I swivelled my head toward Artemis. I could have ripped her pretty eyes right out of her pretty little head. “Don’t talk to her like that.”
Zeus laughed. He tipped back his head, and he laughed and laughed and laughed. The sound echoed through the room, building in volume until it was so loud that it was all I could hear. My hands gripped the ends of my sleeves, and even Ares’s warm hand against my back did little to calm the rage that burned in my veins.
Eventually, Zeus fell silent. His smile died as he looked me dead in the eye. “Yes, here lies the road to Tartarus. This is one of the only places in the world where magic is strong enough to forge the link between the realms.”
“Tell me how to get inside. Who has the key?” I asked in a deadly calm.
“You’re not getting in there, Selene,” Zeus replied. “Not unless you wish to spend eternity trapped there with your brethren.”
Intense hatred had me launching to my feet. My chair toppled behind me. “Who has the fucking key?”
“Selene,” Ares murmured, gently palming my elbow.
“Who do you think?” Zeus asked with a sneer. “I do.”
I shoved away from Ares and stalked to the head of the table. My hand flinched toward the wooden dagger on my thigh, but Zeus grabbed my wrist before I could grasp it. His fingers tightened painfully around my arm, squeezing so tight I gasped.
“Get your hands off her, Zeus,” Ares said, standing. His eyes were full of fury.
Zeus yanked me close enough that I could smell fresh mortal blood on his breath. “If you have any hope of keeping your peace treaty with me once we get off this island, you’ll forget about Tartarus. And when I release you, you will hand over your stake.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Fuck the treaty.”
Someone gasped, but I didn’t dare take my eyes off Zeus’s face to see who it was. It hardly mattered. This wasn’t how I’d wanted to turn against him, but I couldn’t sit still and pretend I was okay with any of this any longer. All this time, I’d thought Tartarus was lost to us. I didn’t think it was possible to reach it.
If I had, I would have gone after my Titan family the moment I’d taken the throne.
I would have come to the Isle of Aiaia for Nekros, all right, but it would have been on a fleet of warships.
There was a deadly glint in Zeus’s eyes and a preternatural stillness to his body, like he wasn’t even breathing. I doubted anyone had ever spoken to him like this. No one went up against the Archon of the Thirteen Crowns. He would rip your flesh off your body and feast on your blood for days.
But I was fuckingdone.
With a growl, he gripped my wrist so tightly that a bone snapped. Pain exploded in my arm, and despite my best intentions, a muffled scream escaped through my clenched teeth. Eyes burning with unshed tears, I used my free hand to yank a steel dagger from its scabbard. It might not kill him, but it could do a fuck ton of damage.
I slid it between us and sank it into his chest.
His eyes went wide. A gurgling sounded in his throat. At long last, he released my hand, and I stumbled away from him.
Blood seeped into his tunic. And with an almighty roar, he yanked the dagger from his flesh and threw it at my face. I ducked and barely missed the blade. Itthunkedinto the wall behind me.
Ares launched in front of me, blocking Hermes as he rushed at me with a wooden stake.
“Get of the way, Ares,” Hermes sneered. “You can’t protect her from this. She stabbed our Archon.”
“With a steel blade. He’ll heal within moments.”
“Everyone, stop,” Aphrodite called out, sounding panicked.
“Hush, Aphrodite,” Hermes tossed over his shoulder. “Stay out of this, or you’ll end up as a pile of ash, just like Selene.”
“No, listen to me,” she pleaded. “I think the palace is on fire. Can’t you smell the smoke?”
A hush descended on the room. In the distance, a crackling roar answered. I twisted toward the door. Dark clouds billowed through the cracks, scenting the air with acrid char and smoke. I covered my mouth, coughing.
Athena took charge and raced to the door, yanking it open. Orange flight flashed across her face. She stumbled back with a gasp while the rest of us looked on, transfixed. Flames engulfed the hall. They consumed everything.
The entire palace was on fire.
