I sighed. “I know. But you can’t come with me. If any of them spotted you, they’d likely kill you, knowing what you are to me.”
But instead of turning away, he continued to stare, and I could so easily read his thoughts.
“Hera and Aphrodite?” I asked. “Just because they hate Zeus doesn’t mean I can trust them. Dionysos perhaps, but…”
Getting involved in all their pesky squabbling would only get in the way of what I’d come here to do. I’d meant what I’d said. The High Queen of Troy had come to the Isle of Aiaia to do her duty and return home. Zeus could never find a reason to step foot inside that city. If he did, and if he saw all the icons dedicated to Gaia, he would burn the whole place down. And then he’d take any mortal survivors, and he’d drain every ounce of blood from their broken bodies.
Just like Orpheus had told me, I couldn’t give Zeus any reason to venture north. As long as I did what I was meant to do, he’d accept me as Troy’s new ruler and dismiss the city as unimportant to him, just as he always had.
Sighing, I smoothed down the front of my gown and squared my shoulders. “I need to go, Hector. I can’t be the last one to arrive again. Will you be all right by yourself? It’ll be safe enough for you to explore the island, just as long as you stay away from the amphitheatre. I don’t want to risk any of them seeing you, especially Ares.”
Hector clicked his beak and ruffled his feathers, but I could tell by the glint in his eye that he agreed.
I knelt beside him and rubbed his cheek with my knuckle. Then I stood tall and ventured into the belly of the beast.
An eerie silence suffocated the megaron, the tap of my boots against the marble floor as loud as thunder. Four Olympians were clustered near the empty dining table. They stood looking down at something. Artemis was near the back. She clasped her hands behind her, tension tightening her slim shoulders. Frowning, I stepped closer.
A feverish whisper crackled through the room, but it was too quiet for me to make out the words.
Artemis turned. When she saw me approaching, she scowled and brushed her dark, wavy hair over her shoulders. “Oh, it’s you. I’m surprised you have the nerve to show up here after what you did.”
My stomach tightened. Could Ares have told them about our confrontation last night? Or had someone overheard me speaking to Hera and Aphrodite? Neither were in the megaron yet. The others, now turning to look at me, were Poseidon, Apollo, and Hephaestus.
Poseidon was a towering Olympian with a blue tint to his skin that never failed to remind me of the sea. He folded his arms over his broad chest and narrowed his eyes. “You may have skirted the laws of the Hellas Agreement, but Zeus and Ares won’t let you get away with this.”
Well, that certainly didn’t makeanysense.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said carefully.
Apollo and Hephaestus stepped to the side, revealing a pile of blackened ash. A lump of nausea suddenly clogged my throat. I pressed a fisted hand to my mouth, holding back my revulsion. The size of the pile and the shape of it—a perfectly formed circle—made my heart ache. Ashes only looked like this for one reason. This was the remains of a vampire, and judging by the golden ring glinting on the ground beside it, it belonged to someone high in the ranks.
I swallowed, and then it hit me. All the dark stares, the scowls, the accusations. They thoughtI’ddone this.
“No.” I pointed a finger at the ash. Thankfully, I’d calmed my nerves well enough to keep my hand steady. “I’ve never killed one of our kind. I swear it.”
“Ourkind? Or your kind?” Artemis snapped.
“Both. I’ve never killed another vampire, including whoever that—”
“Whoever?” Poseidon barked a laugh. “Don’t let Ares hear you say that. Speak with some respect.”
With a gasp, I moved closer to the ash to better view the ring. I had a sneaking suspicion who this was. And if I was right…well, I didn’t see how the treaty would survive.
The ring glinted in the torchlit room. An emblem had been etched into the center—a roaring bull. The symbol of Ares. But I’d noticed a second ring on Ares’s hand, though I hadn’t gotten a good glimpse of it. So if he wore two rings and only one was here…
“Is that Hestia?” I asked, looking up at the gathered Olympians.
Poseidon scowled. “Stop pretending. None of us would dare hurt her, so it had to be you.”
“I don’t think she’s lying.” Hephaestus drew closer, leaning on his cane. “She’s as shocked by this turn of events as we are.”
“Have you never heard of acting? Her mother certainly knew how to perform,” Poseidon said.
I whirled toward Poseidon, pinning him with my narrowed gaze. “I didn’t do this. For one, I’m not fool enough to murder Ares’s closest advisor right here in front of everyone.”
“Oh, you’d sneak around and do it in secret, then, would you?” Artemis asked with a laugh.
“If I were going to, yes. I would be a lot more careful about it. In fact, I’d make it so you wouldn’t even find her remains until I was long gone.”
