29. Aphrodite

29

APHRODITE

The meeting goes on forever, and we aren’t any closer to solutions by the end of it. I understand why my brother insists on getting the whole of the Thirteen together…but I am also starting to see why our father refused to do it.

Thirteen people in power means we’ll never be united, even with massive problems knocking on our doorstep. But that’s the problem. Some of our number would have to see an enemy surrounding our city before they believed the threat.

Instead, they look at Minos and think they know exactly what he’s capable of because he reminds them of the last Zeus. It’s a mistake—not that they’ll take my word for it.

Things dispel like they always do these days. Someone storms off—Artemis this time—and the rest leave in ones and twos. My brother catches my eye and gives a small shake of his head.

Ah. So we’ll be meeting in a smaller group after this.

“See you tonight, Wife.” Hephaestus squeezes my arm and rises stiffly. I watch him try to cover his limp as he leaves the room. There’s an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach, almost like worry. I meant what I said earlier. I want him to take my sister’s offer of security. Not because it’s another way to spy on him. Not because I think it will pull him more visibly onto our side.

Because I don’t want him to get hurt.

Gods, what is wrong with me? I can’t afford to waver now. The worst part is I can’t even pretend it’s because I know it would make Pandora sad if something happened to him. I didn’t even think of her when I was speaking earlier.

Once it’s clear that everyone still sitting is invited to this secondary meeting, I look around the room. “No Demeter?” I can understand keeping Hera and Hades out of it. Hera will be only too happy to watch my brother burn, regardless of how it affects the city. I’m honestly a bit surprised she hasn’t facilitated an assassination attempt on him already. Hades may or may not have been invited, but he’ll be more concerned with the lower city—and his pregnant wife.

“Demeter has prior obligations,” Perseus says. He looks as perfectly put together as always, his suit pressed and his blond hair seeming to be recently trimmed. Gone are the faint smudges of sleepless nights beneath his eyes, which only proves that he’s gotten better at concealer than he was when we were teenagers. If I hadn’t seen him yesterday, I wouldn’t know how haggard he looked only twenty-four hours ago.

I glance at Athena and Apollo. She’s dressed as impeccably as always in a deep gray suit with a paler silver blouse beneath it. Apollo has on a very expensive, very boring suit and looks like he’s swallowed something spiky. It makes sense. He’s a man with a plan, and there’s no easy plan to get us out of this.

Helen’s pulled the same makeup trick Perseus has, and she looks just as pristine as ever, as if she wasn’t losing her damn mind yesterday. She’s wearing what’s become her customary Ares uniform for business—a perfectly tailored black suit with a bright blouse beneath it.

Perseus steeples his hands in front of his face. “We have a problem.”

“You can say that again,” Helen mutters. She lifts her voice. “Half a dozen attempts were made since we spoke yesterday. Before this meeting started, I got a call that my people interrupted a woman with a knife going after Artemis. They neutralized the situation, but it’s not even noon yet.”

Interesting. Maybe that’s why Artemis was angrier than usual.

Athena taps a single finger against the table. “There’s not much that can be done. The information is out. The public won’t be distracted by petty feuds and dramatics.” She shoots a sharp look at me.

It takes everything I can do not to flush. Petty feuds and dramatics have always worked as a bait and switch in the past, and I’m good at using them to keep the populace’s attention where we want it. It’s not my fault that we’re dealing with something significantly more challenging right now. I’m not about to protest, though. Ultimately, my pride matters less than the problem at hand. “Do you have a suggestion, or is that just criticism?”

Her lips curve. Athena always has liked people who are prickly. It’s why we get along well enough when we’re forced to interact. “We kill your husband.”

What?

“What?” Apollo leans forward to look at her. “How does that help anything? Minos has already leaked the information about the clause. As you said, the cat’s out of the bag.”

“Yes, there’s no taking back the information about that blasted little law.” She taps the table again. “Which means there’s no reason not to use it to our advantage. You can bet Minos will eventually do the same. He might not be behind the recent attempts, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be behind future ones.”

The latter is nothing more than I’ve already considered. I look at Perseus, who hasn’t said anything yet. There’s something almost like panic fluttering inside me. They mean it. They really will kill Hephaestus. “Well? You support this?”

“Don’t you?” His gaze sharpens on me. “You hate him. What’s more, having that man in that position hurts the city. We rely on whoever holds the Hephaestus title and their people to keep the more technical parts of the city running, as well as come up with new advancements to better the quality of life for our citizens. Even if he wasn’t an active enemy, he’s not suited to the role and you know it.”

