“All right,” I said, opening my eyes. “Do you think he’s one of Medea’s?”
He pursed his lips, then nodded. “Yes. I have no doubt about that.”
We got to work on the window, only the steady thrum of rain to break the silence. Soon enough the boards covered the window, blocking the view of the rain-soaked night. It had not let up since it had started. If anything, the hammering against the roof was louder than ever.
“Right, Orpheus. This is what we’re going to do,” I told him, examining our handiwork. “I want you to find Dymas, and—”
Orpheus grabbed my arm. His cheeks had turned a mottled shade of red. It was the most color I’d seen in his face in years. “Your Majesty, you cannot speak the sacrifice’s name here.”
Slowly, I pulled his fingers away from my arm. “You will find Dymas. Bring him and the other sacrifices to this room. I’ve invoked the threshold curse, so none of the vampires will be able to get inside. They’ll be safe here.”
His fearful eyes widened. “You don’t know what you’re asking me to do.”
“I know exactly what I’m asking, and I know it goes against your every instinct. I need you to do it anyway. This is an order from your High Queen.”
Orpheus shuddered. Briefly, I felt guilty about forcing him to do this. If the Olympians caught him, they wouldn’t hesitate to kill him. There’d be no trials for a traitorous advisor. No chances to prove himself. They’d just rip his heart out, over and over, letting him heal, then die, then heal again—until ending it all with a vicious stake.
But I needed him to do this. It was time to make things right. That started with getting the mortals somewhere safe.
To my surprise, Orpheus knelt before me, took my hand in his, and kissed my knuckles. “Your Majesty, I would do anything you ask of me. I hope you know that. My hesitation was out of fear for you, that’s all. There’s twelve of them and only one of you.”
I smiled down at him. “Only ten now, Orpheus. And I don’t think all of them are as against me as you might believe.”
A beat passed, then he said, “You truly mean this, don’t you? You’re making a move against the Olympians, and you’re breaking what’s left of Nekros.”
“I told you I was going to do things my way, and I meant it.”
39
SELENE
On my return trek to the megaron, I kept an eye out for any door that might be the entrance to the cavernous tunnels beneath the palace. Nothing immediately stuck out at me. There were a few doors along the corridor that stretched between the west wing and the east, but they wouldn’t budge when I tried to open them.
No matter. Orpheus seemed to know where the sacrifices were kept.
The megaron had been transformed in my absence. Someone had submerged the table in well over a dozen platters of food. Grapes and fresh cheese crowded one corner, surrounded by loaves of seeded bread and sourdough. There were vine leaves stuffed with rice and herbs. Sliced cucumbers mixed with olive oil and lettuce. Roasted tomatoes, glistening beneath the torchlight. And in the far corner, there were piles of charred fish and skewers of meat.
It was a veritable feast.
Dionysos and Aphrodite spotted me near the door and made a beeline for me. Good. They were exactly who I wanted to speak with first. But before they reached me, Ares joined the procession.
Fuck.The last person I wanted to see right now was him.
I shifted uncomfortably, not really knowing what to do with my hands. Or my lips. Or my eyes. What I’d told him before…I thought it would help keep him away, and right now was not the time to discuss our doomed fate.
I needed to speak to Dion and Aphrodite privately, cinching them as my allies before Zeus discovered the mortals were missing from the tunnels. If I had time, I needed to find a moment with Demeter, too. Those three, I was certain would join my side.
But soon the three of them stood before me. I smiled at both Aphrodite and Dionysos before shooting a furtive wince at Ares. It did nothing to drive him away. In fact, he moved closer and put his hand on my back. Every single hair on the back of my neck stood on end.
“High Queen Selene,” Dionysos said with a smile, passing me a chalice of wine. “All sorted?”
“My room is secured. Yours?” I replied as smoothly as possible. It was next to impossible to ignore the heat of Ares’s touch against my back, and my voice came out a bit crackly.
“Unfortunately. It makes the whole room look dreadful now.” But then he brightened. “I could just make the megaron my quarters, you know. There are no windows, and there’s quite a lot of wine.”
“You are completely hopeless, Dion,” Aphrodite said with a laugh before turning to me. “I suppose you two will stay in Ares’s quarters together until this is all sorted out.”
Alarmed, I gulped the wine.
