27. Meg
MEG
T he security meeting goes about as well as I expect it to.
Allecto details the extra protocols we’ll need to go through to leave the building and the new cameras she’s having installed around the exterior.
We already have more cameras in the Underworld than we probably need, and I appreciate her thoroughness, but I can’t help feeling it won’t be enough.
We can’t live in this glass castle forever.
The building may be strong enough to withstand a subtle siege, but there are more factors in play.
Our clientele, for one. If we have to close down operations for some reason…
No use thinking about that.
Even with the sky threatening to fall down around our heads, I can’t help the bubbly feeling in my chest as I sit between Hercules and Hades.
My men. Mine in a way I barely dare comprehend.
I meant every word when I offered Hercules a way out.
I’d slip him out the door and stand in Hades’s way while he escaped us.
It might break my heart to do it, but I don’t want him trapped here.
Unlike Hades, I want him to choose it with eyes wide-open.
Once Allecto is done giving us a run-down, we disperse, Hades to his office and Hercules to occupy himself.
I suspect he’ll end up in the gym or maybe sneak in a few more hours of sleep.
It’s tempting to follow him, but I have a job to do.
Which is why I don’t even sigh when Allecto walks into my office a few minutes later and shuts the door.
She’s in her daywear: ripped jeans, a black silk shirt, and boots that are probably steel-toed. Her long braids are in a topknot and her lipstick is just as red as mine. She leans against the door and crosses her arms over her chest. “Give it to me straight. How bad is it?”
“Bad.” No use mincing words. Hades may downplay the danger, but I’m not willing to. “He’s in a pissing match with the guy who effectively runs Olympus.”
Allecto curses softly. “Trouble.”
“Definitely. With the kind of influence he brings to the fore, it’s entirely likely he has the equivalent of his own militia.
Large staff, large number of people working security.
With that cute little barrier of theirs, they shouldn’t be able to gather large numbers to attack, but it’s not wise to bet on should.
” In the regular world, security details aren’t utilized like soldiers, but ours is not the real world.
We can’t take anything for granted. Allecto, for example, might run security, but she also has a plethora of unsavory talents that lend to working in the shadows if the situation calls for it.
She nods. “Okay. I’m going to set up a secondary circle a little farther out. If they come for us, we’ll at least have a little notice before they’re on our doorstep.”
I lean forward. “Can you do that? Won’t people notice you putting up cameras?”
She grins. “You’re pretty, but you’re not that smart.”
“Yes, yes, you’re superior in every way.” I wave that away. “Now tell me how it works.”
“I’ll have Tis hack into the businesses’ camera system. Most of them are connected to an off-site network to store the video, so they won’t even realize that we’re piggybacking on their signal. Enough of them exist that we should have most of the circle covered.”
I give her a smile of my own. “You’re pretty and smart. Very impressive.”
She laughs but instantly sobers. “I’m going to get her working on that now. I don’t like this.”
I wish I could give her some inspiring words, but Allecto and I don’t lie to each other no matter how barbed our conversations can become. “I don’t like it either.”
She gives me a long look. “I’ll keep you assholes safe as long as you don’t do anything foolish.”
“Do anything foolish?” I press my hand to my chest. “Me?”
“Yes, you.” She shakes her head. “Don’t leave the building without letting me know, Meg. I mean it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Bitch.” She says it fondly. “I’ll show you the secondary camera circle once we have it set up.” She walks out my door, not bothering to close it behind her.
I huff out a sigh. The damn woman always has to have the last word, and while I can admire it most of the time, I still want to snarl as I climb to my feet to shut the door.
I’m still a step away when Tink steps into my office.
I stop short. She looks like shit. She’s wearing the same clothes from yesterday and her hair has…
dirt in it? Most telling of all is the bruise darkening the space around her left eye.
I stare at that bruise. Fury rises, swift and nearly overwhelming. Someone hurt her. “Who?”? 1
She doesn’t pretend to misunderstand me. “It doesn’t matter.”
I reach past her and close the door, forcing her into the office. “Sit.”
“Meg—”
“Sit your ass down, Tink. That’s not a suggestion.” I follow her to the chair and carefully tilt her head back. The bruise is new enough that it’s still going to swell like a motherfucker. “Do not move. I’ll be right back.”
