Page 56

She looked like a lawyer more than anything, and that made me itchy. Anything with the wordlawin it didn't suit me well.

"As convenient as that might be for all of you," Hera replied, lifting her head, showing some of that godliness, "I'm still processing the last war."

When her husband had died. Apparently, he was a cheating scumbag and she hated him, but it still must have hurt to lose him. Kinda awkward that she was now staying with the people who murdered him, but life was complicated and who was I to judge?

I checked on Harvey, standing silently beside me, his turbulent eyes fixed on Hera and a new hollowness in his expression.

"I know who you boys are," Hera said, her attention drifting from the devil to Harvey and I. "But I don't know why you're here."

"Aphrodite kidnapped our mate and our brothers," Harvey said, an aching emptiness in his voice. He cleared his throat and added, "We need your help getting them back."

Hera turned away, staring out the window again. "No."

I lunged forward a step before I even realised I'd moved into the austere stone room."Excuseme?"

"I said no." She half turned to give me a thin-lipped glance, her curved eyes narrowed. "I fought in one war; that's enough for this century."

I paused at the reminder of how old, how immortal, this woman was. Not the sort of woman you ordered around without being smited. But Em, Haley, and Wane were missing.Stolen.And a dangerous mix of panic and rage built in my chest, my tattoos beginning to swirl in constricting circles around my arms and throat.

"If you don't help us—"

Hera laughed. "What? You'll loose those snakes on me? I can see them, you know? There's little you can do that will surprise me."

I sucked on a tooth so I didn't shout and scream at a goddess—at the queen of gods, for fuck's sake.

"Please," Harvey breathed, his voice so raw that I grabbed his arm and squeezed, an arrow shooting through my chest at the sight of desperate tears lining his eyes. "Whatever you want, whatever price you ask, we'll pay it. Justplease.Haley didn't do anything wrong. Aphrodite made up all these bullshit accusations because she's obviously working with Cronus—"

Hera stiffened and shot Lucifer a look. The devil nodded.

"That escalated faster than I expected," Hera muttered, her shoulders tightening in her blouse. "No doubt my heinous father is the reason Aphrodite was able to usurp me so soon after Zeus's death."

There was pain in her voice, sharp and vast, just beneath her anger. I knew how that felt, and it was strange to identify with a goddess. Maybe grief made us all equals—god, demon, human, animal. Loss fucking sucked, no matter your species.

"Help us," Harvey rasped, flicking a tear off his sharp cheek before it could fall. "We'll give you whatever you want, but we need a way into Olympus."

Because Renna's stone had confirmed everything we feared—Aphrodite had taken our family to the home of the gods, a place half in the mythical realm, half in Heaven. I didn't know if it would weaken me like Heaven did, but I would risk anything to get my rose back. But Olympus was armed to the teeth and shielded even worse than Lucifer expected; Renna went to scope it out and returned paler than before, shaking her head.

"Please,"Harvey begged when the goddess was silent. "My mate is sentenced to death, and she didnothingwrong. Cronus tricked her, he tricked all of us. She just—shejustlost her mate. Cronus killed him. My brother Wane was locked up and—and tortured by Cronus for a hundred years, and now he's—he's kidnapped again, and they don't deserveanyof this. Please."

I squeezed his arm, my nostrils flaring as I fought back emotions. Fuck. If Hera wouldn't help us … I didn't know what we'd do. Olympus was locked tight with shields powered bygods.Nothing we had would go up against that. Lucifer and Lili were the king and queen of Hell, but they weredemons.Not gods.

They'd die.

Haley, Wane, Em—they'ddie.And we'd be stuck here, powerless.

"Fine," Hera muttered, straightening her crown—sorry,circlet—on her head.1"But you two are coming with me and doing the talking. I'll get you in the front door, but I'm not involving myself in another war."

Air punched out of my lungs like I'd been kicked in the stomach. "Thank you," I said profusely. "We owe you one, seriously."

I knew I was telling a god I owed her a favour, but fuck it. If this helped us get to Haley, it was worth the cost.

Hera narrowed her eyes, contemplating me. "You're a strange one, Malakai. A common criminal with a heart of honour."

Was that a compliment or an insult? I frowned.

"There will be war either way," Lucifer remarked, and I turned to find his gaze fixed on Hera. "Whether you claim the throne or don't. It's coming. Cronus is determined to restore the golden age, and you can sense it as much as I can. That's why you're really here, isn't it?" He took a step into the room, shadows trickling from his shoulders and down his back despite his calm, sympathetic voice. "You're grieving, and Aphrodite stole the throne from under you, but—you were scarred by Cronus before, the first time he rose to power."

Shit. All the blood drained from Hera's face. The light around her dimmed. I knew that panic, had seen thousands of times in Harvey and Wane.