“I don’t understand,” I say slowly. My brain feels like it’s turned to taffy. I shake my head sharply. “It’s a nice thought, but I don’t see how offering me a place to stay helps. She’ll have people watching all of the residences of the Thirteen and legacy families. Going to your place is as dangerous as going to mine.”
“I know.” He grins suddenly. “It’s not my place. It belongs to a friend, but she won’t be using it. She got the fuck out of Olympus the day after the barrier fell. She’s also not a legacy family, so noreason for anyone to pay attention to her place.”
A…friend. Athena’s intelligence on the Ares trio mentioned they were in an open relationship, but they’ve been very careful to keep it out of MuseWatch. “Is she one of your lovers?”
Achilles laughs. “A friend who I also fuck on occasion, yeah. Are you done asking questions? We need to leave.”
“Almost.” I heft myself off the bed. As I stand, there isn’t even a hint of dizziness. Good. I’m still going to be off while I heal, and I’ll have to be careful not to tear my stitches, but this is the best-case scenario after being stabbed. “You might as well toss me in the River Styx as escort me to one of the bridges. There’s a crowd on the Juniper Bridge, and they were rapidly whipping themselves into a mob when I came through before. They busted up my windshield. I’m sure that hasn’t calmed down in the last few days.”
“It’s gotten worse,” he says simply. “There’s also one on the Cypress Bridge. It’s a mess.” He moves to the door and pulls it open. “That’s why we’re not taking a bridge.”
My stomach drops out. “Achilles…”
But he’s already on the move, exiting the room in long strides and leaving me to scramble after him. We walk downstairs to the garage. Within a few minutes, we’re in an SUV and driving toward the river. He ignores every attempt I make to get more details about the plan, and the asshole is clearly enjoying my agitation.
That agitation reaches its peak when he pulls into a dirt parking lot down by the bank and I follow him to a small building that houses—
“Absolutely not.” The boat is barely large enough for three people with a single motor. That’s not the problem, though. The barrier is.
“It’s this or the crowd of angry people.”
I have to close my eyes and count to ten to keep from punching him in his perfect face. “A boat is not going to be able to cross the barrier any more than a car can. You want me toswimin the River Styx in late October with a stab wound? Might as well put a bullet in my brain right now. At least it will be a fast death.”
“So dramatic.” His dark-brown eyes are alight with amusement. “I’m not tossing you in the river, Atalanta. I’m taking you to the underside of Cypress Bridge. There’s a walkway under there. It’s only for maintenance, and it’s not like crossing the river has been a regular occurrence even before the barrier solidified, so no one should know about it to watch for you. Follow it to the other side of the river and you’ll find a path up. It’s a little tricky, but nothing you can’t handle.”
I’m not sure I believe him, and it’s a testament to just what a dick he is that he didn’t tell me the plan before letting me jump to conclusions, but I don’t have any other options.
I help him launch the boat and climb in. I wasn’t given a coat after they bandaged me up again, and the wind feels like shards of ice slicing into me. I huddle in an effort to escape it. “You know, this season always makes me wish I lived somewhere warm all year round. Fuck the cold.”
“I find it invigorating.” He seems like it, too, his cheeks pinked in the cold, his eyes bright. “Keeps me sharp.”
“If you say so.”
He cuts through the water, the motor damn near silent. It’s hard to gauge the time of day with the cloud cover, but I think it’s nearing dark. There’s no one around to see us as we veer up the river toward Cypress Bridge.
Despite my doubts, there actually is a small, grated platform with a ladder leading up to a walkway that runs the length of the bridge. It’s rusted and looks less than sturdy, but it’s better than the alternative.
Achilles shrugs out of his coat and tosses it to me. “You won’t find a stash of weapons in Briseis’s place, but it should be safe enough.” He rattles off an address on the outskirts of the upper warehouse district. “Good luck.”
“Thanks.” I pull the coat on, the leftover warmth from his body already beating back the worst of the chill. The insulation will do the rest. I step carefully onto the platform and pause. “Achilles?”
“Yeah?” His tone is a study in casual.
Suspicion takes root. I frown down at him. “How much trouble are you going to be in for helping me?”
“Hopefully none at all.” He grins. “But if there is trouble, we’re more than capable of handling it.”
The surge of warmth in my chest staggers me. I don’t know these people, not really, but I like what Idoknow of them. I just hadn’t realized they felt the same way. “Hades is going to be furious.”
“Probably.” He almost sounds like he relishes the incoming argument. “Like I said, we can handle it.”
“Thank you. To all three of you.”
“Thank us by staying alive.” He pushes the boat back from the platform. “Good luck, Atalanta.”
I watch as he turns and heads back downstream, disappearing in short order around the curve of the river. After so many years of functioning on my own, with only Hecate as relief from the loneliness, it’s odd to discover there are actually people I care about in this city beyondher. People who seem to care about me, too. It won’t matter in the long run; it changes nothing. The realization feels monumental all the same.
“Time to move,” I mutter. I turn to the ladder, blow on my hands to put some feeling back in my fingertips, and begin to climb.
