Chapter 18 Zeus
Zeus
“There are reports of gunshots on the River Styx.”
I look up from the bag I’m currently throwing things into in preparation for a quick trip out to the countryside.
Poseidon’s warning from yesterday still rings true in my head.
He’s right about Circe being three steps ahead of us this whole time, which means he might be right about her doing something in the mountains.
I intend to go out there with my sister and see for myself.
It takes several long moments before Ares’s words penetrate. “What did you say?”
“Gunshots.” She looks a little too freaked out for it to be a generic shooting. She keeps glancing at her phone, which beeps with a spattering of incoming text messages. “Oh, fuck. Perseus…”
I go cold. “Tell me.”
Ares looks up, her hazel eyes too wide. “There are four people injured and being rushed to the hospital.” I actually take a step toward her as she sputters. “Two are Hades’s people. Persephone is there, too.”
What the fuck was Persephone doing on our side of the river?
I’m already heading for the door. “I’m going to call Hades on the way to the hospital.
We can’t have him rampaging through the upper city.
We’ll stand guard over her until he arrives and I’ll do my best to minimize the chance of this spiraling. ”
“Perseus.”
I glance over my shoulder to find my sister ghost pale. “What?”
“There were four victims.” She clears her throat. “The fourth person is Hera.”
My thoughts fall to perfect silence. Hera has been shot. Callisto has been shot. My fucking wife has been shot.
“I want Patroclus and Achilles on this personally,” I say softly.
Calm. I’m too fucking calm. It feels like there’s a barrier between me and the rest of the world, but it’s just as well because I can barely control the hurricane of emotions threatening to split through my skin.
“Tell them to find whoever did this and bring me their head. You and I are going to the hospital now.”
To Ares’s credit, she doesn’t even try to argue that we had different plans for the day or that Circe is likely behind this attack and using it to distract me and Hades.
She simply follows me to the parking garage.
When I head for the driver’s side, she plucks the keys out of my hands. “I’ll drive while you make your calls.”
The first person I call is Hades. I barely let him answer the phone before I cut in.
“There was an incident on the banks of the River Styx involving both of our wives and two of your people. I don’t have the full details of what happened, but they are alive and being rushed to the hospital.
I’m heading there with Ares right now to provide personal security.
I highly suggest you make your way there as well.
I’ll let the hospital staff know to let you through. ”
His shocked inhale is the only external reaction he allows.
“I’ll be there as soon as possible.” Hades hangs up before I can say anything else, which is just as well.
I have nothing else to say. This happened on my side of the river; therefore it’s my responsibility.
I’m not certain why Persephone was here in the first place, let alone what my wife was planning that brought her here, but that matters less than the reality.
They were here. They were shot on my watch.
Helen dials her phone and puts it on speaker. A small courtesy I would appreciate if I could appreciate anything in this moment. Achilles’s charming voice answers. “Hey, princess. I thought you were headed out to the country with—”
“We have reports of shots fired and four victims. No deaths to my knowledge, but Hera and Persephone were both among those injured.”
Instantly, all flirtation is gone from his tone. “Why am I just hearing about this now?”
“Because of the people involved, the reporting security force called me instead of going up the proper chain of command. It was the right thing to do.” She glances at me and then returns her attention to the road, flying through a yellow light in the process of turning red.
“I need you and Patroclus to go over the site with a fine-tooth comb to figure out what the fuck happened. I want the gunman, Achilles.”
There’s movement on his side of the line: he’s obviously already in the process of obeying her orders. “We’ll get the information, princess. And then we’ll bring you their head on a platter.”
“Thank you.” She swallows hard. “Be careful and keep me updated.”
“Always do.”
She hangs up and shoves the phone into the pocket of her jacket. “We’re almost there. Just hold on for a few more minutes.”
I am holding on. I think. There is a yawning emptiness inside me, deep and dark and ready to devour. This fucking city. It demands its price in blood again and again, never satisfied. And for fucking what? The thankless task of ruling?
I won’t pretend every member of the Thirteen stretching back to the history of the founding of Olympus have been good people or even good rulers.
But there needs to be someone in charge.
No matter what perceived benefit we get from it, the cost is always higher than anyone should be expected to pay.
They shot my fucking wife.
Helen veers into the hospital parking lot and, without asking, pulls up to the front of the emergency entrance. “Figure out what’s going on. I’ll park and find you.”
I’m already out the car and charging through the doors. The person behind the desk sees me coming and their pale face turns sickly green. They half shove to their feet, get tangled with their chair, and crash back down into it. “Zeus! Zeus, you’re here. I have a report, uh, right here.”
I hold up a hand. The barrier of ice around me is so thick I’m able to speak perfectly normally. “Where is my wife?”
“She’s in a room. I could take you to her. Or, actually, John can.” They motion frantically to the nurse standing in the doorway behind them.
I need to go to her, but there’s Hades to consider. I fucking hate that I have to consider anything other than getting to my wife’s side as quickly as possible. I clear my throat. “And the other three victims?”
“Um…” The receptionist rifles through the papers in front of them. “Persephone is getting stitched up right now. Orpheus is in surgery for his broken collarbone, but the doctor expects him to make a full recovery. Medusa is with Persephone; she won’t leave her side.”
