Cruel Seduction (Dark Olympus, #5) (96)

Another glance at Minos. The Minotaur shrugs. “I’m where I want to be.” But he moves slowly to the side and allows me to pass.

I slip out of the room, but I don’t take a full breath until I’m back in my car and winging my way to the hospital. My hands won’t stop shaking. I think I made the right call—or at least the only call available to me—but there’s a pit of loss inside me that’s going to be a bitch to wade through when things calm down.

If they calm down.

I park in a hurry, ready to charge into the emergency room and demand answers. Unfortunately, my body is fucking done with the abuse I’ve heaped on it. My knee locks up as I try to climb out. I curse and slump against the side of the car, gritting my teeth and riding out the pain. The hospital is right there, but I can’t power through it this time. I’ve been ignoring my limits for days—weeks—and now I’m paying the price.

“Theseus?”

I look up to find Adonis standing a few feet away, his features drawn. He holds up an unlit cigarette and gives a sheepish smile. “Seemed a great time to start smoking.”

“Throw that shit away.” I try to put weight on my leg and hiss out a breath when all I get for my trouble is a rush of agony. “Bad for you.”

He’s by my side in an instant. “Your knee or your ribs?”

“Knee. Put it through…too much.”

“I suppose fighting for your life and then charging off to confront Minos will do that.” He slips beneath my arm without asking, which I appreciate even as I curse. The truth is that I’m not getting into that hospital without help.

“News?”

“Not yet.” He doesn’t look at me as we make our slow, painful way to the sliding glass doors. “She’s still in surgery. They’re not even updating Zeus and Ares.” A pause. “Are you okay?”

“No.” I grit my teeth. “But I will be.”

The two people in question stare at us as we move through the doors. Zeus glares at me and I glare right back. This motherfucker better not think he can keep me from my wife. He stalks up to us, and just like every other time we’ve stood close together, I’m surprised to find he’s not particularly tall. He’s got a big presence.

Zeus eyes me. “Find somewhere else to be, Hephaestus.”

Hephaestus. I’ve fucking hated that name since taking it. Maybe I should balk at shucking it aside, but the truth is that it feels like a burden and I’m sick of carrying burdens for other people. “I’m done.”

“Excuse me?”

“Consider this my resignation. I’m out as Hephaestus.”

He narrows his eyes. “What trick is this?”

“No trick.” I see Pandora sitting in a waiting room chair, her knee bouncing nervously as she watches us. I finally understand what she’s been saying for years. Gods, it’s a miracle she’s put up with my contrary ass. I turn back to Zeus. “I’m done. Being one of the Thirteen is a nightmare. You all can fuck right off, just like Minos can fuck right off.”

If anything, he glares harder. “If this is some ploy—”

“For fuck’s sake, Zeus,” Adonis mutters.

I give him a squeeze even as I keep my expression locked down as best I can. “Suspect me later if you want. Right now, you’re standing between me and my wife, and I will take you out at the knees if you don’t get the fuck out of my way.” I seem to be saying that a lot lately, but it’s the truth.

He steps slowly out of my way. “You fuck with her, I’ll cut your throat myself.”

I’ve spent most of my life getting into fights with dangerous people, so I have plenty of experience when someone’s bluffing. Zeus isn’t. It makes me like the fucker a little bit. I grin. “I fuck with you, you’ll have to get in line, because she’ll be the first one to put a blade to my throat.”

He hesitates and nods shortly. Then he gets the fuck out of my way. About damn time. I make it three steps before I pause. What I’m about to do is more a betrayal than resigning from the title, but I’m not going to pry Eris or Adonis out of Olympus, which means I have to keep the fucking city standing for them. “Minos has several shipments in the harbor. I don’t know if they’ll be under his name, but you want to get to whatever that cargo is before he does.”

Zeus stares at me a long moment and then gives a sharp nod. As I turn from him, he’s already pulling out his phone.

Pandora surges to her feet and rushes to us. She pulls both me and Adonis into a hug, and I manage to hold them to me without it being incredibly awkward. Maybe I’m getting better at this whole comfort thing?

It’s easier when I don’t have to find words. There’s nothing to say. Eris will live. I refuse to believe in any other outcome. Without me as Hephaestus, it means we only have one set of enemies to deal with. Yeah, that means the entire fucking city, but still. We’ll figure it out.

We manage to get three seats against the wall and sit there as the seconds tick by, one of my hands clutched in each of theirs. I stare at the door, willing the doctor to arrive with good news. I do it for so long, that when she finally does, I almost don’t believe it.

She’s a curvy exhausted-looking woman with light-brown skin and her hair hidden under a cap. She eyes us. “She made it through surgery. Two of you can go back.” She holds up two fingers. “If you make a fuss about it, none of you can go back. She needs to rest, and I’m not going to have you fighting in my hospital.”