5 Ariadne

5

Ariadne

Like so many others among the Thirteen, Dionysus keeps a residence in the city proper. Unlike the others, his apartment is at approximately an equal distance between the warehouse district and the center of the upper city. He leads me inside, rattling off the security code as if he's truly unconcerned I might use it against him. I normally don't have a problem getting a read on people, but he's always avoided me before. I honestly can't tell if his carefree personality is a mask or simply him.

He wanders into the kitchen and pulls down a very expensive bottle of vodka. "Drink?"

I normally don't drink. My father disapproves, and even if he didn't, I can't afford the loss of control that comes with being drunk. But there's no one here except my new fiancé, and I've already spilled most of my secrets. At least the ones that Dionysius might be concerned with.

I move closer, watching as he pours clear liquid carelessly into two tumblers, spilling alcohol onto the counter in the process. "Does drinking really make you forget all your problems?"

"Sometimes." He shrugs. "Sometimes it just makes them all seem so much worse. It's a gamble." He nudges one of the glasses toward me. "But you've had a rough go of things, especially recently, and I'm a master of escape. If the alcohol doesn't do it, I have plenty of other party favors up my sleeve."

It's entirely possible that he's getting me drunk to take advantage of me. That the contract we signed was all bullshit designed to put me at ease. But…I don't think so. He seems just as miserable as I am, and that old saying about misery loving company is far too true. I reach out hesitantly and pick up the glass. I expect the alcohol to burn my throat the same way it has in the past when I let Icarus convince me to indulge, but it goes down so smooth that I actually startle. Warmth starts in my stomach and spreads outward. "Oh wow. This is actually good."

"Only the best for Dionysus." He hops onto the counter and drains his glass. "Look, we could dance around this and I could pretend to be mysterious and let you dangle in the wind, but I'm not interested in doing that."

I still don't trust this "honesty," but I'm not about to cut him off and risk alienating him. He might have a contract that says we essentially live our lives separately once we're married, but we'll be in close quarters until then. "Okay."

"So cautious." He smirks. "Olympus is faltering. You and your family are to blame for that, but you wouldn't have been able to destabilize us within a matter of months if we weren't already teetering on the brink. I know Aphrodite wanted to tuck you away safely in the countryside, but Hera's right—you're more useful here, front and center, wedding planning for Olympus's favorite bachelor."

" Are you Olympus's favorite bachelor?"

"Darling, you wound me." He presses a hand dramatically to his chest, but the move is missing the flamboyant energy he normally possesses. "Apollo and Zeus being paired off has ensured the field is wide open. People adore me because I'm nonthreatening."

I take another drink, the warmth spreading through my chest and chasing away the chill that's hounded me since I saw the two lines on that pregnancy test, a chill that only got worse when I took the steps to end the pregnancy. At some point, I'm going to have to deal with the emotional fallout waiting in the wings, but I don't have the luxury of a breakdown right now.

To distract myself, I study Dionysus. He's attractive in an eccentric kind of way, though his purple suit looks like he slept in it, his bow tie is crooked, and there's a crack in the right lens of his glasses. Not to mention his mustache is…drooping. "Are you okay?" I don't mean to ask. The words just sort of pop out.

"Nope." He pours more alcohol into his glass and toasts me with it. "Not even a little bit."

Why do I find that reassuring? The man I met at my father's party back in August was just as polished as the rest of Olympus's elite, his mask effective at hiding his true feelings. I'd watched him unravel under the stress of being there…of being even partially attached to my father's plans. It all came to a head when his guest, Pan, was attacked.

Was attacked. What a neat little use of passive voice, designed to skirt the truth. My brother attacked Pan. He almost killed him, and for what? It wouldn't have furthered my father's goal to have members of his household installed as one of the Thirteen. Pan was just a guest. The attack might have been intentional, but the victim wasn't. It was Icarus's desperation that led him to make that mistake, and in the wake of it, I watched Dionysus drink more and more. He might say that alcohol doesn't provide an escape all the time, but during the remainder of the party, he was obviously running from his guilt over Pan being hurt.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He smirks. "Absolutely not. We might be in this sinking ship together, but I'm not a complete fool. You've changed sides once. It wouldn't take much to change right back. If Circe's coming for us, she has all our secrets already, so I don't know what you could learn that would tip the balance, but there's no reason to tempt fate."

I drain my glass and nudge it closer until he pours more for me. "I've had my fill of secrets. I just want some peace."

"Peace is one thing we won't have." He watches me with bleary blue eyes. "War is coming one way or another. Just gotta hope you picked the winning side."

War.

I knew it was on the horizon. This has hardly been a bloodless coup, and that's only going to get worse. I would love to say I won't shed a single tear should my father finally see consequences for his actions, but I know better. He might be a monster, but he raised me. In my own way, I'm just as monstrous as he is. But my brother? Or…

Gods, I can barely bring myself to think Asterion's name. Part of me expected to hear from him somehow after leaving that note, but I should have known better. He's always been a silent hunter. If he decides to come after me, I'll never see him coming.

