Chapter 47 The Impersonator is Revealed
THE IMPERSONATOR IS REVEALED
ALEXIS
Smoke swirled in sinister tendrils.
Starlight shone through the long windows, framing the towering mountain ranges that hugged the Lake Como banks.
Time slowed as I ran into the adjoining bedroom.
I skidded to a stop, books flying at my feet. Kharon and Augustus bumped against my arms as all three of us took in the scene.
There were strange symbols written with ink across the walls, textbooks were strewn everywhere, pages pulled out, their margins covered in drawings.
A male voice shouted something vulgar.
“This isn’t good, kid,” Nyx hissed from my shoulders.
I turned toward the noise, the throbbing in my eye and side increasing—three people stood in the corner of the room.
Ceres tucked her left arm against her body, hiding it under the long sleeves of her oversized purple T-shirt.
Her cheeks were flushed with anger.
Patro was snarling in her face, his right arm pinning her against the wall.
They stood toe-to-toe, shouting.
Achilles stood sentinel behind Patro with his arms crossed.
Ceres had recovered to a healthy weight, but Patro still stood a head taller than her, dwarfing her curvy stature.
“Snake scum,” Patro snarled down at Ceres, his voice cruel.
There was a blur of purple—a loud crack echoed and we all gasped—she’d punched him in the face.
Patro touched his bloody lip. “Oh, you bitch.”
Achilles yanked Patro behind him protectively.
“Better a bitch … than a coward.” Ceres arched her brow, standing on her tiptoes to peer at Patro around Achilles. “You just hide behind him—he’s your little guard dog. All you ever do is corner me and accuse me of things you have no idea about. You’re all bluster.”
At little, Achilles stood up straighter. At dog, he cracked his knuckles.
Wait, Patro’s cornered her before?
“You have no idea how much worse I could be.” Patro bared his teeth. “How dare you speak to him with such—”
“How dare you—” Ceres cut him off “—speak to me like you have some authority over me. You think you can just come in here and accuse me of—”
“I’m not accusing,” Patro said. “I know what you are. I’ve always known you were a dirty fucking liar who needed to be—”
“You play the fool.” Ceres pointed at him. “Careful, predetermination doesn’t smile kindly on those who spit in the face of people with the foresight to—”
“I know all about your kind,” Patro said, and for a second, his face twisted with angst, then he masked it.
Ceres sized Achilles up, like she was debating taking him on, so she could throw another punch at Patro.
Achilles arched an eyebrow, daring her to try it.
“What’s going on here?” Augustus’s voice cracked like a whip.
His voice startled me out of my shock.
“Move away f-from her,” I said.
Achilles stepped back—but Patro lunged forward, and my heart stopped in my chest—his fingers tangled in her hair.
He yanked.
Pink tendrils fluttered as Helen’s fuchsia wig dropped to the floor.
Long silky black hair tumbled out.
Rattling echoed.
Three pale serpents rose from her head, pink eyes bright in the candlelight—Gorgon snakes.
An ominous hissing sounded, and all the men went still.
The snakes slithered down to her chest, twining around raven hair. She raised her right arm to shield them.
Achilles’s eyebrows rose.
“Hello again, my precious darlings,” Nyx hissed in greeting.
The other snakes fell silent, turning like they were bashful.
Patro pointed at me. “You idiot! I thought I must have been wrong. There was no way that you really did it … but you … you … you freed her.” He looked at me with betrayal. “You’re the reason for the interrogations and—”
“I know you’re not speaking to my wife like that,” Augustus said quietly.
Kharon glared at Patro. “Apologize—now.” He narrowed his eyes, but there was something different in his expression.
Hurt flashed across Patro’s face. He’d been blindsided by the truth earlier, yet he’d still lied to Zeus’s face for me.
He’d risked everything to help me.
I was in his debt.
“He doesn’t need to apologize,” I said with a sigh, and my husbands looked at me with confusion.
Patro threw his hands into the air. “Obviously—you freed MEDUSA! What were you thinking? She’s a criminal!”
Medusa shook her head infinitesimally, as she silently begged me not to reveal her secrets.
I narrowed my eyes. “They need to know what you went through.”
She shook her head harder. “Please don’t.”
Patro turned on her, radiating his signature haughty arrogance. “Why are you looking at her like that?” He spit at her feet. “Traitor.”
Medusa’s snakes rattled, rearing up from her head.
Kharon yanked me protectively behind him.
Smoke rose around Achilles’s muzzle as he stepped up beside Patro, ready to attack.
“STOP IT!” I screamed. “You heard Zeus—she was framed, she’s innocent.”
Patro chuckled darkly. “She’s Medusa.” He said her name like it was the highest damnation. “A fucking abomination.”
Medusa stepped up to Patro, poking his chest. “That’s rich coming from the son of Aphrodite.”
Patro reared back. “What’s … that supposed to mean?”
“Oh—I think you know.” Medusa bared her teeth. “Your House is known for its seduction and deceit.”
Achilles glanced between them, then turned to me. “How could you?” he signed. “You put all of us at risk. You endangered Patro.”
Hot coals burned my insides.
“What the fuck are you saying to my wife?” Kharon asked.
I signed back jerkily. “If you saw what I did, what they did to her, you would have done the same.”
“Never.” He slashed his hand violently.
“That’s because all you care about in life is Patro,” I said as I signed. “To hell w-with everyone else. Right?”
“Correct,” he signed, nodding. “No one cares about her.”
“I care,” I whispered, my throat sore from yelling, from screaming at Titans, from fighting with Zeus.
Dizziness hit me and the floor seesawed.
Kharon grabbed my shoulders, steadying me. “I care,” I repeated numbly.
Augustus rubbed my back soothingly. “How … did this even happen?” There was no condemnation in his tone. He seemed genuinely curious.
My legs gave out and Kharon caught me.
Achilles and Patro stood together, the former glaring at me, the latter still toe-to-toe with Medusa.
Gorgon snakes rattled.
Everyone wanted answers.
I took a deep steadying breath. “My last leap during the initiation hunt—I tried to get to Hades at Crete. But I was injured and … something went wrong. I ended up in … the Underworld.”