Athena’s heart softened as she recognized the lost look in Mars’s golden eyes. Beyond her better judgment, she reached her hand out across the table, taking his hand in hers. He startled at her touch, but his eyes caught hers, and in them she could see past the tattooed, sun-kissed man with a multitude of scars, both on the surface and well beneath his skin. She could see he was just as lost as she was, and perhaps that was why she held his hand with promise, with the utmost care.
Because despite her own disposition, Athena rarely faced an enemy and lost.
And time was the truest enemy of a God.
For at the crux of all that she was, in the midst of her chaos... she was a warrior. A hero.
And what was a hero without someone to save?
“We’lll figure this out, Mars. I promise,” she said, her words infused with more truth than ever before.
* * *
Athena walkedthrough the exit of the DeLux underground, Mars and Calliope at her back. After much pestering, and Athena’s insistence, Mars had agreed to lay low in the Underworld. Though he had protested that he did not know of any vacancies, Calliope was quick to remind him that even though he’d never used it, his father had real estate below the surface that was embedded into the fabric of purgatory itself like a godly historical landmark. Zeus’s properties were never to be touched, much in the same way Hades and Posideon’s were never to be touched. They were as solid as the men they were meant for, even if they were unoccupied.
“Well, it’s not like I have a key or anything,” he had tried to excuse.
At that point, Athena had considered shifting to an owl and flying the coop.
Why was everything he did such a nuisance?
Calliope skillfully tapped out a text, Mars looking over her shoulder.
“Who are you texting at this hour?” he grumbled.
“Your father,” Calliope intoned.
Athena stopped dead in her tracks. “What?”
“Well, one of us has to do it, and I don’t see either of you two jumping for your phones.”
Athena hated that Calliope always seemed to be the one person who could be one step ahead of her.
“He said there’s a key in a rock under the fake ficus,” Calliope said with a grin as she slid her phone back in her pocket.
Mars rolled his golden eyes.
“Unbelievable. You know if you weren’t like family, Callie, I’d—”
“What would you do, Mars? Pitch a temper tantrum?” Calliope giggled, and Athena couldn’t help but do the same.
“We really should get you home, and resume this quest for knowledge tomorrow,” Calliope said, her voice softening.
Athena stood on the corner of the exit, her gaze dancing around from street sign to shop sign, taking in the sight of the present Underworld. It had been years since she’d come down here to see Orion. She made a mental note to call him, if only to catch up. She hadn’t realized how long it had been.
“Aren’t you coming, Athena?” Calliope’s voice pulled her from her thoughts.
“I’m good, thanks,” she said briskly. She didn’t miss that Mars actually looked a little hurt, and so she added with unprecedented warmth, “I just... need some air. It’s a bit stuffy down here.”
Mars nodded as Calliope pursed her lips.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” she said, her tone unwavering. It was not a request, but a command, and quite frankly, the muse was possibly the only woman who could command the Goddess and not receive a lashing of epic proportions.
Athena nodded in response as she turned down the street, separating from her brother and friend.
She sauntered down the stone pathways, past the window of the ButterNut Bakery, where she saw Orion in the window, sitting with a pretty blonde, sharing sweets.
She stopped for a moment, looking through the glass as the bounty hunter’s eyes perked up, his grin just as childlike and endearing as she remembered, his attention fixed on the woman in front of him.