I do know it. I’ve thought the very same things in the past. There’s absolutely no reason for me to want to shove to my feet and yell at my brother for suggesting such a thing. There’s no reason for it to feel like the walls are closing in.

A few days ago, I would have jumped at the chance to become a widow. This marriage was only meant to serve the purpose of distracting the public and distracting Hephaestus, and it’s failed at both tasks.

But that was before my husband knelt in front of me and bandaged my wounds. Before he saved my life. Before he comforted me in his own rough way last night when I was at my lowest. “We gave our word that we wouldn’t harm him if he married me.”

“It’s for the good of Olympus,” Helen says softly. There’s sympathy in her eyes, but also a steely determination I know too well. “They’re right. It’s a good call.”

I won’t have to do anything. Just take the path of least resistance and allow the people in this room to plot to make me a widow. There will be no more vicious arguments that turn into sex. No more trying to outmaneuver each other. No more lying next to his big body, quietly snoring beside me and lulling me into sleep.

I…can’t do it.

Pandora said bringing him over to our side was nearly impossible, but it’s fully impossible if he’s dead. I’ll take those odds. I’ll take any odds right now. “I can turn him,” I blurt out.

Athena snorts. “No, you can’t.”

“Yes, I can.” I lift my chin, fighting to keep the uncertainty out of my face and voice. I need to project the cold bitch Aphrodite or they won’t trust me. “He’s smitten with Adonis, and he’s warming to me despite the tumultuous start to our marriage. If I can turn him, his connection to Minos means he’ll be a bigger asset than anyone else we can stick in the role.”

Perseus might as well have been glazed over with ice. “He’s not suited to the title.”

“The strength of the title is the people behind it. Hephaestus’s senior team has seen three people in that position. One person can’t outweigh all that experience.” Helen’s proven this with Achilles and Patroclus in her corner, but I won’t throw her under the bus like that right now, not when she worked so hard to be worthy of the Ares title even before claiming it. Hephaestus’s team seems to hate him, but that’s beside the point.

If anything, my brother’s blue eyes get icier. No one else in the room seems to breathe. Perseus leans forward. He opens his mouth and his brow furrows in frustration. I tense, but he seems to discard whatever he was about to say. He sits back with a sigh. “You have three days.”

I jolt. “Three days? That’s an impossible task.”

“Either it can be done or it can’t. The amount of time shouldn’t factor into it.”

That’s not even remotely reasonable, and I’m about to tell him exactly that when Apollo shakes his head sharply. “Surely you aren’t entertaining this. He’s a murderer.”

Perseus turns that cold gaze on Apollo. “Murder isn’t an unforgivable sin in this city and you know it. If we can turn him, he’ll be an asset in whatever comes next.”

“We have an asset from Minos’s household already.”

“Oh?” He raises an eyebrow. “Then you’re here to report that your outreach to Ariadne has borne fruit?”

Apollo huffs out a breath. “No. Minos has her under lock and key. She’s not even active online right now.”

Damn it, I haven’t texted Eurydice about Ariadne. I completely forgot in the midst of everything that happened yesterday. I slip my phone out of my purse and type out a quick message asking for an update. It’s entirely possible she hasn’t made more progress than Apollo, but I need to know.

My phone vibrates in my hand almost immediately. While Apollo and my brother keep speaking, I glance down.

Eurydice:I’m taking her to the club tonight.

Holy shit. She’s really doing it.

Me:Keep me updated, please.

Eurydice:Of course. I’ll call tomorrow.

I place my phone back in my purse. Eurydice and Ariadne is still a long shot, even if she’s making more progress than Apollo on that front right now. Ariadne might have warned Apollo about her father’s plans, but that doesn’t mean she knows more about what his next steps are than Pandora does.

Offering this information to the gathered people will sign my husband’s death warrant. If they think they have another way to strike at Minos, they won’t bother with Hephaestus. “There is no other way.”

“That remains to be seen.” Perseus looks at me. “Three days, Aphrodite.”

Helen shifts. “None of that changes the threat we’re facing right now. Increased security is in place for all members of the Thirteen who accepted my offer, but it’s only a matter of time before one of these attempts succeeds. They might not successfully engage the clause, but they could very well kill one of us. If that happens, it will only increase the frenzy.”

“Then ensure it doesn’t happen while we figure this out.” Perseus says it like it’s as easy as that. “Ideas to turn the tide?”

“We need to give them something else to fight.” There’s a flush in Helen’s cheeks from our brother’s rebuke, but her voice is steady.

