Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 95458 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95458 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Of course, I’m not the one who brought down the barrier around Olympus. Hecate is. By my estimates, my team was a bare hour behind her, arriving just in time to see the building explode. She ensured Olympus will have no path back to its former isolation, that nothing will ever be the same again. And still she insists our interests aren’t aligned.
“Keep me updated on the progress of our team in the lower city. Stealth is the top priority, even if they see one of our targets. We need that barrier down.” I take a breath and roll my shoulders. “In the meantime, gather up the members of the Thirteen left in the upper city. The legacy families, too. Every one you can get your hands on.”
Antigone doesn’t immediately move. “While we do that, you’ll finally rest.”
I don’t tell her for the thousandth time that I don’t need as much sleep as a normal person. My insomnia has been well documented by my people through the years. I’ve been up for well over twenty-four hours at this point. I need to sleep, even if it’s only for a few hours.
There’s one last task to handle first, though. “I need to speak with Demeter before I do.” Eros’s death will have rattled her, and if she’s going to break, I need to know sooner rather than later. She’s a formidable woman, and having her as an ally weighed public opinion in my favor. If she’s going to become an enemy, there are several steps I need to take before I can remove her as a threat. Permanently.
“We’ll set her up in one of the classrooms. Nerissa will come get you when she’s ready.”
“Thank you.” I can feel her gaze on me, but I don’t look at Antigone. Not this time. There was a point in our relationship where we might have been friends, might have even been more, but the events leading to my exile from Olympus left me too hollow. I’m not monster enough to string along one of the few people in this world firmly in my corner for the sake of caring for me, not because of what I might give them. Antigone deserves a partner who can love her sharp edges and the softness hidden beneath. It was never going to be me. Up until setting eyes on Hecate, I wasn’t sure I was capable of loving anyone anymore.
After a prolonged pause, Antigone turns and walks out of the room. I exhale slowly. I should have said something, found different words. Directing the conversation to the plan instead of my personal conflict regarding Hecate was cowardly, but it was the only way. I don’t have a good argument to keep her. Antigone’s logic is sound, and if I were in her position, I would advocate for the same thing; remove the threat and simplify everyone’s life.
But this is Hecate. I won’t let anyone kill her. Even me.
I sink onto the couch next to her. She looks so peaceful while she’s sleeping, even if it’s a forced sleep courtesy of the drugs I injected her with. The only side effect she’ll suffer is a headache and some lingering lethargy when she wakes up, but I can’t keep drugging her without long-term effects. A few more times, yes, but after that, it will harm her. No matter what else is true, I don’t want that.
“You little fool.” I can’t stop myself from brushing my fingertips over her forehead. “If you’d stop being so stubborn, we’d be unstoppable.”
The door opens, Nerissa poking her head in. “Demeter is ready for you.”
“Thank you.” I rise and look around the room. The vents are too small for a human to fit into. There are no windows to escape from. A single door is the only exit. Even if she were to wake up before I estimate the drugs wearing off, she won’t have the strength or time to try to bash through one of the walls. Someone would hear and come to investigate. It will have to be enough. “Station someone at the door. No one comes in except me.”
Nerissa frowns but nods. “I’ll see to it personally.”
“You have other more important things to do.” I smile as I say it. “But I appreciate the offer. Station someone else, Nerissa.”
She waits for me to close the door behind me to speak. “She is important to you. Antigone might be looking at this with a protective lens, and I can’t blame her for that, but it’s clear your feelings for that woman haven’t gone away.”
I raise my brows. “Do you have a problem with that?” I can recognize Hecate is undermining my authority within my people, but the only logical solution to negate that is to kill her, and that’s the one thing I refuse to do. The alternative is to make an example of one of my people once they cross the line questioning me, which brings me no joy to contemplate. So many choices of leadership come down to bad ones.