“Meg—”
“Now is not the time to argue with me.” I stalk out of the office and to the little kitchen we keep stocked for employees.
Among other things, we ensure there are a lot of ice packs.
One never knows when they’ll come in handy, though I can’t remember the last time someone had a black eye.
That shit is not sanctioned, and I know Tink’s preferences.
No way did she consent to this. If she did, then that’s one thing. If she didn’t…
I’ll get the truth out of her. And then I’ll deal with it.
I close the door to my office and press the ice pack into her hand. Once she has it against her face, I perch on the edge of my desk and study her. “Tell me.”
“I came in here to request some time off. Not because I wanted the third degree.”
I give a mirthless smile. “You know how we operate, Tink. You can try to brazen your way through, but it won’t work.
Tell me what happened or we go to Hades and you tell him.
Either way, the truth comes out.” When she goes to speak, her expression stubborn, I hold up a hand.
It’s time to try a different tactic. “Your contract still has two months on it. An injury to you is an injury to Hades. You know he can’t allow that. ”
Tink sinks down in her chair and leans her head back. “You’re such a bitch.”
“You’re not the first person to say so today.” I prop my arms on the desk and wait. She’s holding out for pride’s sake at this point; pushing her will result in her digging in her heels. Better to let the silence spin out until she works herself up to speaking.
Tink, being Tink, doesn’t make me wait long. She sighs. “I’m a fool.” I want to jump in and tell her that she’s probably the least foolish person I know, but interrupting at this point will just make her clam up again. Tink closes her eyes. “You know why I have this deal with Hades?”
“I know enough.” Safety in exchange for service. I don’t know what drove her to that level of desperation, but in the end it matters little.
“I don’t know what I thought would happen if I left him.
I guess I didn’t really think about it beyond getting out.
” She opens her eyes, and they look greener than I’ve ever seen them, filled to the brim with guilt.
“He’s got a new girl, but apparently he learned from his mistakes with me because he’s got her brothers too.
Ensuring good behavior. It’s…it’s never going to stop.
If not her, then someone else forever and ever until the end of time. ”
In all the time I’ve known Tink, I’ve never seen her look so despondent. I know better than to offer sympathy, though. She’s like me. She’ll see it as pity and shut down completely. I hold perfectly still. “So you went to get her out.”
“I thought if I talked to her, she’d see that it didn’t have to be that way. She punched me in the fucking face.” She laughs and winces. “I might like her under other circumstances.”
Damn it. This isn’t something I can fix. I sigh. “What can I do?”
“Nothing.” She straightens and takes the ice pack off her face.
Her eye is already swelling and it will be completely shut soon.
Tink pushes to her feet. “I have to handle this myself, one way or another. But I needed to let you know I can’t work tonight for obvious reasons. ” She motions to her face.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll see if Aurora is up for another shift, but even if she’s not, the club will be fine if it’s short a submissive.
” I lean forward and tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear.
“Go pop some meds, take a shower, and get some rest. We’ll survive without you until you’re healed.
” I wait for her to start for the door before I continue. “And, Tink?”
“Yeah?”
“If you change your mind about wanting to take care of this yourself”—I allow a sharp smile to creep over my face—“I’m more than happy to lend a helping hand.”
She goes a little pale but manages a smile of her own. “I appreciate that.”
I spend the rest of the afternoon finishing up small tasks that don’t require too much thinking.
Tonight feels monumental for a number of reasons, not solely because it’s an open declaration of war.
I don’t know what exactly Hades did to piss off Zeus last night, but dominating Hercules in front of all the important players in Carver City is the kind of public message that Hercules is sure his father will respond to.
Hades thinks he has it locked down, and he may even be right, but I can’t shake the feeling of dread the suffuses my entire being.
Something bad is coming and it’s too late to avoid it.
We’re on this path, for better or worse.
An hour before the Underworld opens, I head down to my suite to change and get my head on straight. I can’t afford to doubt, no matter what the night brings. Any reaction on my part will feed into the conclusions people will draw. It’s important they come to the correct ones.