6 The Minotaur

6

The Minotaur

Aeacus is one of Circe's men who snuck through the barrier on a shipping container a few weeks ago. He's a short man with medium-brown skin and a shaved head. He's older than me by about a decade, and he's got a weathered look that says he's seen some shit. Half his crew were murdered by Hades two weeks back, right before the secondary barrier between the lower city and the upper city became impenetrable. No matter how Minos blusters, I know damn well that losing so many people wasn't part of the plan.

Aeacus points me to a map spread out on the table in the dingy apartment where he and his remaining team are living. "Here." He touches Dodona Tower. "This is the next target. It will take some time to get things in place, but it's the heart of the upper city, and Circe wants it crushed."

A solid move. It's where the rich and powerful gather, wanting to see and be seen. They think they're sharks, but in reality they're a bunch of peacocks. Zeus and Hera even have thrones that they perch on, pretending they're royalty. Taking down that building will be as big a blow as any we've managed so far.

I don't particularly like the way he's looking at me right now, though. Intently. Expectantly. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"You still have access, don't you? I need blueprints."

Whether I have access is up for debate. I haven't tried to enter the building since the assassinations started. There was a small chance I'd maintained clearance while Theseus was a member of the Thirteen, but since he defected, he took what little protection Minos's household maintained with him.

There is more than one way to skin a cat, though. And this is just the excuse I need to put things into motion without Minos questioning it.

I turn for the door.

Aeacus clears his throat. "Where are you going?"

"You need blueprints, I'll get you blueprints. I'll be back when I have them." I walk out the door. He shouldn't let me get away with that, especially not in front of his people. All it takes is one sign of weakness, one kernel of disrespect, and a hierarchy comes tumbling down. I don't know how long he's been the team leader, but I doubt he'll maintain the position for long.

That isn't my problem.

It only takes a moment to orient myself on the street and start making my way toward my destination.

Minos and the rest of them believe I'm all brawn and no brains. I've given them no reason to think otherwise. But I've spent half my life watching how Minos operates. He's a mean bastard, especially to those he decides aren't worth charming, but he never attacks when coercion can accomplish the same goal. It's a lesson I've considered countless times over the years. It seems like a waste of energy when the thing you want is right in front of you, but maybe he has a point.

I'll never be charming, but no one expects me to be duplicitous.

Ariadne thinks too much. It's all she fucking does. It's made her an impressive weapon, but it also means she'll never take something at face value, even from me. If I go to her and tell her to toss the fiancé and that I'll get us out of Olympus, she won't believe me.

So I'll come at this from another angle.

It's a short enough walk to the building where Dionysus lives. I stop on the sidewalk across the street and study it. It's got a bit more character than most of the buildings in the upper city, though there's plenty of steel and glass involved. Based on Minos's information, Dionysus owns the entire top floor.

Security will be a bitch to get through, but most of the Thirteen use Ares's people, which means they all have the same protocol—the same flaws in said protocol. I can get to Ariadne any time I want, but charging in there and tossing her over my shoulder, while satisfying, just ensures she'll bolt the first chance she gets.

She'll have to come to me instead. I just need to soften her up first.

I pull out my phone and dial the one person she would still be in contact with. It rings long enough that I think Icarus won't pick up, but his wary voice finally comes on the line just as I'm about to hang up. "Yes?"

"I need your sister's new number."

"Absolutely not."

I fight not to grind my teeth. It's inconvenient as fuck for him to try to grow a backbone now. Thankfully, Icarus's weak point is practically a neon sign flashing above his head. "Do you want her dead?"

"What the fuck kind of question is that? Of course I don't." He curses. "Not like what I want matters, though."

Under normal circumstances, he'd be right. I have few qualms about doing what needs to be done. But Ariadne isn't one of Minos's many enemies. Not that Icarus is savvy enough to recognize that. "If you don't give me a chance to talk to her, I'll slit her throat the next time we come face-to-face." I deliver the statement mildly; there's no need to yell. I've never hurt Icarus, but the possibility has always stood between us. It has ever since his father brought me home at fourteen. And that's enough to fool Icarus into thinking I could ever hurt her .

