Page 24

24

Poseidon

Icarus is breaking my heart. I want to shake him until some sense rattles into that beautiful head of his. I want to walk away and never look back because that’s the only way to prevent myself from falling harder for him. I want…I want everything to be okay.

He’ll see anything but a kiss as a rejection, no matter how I intend it. There’s no right answer, and that makes me want to crawl into a quiet, dark space and hold perfectly still until the world makes sense again. I press a light kiss to his lips and retreat before he can deepen it. “We need to sleep.”

“But…” His voice trails off and he ducks his head. “Yeah. Sure. Okay.”

“Icarus.” I wait until he looks at me. It takes a while. Only then do I continue. “I’m not angry at you. I’m not disappointed. You’re doing what you think is best, and I’m not even sure you’re wrong. Just…give me a little bit, okay?”

He swallows visibly. “Sure. Of course. Anything you need.”

It’s horribly awkward as we lie down next to each other. He can’t quite bring himself to move away from me, but he’s not doing that careless sprawl he was earlier. I finally haul him over my chest, keeping my eyes closed so I don’t see rejection on his face.

Except he doesn’t reject me. He’s only tense for a single breath before he goes completely lax. It doesn’t take long before his breathing evens out in true sleep. I still wait a little longer before I relax. Understanding his motivations and actions doesn’t mean I fully trust him. I’m not a complete fool, no matter what the other Thirteen seem to think.

My heartbeat finally calms and my thoughts lose the numbness that always signals complete overwhelm. Too many surprises, too fast. I was already worried about the situation with Hera spinning out of control, and now Zeus is in the mix as well with a fucking coup . The ridiculous thing is that I don’t trust either of them to hold the same priorities I do. If push comes to shove, both Zeus and Hera will choose their family over Olympus as a whole. I’d bet my life on it.

The question remains which of them is the better bet to actually protect the city.

I still don’t have an answer when sleep finally takes me. Or when I wake up to early-morning light streaming through the window and Icarus sprawled next to me, one arm outstretched as if reaching for me.

I tense, but he doesn’t immediately open his eyes and his breathing remains even. It feels a little strange to watch him while he sleeps. He’s removed all the bandages on his chest but one, and the cuts have scabbed over, even with the…energetic physical activities we indulged in last night. Still, I should have considered that he was still injured when we started talking about safe words.

“You’re staring.” Icarus speaks without opening his eyes.

I don’t jolt, but it’s a near thing. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

I know what he’s going to say even before he opens his eyes. “I’m sorry about last night.”

“Yeah, me too.” It’s the truth. He didn’t act outside the range of expectations. There’s no point in being mad at a dog who bites when they’ve been kicked their entire life. Icarus has no reason to trust me, so the fact that he’s telling me what little he is should be counted as nothing less than a miracle.

My phone vibrates on the nightstand. I don’t exactly lunge for it, but I move fast enough that it’s probably clear I want to get out of this conversation. Any relief I might feel is gone the moment I read the text.

Zeus: Be here in an hour. Hades has agreed to meet.

He doesn’t send an address, just a screenshot of a map with a spot circled near the river just south of Juniper Bridge. Hades might be attending this treasonous meeting, but he’s not taking any chances by coming farther into the upper city than strictly necessary. The fact that he’s showing up at all defies belief—or maybe it just highlights the fact that he’s as worried that his wall will fall as the rest of us.

“We have to go.” Even this early, it will take the better part of the hour to get across the upper city to that spot. I haul myself out of bed and make quick work of dressing and brushing my teeth and dragging my fingers through my hair. My beard gets a little more attention, with some of the clove oil that Orion gifted me for my birthday. It’s only when I step back into the bedroom that I realize Icarus hasn’t moved. I frown. “What’s wrong?”

“Are you sure you want me there?”

I blink. “Yes. If I didn’t, I would have told you to stay here.”

Icarus huffs out a rough laugh. “Gods, you really would, wouldn’t you? You don’t do anything you don’t want to do.”

