Hades lifts a brow. “Ares’s people are not welcome in the lower city.”
Zeus clenches his jaw, a tiny movement, but he might as well have shouted his frustration. “You are making a mistake.”
“If Hades doesn’t take the security, neither am I.” Artemis shoves to her feet. “You should have killed him from the start.”
“We cannot afford more changeover.” Zeus doesn’t raise his voice.
My reluctant admiration for him grows. I don’t like the fucker, and he doesn’t seem to have a drop of charm in his body, but he gets shit done. It probably won’t be enough to balance whatever Minos’s next steps are, but he’s a dangerous man.
They start arguing again, and I let the conversation roll over me. I won’t be taking Ares’s people, but there’s no reason to speak my intentions. I’ll just leave without them when this meeting is done.
Next to me, my wife is doing the same.
I lean close and lower my voice. “Take Ares’s security.”
“I intend to.” Her answer is so soft, it’s almost lost in Athena pointing out she has her own security force and Ares shooting back a question on how that helped her against the sniper. “You should take the offer, too.”
“I’m not in danger.”
She touches my arm. “If Minos is telling the truth…yes, you are. No matter what else is true, you’re one of the Thirteen now. One of us.”
I almost argue, but stop when it hits me. She’s worried about me. I search her face for any sign of the sly smile or a lie, but for the first time in our marriage she seems perfectly earnest. “One would think you’d paint the target on my back yourself,” I say slowly, testing these new, uncharted waters.
“That’s just it, Husband.” She smiles sweetly, only the tiniest edge present. “I’m the only one who gets to kill you. I’ll bury anyone else who tries.”
29
APHRODITE
The meeting goes on forever, and we aren’t any closer to solutions by the end of it. I understand why my brother insists on getting the whole of the Thirteen together…but I am also starting to see why our father refused to do it.
Thirteen people in power means we’ll never be united, even with massive problems knocking on our doorstep. But that’s the problem. Some of our number would have to see an enemy surrounding our city before they believed the threat.
Instead, they look at Minos and think they know exactly what he’s capable of because he reminds them of the last Zeus. It’s a mistake—not that they’ll take my word for it.
Things dispel like they always do these days. Someone storms off—Artemis this time—and the rest leave in ones and twos. My brother catches my eye and gives a small shake of his head.
Ah. So we’ll be meeting in a smaller group after this.
“See you tonight, Wife.” Hephaestus squeezes my arm and rises stiffly. I watch him try to cover his limp as he leaves the room. There’s an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach, almost like worry. I meant what I said earlier. I want him to take my sister’s offer of security. Not because it’s another way to spy on him. Not because I think it will pull him more visibly onto our side.
Because I don’t want him to get hurt.
Gods, what is wrong with me? I can’t afford to waver now. The worst part is I can’t even pretend it’s because I know it would make Pandora sad if something happened to him. I didn’t even think of her when I was speaking earlier.
Once it’s clear that everyone still sitting is invited to this secondary meeting, I look around the room. “No Demeter?” I can understand keeping Hera and Hades out of it. Hera will be only too happy to watch my brother burn, regardless of how it affects the city. I’m honestly a bit surprised she hasn’t facilitated an assassination attempt on him already. Hades may or may not have been invited, but he’ll be more concerned with the lower city—and his pregnant wife.
“Demeter has prior obligations,” Perseus says. He looks as perfectly put together as always, his suit pressed and his blond hair seeming to be recently trimmed. Gone are the faint smudges of sleepless nights beneath his eyes, which only proves that he’s gotten better at concealer than he was when we were teenagers. If I hadn’t seen him yesterday, I wouldn’t know how haggard he looked only twenty-four hours ago.
I glance at Athena and Apollo. She’s dressed as impeccably as always in a deep gray suit with a paler silver blouse beneath it. Apollo has on a very expensive, very boring suit and looks like he’s swallowed something spiky. It makes sense. He’s a man with a plan, and there’s no easy plan to get us out of this.