I have to close my eyes and concentrate for several beats before the urge to shake her passes. She’s not the one I’m mad at. It’s the whole fucking ruling class. The rot goes right down to its bones. This entire time, I’ve never doubted they were worth saving, but now I can’t help but wonder. All the years, all the sacrifice, and for what? People who don’t want to be saved from the natural consequences of the corrupt system they worship.
“I’m not going to cause problems,” I finally say.
“Good. Let’s go.” She motions for me to walk with her down the long hallway and descend the stairs. We bypass the door I came in just a short while ago and head into what appears to be an underground garage. There are a handful of identical black sedans and SUVs arranged around the space. Eurydice seems to pick one at random. “I’ll drop you at Juniper Bridge. Circe is watching it, but not as closely as Cypress. If you’re quick, you should be able to make it back to the upper city without a problem, assuming they’re even looking for you.”
“I don’t come from a legacy family.” I fought my way up the ranks of Artemis’s operation with only my wits and strength. If I’d been able to take the Ares title… Well, it doesn’t matter now, does it? “She has no reason to look too closely at me.” For now. It’s only a matter of time before she realizes Hermes isn’t working alone.
“All the same.” Eurydice puts the car into gear, exiting the garage when the door is barely high enough to allow our passage. I was only driving these streets a short time ago, but they alreadylook different. There are even fewer people around, and the ones that I see are moving quickly with their heads down. Their fear is apparent in every line of their bodies.
“Eurydice—” Both our phones buzz at the same time. We exchange a frown. There’s no way this is good news. I pull my phone out and go still. It appears to be a mass text. I would assume it’s junk if not for…
Eurydice has already clicked the link. A smooth, silky voice emerges from her speakers. “Peitho, for your crimes during your reign as Aphrodite, you are sentenced to death.” Three gunshots follow in quick succession. Eurydice gasps and pulls the sedan over abruptly. “No. No, no, no, no.”
There’s no help for it. I have to know. I click the link and watch the obviously recorded scene play out, see Eros surge forward, only to be gunned down. I see…Hermes…on her knees before Circe, her eyes wide and furious and fucking panicking.
“You godsdamned fool.” I don’t mean to say the words aloud, but my fear is a live thing inside me. If Circe has Hermes, we’re teetering on the brink of this being all for nothing. I love this city, for all its scars and ugliness. If I didn’t, I never would have committed to such a long game at Hermes’s side. The people of Olympus deserve better than to be cogs in a machine that serves the legacy families and the Thirteen. They deserve to have actual representation, to haverecoursewhen the people in charge are corrupt and evil. If we’d been able to enact our plan, it would have resulted in a near-bloodless coup.
Circe changed everything, even if Hermes was too stubborn to admit it.
And now Circe has her. If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t believefor a second they could hold her, but with Circe…there’s always the possibility Hermes will want to be held. Even after Eros’s death. “I have to go. Get this car back on the road. Now.”
“Atalanta.” Eurydice catches my arm but releases me almost instantly. She lifts her chin and holds my gaze. “I don’t know what you think you can do, but this is clearly recorded, not live. It already happened. Even if you could get to Circe—which we would have already done if it was that easy—Peitho is already dead.” Her voice goes thick. “Eros is already dead.”
But Hermes isn’t. I clear my throat. “You have your orders. Take me to Juniper Bridge. After that, you won’t have to worry about what I’m up to.”
She sets down her phone, moving stiffly, as if that video injured her deeply. It probably did. Eros and Psyche have been married for months at this point, and all intelligence says he was folded into the Dimitriou family without the slightest ripple. I doubt it was a love match to begin with, regardless of what story they sold to MuseWatch, but it certainly seems to be one now.
I clear my throat. “I’m sorry about Eros.”
“Me too.” Eurydice glances over her shoulder, despite the street being all but empty, and pulls away from the curb. “I don’t know how Psyche will survive this. She never would have stayed with my mother if she had another option, not once…”
Not once it was revealed that Demeter had sided with Circe against her own city. If I’m in the mood to be generous, I can admit it was a good gamble on Demeter’s part. Circe has been two steps ahead of the Thirteen from the moment she launched this plan. If I was looking to preserve my family’s safety and unwilling to walkaway from the power I held in Olympus, I might strongly consider making the same play. At least I would if I had no fucking ethics.
We don’t speak as Eurydice drives the rest of the way to the bridge and parks in an empty spot near it. She exhales in a rush. “Save Psyche.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re not going to murder Circe—at least not yet, not while she holds Hermes. If you’re going to save her, then save my sister, too. Both Persephone and Callisto will be grateful enough, they’ll have to allow you back into the lower city. You won’t be able to reclaim your position with Athena, but—”
I hold up my hands. “I don’t give a shit about my position with Athena—or any of them. No offense. And after how things just went, I don’t see them listening to reason, no matter who I save.” I clear my throat, trying to ignore the way her pretty face falls. Maybe Athena is right and I’m the fool after all, because I can’t deny this woman a small shred of hope. She’s been hurt by this fucking city, too—more than most. “I can’t promise anything, so don’t get your hopes up. But if I can get in, and if I don’t die in the process, and if I find HermesandPsyche, I’ll do my best to get them out alive.”
Her hazel eyes shine. “Give me your phone.”
There’s no point in arguing. If she takes it, I still have a burner on me. But Eurydice doesn’t keep it. She simply programs in her number. “I understand it’s an impossible ask. Thank you for promising to try.” She already sounds less panicked, tucking away her emotions and focusing on the next steps. She passes my phone back. “Call me if you need to get back into the lower city. I will only take you back to Hades’s residence, which is a risk because he might justkick you out again, but it’s important to know you have options. Even if you aren’t successful in what you’re trying next.”
Despite everything, despite being jaded to the point of becoming brittle, my heart goes treacherously soft and squishy. “Thank you.” I don’t know if I’ll survive to take her up on it, but having an additional escape hatch is a valuable thing. Especially because she didn’t have to make the offer and will most certainly receive censure for it. “I’ll do my best to bring your sister back, Eurydice. I promise.”
Interlude 1Zeus
I didn’t really believe Circe was bluffing about holding mock trials for the Thirteen, but watching it play out on my phone while everyone in the room does the same is a special kind of fucked up that I can’t properly quantify. All while the people in the auditorium, the citizens of this city I fought so hard to protect, cheer her on for murdering Peitho. For murderingEros.
“Oh gods,” Persephone gasps. “Eros.”
Hades plucks the phone from her hand and slides it into his pocket. “We’ve seen enough. Shut it off.”
I reluctantly exit out of the video and reach over to take Callisto’s phone. She turns it off before I can make contact, but she doesn’t jerk away. Instead, she leans against my shoulder, justa little. Suddenly I want nothing more than to take her away from here. To shield her from more violence and hurt. I fully intended to fight Circe for the city, to go down swinging even if it meant I stayed down. Toprotect.
What the fuck am I protecting?
