33
Apollo
The nightmare only gets worse as time goes on. Zeus sends Ares. In the thirty minutes it takes her to arrive—she must have been waiting close by because there’s no way to reach this location from the city center in such a short time—Minos and his family have already tried to bully their way into the garage. Holding that door while it takes everything I have to stay on my feet… Well, the less said about it, the better.
Three black SUVs of an identical make and model to the ones behind me in the garage careen up the driveway. They screech to a halt close enough to have the Minotaur taking several quick steps back to avoid making contact with the front bumper.
Ares steps out, her gorgeous face set in forbidding lines. She’s wearing a perfectly tailored pantsuit, which would be at home in a boardroom if not for the shoulder holster clearly visible as she lifts her arm to motion the occupants of the other two vehicles forward.
I recognize one of her partners, Patroclus. He’s one of the best strategists in the city, a tall white man with short dark hair and square frame glasses who prefers jeans and T-shirts to the suits the others under Ares’s command favor. He’d been injured badly in the competition to become Ares but appears to have made a full recovery in the intervening weeks. There were rumors that Helen had a fling with Patroclus and Achilles during the tournament, but they turned the rumor mill on its head when they came out publicly as being in a polyamorous relationship a few weeks after Helen became Ares.
Zeus hadn’t been thrilled with that, but there wasn’t a single thing he could do. His sister had outplayed him. With all of Olympus salivating over her new relationship, he couldn’t afford to meddle without worrying about his already precarious reputation.
Ares makes a beeline for Minos. “You. Get out of my way.”
“With all due respect—”
She lifts her brows. She won’t thank me for making the comparison, but she’s never reminded me more of her father than in this moment while she faces down a blustering Minos and intimidates him into taking two large steps back without saying a single word. She gives him one last derisive look and turns to me. “Where is he?”
“This way.” Cassandra hasn’t move from my line of sight, and I haven’t dared leave the door unmanned, but I’m eager to get back to her side and remove her from this whole nightmare. I never would have asked her to come here if I knew things would become actually dangerous.
“Patroclus,” Ares snaps.
“I’ve got the door,” he says, and he falls in behind her, blocking Minos and his family from approaching. Two of their people stay with him and the other two follow us as we head into the garage.
“This is fucked,” Ares murmurs.
“Yes.” There’s nothing else to say. “Theseus was unconscious when I left, so hopefully he hasn’t…” My voice trails off when I see Cassandra’s face. Her lips are pressed together tightly and she’s even paler than normal. I follow her gaze to where Theseus has dragged himself up to lean against the tire of the SUV.
He gives me a bloody smile. “Too late.”
“He claimed the title by right of might,” Cassandra whispers. “With me as witness.”
“Fuck.” Ares closes her eyes for a long moment. “I don’t suppose we can kill him and pretend we found them both like this?”
I’m not one to advocate murder, but I don’t know how to explain Hephaestus getting replaced in a way that will continue to keep the assassination clause under wraps. If the rest of the city finds out how relatively easy it is to take on the title of one of the Thirteen…
“Ares.” One of her people previously guarding the door hurries up, their pale features tight. “The press are here.”
“That motherfucker.”
She turns toward the door, but I throw my arm out to stop her. “We have to clean this up. Now. It’s too late to go back, but at least we can attempt to do damage control.” I don’t know how to manage it, but this will be our only chance to get ahead of things.
She presses her fingers to her temples. “Right. I’ll face the press and send that little cockroach outside scurrying. Patroclus will help you with all this.” She casts a furious look at Theseus. “Enjoy your time as Hephaestus. It won’t last long.”
He smirks. “This title suits me better than Ares anyways.”
“Keep telling yourself that. At least I won my title honestly.”
Theseus shrugs. “I didn’t make the Olympian laws. Take it up with the founders.”
“You son of a—”
“Ares,” I cut in. “We don’t have time for this.”
She spins on her heel and stalks toward the door without another word. I take Cassandra’s elbow, steering her deeper into the garage. “I’m sorry.”
“You keep saying that.” Her voice is wrong: strained and hollow. “We witnessed a murder, Pan almost died, and you were beaten badly enough that I thought he might kill you, too. Is this what your life is like, Apollo? You hardly seemed fazed.”
I want nothing more than to whisk her away from this place, but Theseus has made sure that’s impossible. By Cassandra being his witness, he’s effectively chained her to Olympus until this is resolved. “Sometimes being one of the Thirteen means bumping up against violence and doing things I’m not proud of. I knew that when I accepted the title. I’m sorry you were drawn into this.”
