His feet already healing, Hermes stood again, swaying slightly. He smirked. “I might’ve whispered in a few Titan ears in the Underworld. They’d be thrilled to overturn its…balance.”
Lightning cracked out of Zeus again, his thunder rocking the city. Bellanca staggered, reaching behind her to grab the edge of the altar. She darted a quick look at Carver. Was his color better? His breathing steadier? Sudden hope burst inside her. Apollo seemed to be coming out of a trance, his power-heavy eyes shimmering and unfocused. The god stopped chanting, and her pulse shot off like an arrow. Now, if Carver would just open his beautiful gray eyes, she could handle anything else the cosmos threw at her.
She swung back around, her magic blazing hotter.
Scowling, Zeus curled his hands into fists. “I should never have let Perses out of Tartarus.”
Hermes shrugged. “I’d say he’s your brother’s problem now. Poor Hades.” Bellanca knew spiteful glee when she saw it, and it was written all over that sneaky little bastard.
Hermes’s sandals reformed on his healed feet, new wings sprouting on either side. Zeus charred them off again, and Hermes crashed to the ground with a howl.
“This time, it’s permanent,” Zeus growled.
Hermes blanched. “My wings.” He stared in horror at his bare, lightning-burned feet.
“You just lost your access to the Underworld.” Disappoint-ment rolled off Zeus like a storm. Regret too. Guilt, maybe. “Your feet will heal. But it’ll be an age before you earn back your abilities or your title.”
“But…I’m the messenger.” Hermes looked wildly at his father. He moved forward, his feet already significantly restored but with no sign of his iconic sandals. “I’m the only one besides Hades and Persephone who can come and go from the Underworld.”
“Not anymore.” Zeus tightened the lightning rope tethering Hermes to the core of the island.
“No! Father!” Frantic now, Hermes struggled against the sizzling shackle. “I’ll work. I’ll help. I promise.”
“I’ll deal with you later.” With those ominous words, Zeus turned his back on his son’s tortured face and swung his displeasure on Hera. “Perses? The destroyer? The ravager? You wanted Hades and me distracted enough by that awful excuse for an ancient god that you pushed him to rebel in the Underworld? The afterlife is a gift, not a punishment. Do you truly want every human’s afterlife to be ruled over by him? Is that possible outcome worth thisfailureof yours in Atlantis?”
Hera lifted her chin. “Tell me… Do Hades and Persephone already feel the noose tightening around their necks? Do they feel their thrones trembling under the ground?”
Zeus laughed, the sound unpleasant but almost impressed. “And while we met on the banks of the River Styx to discuss their growing problem, you nearly destroyed Atlantis.”
Hera conjured another starlight sword, lengthening the sharp, shining blade until it almost reached Zeus’s chest. “Theshadow mist obscures the vision of gods. After all, it’s whereweused to hide.”
Zeus’s jaw twitched violently. He eyed her sword but didn’t tighten her lightning chains. They wrapped around her waist like fire-bright, golden belts, holding her to the square but leaving her room to move. “I have to say, your timing was almost impeccable. Or was that Hermes’s doing as well?”
Hera’s face hardened. “I owe you no explanations. I haven’t seen you in a thousand years.”
An earthquake rattled in Zeus’s chest. Echoing tremors shook the square, and Bellanca widened her stance, shooting an anxious look toward the weakened temples. “You knew where to find me. Mount Olympus isn’t that big.”
“You knew where to findme, and yet you never opened the door!”
“Would you have welcomed me?” Zeus grated. “I was showing contrition by respecting your space.”
Shock flashed in Hera’s eyes. “You respected my space so thoroughly you forgot I existed until I made a bid for your throne.”
“You’re angry, and I understand why.” Zeus’s radiant eyes dimmed, something like sadness replacing the lightning-bolt gleam. “But you go too far and assume things that aren’t true. Worse, you punish innocent people for my flaws.”
“It’s not just about us!” Hera snarled. “I’m powerful. I can rule. I have capacities thateveryonehas ignored. I have ideas. Opinions. I willnotbe set aside for another two thousand years.”
Unleashing a heavy breath, Zeus stepped right up to the tip of her sword. “You’re right. You should be heard. You should be seen.”
“Father…” Athena cautioned. Artemis raised her bow.
Zeus only had eyes for Hera. “If you truly want me dead,send me to the Underworld. I’ll help my brother there, and you can rule here.”
Bellanca gaped in shock. Hera had turned into a monster. She’d done terrible things. She shouldn’t get what she wanted.
Hera stared at her husband. “You see everything else.Everyone. Why are you so blind to me?”
Reaching out to caress her cheek, he murmured, “Because you’re my one weakness, Hera Olympus.”
