Chapter 6 Atalanta
Atalanta
Hera smiles slowly, a predator sighting prey.
“I’m surprised you dare show your face here.
” Before I can come up with a response to that, she turns to the rest of the room, every inch a queen of Olympus in this moment.
“Atalanta isn’t to be trusted. She’s been in league with Hermes this entire time.
She’s likely been a mole in your operations, Athena—and Artemis before you. ”
There’s a beat of silence where a small, naive part of me that should have died ages ago is certain no one will believe her.
She’s Hera, after all, and at least half of this room is aware she was actively trying to kill her husband only a short time ago.
Unfortunately—for me, at least—a lot has changed between then and now.
I take a step back, but that’s all I manage before Hades is pointing a gun at my face and Athena has one digging into the small of my back. “Ah, ah,” she says. “I don’t think so. Hands up and out. Slowly.”
There’s nothing to do but obey. Zeus is watching me with narrowed eyes, and Hades’s hand doesn’t waver on his gun. There’s no sympathy from the Dimitriou sisters, either.
I sigh. It wasn’t supposed to go like this.
Nothing was. “Hermes saved both of your lives.” I direct my words at Zeus and Hera, who would still be subject to Circe’s tender mercies if Hermes hadn’t put herself in danger to orchestrate their jailbreak.
She didn’t have to do that. In fact, I cautioned her against it.
We don’t owe these people shit, and if they’re not as bad as their parents, they’re still plenty bad.
Just a week ago, Hera was intent on bringing down Dodona Tower to kill her husband.
It doesn’t matter that she apparently was taking steps to empty the building.
That wouldn’t have applied to everyone, and it sure as fuck wouldn’t have applied to people in the surrounding area.
Even if they weren’t killed in the initial blast, science has more than proven that building debris in the air—and lungs—causes any number of health problems. Including ones that result in an untimely death.
Who knows what the death count would have been by the end of her vendetta?
And Zeus? He may not be the monster his father was, but he’s sure as shit not an innocent.
He was willing to break the rules and stage a damned coup with Hades and Poseidon.
Yes, it was in pursuit of Circe, but once you start breaking the rules, it becomes easier and easier to do each time.
He was willing to sell Helen in marriage to whoever became Ares, no matter that she clearly wasn’t on board with the whole plan.
He did sell Eris in an effort to control Theseus during his short time holding the Hephaestus title.
Hades meets Athena’s gaze over my shoulder and slowly lowers his gun.
She, on the other hand, shows no signs of letting up.
I’ll have a bruise tomorrow…assuming I live that long.
He sits back. “That rescue by Hermes is the only reason you’re still alive.
Regardless, you cannot stay in the lower city.
” He motions to Eurydice. “Escort her to the bridge and ensure she crosses through the barrier and won’t be able to return. ”
Persephone opens her mouth like she might protest, but turns to me instead of her husband. “If you touch my sister—”
This was old the moment it started. They’re still worried about the wrong fucking things. “For gods’ sake, you have bigger things to worry about than me. I’m not the one who wants all of you dead. Neither is Hermes.”
“You want the Thirteen abolished,” Hera says stonily.
“So do you,” I snap. “The citizens of this city deserve better. Every single person in this room would admit it if they weren’t allergic to the truth. You’re all rich as fuck; you’ll be fine anywhere in the big, wide world. So will the legacy families. The rest of Olympus aren’t as lucky.”
“Eurydice.” Hades’s face is a mask of ice. Does he realize how similar he and Zeus look right now? Sure, they have different coloring and features, but both are attempting to freeze out me—and my logic. They won’t listen. Damn them.
That doesn’t mean I’m going to stop trying. “The lower city barrier won’t hold forever. You have to know that. Are you prepared for a damned ground war? Where will your precious lower city citizens be then?”
“That’s enough.” Athena muscles me from the room, and I don’t bother to fight her. They never fucking listen. If they did, we wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with.
