36. Hephaestus

36

HEPHAESTUS

Pure rage carries me all the way to Minos’s home. I can’t stop replaying the attack. I should have been stronger. Faster. Fucking something. The attacker got the drop on us, but Eris should have stayed down. What was the fool woman doing, rushing at the fucking assassin?

Trying to protect me.

I can’t pretend the cloying feeling in my chest is anything but guilt. It’s sticky and sharp and every breath seems to drive it deeper into my lungs. She was trying to protect me, her enemy, the man she only married to keep this fucking city safe.

The city doesn’t deserve her. The Thirteen sure as shit don’t.

I shove open the door hard enough that it bangs into the wall behind it and tries to rebound. I catch it easily. “Minos! Where the fuck are you?”

It takes seconds to reach his office and find it empty. I charge into his bedroom with the same results. Those are the only two places in this apartment he spends any time, which means he’s not here.

Footsteps sound, but I know before Ariadne rounds the corner that it’s not the person I’m seeking. She skids to a stop, her eyes wide. “Theseus. Oh gods, is that blood?”

“Yes.” I start past her. “Where is he?”

“Shouldn’t you, um, maybe wash your hands? Take a breath?”

I don’t grab Ariadne and shake her, but the temptation is there. “Where is he?” I repeat. I keep my words so low, they’re almost incomprehensible. I don’t care. If I start bellowing, I’m going to annihilate this apartment. I want to rip into the walls, to smash and break whatever I can get my hands on and howl to the fucking moon.

None of it will make a difference or ensure Eris lives.

Ariadne hesitates. She looks around and steps closer. “I heard about Aphrodite. I’m sorry.”

“Ariadne.” I take her shoulders and lean down, getting in her face. “Where the fuck is your father?”

“Are you going to kill him?” she whispers.

I don’t ask her if she’d try to stop me. Minos’s relationship with her and Icarus is no less fucked than his relationship with me and the Minotaur. It’s just a different flavor of fucked. Maybe she doesn’t know if she wants to stop me or get out of my way. That’s fine. I don’t know what I want right now, either. “Where is he? I’m not going to ask again.”

“Get your fucking hands off my sister.”

I look over slowly to find Icarus in the doorway. He’s got a baseball bat in his hands and while he doesn’t look like a stone-cold killer, I have no doubt he’d take that damned bat to my head and waste both our time. I drop my hands from Ariadne’s shoulders. “My fight isn’t with either of you. Tell me where he is and I’ll go.”

Icarus adjusts his grip on the baseball bat, but doesn’t lower it. “She’s Olympian, Theseus. Surely you’re not going to burn bridges with all of us over your wife.”

“I am putting a stop to this.”

“It’s too late,” Ariadne whispers. “There’s no stopping it.”

I give her a sharp look, but I’m not about to fold now. It doesn’t matter if we can’t stop Minos’s greater plan. I don’t give a fuck about this city as a whole. But I’ll be damned before I let Eris stay in the crosshairs. “I’m not going to ask again.” I don’t want to hurt either of them, but if they stand between me and their father, I will go through them to get to him.

“He’s meeting with the Minotaur downstairs,” Icarus says. “In the apartment they’re both pretending we don’t know about.” He rattles off the floor and number.

Minos has a secret residence. Of course he does. He’s never one to keep all his eggs in one basket…or to leave incriminating evidence lying around where one of his children might happen on it. The fact he didn’t tell me about the apartment is just more proof that I am expendable to him. I’ve played my role and now he has no more use for me.

Later, that might hurt. Maybe. Right now, I’m too fucking furious to worry about it.

I turn and head for the door. Every step sends pain flaring in my knee, but I ignore it just like I’ve been ignoring it for days. I’ll pay for the negligence later. If there is a later.

It doesn’t take long to get down to the floor and apartment Icarus directed me to. It’s only as I’m raising my fist to bang on the door that I pause to wonder if he steered me wrong and I’m about to barge in on some innocent.

But when the door flies open, it’s the Minotaur glaring at me, his scarred face pulled into unforgiving lines. “What are you doing here?”

Instead of answering, I shoulder past him into the apartment. One look around confirms it’s exactly what I’d expect. A command center. There’s a desk with several computer monitors set up in front of a fancy chair. No other furniture.

