“See last point: I know you.” She waves that away. “And I’m not jealous, even though you’re a catch and a half. You were never meant for me. That’s not what this is about. You need to leave, Cass. It’s not safe here.”
“It’s not safe anywhere in Olympus.” That’s why I have to be here. I need to get Alexandra out. I don’t tell Hermes that. She already knows my goal to put this damned city in my rearview. She also likely has some idea of Zeus and Apollo’s plan to suss out what Minos is up to.
In fact, this whole interaction is off. The Hermes I know never would have pulled me aside like this. I narrow my eyes. “What’s going on? You’ve never warned me off anything before.”
“You wouldn’t listen to me if I’d tried to before, and you know it.” She tries to maintain her cheery persona but abandons it halfway through. Hermes glances away and then back to me. The friendship that developed in the wake of our ill-fated relationship can be spiky at times and occasionally uncomfortable, but it doesn’t feel like that’s the problem right now. This isn’t Hermes randomly acquiring a jealous streak. She’s actually worried.
“Hermes—”
“If you trusted me at all before, I need you to trust me now. Get out of here.”
I frown harder. “If it’s so dangerous, why are you staying? Why is Dionysus? In fact, where is your plus-one?” Hermes can be cruel and ruthless, but she would never put the few people she actually cares about at risk.
Hence this conversation.
“Oh, Tyche went home sick barely after arriving. Food poisoning, you know.” She says it like she doesn’t care if I believe it or not. “And Dionysus can take care of himself.”
And I can’t.
I try to ignore the sting and focus on gathering what information I can get. “Artemis said Atalanta disappeared, too. Do you have confirmation that Tyche made it back to the city?”
“I would like confirmation that you are heading back to the city.”
A dodge, and not even a good one. I’m not leaving, but if Hermes is willing to share what she knows, that will put us ahead of whatever game Minos is playing. “If you’re not willing to be honest with me, you can’t expect me to leave.”
She curses. “You’re so damned stubborn.”
“It takes one to know one.” I hold her gaze. “If you know something about Minos’s plans for Olympus, you should share with the group.”
“Since when do you care about Olympus politics?” She rolls her eyes. “Really, Zeus could have picked half a dozen better people for this, but he let Apollo run around thinking with his cock and now they’ve endangered you. It shouldn’t matter why you need to leave. If you trust me at all—if you ever trusted me—then go home, Cass.”
I step back and tuck my hair behind my ears. If I were here for any other reason, Hermes asking me to leave would be reason enough to do exactly that. Frustration blooms inside me. “Why is Minos targeting the plus-ones?” It’s a stab in the dark, but I fire it off without hesitation.
“Why won’t you leave?” She shakes her head slowly. “Is it the money? Go home today and I’ll pay whatever you lost in that devil’s bargain with our fearless leader.”
Gods, she really wants me out of this house. For a moment, I’m tempted to take her up on her offer. She’s right that I hate being here, playing these games with people I mostly despise. But Apollo…
Apollo.
I try to focus, to parse out what she has and hasn’t said. If there’s danger, it’s not only to me and the other plus-ones, or she wouldn’t have said Dionysus could take care of himself. “Hermes.” I start to reach for her but let my hand drop without making contact. “Is someone going to get hurt here? Has someone already been hurt?”
“A lady never tells.” The words are right, rife with her usual trickster persona. Her tone is off, though, almost bittersweet. “With great power comes great risk. Everyone at this party knows that. Except you, apparently.”
“That’s not how that saying goes,” I say faintly, my mind racing. “Minos wouldn’t dare strike anyone here, not with the kind of connections they all have. Zeus would tear him into tiny pieces.” Really, I’m the only one without a dozen strings tying me to powerful people in this city. Even Pan has strong alliances.
For a breath, it seems like she might give me some actually useful information, but Hermes shakes her head instead. “You know I care about you, Cassandra.”
Damn it. This is going the way of so many of our conversations, though usually the stakes are so much lower. Gossiping and drinking and sneaking around to little hole-in-the-wall restaurants don’t usually come with this kind of warning. But all that aside, I never doubted for a moment that she genuinely cares about me as much as I care about her. “I know.”
She sighs. “This is not going at all how I wanted this conversation to go.”
I give a choked little laugh. “Yeah, well, our conversations never quite go how I picture them either.” It’s a testament to our history and our friendship that she even tried to warn me. I try for a smile. “I appreciate the concern, but I have things under control.” I hope.
For a second, it looks like she’ll continue arguing. But she finally gives another of those world-weary sighs, her customary joy nowhere in evidence. “Just promise me you’ll be careful.”
It’s an easy promise to make for all my bargain with Zeus. I have no intention of putting myself in danger. Money and a way out of Olympus are great in theory, but I can’t get my sister to safety if I’m dead. I’m certainly not going to sacrifice my life for this city. The very thought is absurd. Hermes would know that if she were thinking clearly. The fact that she’s apparently not worries me.
I nod slowly. “I promise that I won’t put myself in any unnecessary danger.” The promise is small and leaves much to be desired. If she’s right, I’m already in danger simply by being here.
She shakes her head one last time. “If you get killed because of Apollo and Zeus’s scheme, I’ll murder them both myself.” Again, her customary cheeriness is nowhere in evidence. This is the Hermes that I lost my heart to all those years ago. I loved her mischievousness and her ability to talk her way both into and out of trouble, but like calls to like.
Her inner core is just as dark and haunted as mine.
We’ve always had different aims, though. It’s the reason why we were never going to work. I always wanted to leave Olympus behind, and Hermes wants… Well, she’s never trusted me enough to tell me exactly what she wants.
Her motives might be akin to Apollo’s aim to bring about what’s best for Olympus, but I’m not so sure. Hermes has always played on a different level from anyone else in the city. Not one of the Thirteen is aware of how deep she goes. They all see the flighty, mischievous thief, the one who shows up where she’s not invited and steals things for shits and giggles. They don’t see this look in her eye that I see now.
This Hermes will kill to accomplish her goals.
I’m nearly certain she has, although we never spoke of it.