Out in the hall, she releases me but keeps the gun trained on me as I turn to face her.
We’ve only worked together for a few months, but in that time, Athena has proven to be ruthless, but not cruel.
Not foolish. “Circe is out for revenge. Most of the people in that room couldn’t have saved her when she was taken by the last Zeus and forced into marriage, but you could have.
You were the only one who had a chance of getting him to listen. ”
Athena shakes her head, as if I’ve disappointed her. “That man listened to no one, and if you weren’t an idealistic fool, you would realize it. Anyone who challenged him, privately or publicly, was removed.”
Convenient answer. As if anything Hermes and I have done in the last ten years was safe. “You could have tried.”
“So you say.” She glances at Eurydice. “Take one of my people to ensure she behaves.”
I have to fight not to curse at how misguided this energy is. “Eurydice is in no danger from me. You are in no danger from me.”
“Under the condition I leave the city that is my home and the only place I’ve ever known.” Athena smiles bitterly. “Like I said: You’re an idealistic fool.” Without another word, she turns and walks back into the study, closing the door softly behind her.
Eurydice initially gave the appearance of being the most boring of all the Dimitriou sisters.
She’s beautiful the same way her sisters are, lean and delicate with model-perfect features and the hazel eyes they all share.
The only difference is that her daddy was Black, so she’s got gorgeous warm light-brown skin and wavy black hair.
She surveys me. “I’ll be honest. I probably can’t take you in a fight, but you also won’t make it far in the lower city with our people hunting you. It’s best you come quietly.”
I have to close my eyes and concentrate for several beats before the urge to shake her passes.
She’s not the one I’m mad at. It’s the whole fucking ruling class.
The rot goes right down to its bones. This entire time, I’ve never doubted they were worth saving, but now I can’t help but wonder.
All the years, all the sacrifice, and for what?
People who don’t want to be saved from the natural consequences of the corrupt system they worship.
“I’m not going to cause problems,” I finally say.
“Good. Let’s go.” She motions for me to walk with her down the long hallway and descend the stairs.
We bypass the door I came in just a short while ago and head into what appears to be an underground garage.
There are a handful of identical black sedans and SUVs arranged around the space.
Eurydice seems to pick one at random. “I’ll drop you at Juniper Bridge.
Circe is watching it, but not as closely as Cypress.
If you’re quick, you should be able to make it back to the upper city without a problem, assuming they’re even looking for you. ”
“I don’t come from a legacy family.” I fought my way up the ranks of Artemis’s operation with only my wits and strength.
If I’d been able to take the Ares title…
Well, it doesn’t matter now, does it? “She has no reason to look too closely at me.” For now.
It’s only a matter of time before she realizes Hermes isn’t working alone.
“All the same.” Eurydice puts the car into gear, exiting the garage when the door is barely high enough to allow our passage.
I was only driving these streets a short time ago, but they already look different.
There are even fewer people around, and the ones that I see are moving quickly with their heads down.
Their fear is apparent in every line of their bodies.
“Eurydice—” Both our phones buzz at the same time. We exchange a frown. There’s no way this is good news. I pull my phone out and go still. It appears to be a mass text. I would assume it’s junk if not for…
Eurydice has already clicked the link. A smooth, silky voice emerges from her speakers. “Peitho, for your crimes during your reign as Aphrodite, you are sentenced to death.” Three gunshots follow in quick succession. Eurydice gasps and pulls the sedan over abruptly. “No. No, no, no, no.”
There’s no help for it. I have to know. I click the link and watch the obviously recorded scene play out, see Eros surge forward, only to be gunned down. I see…Hermes…on her knees before Circe, her eyes wide and furious and fucking panicking.
“You godsdamned fool.” I don’t mean to say the words aloud, but my fear is a live thing inside me.
If Circe has Hermes, we’re teetering on the brink of this being all for nothing.
