33 The Minotaur

33

The Minotaur

I don't know how the fuck Minos knew that we were coming here, but the how matters less than the fact that he's here. Threatening us. Threatening Ariadne . She and her brother try to stop, but I keep them moving, inching us backward toward the middle dock. During one of my and Theseus's recon missions, we cataloged every single vessel in the marina. Minos had been playing with the idea of sinking them all before ultimately realizing the same thing we did—no one uses or cares about these ships. They're jewels in a crown that no one wears. Polished and perfect and useless.

My goal is the sailboat near the end of the row. The Daedalus . It's owned by Apollo, a gift from the last Zeus when he took the title ten years ago. It looks brand-new, and knowing what kind of man Apollo is, I'm certain it's kept in the best working condition, even if it's never used.

But none of that is going to help us unless we can fucking get there.

I keep a wary eye on Minos as I back his children away from him. "You got what you wanted. The barrier will come down in less than thirty minutes. You don't need us anymore."

I can't see his eyes in the low light, but his movements are jerky with rage. "You don't get to walk away from me, boy. Theseus must've given you the wrong idea. Just because I couldn't touch him doesn't mean I'm going to watch you leave with my traitorous bitch of a daughter and my pathetic excuse for a son. Better you're dead than betraying me."

That's what I was afraid he would say.

The boat we're aiming for is positioned at the end of the dock, perfect for a smooth getaway, but there's too much open space between our current position and the cover it offers. Even if Minos doesn't have another clip, he has more than enough bullets to put all three of us in the ground.

I keep inching Ariadne and Icarus backward. "When I say run, you run. You don't look back. You don't hesitate."

"Okay."

Ariadne grabs a fistful of my shirt. "No, Icarus, not okay. We're not leaving you to get shot again, Asterion."

I don't see how we have another choice. The barrier is close to coming down, which means our window of escape is rapidly shrinking. "For once in your fucking life, listen to me and obey."

A gunshot makes us all flinch. Minos stalks toward us, his expression falling into cold lines. "Even now, you're not taking me seriously. That's fine. I'll ensure you take me seriously after this." He aims the gun right at the center of my chest. "Get on the ground."

Absolutely fucking not. He's liable to execute me on the spot. The fact that he hasn't started shooting at us yet… I look over his shoulder. "Shooting a gun in Poseidon's territory? You really don't want to get out of here alive, do you?"

"What's that big ginger bastard going to do? Scowl and wring his hands? Don't make me laugh. And don't make me ask again. Get on the ground."

Ariadne's grip on the back of my shirt shifts. I tense, but twisting to face her will leave her exposed. I'm fucking trapped, and I know down to my very soul that she's about to do something reckless. I have to end this and do it now.

I start to step forward, but Icarus gets there first. He moves several wide steps to my right. Far enough that Minos will have to pick a target. Did I think Ariadne was going to be the reckless one? I should've known better. Her brother makes her look downright biddable.

Icarus's expression is terrible to behold. He looks utterly hopeless. "I did everything you wanted. Everything you ever asked for. And it was never good enough."

Minos sneers. "If that was true, then I wouldn't have needed him ." He motions violently toward me with a gun. "You're pathetic. Weak. A sad excuse for a son that no one would be proud of." He turns that ugly expression on me. "And you're not even a son at all. You're just trash I picked up off the street, and instead of being grateful, you stole the most precious thing I own."

"You don't own me. You never did." Ariadne steps from behind me, smoothly evading my grasp for her. It's not until she lifts my gun in a two-handed stance that's only slightly off that I realize she took the damn thing in the first place. Tears stream down her face, but her hands don't shake. "I'm not going to let you hurt anyone else ever again."

"Ariadne—"

She doesn't look at her brother. Or at me. But when she speaks, it's for us. "You've both done too much, sacrificed too much, and for what? Someone else's war. Someone else's gain. I'm not letting either of you get your hands dirty any longer. You deserve better."

Minos, the fool, actually laughs. "Put that thing down before you hurt yourself."

"Strange that you're still worried about me hurting myself when you sent someone to kill me."

He's still not taking her seriously. He shakes his head, laughter trailing off slowly. "Phaedra wasn't there to kill you. She was there to retrieve my wayward daughter. I found a use for you, after all. One of Circe's generals needs a little reassurance to cement his loyalty. And he's not too concerned about the goods being tarnished."

