Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 92659 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92659 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Easier to focus on that frustration than on the worry about what comes next. I cling to the nurse’s assurance the Charon will be okay. He has to be okay.
I stare at my phone as we walk down the hallway. Who do I trust enough to hand off Ariadne to? Eris is the one who got me into this in the first place, but she’s not Aphrodite any longer, and I don’t know the person who currently holds the Aphrodite title very well. Not enough to trust.
I certainly don’t trust my mother enough.
Really, in the end, there’s only one answer. One person powerful enough to keep Ariadne safe from the rest of the Thirteen. I take a deep breath and I call Callisto. It’s almost as if she’s waiting to hear from me, because she answers on the first ring. “Hello, Eurydice.”
“I need your help.” I quickly detail the situation—including the promises Persephone made. The promises I made. “Can you do it?”
She laughs in a way that is not at all reassuring. “Of course I can. Anything for my little sisters. Though, if this proves anything, it’s that you’re both too soft. That girl is a weapon in the right hands.”
True fear sparks through me. I don’t know if anyone else has noticed the moves Callisto has been making since she married Zeus and became Hera. I’ve noticed. MuseWatch did a single article on my sister renovating the orphanage the comes with her title, but no one paid much attention to it. Or if they did, they think it’s a cute little hobby. They don’t see it as her rebuilding the base that the last Zeus spent most of his reign undermining. With him, Hera became an empty title for his doomed spouses and nothing more.
My sister would never be satisfied with an empty title, for her whole identity to be someone’s wife. She also doesn’t hold much in the way of love for the city itself. The only people she cares about are me, our sisters, and our mother. That’s it.
“I want you to promise me that you won’t hurt her, and you’ll keep our promises to her. I want your word.”
Orpheus and I reach the stairs and start up them. It takes two flights before my sister answers me. “Did either of you give her a choice? Or did you just decide what would be best for her?”
“Callisto.”
She laughs again, the sound no more comforting this time than it was the last. “Fine, fine. I’ll play nice with your little war prize. Bring her to the Cypress Bridge. I’ll be waiting on the other side.”
35
ORPHEUS
I can barely think as I follow Eurydice down the hall toward the kitchen. Hades really means to do it. He means to close the boundary between the upper city and the lower city. I suppose I should be grateful that he’s even give me a choice to stay. But the cost is so damn high.
What happens if Olympus falls?
I don’t realize I’ve spoken aloud until Eurydice pauses and looks over her shoulder at me. “If the upper city falls, then I suspect we’ll have a civil war on our hands. You heard Hades. He won’t raise the barrier until the Thirteen present a united front. He’s not bluffing. Considering their history, even with the threat of war on the horizon, it might be years before his terms are met.” Her hazel eyes are kind and filled with understanding. “I know. That’s so long to be separated from our families. I was just on the other side of the river a few days ago. I’ll have Persephone, but…”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her we should both go back to the upper city. The words die before I even have to decide whether I’m going to speak them or not. Leave Charon behind? Unacceptable. And even if I was willing to do it, Eurydice isn’t.
It turns out I’m not either.
“It’s a long time. I won’t pretend I’m excited about it, but the alternative is unthinkable. I want to be by your side, Eurydice. I want to be here with you when he comes out of the hospital. I want to be with you…both of you.” It’s such a relief to say it. To make the decision.
She searches my face for a beat, the knowledge slowly settling for her. “Yeah, you’re right. Besides, if things get bad enough, I don’t doubt Hades will allow us to bring our families to the lower city and claim sanctuary.”
We start walking again, and her words dog my steps. Sanctuary. I think there used to be some kind of law about that, a long time ago, but the details slip through my fingers like smoke. More important are the implications. “It would have to be really bad for our families to leave the upper city.”