I love this city, for all its scars and ugliness.
If I didn’t, I never would have committed to such a long game at Hermes’s side.
The people of Olympus deserve better than to be cogs in a machine that serves the legacy families and the Thirteen.
They deserve to have actual representation, to have recourse when the people in charge are corrupt and evil.
If we’d been able to enact our plan, it would have resulted in a near-bloodless coup.
Circe changed everything, even if Hermes was too stubborn to admit it.
And now Circe has her. If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t believe for a second they could hold her, but with Circe…there’s always the possibility Hermes will want to be held. Even after Eros’s death. “I have to go. Get this car back on the road. Now.”
“Atalanta.” Eurydice catches my arm but releases me almost instantly.
She lifts her chin and holds my gaze. “I don’t know what you think you can do, but this is clearly recorded, not live.
It already happened. Even if you could get to Circe—which we would have already done if it was that easy—Peitho is already dead.
” Her voice goes thick. “Eros is already dead.”
But Hermes isn’t. I clear my throat. “You have your orders. Take me to Juniper Bridge. After that, you won’t have to worry about what I’m up to.”
She sets down her phone, moving stiffly, as if that video injured her deeply.
It probably did. Eros and Psyche have been married for months at this point, and all intelligence says he was folded into the Dimitriou family without the slightest ripple.
I doubt it was a love match to begin with, regardless of what story they sold to MuseWatch, but it certainly seems to be one now.
I clear my throat. “I’m sorry about Eros.”
“Me too.” Eurydice glances over her shoulder, despite the street being all but empty, and pulls away from the curb. “I don’t know how Psyche will survive this. She never would have stayed with my mother if she had another option, not once…”
Not once it was revealed that Demeter had sided with Circe against her own city.
If I’m in the mood to be generous, I can admit it was a good gamble on Demeter’s part.
Circe has been two steps ahead of the Thirteen from the moment she launched this plan.
If I was looking to preserve my family’s safety and unwilling to walk away from the power I held in Olympus, I might strongly consider making the same play.
At least I would if I had no fucking ethics.
We don’t speak as Eurydice drives the rest of the way to the bridge and parks in an empty spot near it. She exhales in a rush. “Save Psyche.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re not going to murder Circe—at least not yet, not while she holds Hermes.
If you’re going to save her, then save my sister, too.
Both Persephone and Callisto will be grateful enough, they’ll have to allow you back into the lower city.
You won’t be able to reclaim your position with Athena, but—”
I hold up my hands. “I don’t give a shit about my position with Athena—or any of them.
No offense. And after how things just went, I don’t see them listening to reason, no matter who I save.
” I clear my throat, trying to ignore the way her pretty face falls.
Maybe Athena is right and I’m the fool after all, because I can’t deny this woman a small shred of hope.
She’s been hurt by this fucking city, too—more than most. “I can’t promise anything, so don’t get your hopes up.
But if I can get in, and if I don’t die in the process, and if I find Hermes and Psyche, I’ll do my best to get them out alive. ”
Her hazel eyes shine. “Give me your phone.”
There’s no point in arguing. If she takes it, I still have a burner on me.
But Eurydice doesn’t keep it. She simply programs in her number.
“I understand it’s an impossible ask. Thank you for promising to try.
” She already sounds less panicked, tucking away her emotions and focusing on the next steps.
She passes my phone back. “Call me if you need to get back into the lower city. I will only take you back to Hades’s residence, which is a risk because he might just kick you out again, but it’s important to know you have options.
Even if you aren’t successful in what you’re trying next. ”
Despite everything, despite being jaded to the point of becoming brittle, my heart goes treacherously soft and squishy.
“Thank you.” I don’t know if I’ll survive to take her up on it, but having an additional escape hatch is a valuable thing.
Especially because she didn’t have to make the offer and will most certainly receive censure for it.
“I’ll do my best to bring your sister back, Eurydice. I promise.”