I don’t like to think about that. Like everyone else in Olympus, I watched their confrontation at the end of the second trial in the Ares competition. She fought hard and lost, and for a moment, I’d been certain he would kill her right then and there. “The Minotaur—”
“Thank you for your concern about one of my people, but I can assure you, it’s not needed.” Artemis smirks and strides out of the room before I can come up with a suitable response.
Hephaestus, of course, lingers. He eyes the two plates in my hands. “You’re playing this wrong. Throw your lot in with the loser and you’ll go down with them.”
I hold his gaze. “Is Atalanta okay, Hephaestus? Why isn’t Artemis worried that she hasn’t reported back?”
“She’s not one of mine. It’s not my business.” He shrugs. “She knows the cost of loyalty and she’s willing to pay it if it’s asked of her. A lesson you should take to heart. Minos means fresh blood. A chance to disrupt some of the old way of doing things.”
I hold his gaze. “Your family comes from the old way of doing things. Mine does, too.”
“Yeah.” He shrugs. “But we’re the Thirteen. Nothing can touch us now.”
“Hephaestus—”
“You may have this Zeus’s ear, but we all know how quickly the winds can change. Who knows what kinds of opportunities and connections Minos can bring us from outside the city? If you miss out because you’re too busy playing with a failed assassin’s daughter, then I don’t know what to say to you. Good luck, I guess.” He follows his cousin out of the room.
Nothing can touch us now.
The words have the ring of a false prophecy. I truly hope I’m wrong about that.
18
Cassandra
I expect things to be awkward. I should really know better by now. Apollo and I share a nice breakfast, and then he gets ready in a fraction of the time it took me. I chose my clothing with care today: one of the many deceptively simple sundresses from Juliette and a pair of flats. If the maze was any indication of how the games will play out during this week, I’m going to save heels for evening. I have no problem wearing them all day in the office, but I don’t spend most of the day on my feet at work.
Apollo eyes my shoe choice but wisely says nothing. He just opens the door for me and motions for me to precede him through. “It will be lunch before too long. Let’s see who else is about. Maybe Atalanta is back by now.”
“I hope so.” I don’t like the fact that Artemis said she hadn’t heard from her, though with the contentious relationship Artemis and Apollo have, it’s entirely possible that she was just fucking with him. We won’t know until we can confirm Atalanta is missing.
If she is… That might be two plus-ones. Or it’s two if Hermes’s actually showed up. We’ve never had confirmation of that, so we need to try to get it today.
If Minos is targeting the Thirteen’s companions… Why?
It doesn’t make any sense.
I slide my hand into the crook of Apollo’s arm and walk with him down the hall to the stairs. We take a circular route to the dining room, exploring a part of the downstairs we didn’t get to yesterday.
The house is utterly charming. Even with the changes Minos had made, it still feels very Hermes. Recognizing that is bittersweet in the extreme. She never brought me here. She never even offered. I don’t blame her for it. We had very clear parameters on our relationship when we started dating. It was never going to be forever; it was never even going to be public. Very few people in Olympus even know it happened, which is how we both prefer it. Hermes might be one of the most ostentatious of the Thirteen, but she’s fiercely private. Most people just never notice that because they’re so busy being thrown off-center by her showing up where they least expect her.
We clock a massive library, three more sitting rooms that may or may not have been kinky playrooms previously, and a truly lovely sunroom that seems to beg people to spend lazy afternoons there.
Hermes is playing court in the living area just off the dining room when we finally make our way there. She lounges in a chair, one leg thrown over the arm and her lean body slouched. Today she’s restrained herself a bit, wearing jeans and a graphic T-shirt that’s large enough I suspect it belongs to Dionysus, and she has her curly hair styled in two buns on top of her head. Compared to everyone else in the room in their garden-party best, she stands out.
But then, Hermes always stands out.
She leaps out of the chair when she sees us, nearly toppling Dionysus off the artsy stool he’s sitting on. He looks a little green, obviously nursing a hangover, and blinks blearily at her. “You’re awfully spry right now.”
“I have to use the little girls’ room.” She sweeps through the room, somehow managing to insert herself between me and Apollo on her way to the door. Even expecting it, I’m still mildly surprised to find myself holding her arm instead of his. She beams at Apollo. “I hope you don’t mind if I steal your girl. House rules. Can’t pee alone.”
I don’t even know what Apollo intends to say—he looks like he’s about to argue—because she doesn’t stop moving, towing me out of the room with her. “Hermes—”
“Hush.” She doesn’t quite drop her cheery public persona, but a thread I’m deeply familiar with creeps into her voice. She practically drags me past the bathroom and through a door into yet another sitting room. This one is understated, with a very neutral color scheme and dainty furniture that looks like it might break under a normal human’s weight.
I look around. “Was this always a sitting room or is this another converted kinky one?”
“A lady never tells.” She shakes her head. When she turns to look at me, she’s uncharacteristically serious. “At least Apollo did something right and took care of the cameras so we can talk frankly.” She grips my shoulders. “You have to leave, Cass.”
“What?”
She holds my gaze. “You need to leave.”
“I heard you the first time. I wasn’t asking you to repeat yourself; I wanted clarification.” I let her take my arm and guide me deeper into the room. I can’t afford to be honest right now, not even with her. “My boyfriend isn’t going to like you dragging me off like this.”
“Your boyfriend. Right.” Hermes rolls her eyes. “We both know you would never publicly consort with one of the Thirteen, even if Apollo is a sweet baby angel by comparison with the rest of us.”
I should have suspected this would happen. The rest of Olympus might be willing to believe the worst of me, but Hermes knows me too well. I lift my chin. “I like him very much.”
“Oh, that I don’t doubt.” She smiles a little, eyes going soft. “I see how you look at him. It’s the same way you used to look at me.”
Being called out like this makes me want to walk out of the room, keep walking, and never come back. I should leave this alone. I know all too well how circular conversations can get with Hermes, especially if she’s got her mind set on something. I’m nearly as stubborn as she is, though. “If you see how I look at him, why is it so hard to believe we’re dating? Jealousy doesn’t look good on you.”