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Chapter Thirty-Nine

The Newlyweds

Hebe:

I dive toward the base of the mountain. Atum’s temple will never feel safe to me again, but surely Dionysus keeps his temple protected. I just need to find it before Zeus finds me .

My tiny bird heart beats faster than I think it’s supposed to. But if there is anyone capable of ending my newfound immortality, it would be the ones who cut short my mortality— Zeus and Prometheus.

Did Prometheus know about the trap at Atum’s temple? Is that why he hurried back? Just in time to be too late to save me as a mortal?

Searing pain tears through my tiny heart, and I flounder for a moment before spotting a temple on the base of the mountain. At least, I hope it’s a temple. It looks like a giant willow tree with a marble wall surrounding it.

I pull back before diving into the temple and circle it instead, searching for a sign that Dionysus resides within.

Music fills my ears that is far too merry for my mood. When I round the tree, I find a host of Nymphs with purple skin. Some play instruments while others dance. Still others are passed out beneath trees next to overturned kylixes .

Yes, this is definitely Dionysus’ temple.

Landing in the center of the lawn, I revert to my once mortal form. My hands clutch the stolen urn filled with Fire.

“Dionysus!” I scream.

“I’m right here, almost-bride.” Dionysus steps out from between the drooping willow branches. His eyes widen when he sees Prometheus’ power flowing through me like a brand.

I hold up the urn. “Where’s Atum?”

Dionysus glances past me. Then he gestures for me to follow him into the willow.

Beds of braided rope droop from the high willow branches, including one that is currently occupied by Atum.

My husband’s former master turns to me, his expression pained but his eyes bright. “Sweet Hebe.” His gaze trails over me, and the weakest of smiles stretches across his face. “You survived. Prometheus did it. He bonded with you. Now there can be peace.” Atum slumps back into his bed, and a cushion falls out.

As Dionysus hurries to retrieve it, I hold up my urn. “ That won’t be what brings peace. Zeus not having his Fire will.”

Dionysus drops the cushion. “You brought it here ?!”

Atum sits up, clutching the edge of his strange bed to steady himself. “You are brilliant, Hebe, goddess of ingenuity . . . Wait, wnhere is your husband?” Atum glances past me.

I drop my gaze, ashamed to be married to a trickster— an uncommonly good one despite my earlier accusations. “He betrayed us.”

“Yes, but w here is Prometheus ?”

Prometheus:

“Where am I?” I peel my eyes open to take in whatever location Zeus’ rift took us to.

“A place of torment.” Zeus tosses me onto a jagged cliff.

I lift my head with what little strength I have while my body is still desperately trying to heal my charred torso. However, I don’t recognize any of the landscape below. It looks to be a desert, with no green to be seen in the sea of sand below. I dare to feel a drop of relief. “This isn’t Tartarus.”

Zeus chuckles. “Hades has his realm of torment for those who no longer live. It seems only fitting for me to have one for those cannot die.”

“It actually doesn’t seem fitting at all. Hades was given his realm by the Creator. But this isn’t a part of the Firmament you were assigned.”

Gesturing to sky that seems so close because of the height of the cliff, Zeus grins while the wind whips around us. “It’s close enough.” He grabs me by my hair and drags me to my feet.

I desperately try to find my footing to relieve the tension on my scalp, but my knees refuse to support my weight.

Zeus tosses me against an upright slab of stone. Before I can react, charged metal wraps around my waist and ribs. Lightning flows through the chains and jolts through my body as the chains tighten around me.

“Now that you understand how little power you have here . . .” Zeus strides in front of me and grins. “Where did you hide my Fire?”

“Hide it?” I sniff. “I destroyed it. There is no trace left.”

The chains constrict so tightly, I’m terrified for a moment I’m going to be snapped in two. But then the chains loosen, and I can feel other pains again— namely, the burning agony of my gut. I have no strength to lift my head any longer, so I can see only the red, bubbling skin of my exposed stomach where my chiton has been mostly burned away.

I fight the urge to throw up. That will only cause more pain, and I don’t think Zeus has any plans to give me sustenance in the near future.

Zeus strides toward me, something I don’t like the glistening in his blue eyes that match the clear sky. “If you stole my Fire and destroyed it already, why under Olympus would you return ? I am not known for my kindness to traitors.”

“That is all the kindness you’re known for actually— it’s offered to those who betray the mortals they were charged to protect.”

The hand striking my face stings, but it’s not another lightning bolt, so it’s practically a mercy.

Zeus steps back, his hair beginning to float around him like a cloud. “Maybe I am feeling merciful today after all, because I’m going to ask you again. Where’s my Fire? ”

I stare back at him, calculating how much power still courses through him and how much pain he can yet inflict. Zeus hitting me is a good sign that he’s running out of energy, but the chains still buzz with too much power. Not that Zeus needs to do much to aggravate the injuries I have already sustained.

And Hebe is probably in the safety of a temple by now. If I told Zeus the truth, he could waste his time chasing her, and I’d have a moment of peace.

But Zeus won’t give up, so Hebe will never have a moment of peace again.

I have sacrificed this much for Hebe’s life that she has always been so quick to discard. And I have sacrificed along with her to protect all the mortal lives she views as priceless and has made precious to me with her love. What I have given this far shall not be in vain— even if protecting the sanctity of my sacrifice destroys what’s left of me.

Incapable of doing anything else, I just stare at my sandals suspended above the ground. “I told you— it’s destroyed. I came back because I still wanted to ally myself with you. I just didn’t want to risk the Creator’s ire by taking such direct action against the mortals. It was simple strategy.”

“Oh, so you fear the Creator more than me, do you?”

“Well, obviously.” Last I checked, it was the Creator who made Zeus swear on the River Styx.

Zeus narrows his eyes. “Yet He sends none to deliver the apple of His eye from my wrath? Nor will He help you. You’ll know the meaning of true fear when I’m done with you.” Zeus steps to the side, revealing a bird so massive it cannot be a Primordial. It would take too much power to take such a form.

The bird stands nearly as tall as Zeus, and its curved beak at least as long as both my hands. With alternating gold and white feathers, it could be considered beautiful if not for the bloodlust in its eyes.

Smirking, Zeus pets the bird’s feathery head. The creature seems to enjoy the affection, and presses harder against Zeus’ hand. “You’ve met my Nubian Lion— may it rest in peace. The Caucasian Eagle will avenge it, show you who you ought to fear, and convince you to tell me the location of the Fire all in one fell swoop.”

“If I slew your lion, why would I fear a bird?”

“Because this magnificent beast is a creature of habit.” Zeus pets its head one last time before stepping back. “She’ll get her fill of you for the morning and return with the sunrise. That is, until you bargain something suitable for your release.”

The bird prowls toward me, hunger emanating from each step. But I force my gaze on Zeus. “I will bar—”

Thunder claps, cutting me off.

“I will release you only for the true whereabouts of my Fire. And if you try to deceive me, the River Styx will make it known you have not honored your bargain.”

The eagle lurches to a halt in front of me, blocking my view of Zeus. Its crazed eyes down to my raw stomach.

For a moment, I try to take a form that will allow me to escape these chains. But all the power I have is still focused on healing my grievous injury.

My grievous injury that the eagle is still eyeing.

“No,” I hiss at it.

“I’ll see how you feel about negotiating tomorrow,” Zeus calls. Then he’s cut off, like he just stepped through a rift.

I turn back to the eagle. “Well, you’re better company than him any—”

The eagle squawks. Then it lunges toward me, its beak tearing into my injury.

My screams fill the air as suffering beyond anything I could have ever imagined consumes me.