He might dig his heels in out of sheer perversion when it comes to Minos's orders, but he genuinely cares about his sister. A single threat against her, and he's always folded like wet paper. Just like he does now. "You are such a bastard."

A fact he never lets me forget.

I don't say anything in response, and a few moments later, he curses again and rattles off a phone number. I hang up without saying goodbye. What's the point? The only thing that bonds us is mutual loathing. I'm the man his father wants him to be, the constant reminder of all the ways he'll never measure up. Not tall enough, not strong enough, not vicious enough. Sure as fuck not ruthless enough. If he was, he would've called my bluff.

But then, being a ruthless bastard means there's no guarantee it was a bluff.

I type the number into my phone without hesitation. There's no point in wasting time. Within seconds, Ariadne's throaty voice is in my ear. "Hello?"

I let the connection wash over me for single moment before I force myself to focus. "Come downstairs and go to the coffee shop on the corner across from your building."

Her shocked inhale irritates me. Did she really think I wouldn't come for her? I meant what I said back in that maze. She's been mine from the moment I saw her. It might have taken me fifteen years to claim her, but I'm sure as fuck not going to let her get away now.

"Don't make me wait."

"I can't meet you, Asterion. I can't see you ever again."

She really believes that, which only makes me angrier. I don't expect her to tell me about the things bothering her. Her father made damn sure that she doesn't trust anyone enough to do that. But I'm not just anyone. We are not just anyone.

She should have come to me the moment she knew she was in trouble. "Get your ass down here right now. You won't like what happens if you make me ask again."

"No." Her voice firms up. "I know my father sent you, and I'm not going to play into his hands. Goodbye, Asterion." She hangs up.

"Son of a bitch." I almost call her back, but it won't change a single damn thing. As long as she believes she's safe in that tower, she's not going to cooperate. Stubborn woman.

So be it. I'll ensure she knows that I can get to her anytime I want. We'll see if that changes her tune.

***

Part of my and Theseus's training back on Aeaea was doing missions exactly like the one I'm conducting tonight. Infiltration. It's a good thing Aphrodite set up Ariadne with Dionysus, because I already have the specs for his building and dossiers on the security team. So I know the solo guy they have on monitors for night shift likes to sneak his boyfriend in every night right around…now.

As if on schedule, a tall white man wearing jeans and a light jacket walks around the corner. He doesn't see me in the shadows across the street. Neither does his boyfriend, who unlocks the door for him and hurriedly ushers him into the building, both of them laughing under their breath. Judging by the information I have, there's a solid thirty-minute window where he won't be watching the monitors too closely.

Perfect.

I circle the building to the delivery entrance where there's a single guard at the door playing on their phone. They never see me coming. I cover their mouth with my hand and stab them a few times in the chest. They go limp almost immediately, and I ease their body to the ground and grab their badge.

Rich people are all the same. Even when they're bolstering up their security, they focus on the front-facing elements, the bits they can see. The same can't be said for the spaces the help occupy. Gotta have those creature comforts.

I take the service elevator up to Dionysus's floor. A whole fucking floor. Ridiculous. But it has a little foyer right as the elevator opens, and that's where I find the two security guards. I throw one knife the second the doors open, taking the left guard in the throat. They fall with a quiet gurgle, clutching at the blade and instinctively yanking it out. They'll be dead within a minute or two.

The other has a chance to go for their gun, but I slam into them before they can draw it. I barely manage to keep us from hitting the wall and potentially alerting Dionysus and Ariadne and stab them enough times for them to stop fighting me. I drop them on the floor and walk back into the elevator, retracing my steps to the delivery entrance and out onto the street.

The whole thing took maybe fifteen minutes.

