34. Hephaestus

34

HEPHAESTUS

It’s the strangest thing to walk into Aphrodite’s penthouse and find her, Pandora, and Adonis waiting for me. They’ve all gathered in the kitchen similar to how we were this morning, but there’s less tension in the air. As I watch, Pandora slips past Aphrodite and trails her fingers over my wife’s back. Adonis stands a little apart, but his shoulders are relaxed and he’s working a cork out of a bottle of wine.

Aphrodite sees me first. I watch in confusion as she walks directly to me and presses her hands to my chest. “Glad you could make it.” She even sounds like she means it.

“Glad to be here.” I sound like I mean it, too.

Damn it, I do mean it. I don’t know how the home of the woman I was forced to marry, that I hated above all others, managed to become a haven, but it feels that way. It’s not just because Pandora is here. Or Adonis. It’s the strange combination of them…plus Aphrodite.

Eris.

She still hasn’t moved away, and I can’t quite lift my hands to return the almost tentative touch. But I can’t leave it unanswered, either. “How did the rest of your day go?”

Her smile is small, but it reaches her eyes. “I only jumped at loud noises a few dozen times, but better than yesterday.” She pauses. “Yours?”

Part of me wants to shut this down, to stop even the tiniest hint of camaraderie. I might not like what I’ve learned of Minos’s plans, but I can’t just shuck them off. The thought of doing so makes my skin crawl…

Or maybe that’s the thought of letting him hurt the woman standing in front of me, her expression open for the first time since she walked down the aisle to me.

I swallow hard. “It was a shit show. Probably for the same reason yours was.”

Her smile fades. “It’s not ideal that we’re on opposite sides of this now, no matter how we started.”

How could it be any other way? I don’t have an answer by the time she steps back and leads the way into the kitchen. I don’t know what to expect, but Pandora presses a quick kiss to my cheek and then Adonis hooks the back of my neck and kisses me hard enough to make my skin go hot. He releases me before I can decide to do anything more about it, though.

My head is spinning. It feels like I ended up in the wrong apartment, with a life that looks familiar but isn’t the same. Isn’t real.

If Minos succeeds in his plans, they’ll all hate me. Even Pandora. Maybe especially Pandora. She would never admit to wanting a family, not when she’s been suspicious of Minos from the start, but there’s no denying how relaxed she looks as she jokes lightly with Adonis and gets him flustered. Something has unwound in my wife as well, though not as thoroughly as with the other two. Even though her shoulders aren’t tight, she watches them with the same worry that’s worming around in my chest. As if drawn by my attention, she shifts her gaze to mine in a moment of perfect understanding.

We’re going to break this.

We don’t want to. We will try very hard not to bring harm to this group. But we’re both loyal to greater forces. I might be willing to consider peace, at least with Aphrodite, but Minos will never be satisfied with that route. And Zeus won’t rest until he’s driven us from the city. I’d bet good money on it.

I’m not sure what I’d say if I had the chance. I never get it. Adonis opens the first takeout container and freezes. No one notices it but me, but they sure as fuck notice when he slaps Pandora’s hand away from another container.

“Hey!” She rubs the back of her hand. “What the fuck?”

“Eris.” He glances at her. “Sniff this.”

Aphrodite hurries over and follows his direction, leaning down and inhaling deeply. She curses. “They weren’t even trying to be subtle. The leaves are all over the salad.”

I find myself closing the distance and looking over her shoulder. “Poison?”

“Yes, though whoever did this didn’t choose well. It would take eating this entire salad and then some to get a fatal dose, but I’m not in the mood to be in digestive distress for the next few days.” She carefully refolds the top of the box and slides it back into the bag.

“Where did you order from? Who does the delivery?”

She studies me for a long moment. “What does it matter?”

Adonis clears his throat. “I’m taking this out.”

Pandora looks between me and Aphrodite. “I’ll…go with you,” she says slowly. “For protection.”

“Protection.” He gives a choked laugh. “Right. Good idea.”

I barely wait for them to leave the room to start in on my wife. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean? ‘What does it matter?’ It matters because someone tried to poison us.”

