Chapter 42

42

SELENE

O ur peaceful cocoon was shattered by pounding on the door. Ares groaned, his arms still wrapped around me, blinking groggily. The hammering persisted. Eventually, Ares forced himself from the bed, stepped into his sleep trousers, and vanished into the main room to answer the door.

I sat up, pulling the sheets around me. I didn’t know how long we’d been here. Perhaps it was only Dion checking in on us, to make sure we’d fully healed. An optimistic thought. One that was soon dashed when Zeus’s brutish voice drifted toward me.

“Time to get out of bed. We’re having a meeting about the wolves, and you’re both required to attend.”

The door slammed. I jumped, wincing. It didn’t sound like Zeus was particularly pleased with Ares right now.

Ares returned, hovering in the doorway with a haunted expression on his face. “Zeus has summoned us.”

“I heard. Are you all right?”

He frowned. “He normally isn’t so short with me.”

“I’m sorry. He’s a bastard, Ares.”

“I know.” His jaw tightened. “And I’ve been thinking about what you said, how standing back and letting something happen is just as bad as doing it myself. You’re right, of course. You are so, so right, and I despise most things he does. I just don’t know how to turn my back on him, Selene. I wouldn’t be here in this room with you if it weren’t for Zeus.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re forever indebted to him.”

“I know. There’s something else, too. Something I haven’t said. But it’s a long story, and I don’t think he has the patience to wait on us today.” He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “And first, we really need to get off this damn island.”

T hings were tense in the megaron, though I’d expected nothing less. The servants had cleared away the food and drink, and all that remained was nine angry—and frightened, even if they’d never admit it—Olympian monarchs. When Ares and I walked into the room, a kaleidoscope of reactions greeted us.

To my relief, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Dion looked thrilled. Even Hephaestus looked relieved. Apollo seemed unaffected, but gave us a welcoming nod. Athena had a similar reaction, but she rarely showed much emotion, regardless.

But Artemis, Hermes, and Zeus looked positively incensed.

“Sit,” Zeus ordered, motioning at the two empty seats on his side of the table.

Without a word, I followed Ares to the chairs and took a seat. I didn’t particularly want to join his side of the table, but now was not the time to make a scene. Of course, I’d armed myself again for the meeting. I’d put a stake in one scabbard and a steel blade in the other. One could never be too careful in a place like this. Zeus noticed, but he didn’t comment.

“One of you needs to fix this,” he said when everyone had sat down. “Give me a successful plan that can get us past those fucking wolves and off this island, and I’ll have one hundred mortals from my marketplace shipped to your kingdom. And if this plan is good enough that none of us gets killed in the process, I’ll throw in five of my breeders.”

I sat up a little straighter. Everyone else did as well. This was an unexpected offer, and I couldn’t help but search my mind for an idea. I needed to win this. If I did, I could save one hundred mortals from his farms.

It was a tempting offer.

“All right, here’s one,” Hermes said, kicking his feet up onto the table. “We wait it out. Eventually, the wolves will get bored and leave, or they’ll try to rush the palace. Bam, they’re dead. It’s not like we don’t have enough food to wait it out.”

Zeus glowered at him. “Wrong. We don’t have enough food. The sacrifices have gone missing.”

All at once, I’d never been more grateful for my training. I kept my face a mask of calm and painted on false hints of curiosity. Inside, I was cheering. Orpheus had actually gone and fucking done it. He’d freed the sacrifices. They were as safe as they could be until I figured out a way to get them off the island.

Artemis shifted in her chair. “How are they missing ?”

“Looks like someone went into the tunnels and released them,” Zeus said. “If I were to guess, it’s whoever’s in league with the wolves.”

A few mumbled conversations broke out around the table. In the corner of my eye, I caught Ares looking at me. I met his gaze. There was a clear question in his expression. Did you do this? I shook my head in answer, ignoring the twinge of guilt. After what we’d shared, I hated lying to him, but I worried he’d feel compelled to tell Zeus.

I leaned forward, curious to witness the reaction to my suggestion. “What about leaving through those tunnels? Do they go anywhere?”

Demeter sighed and waved her hand dismissively. “Those lead to Tartarus, little bird. And we don’t want to go there.”

The world seemed to open up beneath me, like the gaping jaws of a beast. My breath fled from my lungs as I tried to make sense of her words. She couldn’t have just said what I’d thought she’d said. It couldn’t be real.

