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)
Despite everything, my reluctant admiration for him grows a little. I cross my arms. “If Minos finds out, he’ll punish me and kill her. She’s dead either way.” Or at least she is if I let him have his way. I don’t intend to give him a chance. Fuck, now that I’m thinking about it, it would be smart to take Minos out before we leave the city. Circe will be too busy bringing Olympus to its knees to worry about us. Minos is a different story. He has a vested interest in removing evidence of Ariadne’s disobedience. In this case, that means removing Ariadne—and me—if he finds out the truth. It’s a complication I don’t want to deal with.
“Maybe. Or maybe he can be convinced that the only reason she betrayed him is because she’s afraid of you.”
It’s a bold move. If I was anyone else, it would even work. I’m not interested in bringing Icarus into my confidence. The only allegiance he holds is to Ariadne, but that doesn’t mean he won’t buckle and break under his father’s pressure. He wants to be strong, but he’s not. He never has been.
I cross the room slowly and get right into his space. “That’s a risk, and not one you’re going to take.”
“Oh?” He swallows hard. “What makes you so sure I won’t?”
This is a bit of a gamble on my part but one that needs to pay off. I lean down, and I’m just asshole enough to enjoy the way he flinches back against the door. “Because your father definitely wants your sister dead. No amount of manipulation will make him retract that order. Not when he thinks doing so will make him look weak. Me, on the other hand? You don’t know where I stand. Yet.”
“Don’t I? You’re a fucking monster. A murderer. A brutal beast. You might want my sister, but you’re not a complete fool. You have to know that claiming her will break something in her forever. She wants to be free. That’s all she’s ever wanted. Being with you is a chain closed around her throat. She’ll suffocate.” He shoves me, and it’s surprise more than strength that has me taking two steps back and allowing him to leave my room.
He’s wrong. I think. If Ariadne knew me, trusted me, the way I do her, she never would’ve doubted for a second that I mean her no harm. She wouldn’t have run from me in the first place. She would’ve come to me and asked me to help her get out of the mess it took both of us to get into. She wouldn’t melt in my arms with a submission that feels like giving up.
I don’t like the direction my thoughts have taken. I don’t like the implications of their potential truth. Most of all, I don’t like the fact that it changes nothing.
I leave my room without my change of clothes. I don’t have any specific plan on where I’m going, but I find myself outside Dionysus’s building just as Ariadne walks out the door with Hera and Psyche in tow. The Dimitriou sisters couldn’t look more different, for all that they share the same dark hair and pale skin. Hera is a weapon. Psyche? Well, her weapon is walking two paces behind her and surveying the street as if he expects a threat to pop out at any moment. I step back into a doorway before he looks in my direction.
I have no desire to tango with Eros.
Ariadne is fine. Following her is a risk at this point, and even as I tell myself not to, my body moves without permission. I shadow them for several blocks until they slip into a boutique with a bunch of frilly clothes in the window.
I almost follow them right inside before my common sense takes hold and I turn into the bar and bistro next door. It’s barely open, the place empty this early in the day. It’s not positioned properly to see the entrance of the boutique, but stepping inside feels like waking up from a strange waking nightmare.
What the fuck am I doing? I have shit to take care of. At the very least, I should be going through the motions to ensure Minos doesn’t decide to micromanage me. If he realizes he no longer holds my leash, it will…complicate things.
“Can I help you?”
I look down at the little server, and I have to fight the urge to growl. No one can help me right now. I need to get out of here. I start to turn for the door when a voice stops me in my tracks.
“I know you take your reputation seriously, but maybe we could draw the line at terrorizing the staff?”
I twist to watch Hera walk through the door. I check the space behind her, but she appears to be alone. Not that I trust the appearance. I thought Dionysus was alone, and look how that mess ended up. I take one step back, putting the wall behind me. If Eros is coming in the back door…