“ That isn’t true. I do lots of things I don’t want to do.” Top of that list are parties with the Thirteen and all the legacy families. I don’t like parties on principle; they’re too loud, too crowded, and too filled with agonizing small talk. “Get dressed. We need to leave in two minutes.”

For once, he doesn’t argue. He just slumps into the bathroom and, two minutes and thirty seconds later, reappears in the same clothes he was wearing yesterday. Because he has no changes of clothing yet. Orion has probably picked up some clothes for him by now, but those would be back at the house.

I barely pause to text Orion that I’ll be gone for a few hours and then we’re in the SUV and heading south. Despite my concerns for the potential traffic, the upper city is a ghost town, even in the city center that’s usually bumper to bumper with morning commuters. The colors seem almost muted, but that might be the overcast day.

I half expect Icarus to ramble on the way he seems to when bored, but he stays perfectly silent during the drive, his attention tracking on the buildings and streets of our route.

It gives my mind time to wander, though there was only ever going to be one destination for my thoughts. Circe. I might have forgiven Icarus last night, but I still don’t know who he called or what blackmail might be strong enough to make Circe’s generals abandon her on the brink of invasion. Getting that information should be the highest priority—and it is . But…I worry about him. About what comes next, about what he’s risking for a city that hates him. I think he really doesn’t believe he’s going to survive the coming conflict.

Fuck that. I’m determined that he will. The world would be a dimmer place without Icarus in it. I refuse to allow it to happen.

I’m still deliberating on our current disaster when we arrive at our destination. The River Styx’s current is unforgiving, so people don’t tend to swim in it, even during the summer months. Halfway through October, the small, rocky beach is empty except for Zeus himself, standing as if the cold, early-morning air doesn’t touch him.

He only looks over when Icarus and I are a few feet away. His icy-blue gaze flicks past me to Icarus. I can’t begin to guess what Zeus is thinking. He’s about ten years younger than me and even though I’ve seen him at Dodona Tower parties since he was a teenager, I’ve never been able to get a good read on him. He doesn’t have tells like normal people do.

I glance at the river, the thick fog amplifying the shimmering barrier between upper and lower city until I can’t really see the lower city. If I were a fanciful person, I could almost imagine that we’re completely cut off from the world here. That nothing can touch us. A lie, no matter which way you look at it.

“He’ll be here,” Zeus says, answering my unspoken question.

Next to me, Icarus shivers. I mentally curse myself for not thinking to make him get a coat, and I shrug out of mine. He makes a sound of protest as I drape my jacket around his narrow shoulders, but I ignore it.

When I turn back around, it’s to find the barrier’s shimmering flicker as a small boat coasts through it. I’m familiar with the experience—before the greater barrier came down, it was the job of every Poseidon and their family to ferry resources into the city. I’ve done it myself countless times and yet I’m still not sure how the technology identifies me with a nonintrusive scan. It appears the secondary barrier is identical, except it’s keyed to Hades’s bloodline instead of Poseidon’s.

He’s not alone, but I didn’t expect him to be. Charon sits at the near-silent motor, a white man nearly as large as I am with dark hair and a personality that discourages people from fucking with him. He guides the boat onto the shore and Hades steps out smoothly. It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve seen him, but he looks much the same as ever, a white man nearing forty. There’re the beginnings of gray sprinkled through his dark beard and new lines at the corners of his dark eyes, but ever since he married Persephone, something unwound in him. I’m glad for whatever happiness those two have experienced.

They’re both people Olympus failed—more victims of the previous Zeus’s monstrosity. He murdered Hades’s parents in a house fire. And he would have married Persephone against her will—and likely killed her as well, eventually.

All while the rest of us did nothing.

Hades takes in Icarus huddling in my coat, nods at me, and focuses on Zeus. “Well? I’m here.”