Even after all this time, he still doesn't know his daughter at all. Ariadne was never going to allow herself to be traded for her father's game. Her gun doesn't waver. "Let us go. I'm not your bargaining chip any longer. And if Icarus and Asterion are so worthless to you, then you won't feel their loss at all."

"You've lived your whole life in my household, and you still haven't learned. If it is no longer an asset to you, you put it down so it can't be used against you." As he speaks, his focus swivels toward Icarus, his finger moving to the trigger.

I don't think. There's no time for that. My body takes over, flinging itself toward Ariadne's brother. The one person in this world she loves even more than me. If he's murdered by her father…

I hit Icarus hard enough to take us to the ground as two gunshots scream into the night. Icarus groans, but I don't have time for him. He's fine. I lurch to my feet, my brain belatedly categorizing a number of scrapes and cuts from the rough ground. But no bullet wound.

The scene hits me in flashes. Minos and Ariadne sinking to their knees with mirrored expressions of shock and pain. They've never looked more like father and daughter than they do in this moment. My brain scrambles to understand what the fuck I'm seeing. Minos was going to shoot Icarus. Did he shoot Ariadne instead?

I rush to her before I finish the thought. "Sweetheart? Sweetheart, talk to me. Where are you hurt?" If he got her in the chest or, fuck, the stomach—

"I'm not."

I keep patting her down, barely registering her words. "Yes, you fucking are. He shot you. Where is it, sweetheart? We need to get you to the hospital." Fuck the boat if it means she dies at sea.

Ariadne catches my wrists in a pathetically weak grip. "Asterion." She squeezes me. "He didn't shoot me. I shot him ." Her voice is wrong, distant and almost peaceful. She's going into shock. My woman has never hurt a fly, and she just shot her father.

"Dad?" Icarus's voice breaks. "Dad, talk to me."

"Let me up," Ariadne murmurs. She's still too calm. It's freaking me out. "Asterion, move. Please."

I don't want to. Bad enough that she pulled the trigger, but to actually watch the life leave her victim's eyes… I've seen it happen more times than I can count. So often that I'm immune to it. There are scars on my heart from the first couple of them, though. I would save her from that if I could.

Too bad she won't let me.

Ariadne pushes me to the side, and I let her. I follow her as she stumbles to her fallen father's side. He's a monster. All three of us know that, and yet even my chest sinks at the sight of the blood bubbling up from his lips. He was the only father figure I ever had, and he might have been a shitty-ass father, but he was ours. He gasps, sounding weaker than I've ever heard him.

That doesn't stop me from moving his gun out of reach. Just in case.

Icarus is openly weeping, clinging to Minos's hand like a child. But Ariadne kneels there, her expression cold and contained. Later, she'll break down. I'm certain of it. But right now, it's almost as if she's bearing witness.

We don't have to wait long. Minos's breathing becomes weak and soft and then stops altogether. I'm the one to rise first, urging Ariadne to her feet. Then we both have to drag Icarus off his knees. "Come on, Icarus. We have to go. We can mourn later."

"You shot him," he whispers. "I can't believe you actually shot him."

Ariadne flinches, the reaction so slight, I doubt her brother notices. Not that he would anyway. He's too lost in his own fucking world right now. I want to shake him and yell in his face. To point out that the only reason she shot their father was to save her foolish brother's life. Neither of them will thank me for pointing it out. Not now. Not like this.

So I simply wrap my arm around Ariadne's waist and give her a squeeze. And then I keep it there, ready to catch her if her knees buckle. "There's not much time left. We have to go."

"You're not going anywhere."

I start to spin around, but the voice isn't coming from the land. It's coming from the dock ahead of us. A mountain of a man moves out from the shadows of a particularly large yacht. I recognize him instantly. Poseidon.

" Fuck ," I breathe as people melt out of the shadows on either side of us. There are five—no, six. Too many to fight without risking Ariadne or Icarus. Damn it, I should've come to the marina earlier and cleared our way. Not that it would've helped, because I would've had to leave to deal with Hermes and retrieve Ariadne and Icarus. Fuck, my brain is running in circles. I don't see a way out of this.

"It's too late, Poseidon." Ariadne sounds more tired than I've ever heard her. More defeated. "Minos is dead, but you have bigger things to worry about. The barrier will fall and Circe is coming for you. Taking us won't do a damn thing to stop either."

"So you say." He shrugs. "We're going to lock you up all the same until we know for sure. Now isn't the time to let enemies of Olympus run rampant." He motions at his people. "Take them."