Athena shakes her head. “Yes, but more than that. A common enemy will unite the city.”

“A common enemy won’t work.” Apollo drags his hands over his face. He’s been working long hours and it shows. Unlike my siblings, he hasn’t bothered to try to hide his exhaustion. “It might bring the majority of people in line, but the majority of people aren’t attempting murder right now. The citizens who have always wanted to be one of the Thirteen, have always believed that they deserve it, will keep coming.” He sighs. “We have to go public about the barrier. It’s the best chance we have.”

“No.” We all look at my brother as he speaks. His expression doesn’t move. “That is not an option.”

“It’s the only option.” Apollo glares. “They need to know we have bigger things to worry about than petty power squabbles inside the city. Not even these murderous fools would want to be in charge in the event that the barrier falls.”

“Find another way.”

Athena sighs. “He’s right, Apollo. If they think the barrier is falling, it will only increase the chaos. People will panic. Some will try to leave, which will either be impossible or weaken the barrier further. We don’t have the answers for why it’s failing, which will only undermine our authority. We can’t tell them.”

“Three days,” I find myself saying. “Give me three days to turn my husband and find something on Minos. Even if you kill Hephaestus, it won’t help the overall climate of the city, and it might just make things worse.” I look around the room. “Take the next three days and see if you can come up with a better plan.”

Perseus pushes to his feet. “I’m sure you all have places to be.”

Everyone reluctantly stands. I already know what’s coming, so I don’t flinch when he says, “Aphrodite, a word.”

Helen squeezes my hand as she slips through the door after Apollo and Athena, closing it softly behind her. I cross my arms over my chest. My brother doesn’t make me wait long.

Perseus plants his hands on the desk and leans forward. “Are you compromised?”

I flinch. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“Are you really asking me that? Of all the people in the room, my loyalty should be beyond question.”

“You’re right. It should be.”

A harsh laugh bursts free. Gods, I didn’t expect his doubt to sting quite so badly. “I have done just as much as you for this city. More, even, because your wife is an Olympian citizen and doesn’t threaten to murder you on a regular basis.”

He doesn’t blink. “You’d be surprised.”

Actually, I wouldn’t. Callisto Dimitriou is fucking terrifying.

But she’s not who we’re talking about right now. My skin heats, and I do my best to keep my expression as locked down as my brother’s. He’s always been better at this particular skill set than I have, and he proves it now.

“I am not compromised,” I say through gritted teeth. I might be suffering from permanent indigestion and need to have my heart looked at by a doctor, but I am not some naive innocent who will let my tangled emotions color my actions. “I have always done what’s best for Olympus, and I will continue to do so.”

He stares at me for a long moment. “You really think you can turn him.”

I don’t know what I think. My husband obviously has feelings for Adonis, and he’s treated me with more care than I imagined possible. But Pandora knows him better than anyone and she has her doubts.

Oh well. I’ve scaled unscalable odds before.

But why? Why not just let Perseus kill him and be done with it?

I don’t have an answer to that question. “Before you ask, he’s a terrible liar and if I get him on our side, he’s not capable of being a double agent.”

Perseus sighs. “You’re playing a dangerous game.”

“We all are.” I drop my arms. “If that’s all?”

“It is.” He straightens. “Don’t get killed, Eris. If you do, if Helen does, I’ll become the villain they want me to be.”

A chill drips down my spine. My brother is not demonstrative and he’s certainly not one to let his emotions get the best of him. I drag in a breath and strive to keep my tone even. “If one of us gets killed, you will do what’s best for this city just like you’ve always done.”

He turns and looks out the window, shielding his expression from me. “Does the city really deserve our blood?”

The chill gets worse, worming right into my bones. “Perseus?”

“I used to think it did, but now I wonder. The first chance they got, they turned on us like feral beasts. Maybe our father had the right idea about ruling the way he did. I can’t manage his level of charm…but fear is always an option.”

I cross to him and tentatively touch his arm. “He was a monster.”

“We’re monsters, too.” He’s still not looking at me. “We never had a chance to be anything but monsters.”

Actual fear takes hold. Our chances of making it through this aren’t overly optimistic at this point, but they fall to damn near zero if my brother buckles. I steel myself and shove his shoulder hard enough for him to spin to face me. “That’s enough.”

For once, he’s not glazed in ice. His blue eyes are fiery and furious. “I have tried not to be him. I have tried to work with the other members of the Thirteen. I have fucking tried to bring peace to this city.” He laughs, harsh and bitter. “You have three days before I take action. If they won’t see reason, then I’ll give them something to fear.”