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Yeah.

No shit.

“Is Zeus there?”I asked, not knowing if Jonas could tell.

“No.Or if he is, he’s keeping pretty damned quiet.We have our best telepaths, including fey ones,” he added, nodding at the small cluster of people behind me.“But they haven’t picked anything up.And considering how...antsy...the other gods get whenever he’s around, the odds are that he hasn’t yet shown his face.But that could change at any time.”

“He isn’t here,” Bodil confirmed as I shot her a glance.Her eyes were distant and unfocused, but her voice was sure.“But he is expected.We need to hurry.”

“Canyou?”Jonas asked, looking pointedly at me.

“If you’re asking about what happened before,” I began.

“Of course, I’m bloody asking about before!I need to know that we’re not sacrificing ourselves just to put a new god into power, one who won’t be any better than that fuckhead Zeus!”

It was a fair question.I hated it, but it was.“What happened before,” I said evenly, “won’t be an issue with the Pythian power—”

“How can you be sure?It’s godly energy—came from Apollo himself, if the rumors are true.”

“They’re true.”I kept forgetting how little most mages knew about the court or what powered it.Even Jonas, who had been married in all but name to my predecessor Agnes for decades, still viewed us as a mystery.Which was probably why he was narrowing his eyes mistrustfully at me.

Well, that and the fact that I’d set half his men on fire yesterday.

“The Pythian power never overwhelmed me,” I explained.“Maybe because I couldn’t just take whatever I wanted whenever I wanted it.It gave me what I needed to do my job, but no more.I used to think it was my human stamina that gave out when I shifted too much, and maybe it was at times.Once the Pythian energy cut out, I had only my strength to draw from, and it didn’t last long.

“But other times, I think it was throttling the flow.That it had me on a leash this whole time; I just didn’t realize it until...until recently.”

“And thank God it did!”he said bluntly.“So what the devil is the plan?”

“I told you.I can get to Rhea, but I can’t talk to her with the gods sitting on top of her.I need them pulled off.They have to believe that I’m with you, trying to get into the city, not that I’m already there.”

“And exactly how do you plan to get inside the city without them seeing you?”

“That’s my concern—”

“Not if we’re buying you time with our blood, it damned well isn’t!I need to know—”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” I said, cutting him off because it was true.And because I didn’t have hours to spend trying to convince him.“You either trust me or you don’t.And keep in mind why that scene at HQ happened.Because you were going behind my back, intent on forcing me into something I could have told you wouldn’t work.I had already thought of and dismissed the idea, but you had to have your way.

“How did that work out for you?”

I don’t know where that voice came from, but it was strong, decisive, and Pythia-like.Enough that Zara gave a snort, and Topknot muttered some more.“Damned right.Telling a Pythia what she must and mustn’t do!”the old battleaxe said as if she hadn’t been doing the same thing since I met her.

“And I am Lord Commander!”Jonas raged.

“Yes, you are,” I agreed.“And a fine one.”

That stopped him, as I don’t think he’d expected me to see it that way.But while Jonas and I had clashed more times than I could count, there had always been respect there.At least, there had been on my end.

“You’ve done better than I could have dreamed,” I told him honestly.“Or that anyone could have expected.You all have.But this is my fight now.Help me or not, but either way, Iwillenter the city tonight.And the gods will not see me.”

Jonas stared at me for a long moment, and I could almost see the thousand questions wanting to burst out of him.But he’d been around Pythias his whole life.He knew better than to press.

“The dumber sort of so-called gods might take the bait,” he finally said, going back to our previous topic.“The ones barely clinging to some semblance of mind.But there are others in there, Cassie.Smarter ones; strategic ones.We’re not going to pull them all, no matter what we do.”

“I know,” I said evenly.“I’ll deal with the rest.”

Jonas had some colorful words to say to that, and I honestly couldn’t blame him.But there was no other way.I just had to hope that my plan would work once we got into the thick of it.