Shattered Gods (Dark Olympus, #10)(55)

“Are they?” Mother raises her brows. “Or are they just like your husband, making the best of the situation they were born into? I almost…” She shakes her head sharply. “I almost cut off the food to an entire community. I won’t pretend I wouldn’t have done it—or that I’m not capable of doing it in the future if one of you were threatened—but it shouldn’t be so simple to starve so many people. That decision shouldn’t be in the hands of a single person.”

“You aren’t giving up power,” Callisto says flatly. “Don’t pretend you are. You’re a cat; you always land on your feet.”

Mother smiles tightly. “Yes, well, time will tell if that is true.”

She has a plan. She always has a plan. The difference is that, for once, she’s tipping her hand to us before she acts. Worry worms through me, cold and curling. “Circe won’t take kindly to a double cross. You should leave with Psyche tonight.”

“No, darling.” Her smile softens, her eyes warming. My mother is a monster. She would have starved countless people. She’s certainly killed before, though she’s thorough enough that I only have suspicions and no evidence to support that belief. She would have bargained every one of us away in marriage to further the family’s seat of power. She did bargain away Callisto.

But she’s still my mother. I love her. She loves us. I may doubt so many things, but I’ll never doubt that. “Please be careful.”

“I’ll do what needs to be done.” She straightens her shoulders, visibly drawing her Demeter persona around her. “I simply wanted to speak with my girls, all together. I love you. I’m sorry for the pain I’ve caused over the years. I won’t pretend I always made the right decisions, but I love you all more than life itself.” Her eyes shine. “You’re the best things I’ve ever done.”

My worry accelerates to pure alarm. “Mother—”

On either side of me, Eurydice and Callisto protest loudly, and I can hear Psyche doing the same on the other end of the call.

“Fuck no.” Callisto slices a hand through the air. “That sounds like a goodbye. What are you planning?”

“I love you girls. Stay away from the bridges. They aren’t safe to cross any longer.” She smiles warmly and cuts the call.

I stare at the blank screen for a beat. “What is she doing?” I dial her back, but she sends it directly to voicemail. “Mother, what are you doing?” I turn to Callisto and then Eurydice. “What is she doing?”

Eurydice is glaring at her phone. “Psyche isn’t picking up, either. I think she has her phone turned off.”

“She’s leaving it behind so Circe can’t track her. Or anyone else.” Callisto shoves to her feet and digs her hands into her long dark-brown hair. “We’re panicking over nothing. Mother has never met a circumstance she hasn’t come out on top of. This will be no different.” She sounds like she’s trying to convince herself more than us.

“Mother didn’t plan on Eros getting shot,” I snap. “She didn’t plan on Circe.”

“She never moves without a plan, and a good one at that.” Callisto spins on her heel and nearly topples over. “Damn it, pregnancy is making me feel half-human. I can’t think.”

“We need to do something.” Eurydice stands, too. “If we—”

“No.” I hate that I have to cut this off at the knees, but I can’t let them run off and put themselves—and Mother—in danger. “We don’t know what she’s planning, and she’s right about the bridges. There are large crowds on the upper city side of both of them. They can’t cross because of the barriers, but we can’t cross, either. They’re attacking anyone who tries to get to the lower city. It’s not safe.”

“I don’t give a fuck about safe, Persephone,” Callisto snaps.

“They’ll kill you.” Now I’m standing, too, surging to my feet in a dizzying rush. “Which means they’ll kill your baby. What do you think your husband will do then?” I rush on before she can respond. “He’ll try to play the hero and get murdered, too. And it won’t change a single damned thing. Mother will still enact her plan, except you’ll be dead.”

“But—”

I spin on Eurydice. “The same goes for you. I was careless crossing the River Styx, and Orpheus paid the price. Charon is still recovering from the injuries he sustained during Circe’s last attack. Will you be responsible for their deaths?”

Eurydice flinches. “That’s not fair.”

“I’m not trying to be fair. I’m trying to keep the people I love alive.” I’m not proud of the way my voice breaks on the last word. I hold up a hand. “I will speak with Ares and Athena and see what can be done, but I want you both to promise me that you won’t leave the house.” It’s not lost on me that this is the same promise I chafed at giving Hades.

Eurydice looks like she wants to scream but finally says, “I promise.”

We both look at Callisto. Her fists are clenched at her sides, her expression thunderous. “This fucking city. It takes and it takes and it takes, and the moment someone comes along with a pretty face and a rousing cry, they’re ready to kill every single one of us. It makes me sick.” She turns and stalks out of the room, slamming the door behind her.