Chapter Sixty-six
Nadia
Pop’s backyard looked insane. Absolutely fucking insane.
Skylar was hanging strings of lights while Hatchie and Roxy were placing folding tables.
Music blasted from somebody’s speaker loud enough to rattle the fence line.
Shane manned the grill with the seriousness of a war general while Abby kept stealing food directly off people’s plates and denying it aggressively every single time she got caught.
Deck looked seconds away from passing out from exhaustion beside Isla, who sat in a lawn chair threatening violence against anyone who mentioned contractions again. Kendra balanced Rhys on her hip while trying to stop him from eating flower petals off the centerpiece arrangements.
“Why is he always consuming random objects?” Abby asked.
“Survival instinct,” Kendra answered immediately.
I stood near the back porch in a black romper and thigh-high boots, my red bandana tied around my waist. Pop practically forced me into wearing something dress-adjacent while Riven argued with Shane over whether folding chairs counted as “real seating.”
“You can’t host a wedding reception with garage furniture.” Shane snapped.
“Says who?”
“Society!” Riven looked genuinely offended by that.
For the first time in weeks, Stonebridge didn’t feel haunted. It was loud and chaotic. A little drunk already, but alive. And somehow that scared me more than Olympus ever did. Because now I actually had something to lose. A hand slipped around my waist suddenly. Riven.
“You disappeared.”
“I walked ten feet away.”
“That’s basically abandonment.” I snorted softly while leaning back against him automatically. His mouth brushed my temple.
“You nervous?” About the wedding? The future? Olympus still existing somewhere out there beyond Stonebridge? Yes.
“No.”
“Liar.” Before I could answer, my phone buzzed in my hand. Unknown Number, again. I frowned immediately before answering.
“Hello?” Static crackled briefly through the speaker.
“Nadia?” Betty’s voice. I straightened instantly. Betty worked late nights at the diner and somehow knew every secret in Stonebridge before anybody else did.
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s a woman here asking for the King of the Daredevil.” Every instinct inside me sharpened immediately.
“What?” Betty lowered her voice dramatically.
“She walked in like she owned the damn place.” A pause.
“Very scary rich-lady energy.” Behind me, Riven noticed my posture change instantly.
“Nadia?” I ignored him.
“What does she want?”
“Says her name’s Vera.” Betty hesitated.
“And she told me to say thank you.” A chill slid slowly down my spine.
“For what?” Betty’s voice dropped quieter.
“For killing Hades.” Silence swallowed me whole for a second. Olympus, it had to be. Riven’s hand tightened slightly around my waist.
“What is it?” I pulled the phone away slowly. “There’s someone at Betty’s askin’ for me.” Riven’s expression darkened immediately.
“Who?”
“Goes by Vera.” That got everyone’s attention fast. Even Shane looked over from the grill.
“Sounds fake.” Abby declared immediately.
“Everything sounds fake to you.” Deck muttered.
“Because people lie.”
That was true.
Didn’t mean we shouldn’t investigate. Guess the wedding would have to wait a little longer.
_____
Twenty minutes later, Riven and I pulled into the diner parking lot as neon lights flickered across the pavement. The diner looked mostly empty despite it being high daytime. Only one booth remained occupied near the back window. Her.
Vera looked exactly like the kind of woman who didn’t belong in Stonebridge.
Elegant camel coat folded neatly beside her.
Gold jewelry catching the faint diner light.
Dark curls framing sharp features while untouched coffee sat cooling between perfectly steady hands. She looked up the second we entered.
Calm. Controlled. Dangerous. Betty appeared beside me immediately, carrying a coffee pot like a weapon.
“She tipped me a hundred dollars.” She whispered urgently.
“Be careful.” Riven nearly laughed, claiming one of the bar seats as I approached the booth slowly instead.
“So, you’re Vera.” She stood politely.
“Nadia Slade.” Not a question. Her gaze shifted briefly toward Riven beside me. Something almost amused flickered across Vera’s face before she looked back toward me.
“The King of the Daredevil.”
“That would be me.” She studied me, and I did the same.
“I wanted to thank you.” That was direct and… unexpected. My eyebrows narrowed slightly.
“For what?”
“For what you did beneath Blackwater Falls.” Her expression sharpened carefully.
“Hades was a problem long before Stonebridge understood his name.”
Anton. Even now the thought of him made something ugly twist inside my chest. Vera noticed. Interesting.
“You know about Olympus,” I said flatly.
“I know enough.” Not enough of an answer. Riven clearly agreed, judging by the way he huffed behind me. Vera gestured lightly toward the empty seats across from her.
“Please.” I didn’t sit. A faint sigh escaped her.
“You’re suspicious people.”
“You approached us talking about secret underground gods.” Riven pointed out.
“Read the room.”
That almost made Vera smile. Almost. Instead, she reached into her bag and slid a black folder across the table toward me. Olympus symbols stared back immediately. Bident. Lightning bolt. Trident. Hades. Zeus. Poseidon. My stomach tightened hard.
“Hades’ sector collapsed after the Styx, but Olympus is still out there.” She said quietly.
“But you already knew that.” I did. Still didn’t make hearing it easier.
“What do you want from us?” I asked carefully. Vera held my gaze steadily.
“Nothing.” That immediately felt like a lie. Then, she surprised me again.
“I came here because after what happened beneath the mountain…” Her eyes sharpened slightly.
“You deserve peace.” The words hit strangely hard. Peace. I didn’t think anyone had ever associated me with that word before.
“You dismantled Hades’ empire,” She continued. “You exposed the tunnels. You burned the Styx to the ground.” Her voice softened almost imperceptibly.
“That matters.”
Silence settled between us, my mind working rapidly to piece these clues together.
Her name, her face, her knowledge, her power.
It made no sense. All signs pointed to her being an enemy, a cunning one at that.
But not once since we stepped inside did she do anything remotely threatening.
The act didn’t fool me; I knew a predator when I saw one.
Or, more accurately, a hunter. Then, she said the thing that changed everything.
“Let me handle the rest.” My eyes narrowed instantly.
“The rest, meaning?”
“Zeus. Poseidon.” Her fingers rested lightly atop the Olympus folder.
“What’s left.” Riven stood, speaking before I could.
“And why exactly would we trust you?”
“You shouldn’t.” She answered calmly. Honesty that caught me off guard. Vera looked back toward me.
“But you also shouldn’t spend the rest of your life at war.”
Something in my chest tightened painfully. Because part of me wanted exactly that. War felt easier than healing. The problem was that I couldn’t see how this war could end without me dying or me losing someone I loved. Vera studied me for a long moment before quietly saying,
“You already survived Olympus, Nadia.” Her gaze flicked briefly toward the necklace resting against my collarbone.
“You don’t have to let it consume what comes after too.” The diner fell silent.
And for the first time since the Styx collapsed, I wondered if maybe survival and vengeance didn’t have to be the same thing anymore.