“The power with which you’ve barged in here on behalf of your queen instead of your king?” Z bellows. He flings his hand down as if tossing aside the leash, but the female on the pavement seethes in deeper torment.
“Would you have me pardon those who’ve broken a sacred oath simply for their heritage?”
“Enough. Explain yourself!”
Somehow, the Fury struggles into a proud but quivering kneel. Despite her terrified trembling beneath the seething stare of her king, she clearly digs deep for a well of arrogance. She licks her lips, as if anticipating the reaction she’ll incite with her next words.
“Don’t worry. Her Majesty proposes a compromise. Maximus is your bastard, after all,” she croons.
“If Hera has sent you with a message, deliver it now before I send you back to her,” Z spits. “You can figure out how to explain you’ve failed your mission.”
Megaera resettles her shoulders and proudly lifts her head. She doesn’t move from that stance but cuts her glare over and jabs it into Maximus. And then into me. “You have perpetuated the sin of broken promises. Knowingly neglected your given vows.”
I’m gulping on bitter, raw nerves before she’s even done.
At the same time, Z is pulling the trigger on a withering glower. “And as usual, my loving spouse believes her palace party line before checking the facts.” He sidles forward. “You can slither back to your queen now and tell Her Majesty that if she lays a finger on my boy—”
Megaera throws her head back, hissing out a long and gleeful laugh. Even on her knees, the Fury seems to hold on to some semblance of her power and purpose.
Slowly, she levels her gaze to Z’s. “My queen wishes you to know that Maximus Kane shall never set foot again in Olympus. Not him, his mother, nor his demon lover. If you dare attempt it, trust that they will know sudden and swift deaths. Hera will show not a shred of mercy.”
She draws out the last word with a savoring smile before holding up one hand, her two longest fingers extended.
“So I swear it—and very happily so.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Maximus
My lungs pump with enraged air. My muscles are bound by ropes of nearly painful tension. At once, I wonder why. It’s not from shock or betrayal at Erin’s revelation but from much deeper feelings. Darker discomforts. An overriding conflict between yearning to fight or flee. To run or destroy.
My thoughts float back to the fuzzy memories I have from my days in Olympus. Should I return to the villa as Mom keeps bidding me or lash back at Clymene and her snickering herd with all the force I can summon from my seething body?
A low, livid snarl unfurls from me. Satisfaction sets in watching the sound sink into Megaera like my own teeth, but the feeling is fleeting. The decades in between are like blips to her ancient soul. The only reason I’m important is because my existence validates hers. Another bastard to go after, further stamping her meal ticket with the gods.
“Leave.”
Only a word, but it surges my senses like a victory cry. I’m not even saying it for the smirking woman at my feet. I’m demanding it for the boy who silently begged Regina for the chance to shout at them so long ago on the lawn in front of the villa in Olympus.
“You’ve delivered your message,” I emphasize with my teeth locked and my jaw gritted. “And now you can get out.”
And this time, I accept what I should have so long ago, during all those years of making Mom so sad and frustrated with my constant demands for information. Sometimes the past isn’t once upon a time. Sometimes I don’t remember has to be good enough.
The resolve should feel good but doesn’t. Even as Megaera complies, coiling into a tight ball on the ground and then dissolving into desert dust and disappearing completely, I struggle to accept my new insights. But my head and heart return nothing but a sense of strange emptiness, especially through the long silence that stretches after the Fury vanishes on the wind.
Finally, Z grits, “Don’t worry. Hera’s meddling can only go so far. I’m not her simpering husband. I’m her king!”
His roar causes ripples in the lingering puddles on the ground and even makes Kara stumble back by a step.
The only unfazed one is Mom, who pins him with a cold stare. “And you wonder why she sends spies instead of emissaries?”
My father clenches his formidable jaw. “She isn’t the anointed ruler of the kingdom. She has no jurisdiction over those welcomed or denied there.”
“Of course not, dear.” Mom flashes a saccharine smile to match the tone that earns her his harsher glance. “Oh, come on. She’s more subversive than that, and we both know it.”
“Which means that for now, we’re going to table the subject.” I step up, gathering Mom beneath my free arm. “Just like we’re going to say thanks but no thanks to the golden gates pass, Pops.”
This time, my parents give up a joint jolt of reaction—though likely for different reasons. Mom verifies it by intensifying her stare, scanning my face with open curiosity.
“How…did you know that?” she queries. “About the gates?”
“Hey, you know me,” I say with affection. “Probably read it somewhere.”
But the cover is for her ease alone. How did I suddenly know that?
But is it that important right now? Not when I’m too damn worried about my father fighting me on this. With a casual blink of his eyes, I could be standing in the land of glowing playtime balls on the lawn in front of our private Olympus villa. No way. I won’t accept it. Not now, when I’m unclear about what realm Megaera’s really slunk off to.
Even without her in the mix, there are too many other factors to consider here. Priorities I can’t and won’t ignore. Reg, Sarah, and Jesse. Gio and Kell. Jaden, who’s hopefully escaped from Rerek’s custody by now. Crazily, I even consider Veronica. Leaving them now, knowing the full brunt of Hades’s wrath is likely still to come…
I refuse.
I don’t yield the decision, despite the silent thunder of Z’s fume.
Somehow, Mom gets that. She pops a hand to her hip and an approving chuff to her lips. “Good call. Same call I would’ve made.”
Z’s glare gains miniature lightning bolts. “When all I want to do is what you haven’t allowed me to? To protect you—”
“Like you never did.” There’s a give in her voice that doesn’t match the pride in her frame. “Not even when you thought you were.” She shifts as if to shield me from his fiercer glare, despite how my beard grazes the top of her head. “You didn’t believe me then, and I don’t expect anything different now. All I ask is that you let us go in peace. We’re going to collect Kara’s sister from inside, and then we’re going to decide, as the family we are, how to figure this crisis out.”
There’s little change in my father’s tumultuous bearing. Of course, there’s still the not-so-small matter of how we’re going to handle whatever’s coming next. Clearly, Hades doesn’t know the meaning of graceful resignation. His vendetta has already been marked by the heavy tolls on Kell, Jaden, and half of Los Angeles. How far will he go before it’s enough? How deeply will he tear into our family, friends, and city?