But what if he does? What if he succeeds?
Apollo will still be here fighting to protect this city that does not deserve him while I’m off putting this all behind me. Who will watch his back without me here? Not that I’m the greatest protector, but no one else looks out for him. Hector is a great member of the team, but he will understandably put his family first. Same with the rest of the people who answer directly to Apollo. They all have families. More, he would never expect them to put the job before their loved ones.
Zeus uses Apollo as a blunt tool or scalpel by turn. The rest of the Thirteen are too busy engaging in backbiting and bullshit politics to ever care for one another beyond what power their allies can provide. Being an ally is as fraught as being an enemy.
Apollo alone stands apart. If I were Minos, a newcomer to this city who’s obviously looking to make his own grab for power, Apollo is where I would strike. He’s the cornerstone of the alliance that pledges to Zeus. Without him, Zeus would keep Ares and Aphrodite at his side, by virtue of them being his sisters, but would he be able to keep the rest?
I doubt it.
“Are you okay, Cassandra?” Apollo clasps my shoulder gently with a firm hand.
“I’m fine.” I don’t sound convincing, but what can I say? Even if Ariadne wasn’t here, nothing is going to divert Apollo from his mission. He is one of the Thirteen; more than anyone else, he knew the risk when he took the title.
The thought brings a bitter smile to my lips. Even if I lost my mind and begged him to come with me, he’s far too honorable to leave Olympus, let alone when it needs him most.
Ironic that the thing that drew me to him in the first place is the very reason we’ll never be together.
23
Apollo
I can’t deny the surge of satisfaction that goes through me to realize that my kisses and my touch turn Cassandra into this blushing, stammering person. It’s a heady thing to know that I affect her just as deeply as she affects me, but now’s not the time to let myself get distracted. My cock hasn’t quite gotten the memo, not with the memory of her softness imprinted on my body. I clear my throat. What had she just said? She’s fine. Of course she’s fine. She’s never anything but fine.
I press my hand to the small of Cassandra’s back and paint a charming smile on my face as I turn to Ariadne. “You’re not a fan of hide-and-seek?”
She grimaces, the shadow of some remembered pain flashing over her face, gone almost too fast to catch. “No, I don’t like the dark.” Her tone is not quite right for the apparent lightness that she’s striving for, but her fears are not my business. The information she possesses about her father is.
I step out of the closet after Cassandra and start inching toward the door, taking my time. If she thinks we’re attempting to extract information from her, she’ll kick us out. Better to make all the right appearances of leaving and see what I can glean in the precious few seconds available to me. “How are you liking it in Olympus, Ariadne?”
“It’s a lovely city.” There’s a reservation in her that wasn’t present the last time we spoke. I can’t tell if that’s because she’s unhappy that we’ve intruded on her private space or if she knows more than she’s saying. I pulse my fingers against Cassandra’s back and she, smart, savvy woman that she is, fakes a stumble and catches herself on the dresser.
“Oh, sorry,” she says. “I’m just feeling a little dizzy.”
Ariadne, true to my suspicions, is far too nice to ignore someone blatantly in need. “Here, sit down.” She rushes forward and guides Cassandra to perch on the edge of her bed. She doesn’t look particularly pleased about it, but her feelings are less important than the opportunity Cassandra has provided us.
“Olympus is somewhat of an acquired taste,” I offer.
Cassandra snorts. “Acquired, if you have the power for it.” She shakes her head, pressing her fingers to her temples. Even knowing her as well as I do, I would be fooled by the misery on her face if I didn’t know this was all an act. “Some people find Olympus to be exactly what it is, all glitz and glamour covering a rotted core.”
Ariadne gives a faint smile, though her eyes remain serious. “Seems like you don’t have a high opinion of your city.”
“It’s the truth, even if most people pretend otherwise.” Cassandra shrugs one shoulder. “But it’s all I know. Was it like this where you come from?”
“No,” Ariadne says slowly. “Aeaea is nothing like Olympus. It was lovely when I was a child but…things changed.”
I exchange a look with Cassandra. I’ve never heard of Aeaea. Is it a city? A town? A named property the way some people favor? “What changed?”
Ariadne shakes her head slowly. “You seem like a nice man, Apollo.”
I don’t get a chance to respond before Cassandra laughs. “Unlike everything else in Olympus, Apollo is exactly what he seems. You can’t say the same for most of the guests here, let alone the members of the Thirteen, but Apollo somehow managed to be raised in a legacy family and take over one of the thirteen most powerful titles in the city, and yet he’s a genuinely nice guy. He’s practically a mythical creature.” She lifts her gaze, her faux dizziness washing away and only seriousness remaining. “There are plenty of people in power in Olympus who deserve any trouble your father could bring and more, but not Apollo.”
“Yes, well, my father does what he wants.” She says it with the air of someone who’s given up all hope, a stark contrast from the personality she’s shown us to date. She seems to realize it, too, because she forces a bright smile. “You know how it is. Parents, right?”
It’s not my business, I remind myself. This woman is not my business. Olympus is.
I cannot take every injured dove under my wing, no matter what Cassandra accuses me of from time to time. Even hiring her five years ago had my family blisteringly unhappy with me for months before they finally gave in and admitted that I’m more than capable of making my own decisions. They still think she manipulated me, seduced her way into my life to take advantage of my position. They especially believe that now that we’re publicly dating.
That’s neither here nor there, though.
“Ariadne, if you ever need a safe space,” I find myself saying, “I know a few places that offer sanctuary.” There aren’t many in Olympus, but they are notable. The lower city offers a special sort of refuge for those Hades—and now Persephone—deems worthy, and the strength of that refuge has only increased since he forced the entire city to acknowledge that he’s more than a myth.
The other lies within Hera’s domain, a temple of sorts that now houses orphans but used to extend to anyone who claimed sanctuary. It has become mostly toothless over the last few Heras, courtesy of the late Zeus, but our current Hera is making moves behind the scenes to reclaim what power belonged to her title before it was gutted by a dangerous and greedy man.
I am very curious to see what our new Hera will do, given enough time.
Ariadne raises her brows. “That’s quite the offer. You don’t know me. I could say yes and then turn around and work against you.”