"I'm tired," I say abruptly. "Where am I staying?"

"Second door on the right." He waves a hand in the direction of the hallway. "Get your rest while you can. Aphrodite has something to prove with this wedding, and they'll be putting us through our paces." Dionysus peers down into his glass. "I suppose I'll be dodging more assassination attempts in the process. It'll be fun ."

He doesn't believe that any more than I do, but I don't challenge the statement. "Then I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night, fair Ariadne. I hope you dream sweetly."

I walk away without answering. What is there to say? These days, every time I close my eyes, only nightmares await me. Tonight won't be any different.

I step into the room and stare. There are two familiar suitcases sitting next to the bed. But that's impossible. I fled my father's apartment with only a backpack full of necessities, and he's more likely to burn every single thing I own than he is to pack a suitcase for me. I love my brother, but I doubt it would occur to him to do it, either. And Asterion…

I really have to stop thinking about Asterion.

I'm feeling too fragile to go back out and ask Dionysus about them. If he did this as a nice gesture, it is nice, but it only leaves me more off-center. This whole thing feels too good to be true, which means it's a trap. It has to be.

When I move closer, I see a small envelope tucked into the handle of the tallest suitcase. Inside is a bright-green note. My eyebrows climb as I read the careless scrawl.

You've performed your role beautifully. Such things deserve a reward, don't you think?

Cheers!

—H

H can only be Hermes, but… "What the fuck is she talking about?" The only role I've acted out is that of traitorous daughter. Hermes might play at being magical, but she's just a human. There's no way she could have anticipated my ending up here. I certainly didn't.

Before I can talk myself out of it, I grab the phone Hera provided and dial my brother. I owe him an apology, but maybe I can get some information when I'm doing a bit of groveling for his forgiveness.

He answers immediately. "Hello?"

"Icarus." My throat tries to close, but I push past it. "It's me."

"Ari. Thank fuck you're okay." His voice goes tight. "I am so mad at you."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"You should have told me you were going. I would have—"

I cut him off before he can lie to himself and me. "No, you wouldn't have. I don't doubt for a second you would have tried to help me, but you're still too tied up in him . You would have faltered, and I couldn't risk it."

He curses. "You don't have much faith in me."

I know how much that hurts him. I would spare him that if I could, but my brother's feelings ultimately matter less than ensuring I didn't have anything standing in the way of doing what needed to be done. There's no point in secrecy now, though. It's finished. "I was pregnant."

"You were…" His voice trails off, and silence descends. I wait him out. My father might call my brother a fool, but he's not. He is reckless and wild, but he grew up in the same household I did. He's more than capable of following things to their logical conclusions. "You should have told me," he finally says. "I wouldn't have sacrificed you for our father's ambitions, Ari. I'm not so desperate for his approval to stoop so low."

"I know," I say gently. "But this isn't our city, and I needed to make sure no one knew I was pregnant before it was taken care of. If we went somewhere in the upper city, Father would have heard about it. He might have even stopped me."

Icarus curses again, but softer this time. "I should have been there for you. You shouldn't have had to go through that alone."

This is the part of my brother that my father can never exorcise. At his core, Icarus is a good man who just wants what's best for those around him. My heart wobbles in my chest, and I have to sit on the edge of the bed to steady myself. "It wasn't as bad as all that." Mostly. In some ways, it was worse. I spent a day or two in a small apartment in the lower city with Medusa and Calypso, who were kind enough in their own way, but the distance between us was clear. They didn't treat me as an enemy to be destroyed, but their warmth was only surface level. I don't blame them for that.

At least I wasn't alone.

"Ari."

I sigh. "Okay, at some point, I'm going to have a very long and intense cry over it. Not with regret, but just… It's a lot."

He's silent for several long moments. "It was his , wasn't it?"

No point in pretending I don't know who he's talking about. I've never spoken aloud about my fascination with Asterion, but Icarus is too smart not to pick up on things. He's made comments over the years, but they've been lightly teasing, invitations to confide in him that I've never taken him up on. Talking about my feelings threatened to make them real in a way I couldn't take back.

Joke's on me. What happened in the maze isn't something I can ever take back. In my heart of hearts, I don't know if I want to take it back. How unforgivably selfish of me. "Yes. It was his."

"No wonder he's been such a fucking monster since you disappeared," he says slowly before his tone sharpens. "You need to be careful, Ari. Father came in today ranting about your wedding to Dionysus. He wants you dead."

I stare at the intricately patterned wallpaper and wait for the words to penetrate. Surely he didn't say what I think he just said. I knew my father would never forgive me for betraying him, but… "What?"

"Dead, Ari. Like six feet under. There was no way to misunderstand him." He hesitates. "He told the Minotaur to do it. And the Minotaur, well…he agreed."