Chapter 18 #2
“That’s because you’re young and idealistic.
” She stands abruptly. “You’re also lying again.
You’ve already made your peace with acceptable losses, even if you don’t see it that way.
What else can you call Hermes working with Minos?
Pan was injured at that party. Artemis would have been killed alongside Hephaestus if Cassandra and Apollo hadn’t uncovered Minos’s plot.
She knew his intentions and did nothing to stop him.
” She holds my gaze. “You were injured at that party. It’s sheer luck that you weren’t killed. She put you in that danger knowingly.”
“Hermes wasn’t…” I let my voice trail off and swallow hard. “She needed information from him.”
“Uh-huh. And the people he killed? Hephaestus? The others?”
“She had nothing to do with that,” I say flatly. I can’t help defending her, even now. “She—”
“The time for riding the line is over, Atalanta. You have to pick a side.” Athena holds my gaze. “Can you trust her fully? Are you sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she won’t turn on you and stand at Circe’s side before this is all over?”
I want to say I’m sure. I want to grind out the doubt that came in the wake of realizing where she spent the night.
I’m so tired. It weighs on me, as if all the sleepless nights over the years have come due in this moment.
I swallow hard and then do it again. “I trust her.” Even as I say it, I don’t know if it’s the full truth.
“I don’t,” Athena says flatly. “But it’s a moot point, I suppose. We play the hand we’re dealt. Even if the barrier stands indefinitely, we have to worry about keeping everyone fed without the supply lines from Demeter and Poseidon open. Better to deal with this as quickly as possible.”
“Athena.” I’m weaving on my feet. “We can’t go on like this. You have to understand that.”
“I know.” She turns toward the door. “Get some rest. I’ll have food brought to you, so no need to wander the halls.
In a couple hours, I’ll be back to go over everything you saw while in the upper city.
If we can get an idea of the forces Circe has under her command, that will help.
You’re right about the mob being a problem, but ultimately, a mob can be guided with the right hand. Trained soldiers cannot.”
My throat suddenly feels too tight. “Okay.”
“Get some rest.”
My phone buzzes in my back pocket as Athena walks out of the kitchen. I already know who it is even before I pull it out. Except…I don’t? I blink at the unfamiliar number on the caller ID. “Hello?”
“You know, you actually forced me to change my plans. Not many people can say the same.”
My body goes tight and hot, pure rage flowing through me and whiting out my vision. Circe. I have to concentrate on keeping my phone to my ear instead of throwing it across the room. “Yeah, well, you fucked up my plans, too, so I guess that makes us even. Except it doesn’t. Not by a long shot.”
“Don’t tell me you’re jealous, Atalanta. What Hecate and I have is special. I’m sure she loves you very deeply.” She laughs, the sound slipping through the phone and seeming to wrap around me.
Her charisma is terrifying. I shiver. “Fuck off.”
“I understand what she sees in you, though.” Some of the pure charm fades from her tone, turning almost contemplative. “You’re a victim and survivor, just like us.”
“I am nothing like you.”
“Ah, but you don’t quite believe that, do you? Our plans may be different, but you intended the downfall of Olympus, the same as I do. Your hands are no freer of blood than mine.”
I close my eyes and strive not to think of all the people I’ve killed over the years.
Most of the time, I keep that part of me locked away in a neat little box that only rattles about on the nights when sleep eludes me.
I hate how neatly Circe cuts to the heart. “Do you have a reason for calling me?”
“How’s the shoulder? I’m assuming I didn’t hit anything particularly vital since you managed to abscond with my girlfriend and escape before my people could find you.”
She’s not your girlfriend. I bite down the words before they fly free. She’s clearly looking to provoke me. The question is why? “What do you want?”
“Olympus. Hecate.” She pauses long enough for my skin to prickle. “Maybe even you.”
I blink. “I’m not an option—and neither is the city.” I wish I could say Hermes isn’t, either, but I’m not sure it would be the truth.
“Aren’t you?” She lowers her voice, a friend telling secrets meant only for me. “I know what she did hurt you terribly. I’m sorry for my part in it. If you’re looking for revenge…”
“Revenge.” I bark out a laugh. “For someone who’s managed to keep us on our toes for months, you’re not nearly as good at reading people as you think you are. I would never hurt her, and you might be as beautiful as a perfectly balanced weapon, but I’m not interested.”
“You think I’m beautiful.” She laughs when I sputter. “Oh, relax. There are easier ways to draw Hecate out than seducing you. She still has friends among the elite in Olympus. I only need to point a gun at one of them, and she’ll come running like the little hero she claims she isn’t.”
She’s right. I hate that she’s right. “I’m hanging up now.”
“Atalanta.” Suddenly, Circe sounds all too serious. “You’ve been a pawn to those in power for far too long. If you don’t get out, you’ll go down with the very people you’ve spent all these years trying to remove.”
I don’t know what she’s playing at, but the longer I’m on the phone with her, the stranger I feel. “Next time I see you, you’ll be the one bleeding out on the floor—and I won’t be fool enough to walk away before ensuring you’re dead.”
She laughs again as if I’ve delighted her. “It’s a date.” Circe hangs up before I can respond, which is just as well because I don’t have a response. I’m certainly not going to acknowledge the bolt of heat that went through me at the insinuation of a date.
No, not going to acknowledge that at all…