“No, they tried to poison me. I ordered this before you arrived. There’s no conceivable way they would know you’re here.” She tucks her hair behind her ears. For once, there’s no venom in her tone. “That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? Anarchy in Olympus. Our experienced leaders replaced with murderous civilians who are unprepared for what it takes to rule. Your people are aware that the barrier is fading, and while there’s currently no standing army waiting to conquer us when it finally does, I think we both know an army isn’t necessary to take a city. Not anymore.”

Something sticky and barbed takes up residence in my chest. I think it might be guilt. “War is part of life.”

She smiles sadly. “Why are you saying that like you’re trying to convince me? I know, Husband.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” I drag my hands through my hair. “I wasn’t supposed to—”

“Care?”

I glare. “I care about people.”

“You care about Pandora.”

That’s not true anymore. Or, what I mean is I still care about Pandora—she’s family—but she’s not the only person I care about now. She’s not the only person whose safety I worry about. “I don’t want you dead,” I finally say.

Aphrodite’s eyebrows shoot up. “From you, that’s practically a declaration of love.”

“Oh, shut the—”

She holds up a hand. “I don’t want you dead, either. I realize it’s horribly cliché to start to fall for your own husband, but here we are.”

“Aphrodite…” I clear my throat. “Eris, I—”

Once again, she cuts me off. “Did Minos tell you that he plans to kill me?” She grabs a wineglass and fills it nearly to the brim with red wine. “Because my brother wants to make me a widow. I’m curious if they’re following the same playbook when it comes to our marriage.”

I tense. “Zeus is going to try to kill me.”

“Not him personally.” She pauses. “Probably. A few weeks ago, I would say he’d never stoop to murder for fear of turning out like our father, but my brother isn’t acting like himself these days.”

Hearing that should make me happy. Zeus is unraveling. That’s a win for us. Except, as I think of the cold-eyed motherfucker who is Eris’s brother, I’m not sure unleashing him will be anything but a danger. I learned early to avoid the cold ones, because when they shatter, there’s often an inferno of rage beneath the exterior. Or, in scarier cases, there’s nothing beneath but an even deeper freeze. I have no idea which Zeus will be, but I suddenly don’t want to find out.

“What a fucking mess, and us in the middle of it.” I find myself chuckling, a grim sound that has no joy in it. I’m not remotely surprised when Eris joins me. Her chuckle turns into giggles and she tips until she bumps against my shoulder. Between one ragged laugh and the next, we’re clinging to each other and laughing so hard tears creep from the edges of my eyes.

“Absolutely.” She leans her head against my shoulder. It feels…nice. Everything about this feels nice. Ironic, maybe, that the only other person in this fucked-up city who understands exactly how impossible the position I’m in is my wife, who’s in an identical position, even if it’s on the opposite side of this conflict.

We’re two soldiers trapped in a trench, and it won’t matter who’s firing the shots winging their way overhead. A bullet is a bullet. It only takes one well-placed shot to end us once and for all. “What do we do?” I don’t mean to ask it, but this moment feels too honest to retreat from. At least not yet.

“I don’t know.” She rubs her face against my shoulder a little. Tension slowly filters back into her body, and I already know I won’t like what she says next. “I’m not going to flip on the city. Are you going to flip on Minos?”

A week ago I could have answered without hesitation. Now, I’m not so sure. I knew I was just a weapon for Minos to pick up and attack Olympus with, but since taking the Hephaestus title, that role has started to feel like wearing someone else’s skin. Too tight. Too constricting. And when I’m around Minos, I feel like I can’t breathe.

But I owe him so much.

Do you?

Hearing Pandora’s voice in my head feels so real, I actually turn to look toward the door, expecting her to be standing there with Adonis.

It’s the only reason I see the attack coming.

I get a flash of a broad-shouldered person in black with a mask pulled down over their face. Then the only thing I see is the gun they’re pointing at us. I don’t think. There’s no time for that. I shove Eris toward the floor. “Get down.”

The bullet pings over our heads, but I’m already moving. I take one step before my body serves to remind me that my knee is not, and will never again be, able to sustain this kind of motion. I stumble against the counter, barely dodging another bullet.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Eris moving and curse. She won’t be content to stay down and safe this time. The only weapon readily available is the wine bottle. I grab it and fling it at the attacker’s head.