The last Zeus would have drawn this out, would have lorded over his hated enemy. This one just nods. “We all want the same thing, and we’re all dealing with the sins of the past that we inherited. The Thirteen was set up for a specific reason, but the founders couldn’t have known we’d end up here. Thirteen is too many prideful personalities to make an effective war council, and that’s even if we could get the majority to vote to go to war, which has proved to be impossible.”

Hades slips his hands into the pockets of his long coat, expression carefully blank. “Did you call me here to make proclamations about things I already know, or do you have something actually useful to say?”

“Your wall won’t stand against Circe indefinitely. If the upper city falls, the rest of Olympus won’t be far behind.” Zeus holds his gaze as he goes in for the kill. “When Circe is done picking her teeth free of the rest of the Thirteen, she’ll turn on you…and your children. She won’t risk another legacy title rising to defy her.”

Hades doesn’t flinch. This obviously isn’t news to him. He meets Zeus’s eyes steadily. “I’m aware.”

“We don’t need the rest of the Thirteen. We’re the three legacy positions, and there’s power in that. We don’t need to bother with the rest of them—Athena excepting—to remove the threat Circe represents.”

I’ve heard the spiel, but it still makes me look around to ensure no one is listening. What Zeus proposes is as much treason as what Hermes is up to.

From the way Hades lifts his brows, he agrees with me. “Your father must be dancing in his grave to see how well you follow in his footsteps.”

“You’re saying that as an insult, but I couldn’t give a fuck what that man wants.” Zeus doesn’t flinch, doesn’t raise his voice. “I want what I’ve always wanted: what’s best for Olympus. We can argue semantics if you’d like, but it’s a waste of time. The others can’t see it through their gilded walls, but you can—both of you can. Circe has the capability to destroy us, and she’ll do it if we don’t get to her first.”

As unconvinced as I remain, I can’t help saying, “He’s made a deal with Athena. If he doesn’t hand back power after the attack…”

“She’ll kill you?” Hades gives a sardonic smile. “That’s a polite little fiction to get us to go along with your plans.”

“If you think Athena would permanently consent to losing her status and her power, then you don’t know her.” Zeus crosses his arms over his chest. “I understand your stated condition, and I’m asking you to make an exception for tonight so we can remove the threat of Circe once and for all.”

Hades turns and looks out into the fog, his expression contemplative. None of us speak as he thinks through this tangled mess. I already know he’s come to the same conclusion I have when he turns back and says, “I suppose you have an actual plan.”

“I do. Poseidon can get us to the ships, and Athena’s assassins can take out the leaders, but we need your people to help with the rest. Once the crews realize the ships are sinking, they’ll panic and try to swim for the city. I don’t want a single one of them to make it.”

Icarus is so tense next to me, he’s practically vibrating. I can feel him looking at me, imploring me to say something. To spare what lives I can. I clear my throat. “Not the crew.”

Both Zeus and Hades turn to me, nearly identical blank expressions on their faces. “What?” Zeus says.

“Not the crew,” I repeat. “We kill Circe and the generals if we have to, but not the rest of the crew. My people can ferry them to the nearest port outside Olympus.” Zeus opens his mouth as if he’s about to argue, but I’m already pressing forward. “In addition to that, there’s a chance that the information Icarus holds is enough to ensure some—if not all—of Circe’s generals will abandon her. We’re going to try that first before we murder our way through five ships’ worth of leaders.”

Hades raises his brows. “That must be particularly interesting information.”

Yeah, it must be, but I haven’t the slightest clue what it entails. It’s something I should have asked Icarus before coming here, but I was too unwilling to break the silence. I turn to Zeus. “Those are my terms. I agree that this is the best way to deal with Circe. The rest of the Thirteen won’t move quickly enough to stop her from terrorizing the people who remain in the city or attempting to starve us out. If we can remove the threat in one fell swoop, then that’s the most logical step to take, regardless of it requiring a coup. But the fact remains that Circe is the driving force behind this invasion. There’s no reason not to explore all our options to ensure as many of our people come home as possible.”

“Cut the head off of the snake and all that,” Hades murmurs.

