The people? Her supporters among Olympian citizens numbered high enough to fill the fucking auditorium. They didn’t blink when she shot and killed two people and then dragged Hermes away. Not a single person tried to stop her.
Am I protecting the city? I’ve had to abandon the upper city to save my life—to save my wife—and it doesn’t appear Circe plans to raze it. From Athena’s reports, she’s very intentionally only targeting the Thirteen and the legacy families. The majority of the city has nothing to fear from her, and they know it.
“She’s got people in the lower city. You’ve seen the proof she sent me,” Callisto says. She laces her fingers through mine. “She won’t be satisfied with a single assassination—or even a string of them. It’s not dramatic enough to solidify her place with the people. She needs to bring down the barrier.”
“I’m aware.” Hades stands slowly, his gaze on Persephone. She looks how we all feel—tired, scared, and angry. He holds out his hand, and without hesitation, she takes it and allows him to pull her against his side. It’s strange to watch his thoughts play across his face, to recognize them on an intrinsic level. He wants to send her away, to shield her from this, to protect her…and he knows saying as much will be a waste of his breath. She’s not going anywhere.
Neither is my wife.
I shift my attention to Athena. She drums her fingers on herthigh. “We can’t win in the upper city.”
“Athena,” I snap. “That’s not helpful.”
“It’s the truth.” She meets my gaze steadily. “Hades may be beloved in the lower city, but the same can’t be said for most of us in the upper city. Circe is creating a mob, and there’s no telling if she’ll be able to harness it. In the end, I don’t know if it’ll matter. They have the numbers, and unless we’re willing to gun down civilians—”
“We’re not,” I cut in. My father would argue that people cease to be civilians the moment they show aggression to the Thirteen, but I can’t see it the same way. If they’re willing to riot to depose us…
Again, I look to Hades. Again, I find a kinship there that I don’t know what to do with. He’s clearly following the same train of thought. He presses a kiss to Persephone’s temple. “The people of the lower city won’t turn against us.”
“But will they fight for us?” Athena says.
“I won’t ask them to.”
She sits back with a huff and tosses her hands in the air. “Like I said, we can’t win. Our only chance is to assassinate Circe and wait out the resulting riots. Even then, it’s not a sure thing that we can go back to the way things were.”
Callisto squeezes my hand, but her eyes are hard as she surveys those gathered. “It’s too late for assassination to work. You’ll just make her a martyr. The violence will last longer, and the destruction will be greater.”
“I know you’re not suggesting we retreat and give her the city.” I don’t like the way Athena watches my wife, as ifshemight become an obstacle to be removed.
“Athena,” I say quietly. “That video rattled us all. Who is leftin the upper city?”
“Apollo and his girlfriend. Hephaestus and xyr team.” She counts them off on her fingers, her expression disgusted. “Artemis and most of her team. Dionysus, though if we can’t find him, I don’t know how Circe can. And the Carras, Gabris, and Kamber families.”
“That’s a lot of executions,” Callisto murmurs. The statement lacks her usual bite. In fact, she’s paler than normal, the dark circles beneath her eyes standing out starkly.
Hades’s phone buzzes, and he curses softly as he reads the incoming text. “There are crowds gathering on their side of the bridges. They will make extraction all but impossible going forward.” He sighs, the sound weary. “I can key the remaining Thirteen and legacy families into the barrier so they will have entry if they reach it, but I don’t think it’s wise to continue to send people into the upper city. You’ve spoken with all of them?”
Athena nods. “With the exception of Dionysus, I’ve issued the offer of sanctuary either directly or through my teams. They are aware of the risk of staying behind, even if they don’t believe it. Short of kidnapping them, that’s all we could do.”
He turns to me. “And Ares? Has she seen reason when it comes to her soldiers?”
I thumb through my texts with my free hand even though I know nothing new has come through. It was sheer luck that she got my text before she returned to the camp to report to Demeter. Was that only a couple days ago? It feels like a lifetime. We’ve been in regular contact since then, though. “Helen and her people returned to the countryside to contact the legacy families there. Those that were willing to come are with her, and they expect to make it to thecity in the next few hours.” I look up. “She’s willing to compromise. Allow the team with her across the barrier. She’s already ordered the rest to scatter until they’re called in.”
I won’t breathe easy until both she and Eris are at my side again. At leastErisis in the lower city, though Persephone flatly refused to allow her in the room to discuss next steps. Apparently she isn’t interested in forgiving Eris for looping Eurydice into her plotting.
“They should avoid the bridges,” Persephone murmurs. “A boat?”
“Yes.” Hades nods. “We’ll have a team meet them in the upper warehouse district. I’ll send you the coordinates.”
Relief nearly makes my shoulders sag. “Thank you.”
Athena pushes to her feet. “Most of my people are here, so if you want some supplemental support, I’m happy to provide it.”
“I’ll take that into consideration.” His tone says he’ll do anything but, and I can’t quite blame him no matter how dire the circumstances. Up until a few days ago, he viewed us as standing on opposite sides of an ongoing confrontation. He wasn’t wrong, and allowing Athena’s people such close access to his operations requires a level of trust we just don’t have. “Please talk with Charon on how to best be utilized.”
“You mean on how to be best babysat.” She gives a grim nod. “I hope we stop wasting time before Circe gets bored fucking around in the upper city and turns her sights here. This division is what allowed her to get this far in the first place.” She turns on her heel and walks out of the room without another word.
If I were alone, I would slump back in my seat. I’m not. Hades is here and he’s watching me just as closely as he watched Athena.