“Swimming in waters deep enough to drown me,” Cassandra murmurs. She presses her fingertips to my jaw. “We really are different people.”
I hate the reminder. I hate that she’s shaking and there’s nothing I can do to go back in time and spare her from this. “I brought you here. I know apologizing doesn’t help, but I can’t seem to stop doing it.”
“I brought myself here.” She shakes her head, her gaze clearing a little. “Stop trying to take responsibility for me, Apollo. I might be drowning a bit right now, but I jumped in knowing that was a possibility.”
“I won’t let you drown, love.” I tug her closer and she comes willingly, slipping into my arms. It feels like I breathe a little easier as soon as I have my arms around her, even with my ribs screaming at me. “You shoulder too much. You never ask for help. I want to help you carry your burdens, Cassandra. Not because I feel an obligation but because it means I’m standing at your side and there’s nowhere else in this world I’d rather be.”
She buries her face against my chest and gives a broken laugh. “Only you could be romantic standing a few yards from a murder scene.”
She’s right. It’s the wrong time, but it’s always been the wrong time with us. Even if I’d never hired her, never brought her here, never known how good it could be between us…I move through a world she wants nothing to do with. I can’t leave and she can’t stay. Not if she doesn’t want to drown. “If I don’t say things now, I’ll likely never get another chance.”
Cassandra tightens her grip around my waist. When she speaks, her voice is muffled against my shirt. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
“I know.”
She lifts her head. “I love you.” A broken laugh escapes. “Gods, I’m so pathetic. Now I have to apologize, too. I—”
I cover her lips with my fingers. “No. Don’t take it back.” I lean down and press my forehead to hers. “I love you, too. I have for a very long time.”
“We’re a mess.”
“The messiest.”
“I can’t stay.”
My chest goes hollow. “I know.”
She takes a shuddering breath. “I… We can’t do this right now. I’m stuck here until the tribunal of the Thirteen.” She tenses. “Oh gods, I forgot about Atalanta.”
“What about Atalanta?”
She looks up at me. “Minos has her tied up in the basement. He wanted her out of the way so he could…” She shudders. “Do what he did.”
“Patroclus.” I quickly relay the information she gave me.
Patroclus nods, but his gaze is on the scene before us. “Okay. I’ll send people to retrieve her.”
Cassandra starts to twist to look at the body, but I turn us away. “Don’t. It won’t help.” It won’t be long now. Patroclus instructs Ares’s people to move the body into the back of one of the SUVs. They’ll transport Hephaestus back into the city center where he’ll undergo a quick examination, and then his body will be delivered to his family.
Somehow, I don’t think Artemis will forgive me for failing to save her cousin.
I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive myself either.
Things happen quickly after that. Patroclus sends two of his people to find Atalanta and another pair to ensure Pan actually reached the hospital. Another two are tasked with transporting Hephaestus’s body back to the city. Patroclus approaches us. “It’s time to leave. I’ll be driving you personally.” I start to protest, but he holds up a hand. “You can’t go out in front of the press looking like that without giving rise to the kind of questions we’re not ready to answer.”
He’s right. I hate that he’s right. There’s little I can do to fix this situation currently—or potentially at all—but there’s plenty I can do to make it worse. If the press thinks I have something to do with the Hephaestus changeover, it’ll be like throwing chum to a group of sharks. They’ll go into a frenzy.
I glance at the doorway. Ares will have them well in hand, but… “They went after Artemis, too. No matter how capable she is, we shouldn’t leave Ares alone with Minos and his people.”
Patroclus’s jaw goes tight. “Achilles will be here shortly, but Ares can take care of herself. The only reason they got the jump on Artemis is because she didn’t see them coming.” He casts one last look at the doorway and motions for me and Cassandra to get into the car.
If I were alone, I might argue, but Cassandra needs to get out of here and she won’t leave if I don’t. I can see it in the stubborn look in her eyes. “Fine.” I open the back door for her and then follow her in.
Patroclus wastes no time getting behind the wheel. He presses the garage door and barely waits for it to rise completely before he backs out. The other SUV follows. I catch sight of several vans in the driveway and a cluster of people and cameras around Ares as we drive away at a perfectly reasonable speed. Our departure turns some heads, but Ares smiles and says something that makes everyone shift their attention back to her.
She’s good at her job. The title of Ares has never been more beloved than it is now. And bringing in Achilles and Patroclus as her seconds-in-command has ensured that she has no weak points to speak of. It was truly well done.
