Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
I still don’t trust this “honesty,” but I’m not about to cut him off and risk alienating him. He might have a contract that says we essentially live our lives separately once we’re married, but we’ll be in close quarters until then. “Okay.”
“So cautious.” He smirks. “Olympus is faltering. You and your family are to blame for that, but you wouldn’t have been able to destabilize us within a matter of months if we weren’t already teetering on the brink. I know Aphrodite wanted to tuck you away safely in the countryside, but Hera’s right—you’re more useful here, front and center, wedding planning for Olympus’s favorite bachelor.”
“Are you Olympus’s favorite bachelor?”
“Darling, you wound me.” He presses a hand dramatically to his chest, but the move is missing the flamboyant energy he normally possesses. “Apollo and Zeus being paired off has ensured the field is wide open. People adore me because I’m nonthreatening.”
I take another drink, the warmth spreading through my chest and chasing away the chill that’s hounded me since I saw the two lines on that pregnancy test, a chill that only got worse when I took the steps to end the pregnancy. At some point, I’m going to have to deal with the emotional fallout waiting in the wings, but I don’t have the luxury of a breakdown right now.
To distract myself, I study Dionysus. He’s attractive in an eccentric kind of way, though his purple suit looks like he slept in it, his bow tie is crooked, and there’s a crack in the right lens of his glasses. Not to mention his mustache is…drooping. “Are you okay?” I don’t mean to ask. The words just sort of pop out.
“Nope.” He pours more alcohol into his glass and toasts me with it. “Not even a little bit.”
Why do I find that reassuring? The man I met at my father’s party back in August was just as polished as the rest of Olympus’s elite, his mask effective at hiding his true feelings. I’d watched him unravel under the stress of being there…of being even partially attached to my father’s plans. It all came to a head when his guest, Pan, was attacked.
Was attacked. What a neat little use of passive voice, designed to skirt the truth. My brother attacked Pan. He almost killed him, and for what? It wouldn’t have furthered my father’s goal to have members of his household installed as one of the Thirteen. Pan was just a guest. The attack might have been intentional, but the victim wasn’t. It was Icarus’s desperation that led him to make that mistake, and in the wake of it, I watched Dionysus drink more and more. He might say that alcohol doesn’t provide an escape all the time, but during the remainder of the party, he was obviously running from his guilt over Pan being hurt.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
He smirks. “Absolutely not. We might be in this sinking ship together, but I’m not a complete fool. You’ve changed sides once. It wouldn’t take much to change right back. If Circe’s coming for us, she has all our secrets already, so I don’t know what you could learn that would tip the balance, but there’s no reason to tempt fate.”
I drain my glass and nudge it closer until he pours more for me. “I’ve had my fill of secrets. I just want some peace.”
“Peace is one thing we won’t have.” He watches me with bleary blue eyes. “War is coming one way or another. Just gotta hope you picked the winning side.”
War.
I knew it was on the horizon. This has hardly been a bloodless coup, and that’s only going to get worse. I would love to say I won’t shed a single tear should my father finally see consequences for his actions, but I know better. He might be a monster, but he raised me. In my own way, I’m just as monstrous as he is. But my brother? Or…
Gods, I can barely bring myself to think Asterion’s name. Part of me expected to hear from him somehow after leaving that note, but I should have known better. He’s always been a silent hunter. If he decides to come after me, I’ll never see him coming.
“I’m tired,” I say abruptly. “Where am I staying?”
“Second door on the right.” He waves a hand in the direction of the hallway. “Get your rest while you can. Aphrodite has something to prove with this wedding, and they’ll be putting us through our paces.” Dionysus peers down into his glass. “I suppose I’ll be dodging more assassination attempts in the process. It’ll be fun.”
He doesn’t believe that any more than I do, but I don’t challenge the statement. “Then I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Good night, fair Ariadne. I hope you dream sweetly.”