All alive. That’s all I need to know. “Hades will be here shortly. Have someone ready to take him to his wife as soon as he arrives.”
“Yes, sir.” They motion frantically at John again, and he steps forward to lead me down the hall past a set of locked doors.
It’s miniscule security—only the doors themselves and no actual people to ensure someone doesn’t slip in.
I make a mental note to tell my sister to ramp it up for as long as such high-profile patients are within these walls.
I shove past John into a small room with a hospital bed and a machine beeping steadily beside it.
Callisto sits in the bed, her expression a mask of displeasure.
She has a thick bandage on her upper left arm and several scratches on her face, but seems otherwise okay.
That doesn’t stop me from rushing to her side.
I reach out but stop short of touching her. “Tell me what happened.”
She blinks up at me, pure shock on her gorgeous face. “What are you doing here?”
“Someone. Shot. You.” I bite out each word.
I can’t stand to be this close and not touch her, not reassure myself that she truly is alive and okay.
Almost tentatively, I cup her cheek. I fully expect her to push me away or deliver some kind of sharp comment, but she just closes her eyes and leans into my touch, ever so slightly. “Tell me what happened,” I repeat.
“I needed to talk to my sister. She wouldn’t come fully into the upper city or allow me into the lower city, so this was the best compromise we could come up with.
I don’t know how the shooter knew we would be there, but they started firing so fast that they had to have been watching the river.
I was hit first. Medusa shoved Persephone to the ground, but Orpheus had to be a hero and tackle me, which was when he got shot.
I had to hold the fucker together until the paramedics arrived. ”
I’m all too aware of my wife’s feelings on Orpheus.
My father used him to hurt Eurydice in an effort to draw Persephone out of the lower city, and though reports say Eurydice has taken him back, Callisto is not one to forgive or forget.
The fact that she didn’t let him die is a testament to something, but I’m not entirely certain what.
“You were shot first.”
She opens her eyes and leans back just enough to break the contact of my fingertips against her skin. “It’s just a graze, albeit a deep one. I needed stitches. Persephone seemed mostly okay, but I know she was hurt. What were her injuries?”
“Similar to yours. Orpheus is the one in surgery. Your sister’s fine, according to the nurse. Her husband will be here shortly.”
“Fuck,” Callisto breathes. “This was already a shit show, but I’ve just made it worse, haven’t I?”
Yes, but I’m not about to tell her that.
Not when she’s looking so frail in that hospital bed.
Not when someone put her in that fucking hospital bed.
Achilles and Patroclus are some of the best, trained by Athena herself.
If anyone can find out who the shooter is and where they went, it’s them.
And when they do, I’m not going to be satisfied with simply a head on a platter. I want the gunman to suffer.
“Where is your team?” It’s the first time I’ve seen her out of the penthouse without the trio since she acquired them.
A faint flush takes up residence in my wife’s too-pale cheeks. “I slept late and didn’t inform them of my plans. I didn’t think it would be a problem to go by myself…” She shudders. “Apparently I was wrong.”
I open my mouth to ask her about the baby, but click my jaw shut before the words emerge. Foolish sap that I am, I want her to tell me about the pregnancy in her own time. I clear my throat. “I’m going to go find the doctor and get some more information on the others. Stay here.”
“I want to check on my sister.” She must see me getting ready to argue, because she reaches out and tentatively touches my hand. “Please, Perseus. It’s my fault she got hurt. I need to see her.”
“Give me a few minutes, and then I’ll escort you there myself.” I don’t know how the fuck I’m supposed to let her out of my sight now. I step out of the room and close the door softly behind me.
Only then do I slump against the wall as all the adrenaline and fear and fury race through me, my heart beating so hard it’s a wonder I can’t feel it rattling against my rib cage. My thoughts swirl and spiral and finally fade entirely.
She was fucking shot—she could have died—and I wasn’t there. She didn’t tell me where she was going so I could send someone to look out for her. Why would she? She doesn’t trust me. She never has. I’m starting to wonder if she ever will.
I reach out and grab the arm of a doctor walking past. Their badge says that their name is Rex. “My wife is in that room behind me. She’s pregnant and she was shot. I need you to check her thoroughly to make sure she’s okay. And…the baby, too. Do you understand me?”
“I… But I’m a…” They swallow hard at whatever look is on my face and nod. “I’ll go check on her now.”
“Do not tell her I sent you.”
They blink. “Um. Okay.”
I stand there for what feels like the longest fifteen minutes of my life. When the doctor emerges, it’s everything I can do not to grab them and shove them against the wall until they tell me what I need to know. It doesn’t escape my notice that they stay several steps out of reach.
They straighten their coat. “She’s fine. She lost a little blood, but nowhere near enough to require a transfusion. We can do an ultrasound to check on the pregnancy if you’d like, but the heartbeat seems perfectly within normal ranges.”
The heartbeat. My baby’s heartbeat.
Later, I’ll wade through the mess of conflicting emotions those words bring me. Right now, I only care about Callisto. “Thank you.” I take a deep breath that does nothing to steady me and step back into the room. “All right. Let’s go find your sister.”