Page 70 of The Gods Forbid

That actually checked out for them. I guess I could be … happy for their relationship. I didn’t like death. It was messy and had a disturbing lack of sunlight associated with it. If a love struck marriage was the way to save either of them from an early grave, then I guess it was cute.

Or something.

“I must say, I’m deeply upset to find you’ve abandoned this,” Andrew said, lacking any of the fire necessary for true passion. So, it was money,then.

I dragged both my hands down my face. “How much?”

Andrew flinched, the move obviously forced and coming a second later than any natural reaction. “That is an incredibly rude question.”

“I don’t give a fuck,” I snapped back. There were feelings I’d long repressed about the role he and countless other people who had twenty years on me played in forming me into the leader they wanted. I didn’t have plans to unlock those feelings in front of everyone, so I clamped down, rebuilding the dam that held it at bay. “How. Much?”

Andrew seethed, his nostrils flaring. “You’re lucky I can be bought. Others won’t give it up this easily.”

So there were others resisting, huh? What idiots. “Tell me who, and I’ll double whatever you ask. Who knows, maybe there’s a villa in your future, too."

It was sloppy negotiating, but I had enough money to make him go away and give Persy something to work with.

Andrew’s knuckles went white. “You know exactly who I’m talking about. I’ll still take that offer, though.”

Fucking Fates, I knew she was going to be a problem. His wife, though separated for many years, was the definition of stubborn. All fire, zero finesse, and a whole lot of misplaced conviction. To her credit, her sister, my mother, had made a lot of pretty promises about what awaited her when her nephew became king.

Too bad my mother was dead and I had no intention of honoring those promises.

I walked over to Andrew, dropping into a crouch so I could look him in the eye. He needed to know how deadly serious I was about this. I may not have been in control of the way this conspiracy was built, but I sure as shit could be the one at the helm of the ship destroying it. “You will get nothing unless I will it. You will go back to Ariana and tell her and her little band of friends that they have no ally in me. If they want to try their hand at a human led coup against a god who the public fucking adores, they can go right ahead. I’ll wave them down to the Underworld with a smile on my face.”

Over the course of speaking, I’d felt my power kick in. I hadn’t intended it to, but it wouldn’t be rejected. If my power of truth made Andrew understand that I was not, and never would, lie about this anymore than I already had, then so be it.

“You do that, and I’ll consider letting you retire on my payroll,” I said, letting the truth burn into his skin.

“And if I don’t?” Andrew gritted out, like he’d actually felt the hot iron melt his skin.

I smiled cruelly. “I have no problem throwing you into the Styx myself. I’m sure our lovely gods of the Underworld wouldn’t mind.” I turned over my shoulder to find both Rose and Dominic watching with small smiles on their faces. “Would you?”

“Not in the slightest,” Dominic said, sounding rather cheery.

“Have a nice swim,” Rose said, smiling wide

I nodded once. Good, that was settled. That actually went surprisingly—

“And who would you be?” Andrew said, eyes on Persy. When I’d crouched down, he got a perfect view of her.

Fuck.

“You know who I am,” Persy said, speaking with the tone she would use with a child she adored, not my fuckhead uncle.

“Ah,” Andrew said, snapping his fingers together. “I could spot that Jupiter arrogance anywhere. What are you doing here with my nephew?”

I stood, blocking his view of her. Shame, hotter and uglier than I’d ever known, burned my throat. This was my family.

She had a beloved king as a brother and parents with the cutest fucking love story on the planet.

I had … Andrew, betraying his own wife for a check. Parents who were dead and hadn’t gotten a single tear from me.

Persy calmly stepped around me, willingly entering my uncle’s space. I had to curl my fists to stop myself from picking her up and dragging her away from him. “Thank you for passing along the message to your wife,” she said with an easy smile.

Andrew blinked, one, slow drop of his eyelids that made his eyes look like they were about to bug out of his head. Yeah, been there.

Though if he was thinking half of what I was thinking when Persy first stepped into my cell, I was going to fucking kill him.