Minos walks out of the doorway leading into a hall. “What’s all this?” He almost misses a step when he sees me, but Minos is too good to be thrown off by my presence. “Son, you have blood on your hands.”

“Call them off,” I tell him.

He raises his brows. “What are you on about? Call who off?”

This is how we’re going to play it? I expected nothing less, but I still want to wrap my hands around his neck and squeeze. I flex them, and his gaze falls to clock the move. His brows rise higher. “Looks like you’ve had an eventful night. Fill me in.”

“No.”

His eyes flash. “What do you mean, no?”

“I am done playing this game. You set me up to be expendable, and because of that, my wife is on the operating table right now. I don’t give a fuck about your plan or your goals. If she doesn’t survive the night, I’ll kill you myself. Fuck you, and fuck your plans.”

Just like that, his charming mask falls. “Check your tone and try that again. You don’t get to tell me when you’re done. I tell you when you’re done. You’re a weapon, if a piss-poor one. Your only job is to annihilate whatever enemy I point you at.”

I knew it, but hearing him state it so clearly breaks the last string of his hold on me. “Not anymore.”

He takes a menacing step toward me. “The only reason you have that title and power is because I deemed that you should. I can take it away as easily as I gave it to you and put your ass right back on the streets where I found you.”

There’s a sense of relief in letting go. It will hurt later. Wounds always do. But in this moment, it’s freeing. I stare him down. “Fuck the title and fuck the power. I’ll resign.”

He jolts. “What?”

I hadn’t meant to say the words, but now that they’ve been voiced, they feel right. “I’ll resign,” I repeat. I find myself grinning. “Yeah, fuck this title.” I’m not a good fit for it. I never have been. Not to mention, power isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. It’s brought me nothing but grief, and I’m over it. “Fight your own fucking war. I’m done doing it for you.” I turn and start for the door.

“If you walk out of here, you’re dead to me.” His voice surges into a roar as I keep moving. “Do you hear me, you little shit? You’ll be no better than these Olympian vermin and I’ll exterminate you alongside them.”

I glance over my shoulder. It strikes me that Minos looks…small. Ever since he took me in, he’s felt larger than life. The only god I worshipped, the only power I devoted myself to. Now, with his chest heaving and his mouth working while he tries to find the exact combination of words to hurt me enough to make me buckle, he’s nothing more than a man, and a pathetic one at that.

I have no allegiance to Olympus. I’m not an attack dog switching sides—switching masters. But I’ve found my first sliver of true happiness here, and I won’t let anyone endanger it. Not even him. “If you touch one of my people, I will come back here and skin you alive. You taught me to do that when I was seventeen, remember? There will be no mercy for you. Don’t fuck with me.”

Minos, god of my teenage years, flinches.

That’s all I need to turn around…and find the Minotaur blocking the door. I stare at him. We’ve been rivals and enemies and occasionally something that almost resembles friends. There’s nothing of that in his eyes now. “Get out of my way,” I say softly.

His empty gaze flicks over my shoulder to where Minos is still cursing and throwing threats with enough venom that I’m glad he’s not armed. “Might be a mistake.” He matches my tone, his words designed not to carry. “Backing the wrong horse.”

“I’m not backing any horse.” We barely talk, and even then, it’s usually about fighting techniques or weapons. Still, after spending half my life at his side, I can’t help the desire not to leave like this. “I’m choosing to be happy—if I can figure out what the fuck that looks like. You should do the same.”

Another glance at Minos. The Minotaur shrugs. “I’m where I want to be.” But he moves slowly to the side and allows me to pass.

I slip out of the room, but I don’t take a full breath until I’m back in my car and winging my way to the hospital. My hands won’t stop shaking. I think I made the right call—or at least the only call available to me—but there’s a pit of loss inside me that’s going to be a bitch to wade through when things calm down.

If they calm down.

I park in a hurry, ready to charge into the emergency room and demand answers. Unfortunately, my body is fucking done with the abuse I’ve heaped on it. My knee locks up as I try to climb out. I curse and slump against the side of the car, gritting my teeth and riding out the pain. The hospital is right there, but I can’t power through it this time. I’ve been ignoring my limits for days—weeks—and now I’m paying the price.

“Theseus?”

I look up to find Adonis standing a few feet away, his features drawn. He holds up an unlit cigarette and gives a sheepish smile. “Seemed a great time to start smoking.”

