’m going to make you pay for it.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less.” A new smile curved my lips and my shattered heart began to glow from the new happiness inside me.
She finally pulled back and I got to see her beautiful face. Her green eyes shimmered with tears and a vibrancy that always lit her from the inside out. Her lightly freckled nose wrinkled adorably and her pale cheeks were painted with a pretty blush.