Easier to think about that than what comes next. I squeeze Cassandra’s hand. “I need you to know—”
“I have to stand in front of the tribunal and testify that Theseus successfully pulled off the assassination clause. Murder committed with his own hands, and the proper words spoken afterward in front of a witness.” She’s half-twisted away from me, staring out the window. “I’m aware of the steps.”
I would spare her this if I could. It’s not likely to be a comfortable experience for anyone. I clear my throat. “I’ll ensure Zeus holds up his end of the bargain.”
At that, she finally looks at me. There are tear tracks beneath her eyes and she looks more exhausted than I’ve ever seen her. “I know.”
“Cassandra.” I glance at Patroclus, who’s doing his very best to pretend he can’t hear us, and then back at her. “Please come home with me. At least until we get this figured out.”
She looks like she wants to argue but finally gives a jerky nod. “Okay.”
We don’t speak again until Patroclus pulls the SUV to the curb outside my building. It’s only then that I realize we’re both a mess and Cassandra has nothing to change into. I clear my throat. “I’ll send someone to your place to get your things.”
“Thanks.” It’s a testament to how rattled she is that she doesn’t argue. That she barely looks around as we head through the lobby and take the elevator up to the top.
All the members of the Thirteen who reside in the city center—Zeus and Hera, Ares, Athena, and myself—have what’s come to be designated living spaces. The title of Apollo owns this entire building; I inherited that income as well as the penthouse itself when I took over the position. I’m so used to seeing it that I try to look around through Cassandra’s point of view…but I’m too exhausted to make it work.
It’s too much. That’s about what it amounts to. Too much chrome. Too much marble. Too much money spent on things that hardly matter beyond aesthetics. But it’s as safe as any place in Olympus, so it’s home.
I lead us through my front door, not pausing in the open space that is my living room and kitchen, instead pressing my hand to her lower back and guiding her down the hallway to where my bedroom and home office are. She stands there silently as I turn on the shower but bats my hands away when I reach for her zipper. “I can do it.”
“Cassandra, let me take care of you.” I pause. “Please.”
She hesitates and finally nods. “Only if you promise to let me bandage you up after we get clean.”
Truth be told, I’m not certain there’s anything to bandage. My eye is swollen and that side of my face throbs with each beat of my heart. Theseus got me several times in the ribs, and I have no doubt my skin is a rainbow of bruises, but I’m moving well enough now that I don’t think anything’s broken. But if it will make her feel better to see for herself, I’m hardly going to tell her no. “Okay.”
I strip her slowly, letting her presence ease the fear still thrumming through me. She’s safe. The situation might not be, but she’s safe. I have never, not once, put my personal feelings or relationships above this city.
I did that today.
I have to live with the guilt of that. I don’t know if it would have made a difference, but I don’t know that it wouldn’t.
Cassandra steps out of her panties and turns to me. “There’s nothing you could have done.”
“Are you a mind reader now?” I try for a smile but drop the attempt halfway through.
“No.” She shakes her head, dark eyes serious. “But I know you. We were operating with the information we had at the time. If not for Hermes all but inviting me to eavesdrop, we wouldn’t have saved Artemis, either. Even with the attack on Pan and our theories, we didn’t have all the facts.”
Rationally, I know she’s right, but it’s nearly impossible to look at things from any shade of positive light. “A man is dead because I failed.”
“A man is dead because Minos orchestrated a plan to get multiple members of the Thirteen into one place and then his sons attempted a triple murder.” She frowns up at me. “Lay the blame where it deserves to be, Apollo.”
She unbuttons my shirt slowly and then carefully peels it away from my body. Cassandra hisses out a breath at the sight of the bruises already blossoming beneath my skin. “Promise me that you don’t think it’s worse than bruising, or I’m going to take you to the hospital right now.”
I cover her hands with mine. “It’s not worse than bruising. I’ll be hurting tomorrow, but there’s no sharp pain or difficulty breathing that would indicate something more serious.”
She stares at me for several beats and then nods. “I want to get cleaned up and then…”
I wait, but she doesn’t continue. Carefully, I take her chin and guide her back to look into my eyes. “And then?”
“Would it be okay if you held me for a while?” Her lower lip quivers a little and she makes a visible effort to still it. “I don’t think I’m doing as okay as I’m acting.”
My heart twists painfully in my chest. I would do anything to have saved her from this experience, from witnessing the very act that had such a horrific impact on her life twelve years ago. “Of course, love. Anything for you.”