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)
He gives me a bloody smile. “Too late.”
“He claimed the title by right of might,” Cassandra whispers. “With me as witness.”
“Fuck.” Ares closes her eyes for a long moment. “I don’t suppose we can kill him and pretend we found them both like this?”
I’m not one to advocate murder, but I don’t know how to explain Hephaestus getting replaced in a way that will continue to keep the assassination clause under wraps. If the rest of the city finds out how relatively easy it is to take on the title of one of the Thirteen…
“Ares.” One of her people previously guarding the door hurries up, their pale features tight. “The press are here.”
“That motherfucker.”
She turns toward the door, but I throw my arm out to stop her. “We have to clean this up. Now. It’s too late to go back, but at least we can attempt to do damage control.” I don’t know how to manage it, but this will be our only chance to get ahead of things.
She presses her fingers to her temples. “Right. I’ll face the press and send that little cockroach outside scurrying. Patroclus will help you with all this.” She casts a furious look at Theseus. “Enjoy your time as Hephaestus. It won’t last long.”
He smirks. “This title suits me better than Ares anyways.”
“Keep telling yourself that. At least I won my title honestly.”
Theseus shrugs. “I didn’t make the Olympian laws. Take it up with the founders.”
“You son of a—”
“Ares,” I cut in. “We don’t have time for this.”
She spins on her heel and stalks toward the door without another word. I take Cassandra’s elbow, steering her deeper into the garage. “I’m sorry.”
“You keep saying that.” Her voice is wrong: strained and hollow. “We witnessed a murder, Pan almost died, and you were beaten badly enough that I thought he might kill you, too. Is this what your life is like, Apollo? You hardly seemed fazed.”
I want nothing more than to whisk her away from this place, but Theseus has made sure that’s impossible. By Cassandra being his witness, he’s effectively chained her to Olympus until this is resolved. “Sometimes being one of the Thirteen means bumping up against violence and doing things I’m not proud of. I knew that when I accepted the title. I’m sorry you were drawn into this.”
“Swimming in waters deep enough to drown me,” Cassandra murmurs. She presses her fingertips to my jaw. “We really are different people.”
I hate the reminder. I hate that she’s shaking and there’s nothing I can do to go back in time and spare her from this. “I brought you here. I know apologizing doesn’t help, but I can’t seem to stop doing it.”
“I brought myself here.” She shakes her head, her gaze clearing a little. “Stop trying to take responsibility for me, Apollo. I might be drowning a bit right now, but I jumped in knowing that was a possibility.”
“I won’t let you drown, love.” I tug her closer and she comes willingly, slipping into my arms. It feels like I breathe a little easier as soon as I have my arms around her, even with my ribs screaming at me. “You shoulder too much. You never ask for help. I want to help you carry your burdens, Cassandra. Not because I feel an obligation but because it means I’m standing at your side and there’s nowhere else in this world I’d rather be.”
She buries her face against my chest and gives a broken laugh. “Only you could be romantic standing a few yards from a murder scene.”
She’s right. It’s the wrong time, but it’s always been the wrong time with us. Even if I’d never hired her, never brought her here, never known how good it could be between us…I move through a world she wants nothing to do with. I can’t leave and she can’t stay. Not if she doesn’t want to drown. “If I don’t say things now, I’ll likely never get another chance.”
Cassandra tightens her grip around my waist. When she speaks, her voice is muffled against my shirt. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
“I know.”
She lifts her head. “I love you.” A broken laugh escapes. “Gods, I’m so pathetic. Now I have to apologize, too. I—”
I cover her lips with my fingers. “No. Don’t take it back.” I lean down and press my forehead to hers. “I love you, too. I have for a very long time.”
“We’re a mess.”
“The messiest.”
“I can’t stay.”
My chest goes hollow. “I know.”
She takes a shuddering breath. “I… We can’t do this right now. I’m stuck here until the tribunal of the Thirteen.” She tenses. “Oh gods, I forgot about Atalanta.”
“What about Atalanta?”
She looks up at me. “Minos has her tied up in the basement. He wanted her out of the way so he could…” She shudders. “Do what he did.”