Maybe I was asleep.

I blinked my eyes, but nothing changed. I didn’t emerge from a deep slumber, awakening in the arms of my handsome enemy. I was still here in this godforsaken place, surrounded by the people who had trapped my entire family in another realm.

In Tartarus.

Ten alarmed faces looked back at me. Demeter covered her mouth with her hand, wincing and looking away.

“Did you say Tartarus?” I whispered.

Artemis hissed across the table. “What the fuck, Demeter? You’re an idiot.”

I swivelled my head toward Artemis. I could have ripped her pretty eyes right out of her pretty little head. “Don’t talk to her like that.”

Zeus laughed. He tipped back his head, and he laughed and laughed and laughed. The sound echoed through the room, building in volume until it was so loud that it was all I could hear. My hands gripped the ends of my sleeves, and even Ares’s warm hand against my back did little to calm the rage that burned in my veins.

Eventually, Zeus fell silent. His smile died as he looked me dead in the eye. “Yes, here lies the road to Tartarus. This is one of the only places in the world where magic is strong enough to forge the link between the realms.”

“Tell me how to get inside. Who has the key?” I asked in a deadly calm.

“You’re not getting in there, Selene,” Zeus replied. “Not unless you wish to spend eternity trapped there with your brethren.”

Intense hatred had me launching to my feet. My chair toppled behind me. “Who has the fucking key?”

“Selene,” Ares murmured, gently palming my elbow.

“Who do you think?” Zeus asked with a sneer. “I do.”

I shoved away from Ares and stalked to the head of the table. My hand flinched toward the wooden dagger on my thigh, but Zeus grabbed my wrist before I could grasp it. His fingers tightened painfully around my arm, squeezing so tight I gasped.

“Get your hands off her, Zeus,” Ares said, standing. His eyes were full of fury.

Zeus yanked me close enough that I could smell fresh mortal blood on his breath. “If you have any hope of keeping your peace treaty with me once we get off this island, you’ll forget about Tartarus. And when I release you, you will hand over your stake.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Fuck the treaty.”

Someone gasped, but I didn’t dare take my eyes off Zeus’s face to see who it was. It hardly mattered. This wasn’t how I’d wanted to turn against him, but I couldn’t sit still and pretend I was okay with any of this any longer. All this time, I’d thought Tartarus was lost to us. I didn’t think it was possible to reach it.

If I had, I would have gone after my Titan family the moment I’d taken the throne.

I would have come to the Isle of Aiaia for Nekros, all right, but it would have been on a fleet of warships.

There was a deadly glint in Zeus’s eyes and a preternatural stillness to his body, like he wasn’t even breathing. I doubted anyone had ever spoken to him like this. No one went up against the Archon of the Thirteen Crowns. He would rip your flesh off your body and feast on your blood for days.

But I was fucking done .

With a growl, he gripped my wrist so tightly that a bone snapped. Pain exploded in my arm, and despite my best intentions, a muffled scream escaped through my clenched teeth. Eyes burning with unshed tears, I used my free hand to yank a steel dagger from its scabbard. It might not kill him, but it could do a fuck ton of damage.

I slid it between us and sank it into his chest.

His eyes went wide. A gurgling sounded in his throat. At long last, he released my hand, and I stumbled away from him.

Blood seeped into his tunic. And with an almighty roar, he yanked the dagger from his flesh and threw it at my face. I ducked and barely missed the blade. It thunked into the wall behind me.

Ares launched in front of me, blocking Hermes as he rushed at me with a wooden stake.

“Get of the way, Ares,” Hermes sneered. “You can’t protect her from this. She stabbed our Archon.”

“With a steel blade. He’ll heal within moments.”

“Everyone, stop,” Aphrodite called out, sounding panicked.

“Hush, Aphrodite,” Hermes tossed over his shoulder. “Stay out of this, or you’ll end up as a pile of ash, just like Selene.”

“No, listen to me,” she pleaded. “I think the palace is on fire. Can’t you smell the smoke?”

A hush descended on the room. In the distance, a crackling roar answered. I twisted toward the door. Dark clouds billowed through the cracks, scenting the air with acrid char and smoke. I covered my mouth, coughing.

Athena took charge and raced to the door, yanking it open. Orange flight flashed across her face. She stumbled back with a gasp while the rest of us looked on, transfixed. Flames engulfed the hall. They consumed everything.

The entire palace was on fire.