Once I'm a few blocks away with no sign of trouble, I pull out my phone and dial Ariadne again. She answers after a few rings. "Asterion, you have to stop—"

"Check your front door," I cut her off.

Silence for a beat. "No…I don't think I will."

"Do it. I left a present for you."

She's a smart woman. She knows I didn't go through all that trouble to drop off some chocolates. She sucks in a sharp breath. "You didn't. Tell me you didn't."

I don't bother to answer because I can hear her moving around. She's going to check.

A few seconds later, she gasps. "Asterion, what the fuck? "

"A reminder that I can get to you anytime I want. Tomorrow, Ariadne. Meet me at the coffee shop across the street." I could threaten to do this again as many times as it takes until she does what I want. I could tell her that all these people's blood is on her hands for denying me, even though that's bullshit. But my woman has a big heart, and she hates unnecessary loss of life.

I don't do either. There's no point. That big brain of hers is already saying all that and more.

When she speaks again, her voice is thick. "Fine. I'll be at the coffee shop tomorrow. Just don't kill anyone else. Please."

"Nine sharp." I hang up.

***

Ariadne

I can't breathe. I don't remember falling, but I'm on my knees staring at the dead bodies of the two guards who were stationed outside Dionysus's door. Two people killed by Asterion, just to prove that there's nowhere I can run, nowhere safe enough, to protect me from my father.

From him.

I am such a fool.

I press my hands to my chest and slump back onto my ass. Now's the time to scream, to call for help, but it's too late. They're dead and Asterion is already gone. He wouldn't have called me to alert me of his little gift if he was still in the building and in any danger of being caught.

Shakes work their way through my body as I watch the pool of blood expand. I need to move. At the very least, I need to get up and tell Dionysus what happened, but I can't seem to make my body obey my mind's increasingly shrill commands.

What's the point?

What's the fucking point ?

Of betraying my father? Of fleeing to the Olympians?

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I wanted to be free, but that was never an option. It doesn't matter what side of this conflict I end up on. I'm a pawn to be moved about at the whim of others. To be knocked off the board entirely when I fail to serve my purpose.

A pawn can't even mitigate loss. I failed to alert Apollo in time to save the last Hephaestus. I don't have the information or power to stop Circe from invading. I sure as shit can't stop my father from continuing to stir chaos and violence in Olympus.

Useless. All I am is useless .

"Ariadne? What are you… Oh." Dionysus stops a few feet away, his attention falling on the murdered guards. His already pale face goes a bit gray, but he gives himself a shake. "Come away from the door."

"He killed them," I whisper.

"Yes, I can see that." He leans down and catches me under the elbows. I totter to my feet with his help, but the room feels hazy in a way that suggests I should sit down and quickly.

I watch with disbelief as Dionysus gently shuts the door. "What are you doing?"

"They're both gone." He comes back to me, once again taking my elbow and guiding me deeper into the penthouse. "Right now, I need to make some calls, and you need to lie down. I'll take care of this."

Take care of this? What a laughable concept. There is no taking care of this . Not the dead. Not Olympus. Most definitely not Asterion. "But—"

"Rest, Ariadne. You can't do anything to help right now." He says it kindly enough, but it stings nonetheless. Because he's right.

I allow Dionysus to urge me into my bedroom and watch as he closes the door softly between us. The wood is thick and sturdy, but I can still hear him raising his voice as he calls someone to demand more security and a cleanup.

If he'd asked me, I could have told him it's no use. Two people or twenty, no numbers are high enough to stop Asterion from getting what he wants. And what he wants is me dead. There's no stopping him.

My throat tries to close, and I swallow thickly. At least two people are dead tonight because I resisted him. His hand might have held the weapon, but it was my denial that set him on this course. My betrayal that made my father give the order for my death.

Standing by and letting more people be killed to protect me is the height of selfishness, especially when it won't make a difference in the end.

I lie down on the luxurious bed and stare up at the dark ceiling and wait for dawn.