“Zeus?” Aphrodite shook his head. “He’s more cowardly than you think.”
Hera nodded. “It was cowardice that made him kill your mother. He was afraid of her. He always has been.”
A stab of pain went through my heart. “Why are you here? What do you want from me?”
Aphrodite and Hera exchanged a weighted glance. Neither seemed eager to speak. Hera kept wringing her hands, and the line of her tense lips blanched white.
After a long moment, Aphrodite folded her arms and drifted over to the bare window. Outside, orange streaks tore through the sky, signalling the dawn of another day—and the bedtime of the vampires.
The Olympian sighed, her shoulders tensing. “Zeus will be our undoing unless we find a way to stop him.”
“I’m not sure I understand what you mean,” I said carefully.
“You, of all people, should know exactly what we mean,” Aphrodite said. “And you were there when he revealed a new treachery. He killed Dion’s lover.”
“He’s a bastard, cruelly wielding power over the rest of us. Power he doesn’t even own. He calls himself our Archon, but he is not our leader. We’re all equals, the Thirteen Crowns. That’s how it’s supposed to work,” Hera said fiercely.
“He didn’t murder your mother because she worshipped Gaia.” Aphrodite turned, her sharp gaze narrowing on my face. “He did it to make a statement. If we cross him, hewilltake us out, one by one. The treaty? It doesn’t matter. He’ll find a way around it, just as he did with Theia.”
“And even if he doesn’t make a move, he’ll torment us until one of us snaps,” Hera said, her scowl returning. “I worry about what Dionysos will do in retaliation. He might very well be willing to fall, if it meant getting vengeance.”
“I see,” I said.
Aphrodite furrowed her brow. “You see?”
“Yes, I understand what you’re saying.”
Hera huffed a bitter laugh. “I told you, Aphrodite. This one won’t help us. She’s like a stone statue, unmoved by anything, not even her mother’s death.”
“I came here to do my duty and then return home to my people,” I said, raising my voice. “I keep trying to explain that to everyone, but no one seems to listen.”
Hera suddenly gripped my arm and dug her fingernails into my velvet sleeve, hard enough a flash of pain went through my skin. “Listen,child—”
“I am no child,” I said, narrowing my gaze. “I am the High Queen of Troy and a member of the Thirteen Crowns. And you will let go of me now.”
“Zeus is going to destroy us all,” Hera hissed. “Likely starting with you. Don’t you bloody care?”
“You were the one whojust saidhe’s too cowardly to break the treaty.” I shook off Hera’s hand and started toward the door. “Now if you don’t mind, I’ve had a long journey, and I would like to get some rest.”
“He is a coward, but hewillfind a way eventually,” Hera insisted. “Look at what he did to Eros. A primordial god in another realm, who should be untouchable.”
I paused. “What do you mean? What did he do to Eros?”
“You don’t know?” Aphrodite asked softly. “Zeus captured Psyche. He threatened to kill her if Eros didn’t curse you and your mother with the same curse he gave us. That’s how he was able to kill her with the wooden stake.”
My heart pounded. When Ares had cornered me that day, he’d told me the method Zeus had used to kill my mother. I’d just never been able to figure outhowhe’d passed that weakness on to us.
“Where is Psyche now?” I asked.
“We assume he still has her locked away somewhere. As leverage,” Hera said. “So you see what we’re dealing with here?”
“But surely the other gods would do something…” I murmured.
“Which gods?” Hera asked with a laugh. “Aether hates conflict. And Chaos? He’s never bothered to get involved with this realm, and I doubt he cares about Eros and his mortal love.”
“Gaia,” I whispered, not daring to speak the god’s name any louder than that.
“Your Trojan god cannot help you, Selene,” Aphrodite said solemnly. “When she agreed to the pact, she vowed not to interfere. If she could, your fellow Titans would be free from Tartarus by now. And your mother…she’d still be alive.”