They throw up their hand just in time to deflect, but the impact sends the gun skittering across the floor toward the hallway. Still too far away, but they don’t have it. An opportunity, and one I can’t afford to miss. I dive for it. If I can get my fucking hands on it, I can end this now.

They’re moving behind me, rushing toward the gun even as I scramble for it. Close. Too damn close. I’m not going to have any range on this, even if I can get there first. My fingertips brush the cool metal right as a boot connects with my ribs. Pain flares, turning my mind hazy and red. I open my mouth, but there’s no air to inhale. My lungs have locked up in my chest. Fuck, that hurts.

“No!”

I roll onto my side just as Eris runs at the attacker. “Stop,” I rasp. She doesn’t hear me, or she ignores me.

Our attacker turns to face her. I catch a glint of metal in their hands and try to shout a warning. My fucking lungs haven’t unclenched, though, and it comes out as a garbled yell. The attacker curses. Which is when I see that my wife has one of her kitchen knives in her hand.

“Don’t.” Again, the word barely makes it past my lips. I try to inhale, but my lungs are still seized up. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

The attacker stumbles back. They should be taking this moment to press their advantage, but they’re too busy avoiding her strikes. They’re good strikes, quick without over-extending her arm. It still won’t be enough. I have to get on my feet and I have to do it now.

I don’t get a chance.

The attacker has backed closer to me and they look down and meet my gaze. My death is in those dark eyes. They ignore Eris entirely and bring the knife down. It’ll take me in my chest, maybe my neck, and there’s no coming back from that shit. I instinctively throw my hands up.

They never make contact. Eris hits them hard enough to take them both off their feet. The attacker lands on their back beside me, their head slamming against the floor. They lay there for a beat, and I think they might be stunned.

At least until Eris rolls off them and I see the blood.

Not just blood.

Their fucking knife is sticking out of Eris’s stomach.

“Fuck!” the low voice says. The attacker scrambles back. Distantly, I register that they’re here for me, not for her, but that doesn’t mean a single damn thing to the growing puddle of blood around her body.

I manage to crawl to her just as the door opens and Adonis and Pandora walk back into the penthouse. Pandora cries out, but Adonis springs into motion without hesitation. Another time, I’d marvel at how he goes from easygoing charmer to something furious and violent in the space of a heartbeat.

Our attacker never sees him coming.

He punches them in the side of the head and they slump like a puppet whose strings have been cut. Adonis shoves them to the floor and flips them onto their stomach. “Pandora, get the zip ties from under the sink and then bring me my phone.” He’s all business as he yanks the black mask from their head, revealing a white guy with short dark hair. I’ve never seen him before, but that doesn’t mean a single damn thing.

I press my hands to Eris’s stomach and go cold. Too much blood. Too much fucking blood. “Eris. Wife, look at me.”

“So bossy.” The words are too faint to bring me any amount of comfort.

“Eris?” Adonis is by my side in an instant. “Don’t move the knife.”

“I know not to move the fucking knife,” I snap. “Call someone. Now.” Desperation bubbles up inside me, burning like acid. I lean down to look into Eris’s glazed eyes. “Hang on. Help is coming.”

“Stabbed.” She gives a pained laugh that cuts off halfway through. “Helen will never…let me live it down.” The last bit comes out on an exhale, the words so faint they’re almost incomprehensible.

“Then you’d better live so she can yell at you.” I glance down and my stomach lurches. My hands are covered in her blood to my wrists. Too much. She’s losing too much. “Don’t you dare die on me, Wife.”

She smiles a little but her eyes close. “No promises.”

Fear makes me shake. “Where’s that fucking phone?” I roar.

“Here!” Pandora skids up to us and drops it into Adonis’s hands.

It’s just as well. My hands are shaking too much to dial. I stare into my wife’s eyes as Adonis barks orders into the phone. I barely register his words. I’m too busy trying to will the color back into Eris’s face.

I knew I didn’t want her dead, but it’s not until she passes out in my arms that I realize exactly how much I want her alive and with me.