“Throw that shit away.” I try to put weight on my leg and hiss out a breath when all I get for my trouble is a rush of agony. “Bad for you.”

He’s by my side in an instant. “Your knee or your ribs?”

“Knee. Put it through…too much.”

“I suppose fighting for your life and then charging off to confront Minos will do that.” He slips beneath my arm without asking, which I appreciate even as I curse. The truth is that I’m not getting into that hospital without help.

“News?”

“Not yet.” He doesn’t look at me as we make our slow, painful way to the sliding glass doors. “She’s still in surgery. They’re not even updating Zeus and Ares.” A pause. “Are you okay?”

“No.” I grit my teeth. “But I will be.”

The two people in question stare at us as we move through the doors. Zeus glares at me and I glare right back. This motherfucker better not think he can keep me from my wife. He stalks up to us, and just like every other time we’ve stood close together, I’m surprised to find he’s not particularly tall. He’s got a big presence.

Zeus eyes me. “Find somewhere else to be, Hephaestus.”

Hephaestus. I’ve fucking hated that name since taking it. Maybe I should balk at shucking it aside, but the truth is that it feels like a burden and I’m sick of carrying burdens for other people. “I’m done.”

“Excuse me?”

“Consider this my resignation. I’m out as Hephaestus.”

He narrows his eyes. “What trick is this?”

“No trick.” I see Pandora sitting in a waiting room chair, her knee bouncing nervously as she watches us. I finally understand what she’s been saying for years. Gods, it’s a miracle she’s put up with my contrary ass. I turn back to Zeus. “I’m done. Being one of the Thirteen is a nightmare. You all can fuck right off, just like Minos can fuck right off.”

If anything, he glares harder. “If this is some ploy—”

“For fuck’s sake, Zeus,” Adonis mutters.

I give him a squeeze even as I keep my expression locked down as best I can. “Suspect me later if you want. Right now, you’re standing between me and my wife, and I will take you out at the knees if you don’t get the fuck out of my way.” I seem to be saying that a lot lately, but it’s the truth.

He steps slowly out of my way. “You fuck with her, I’ll cut your throat myself.”

I’ve spent most of my life getting into fights with dangerous people, so I have plenty of experience when someone’s bluffing. Zeus isn’t. It makes me like the fucker a little bit. I grin. “I fuck with you, you’ll have to get in line, because she’ll be the first one to put a blade to my throat.”

He hesitates and nods shortly. Then he gets the fuck out of my way. About damn time. I make it three steps before I pause. What I’m about to do is more a betrayal than resigning from the title, but I’m not going to pry Eris or Adonis out of Olympus, which means I have to keep the fucking city standing for them. “Minos has several shipments in the harbor. I don’t know if they’ll be under his name, but you want to get to whatever that cargo is before he does.”

Zeus stares at me a long moment and then gives a sharp nod. As I turn from him, he’s already pulling out his phone.

Pandora surges to her feet and rushes to us. She pulls both me and Adonis into a hug, and I manage to hold them to me without it being incredibly awkward. Maybe I’m getting better at this whole comfort thing?

It’s easier when I don’t have to find words. There’s nothing to say. Eris will live. I refuse to believe in any other outcome. Without me as Hephaestus, it means we only have one set of enemies to deal with. Yeah, that means the entire fucking city, but still. We’ll figure it out.

We manage to get three seats against the wall and sit there as the seconds tick by, one of my hands clutched in each of theirs. I stare at the door, willing the doctor to arrive with good news. I do it for so long, that when she finally does, I almost don’t believe it.

She’s a curvy exhausted-looking woman with light-brown skin and her hair hidden under a cap. She eyes us. “She made it through surgery. Two of you can go back.” She holds up two fingers. “If you make a fuss about it, none of you can go back. She needs to rest, and I’m not going to have you fighting in my hospital.”

“I’ll go.” Zeus steps forward. I fully expect him to take Ares, but he turns those cold blue eyes on me. “You coming?”

For a second, I think he couldn’t possibly be speaking to me, but Adonis gives me a squeeze and then he stands to help me to my feet. “We’ll be right here when you’re done.”

I take a deep breath, feeling weirdly adrift as I walk away from them, but Adonis and Pandora aren’t the ones who need me right now.

My wife is.