Ihit the base of the vat and kicked my legs to push myself back to the surface. The water was icy, a thousand tiny needles against my skin. Each one reminded me I was alive. While I was still breathing, I was going to keep fighting.
I popped out, gasping for air.
Don't panic,I told myself.Think. You can do this.
I had to.
I glanced up. The lip of the vat was too high to reach, even if I lunged. I pressed my palms against the sides and bobbed. Water dripped down my face, and my clothes were heavy, clinging to me everywhere, threatening to drag me back under.
"Like I said, it'll be a little cold at first," Hypnos' voice carried over the side of the vat. "In half an hour or so, it'll be at one hundred degrees. It'll keep climbing slowly until it reaches boiling point."
Thatreallywasn't going to work for me. I didn't have ‘be boiled alive’ on my bingo card for this year. Or any other foreseeable year for that matter.
"You're not very nice," I called out.
He chuckled. "I've been told that before. The thing is, I don't care about being nice."
"You care about staying out of prison," I said.
"Yes, that is high on my list of priorities," he agreed.
"Making me into soup won't help you," I told him.
"It'll help me," he said. "I'll be getting rid of a menace. My associate will be pleased at my initiative."
"Are you sure about that?" I asked. "If Zeus is the big bad everyone is making him out to be, he might not care. He didn't seem particularly impressed with any of the rest of you. Why would you be any different?"
Something clattered against the side of the vat, followed by what sounded like him climbing up the ladder. His head appeared over the top, peering down at me.
"The others were different," he said. "They were lackeys. I'm Zeus's right-hand man."
"So you're the head lackey, I said. "I mean, right-hand man isn't the boss, is it?"
"Not yet," he agreed. "Until I take care of Zeus."
Hmm, interesting.
"So, in a manner of speaking, we're on the same side," I said. "We both want him taken care of. How about you let me out of here, and we can work together? Or better yet, you can tell me who he is, and I'll take care of him for you."
After I killed the hell out of Hypnos.
He snorted. "I wasn't born yesterday, Miss St. James. Nor do I need your help. When the time comes, I will deal with him."
"Okay, but can you satisfy my curiosity at least, since I'm about to be boiled alive?” I said. "Can you tell me who he is? I mean, what do you have to lose, right? You tell me, I die, the secret goes with me to…" I glanced down at the water. "I'm not going to get an actual grave, am I?"
"Probably not," he said. "I’ll drain what's left out into the sewer."
I was tempted to remind him he wasn't nice, but I didn't think he'd forgotten since the last time I said it.
"Okay, I suppose it doesn't matter since I'll be dead anyway," I said. "So, who is Zeus? And how did you get into my kitchen to drug us?"
Hypnos considered for a moment. "Since you're going to die anyway…"
My eyes widened when he told me. I shouldn't have been surprised. Of course it would be someone that powerful and influential. Someone virtually untouchable.
When I got out of here, he was dead meat. I might even make him into a celebratory bowl of meatballs. Then take him to the park and feed him to the pigeons. They could shit him out all over the benches. That seemed like a fitting end for him.
As for who drugged us? That left me cold.
