Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Come with me.
Play my date.
At a house party that will last a week.
My brain skips and I shove to my feet. “No. Absolutely not.” Bad enough that I spend so much time in close proximity with him while we work together. Attending a party like that… We’ll be expected to share the same room. The same bed. He’ll have to touch me. He’s dated a few people in the years since he took his title. The soldier Hyakinthos. The model Coronis. Enough that everyone knows he’s touchy-feely with his partners. Enough that if he wasn’t that way with me, it would raise questions.
I can’t do it.
I won’t.
“You’re out of your fucking mind, Apollo. I can’t believe you’d ask me this.” I’m still talking too sharply, my words filled with blades born of panic. “You know what that would mean for me and what everyone already thinks. You’d prove them right, and I’d have to deal with the consequences.” No one in Olympus believes that I have no interest in power. They look at me and see the sins of my parents.
The bitter irony is that if my parents had just been content with their privilege and power, no one would look sideways at Apollo dating me. We were a legacy family, which meant I would be an acceptable marriage option for one of the Thirteen.
Everyone expects me to try to reclaim what we lost. They’ve been watching me like a bug under a magnifying glass for twelve years, and what Apollo’s asking for means putting myself into the public eye in a way that invites attacks.
Even Hermes knew better than to ask that.
I had thought Apollo understood why I avoid anything resembling the spotlight, at least in theory. He’s the one who offered me this job, who pays me far too much for the work and constantly seems concerned about my welfare. For him to ask me to play sacrificial lamb… It hurts. It has no right to hurt this badly.
“No,” I repeat. “I won’t do it.”
“Okay.” Apollo holds up his hands, looking guilty. “I’m sorry. It seemed the smartest route, and I trust you to be able to hold your own. I understand why you won’t.” His voice goes soft in a way that threatens to make me weak. “Cassandra, I’m sorry. I should have considered the implications.”
I can’t let him be soft to me. If he’s soft, then I’ll go soft, and then I’ll end up agreeing to something against my best interests. It takes far too much effort to straighten my spine and offer him coldness when he’s only given me warmth. “Yeah, you should have thought of it. If that’s all?”
His sigh is nearly soundless. “Yes, that’s all.”
I flee from his office. If only it was so easy to flee from the guilt nipping at my heels.
4
Apollo
I messed up.
I was too rattled by Theseus showing up uninvited and issuing the command that I attend Minos’s party. It was a command, too. Minos might not be one of the Thirteen, but he knows he holds power and he’s throwing it around for all he’s worth. It can’t last, but it’s inconvenient in the extreme while it does.
Still, that’s no excuse. I shouldn’t have made such an inappropriate offer to Cassandra. If she was anyone else, she might have felt compelled to say yes even though she didn’t want to…
The thought makes me sick.
I have no illusions about what kind of place Olympus is. Power is the only law that matters, and as a member of the Thirteen, I have it in spades. I’ve seen the corruption that runs rampant, the way that some who hold titles abuse their influence to further their own goals and vices. I can’t pretend I’m any different. I’ve used my influence to pull my family members out of the fire more times than I care to count. Especially my little brother.
If I pressured Cassandra, who’s already suffered at Olympus’s hands…
Fuck.
I drag my hands over my face. It was a good plan, at least from the outside, but I’ll have to pivot to something else. I wasn’t lying when I told her she’s the only one who could accompany me. She’s one of the smartest people I know. She might think I hired her out of pity, but the truth is she’s become an irreplaceable asset. One I trust, though she’d never believe it if I told her.
There’s Hector, of course, but he’s so deliriously happy in his marriage that accompanying me to this kind of event would get tongues wagging. He won’t say yes. His marriage might be able to weather any kind of media storm, but he wouldn’t put his family through that. Not even for Olympus and the greater good.
The rest of my team is good, but they’re not on Hector and Cassandra’s level.