For a moment, it seems like Zeus might argue, but he gives a short nod. “We can’t afford to wait long.”

Hades considers us. Finally, he says, “I’ll lend my people, but there are several conditions. The barrier between the upper and lower city stays up, and I’ll only ask for volunteers. I won’t order my people to cross the river and help an upper city that thinks we’re shit on the bottom of its shoe.”

“We’re one city, Hades.”

“Maybe once upon a time. No longer.”

“We could be again.”

Hades shakes his head. “No, we can’t.” He extends his hand. “But I’m willing to commit to your coup for the space of a single attack. After that, if you don’t step down, Athena won’t be the only one you have to worry about.”

Zeus smiles tightly and shakes his hand. “Noted.”

They both turn to me. I don’t like this. It feels wrong to break the rules, no matter how archaic some of our laws are. I’m honestly surprised there’s not some cleverly hidden bylaw for a situation such as this. The fact that there isn’t seems to suggest that the founders of the city were just as worried as their descendants are about the legacy titles abusing their power.

They should be worried.

“One night, one battle.” I reluctantly shake first Zeus’s hand and then Hades’s, sealing our fates.

“We need to act fast.” Hades turns away. “Three days, no more. Figure out the details by then.”

If Zeus is remotely alarmed at the idea of putting this plan together and into action within seventy-two hours, he doesn’t show it. We have to gather the people, arrange the groups, decide on the best time to approach… The sheer magnitude threatens to overwhelm me.

Zeus speaks, bringing my circling thoughts to a shocked standstill. “Three days is too long. We move tonight.”

Tonight? Tonight? I’m already shaking my head. “What you’re asking is impossible. There’s no way we can manage it by tonight. You’re going to get people killed.”

“It has to be tonight.” He doesn’t say it like he’s lording the decision over me, more like he’s resigned to a truth the rest of us haven’t discovered yet. “The Thirteen don’t trust me, and half a dozen of them have spies watching me closely. No matter how close we play this to the chest, word will get out and Artemis and the others might move to stop us. We have to finish this tonight.”

Hades hesitates but finally nods. “As loathe as I am to admit it, he’s right.”

I want to keep arguing, but Zeus has brought Hades around to this impossible plan. If he’s right and this is our chance, then I’m honor bound to uphold my third of it. I clench my fists at my side in a rhythm that does nothing to soothe me. “So be it.”

We stand in silence as Charon pushes the boat back into the water and Hades steps gracefully aboard. Within seconds, they’re gone, disappearing into the mist. The only indication of their passing is a slight ripple in the lights of the barrier.

“We have a lot of work to do and not much time to accomplish it.” Zeus speaks without looking at me. “I’ll convey our plans to Athena. You have until we launch to confirm those ships are leaving—or their lives are forfeit.”

So cold as he orders the deaths of others. I clear my throat. “You agreed not to kill the crew.”

“If they surrender, you can play the hero and ferry them to safety.” He shrugs. “If they don’t? Then the order stands.” He finally turns and starts for the parked cars, but he pauses when he comes even with Icarus. “I’ll kill you myself before I allow you to betray us.” He keeps moving, taking the steps up to the parking lot easily. Within a few seconds, his car starts and he’s gone, leaving us alone.

“You know, I never understood why people found this Zeus scary.” Icarus shivers. “I get it now.”

“Come on.” I don’t exactly intend to put my arm around his shoulders and tuck him against my side. It just sort of happens, and then it feels so good that I don’t want to put any distance between us.

We walk to the SUV and I hold the door open for him. It’s only when I’m in the driver’s seat that I’m not sure what to do. I need to get my people ready, but ultimately that’s a small ask. We are ready. Every one of my people is a sailor to some degree. We have anti-scanning gear, though we don’t make a habit of using it since I became Poseidon, and enough small craft that we should be able to get Athena’s and Hades’s people to the ships without being caught. We have the easy part of the plan…as long as it goes well.

If it doesn’t, I’ll be sending my people to their deaths.