Shattered Gods (Dark Olympus, #10)(6)

“Home is a myth.” I wave a graceful hand at the world outside our armored SUV. “It’s a comforting lie we tell ourselves is a place or a people, but really all it does is make us complacent. If you’re comfortable in your home, you’re not looking to your neighbor or farther afield to the dangers that hunts you both.”

Her smile is a bit too tight to be believable. “You have a lovely way with words.” She glances behind us to the car that holds Psyche and Eros, her daughter and son-in-law—the ones I still have in custody. Neither took this recent turn of events well, but they didn’t manage to slip from my grasp.

Neither did Hera and Zeus—at least not without help. The dead guards outside their hastily constructed cell speak to that. I have no reason to believe it was Hecate—Hermes, as she goes by now—but I know it to be true. She’s the only one in this damned city capable of foiling my plans, and she seems intent on doing just that.

My chest aches at the thought of standing on the other side of a war from her, but I’ve come too far to be swayed by softer emotions. She barely wasted any time after my alleged death, becoming Hermes the moment the old one passed. For nearly ten years, she’s held that title and done nothing with it but party and fuck and play the jester to the same court that enabled the last Zeus to snatch me off the street, force me into a wedding, and then attempt to drown me on our honeymoon. Once upon a time, she saw things my way. She will again.

In the meantime, I have work to do.

We pull to a stop in front of the university. It was deserted along with the rest of the city, and even with the return of the population, classes won’t begin again anytime soon. It’s about to become my center of operations.

Antigone pulls the SUV to a stop and hops out, coming around the front in great strides to get my door. I turn to Demeter, studying her beautiful face and lingering on her hazel eyes. “Are we going to have a problem?”

She’s good. She doesn’t give any indication that she’s bothered by the clear threat beneath my words. “Of course not.” She meets my gaze directly. “I originally chose your side because it’s the winning one, and nothing has changed on that note. However, you’d do well to remember my conditions.”

That her daughters remain safe.

“They’ll see no harm from me.” I don’t blink, don’t look away, don’t give her any indication that I might be speaking something other than the truth. Demeter is formidable, but I’ve learned to lie with the best. If she were a better mother, she would have anticipated the inevitable conclusion of this coup. Eurydice and Psyche are safe enough from my plans; they both chose well in their partners. Persephone and Callisto-turned-Hera? They’re married to Hades and Zeus, respectively, two of the three legacy titles among the Thirteen. And they’re both fucking pregnant, which means those titles live on, even after I eliminate the fathers.

Unlike those who have harmed me, I know better than to leave an enemy at my back.

I slip from the vehicle and stand tall in Olympus once again. The university district is the only part of the city proper I’ve ever been able to stomach. It actually has character with its carefully nostalgic academic style, a world away from the steel and glass and concrete of the city center. When people are here, they can almost believe they’re not part of the grind that chews people up and spits them out. A lie, of course, but a palatable one.

Antigone meets my gaze. She’s been with me from the beginning of this journey, my golden savior who pulled me from the waves and nursed me back to health all those years ago. She’s half a head taller than me with light-brown skin and a mass of golden curls that bounce around her wide shoulders.

“Is everything prepared?” I ask. Nerissa came ahead to ensure everything was as it should be, but the best plan has multiple contingencies. If things went wrong, we should have heard by now. Even so, it’s foolish to make assumptions.

“The auditorium is ready for us. The others will do crowd control as planned to allow the approved number of civilians inside to witness. The rest will be guided to the courtyards where screens have been set up to live stream.” Even as she speaks, more cars park and double-park and shimmy into every available space around us. A convoy was the best option for our trip from the countryside into the city proper, and it certainly sent a message about where the average citizen stands—with me—but managing that crowd in one space instead of strung out over miles is going to be a full-time job.

Demeter emerges from the car, taking in the scene with a single glance. “It would have been preferable to give us the opportunity to create some order with the crowd. This is chaotic at best.”

More likely, she wants time to plot the best way forward for herself. My cunning ally is beginning to have doubts. It’s a pity; her support is useful, and the people of Olympus idolize her. Hers being the only title that’s actually voted on, they feel an ownership of Demeter in a way they don’t with the other titles. She needed to be handled carefully even before things went a bit off the rails with her daughter Callisto, now Hera. I thought we might foster a kinship—one Hera to another—but the little fool went and fell in love with her husband.

“The chaos will serve our purpose,” I say mildly without slowing my pace.

There is honking and the sound of many cars behind us, but I ignore them. My people will create order where it’s needed and turn the chaos in a useful direction. There have to be lines, after all. It wouldn’t do to allow people to ruin one of Olympus’s oldest and most revered locations, even if most of the population never sets foot on the campus. College might be free in the city, but only public college. The university is reserved for those who can afford its hefty tuition.