“I actually kind of want to fight about it.” I hold up a handbefore she can speak. “Give me a second.”
“Sure.”
It takes several more beats before I can be sure I won’t say some fucked-up shit that I might not be able to take back. When it boils down to its foundation, my anger has one question as the heart of it. “Did you do it to hurt me?”
Atalanta opens her mouth, stops, and seems to consider my question. “I don’t know.”
“Oh.”
She shakes her head. “Look, I was really hurt to wake up and realize you snuck off to fuck her while I was recovering from a damned stab woundshegave me. It still hurts, because no matter how much you care about me, you care about her more. Or differently. It doesn’t really matter. There is no me and you without her.”
I flinch. “But—”
“Hecate.” She says my name, my true name, so gently that it feels like a knife between my ribs. “I don’t operate in fantasy; I exist in reality. That woman has her claws in you…and I guess in me, too.” She shrugs. “You could have taken a shot at any time, and you didn’t. You aren’t going to, because you love her and you already lost her once. If there’s a way to save her and the city, you’ll do it.”
I can’t breathe. Gods, why can’t I breathe? There’s a whole-ass sky above me, and yet I can’t find the air. “What if there isn’t a way to save both her and the city?”
Atalanta smiles bitterly. “I guess you cross that bridge when you come to it.” She shifts her attention to the scene below us. “I guess we both will.”
“You don’t love her.”
“No, I don’t. I sure as fuck don’t trust her.” She frowns a little, still staring at Circe. “But there’s something about her that draws me in despite myself. I don’t know what the future holds, but we have to deal in facts. The fact is you won’t kill her—and I won’t if I have another choice. So what’s the plan?”
There’s a special kind of relief that comes from setting aside messy personal shit and focusing on things too big to properly wrap my arms around. “Well, the next hour is going to change everything one way or another.”
She settles down next to me, her shoulder against mine. “You have a secondary scope?”
“Yeah.” I dig into my bag and pass it to her. We’ve never done this, played sniper and spotter, but it feels as natural as anything I’ve ever experienced. “Demeter is with us. That shit with Peitho and Eros scared the shit out of her. Oh yeah, Eros is alive.”
“No shit?” Atalanta whistles under her breath. “That was quick thinking on her part. I believed her.”
“I did, too.” If I release the events of the last couple days, I can still feel that loss inside me, a deep hole where my friendship with Eros was. I don’t know if our friendship survives the downfall of this city, but at least he’s alive to hate me.
“So what’s Demeter’s plan?” Atalanta asks neutrally. “Toss Circe in the river?”
“If she did, we have a route to fish her out.” I point to the narrow path leading down to the riverbank. It’s difficult to see from this position, but I wouldn’t have held the Hermes title for as long as I have without considering all possible outcomes and planning escapes forall of them. “The river is particularly deep in this area, so if she could keep from drowning long enough for me to get to her, I can save her.”
“Hecate.” She gives me a patient look, amusement blooming in her eyes. “IsDemeter’s plan to toss her in the river?”
“No.” I exhale slowly, trying to sink into the cool, still place I need to be in to shoot with the confidence that my bullet will go where I intend. “She intends to turn the people toward a future without the Thirteen and angle for a peaceful exit from this shit show so we can start working on a new form of government—and arrest Circe.”
“Simple as that.”
I snort. “Nothing about this has been simple, and there’s no way this doesn’t go tits up. Circe won’t go quietly, and she’s smart enough to have half a dozen plans to pivot to. We just have to hope Demeter can get ahead of her and twist the narrative to serve our purposes—and that the crowd’s love for Demeter is enough to tip them in her favor.”
“Hecate, this is less a plan than a dream that might have the potential to be a plan with some time and effort—neither of which we have.”
“Working with what I’ve got, love.” I risk a glance from my scope to find Atalanta looking at me instead of the scene below. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re here.” I swallow hard. “And I’m sorry for hurting you.”
She shrugs, but the move isn’t as careless as she’s aiming. “I’m sorry for hurting you back.”
“But you wouldn’t do anything differently.”
She grins. “And neither would you.” Atalanta shakes her head.“What a pair we make.”
What a trio.
I manage to keepthatinternal, but only barely. I can’t see a way out of our current mess, let alone to something resembling a happily ever after with the three of us. The three of us. The very thought is absurd, and yet there’s a part of me that suddenly wants it desperately. Below us, Circe holds up her arms, commanding silence from the crowd.
