“They tried. One of them was turned into a monster and left in the Pits to fight. Many of your soldiers didn’t know what Demeter was doing to Persephone, but a good bit of them didn’t question her methods with what she was forcing us to do. One of them shot me over a cliff.”
Artemis just sniffed.
“Yes, but that was battle, and you were her enemy. You can’t get mad at someone for being a soldier.”
Oh, I wasn’t. But River sure was, and she hadn’t forgotten. Plus, I was pretty sure Tryphon ate her anyway, but I didn’t bring that up. Eating handmaidens was generally looked down on when I was on Earth. She probably wouldn’t like it now.
“Oh, I’m not mad. I’m just letting you know what went down in the Underworld and why we are here.”
“I’ll agree to help on one condition.”
Of course, there were conditions. Why couldn’t anything be easy with these people?
“What are your terms?”
“A pardon for my handmaidens that are still alive. I want Hades to release them and send them back to me. Unharmed.”
Well, shit. This entire time, we were operating under the idea Artemis didn’t give a shit about them. Maybe at one point, she didn’t, but it sounded like she really did now. Enough to risk the lives of everyone here just to get them back. I thought even Hephaestus believed she didn’t care about them. I guess we were all wrong.
The problem was, Hades was pissed. And when he got pissed, he was a total bear. Would he calm his anger enough to realize we needed Artemis so the rest of us wouldn’t die? I knew him to be a reasonable man—unless he was pissed.
I held out my hand.
“I’ll do everything I can to make that happen.”
Artemis gave my hand a hard shake, but not hard enough to be an asshole about it.
“Then you have yourself a deal. You know, you’d make a good handmaiden.”
Not a fucking chance. I learned my lesson working for Athena.
Chapter 21
River
I
could admit when I was wrong. I was an asshole about a lot of things, but not that. I’d said a lot of nasty stuff about Artemis. We all did. It still upset me one of her people hurt Pavlina, but it sounded like she really cared about her handmaidens. She didn’t just tell Pavlina that she would help us if we could get them back. She went around and personally apologized to every single person here, including my father, Finn, Charley, and Solron. She was also very kind to me when she spoke to me.
Yeah, we had all been wrong about her. Hephaestus, too, because he had some preconceived notions about the handmaidens as well. Maybe it had been that way ages ago, but it certainly wasn’t now. I was eyeing Artemis and Hephaestus standing in the living room.
“I’m not sure how many other ways I can apologize. I want to make this right and help you, but I also have to think about my people. Most of the women who join me do so because they don’t want to take a husband and spit out more kids to be slaves. Several of them are in relationships with each other, just like you want for Hermes and Eros. I can’t bring back the lives that are now trapped in the Pits in the Underworld, but I can bring who I can home.”
“I’ll make it happen, Artemis. I’ll talk to Hades,” Hephaestus said.
“I also need to apologize to you, Hephaestus. I know I snubbed you like everyone else, but I want to explain why. We can heal any injury. The fact that Zeus gave you a permanent limp was terrifying to me and a lot of us here. It scared us that if it was possible and he could do it to his own son, that the rest of us weren’t safe from him. It wasn’t right. It never was, and I’m sorry.”
Well, there was a fucking apology I could get behind. And I guess I understood why they made him feel like an outsider. His limp was just so minor to me. I barely noticed it until he pointed it out. But I could see why it would be a significant thing to a race that healed any injury and couldn’t die until now. Still, a lot was going on under Zeus’s nose. They could have been nicer to him where he couldn’t see now that I knew they weren’t omnipotent.
Hephaestus just bowed his head.
“I get it. I totally do, and I’m over it. No one here was outright cruel to me. Our plan is good, and I have a feeling Athena might bring more than just Poseidon. She’ll bring anyone sympathetic to them. I’m sure I’ll see all the bullies there. Like I said, this wasn’t why I forged this weapon. If there were another solution, I would have taken it. Demeter brought my mate to my forge to get a weapon to kill Hades, thinking it didn’t exist. She thought River would try, and he would turn on her. It was part of the ruse.”
Artemis wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed Hephaestus into a tight hug.
“I’m glad you found her, Hephaestus. I have to get back home.”
They mostly left us alone. Dionysus served us lunch then disappeared with Apollo and Hermes. I think that was the first we had been alone since we got here. Things were just moving so quickly. Kimon grabbed my waist and yanked me into his lap. Demos and Pavlina started stroking my arms and playing with my hair. This was not the time for orgies.
“I like her,” Pavlina said. “We were completely wrong about Artemis and her handmaidens.”
Hephaestus collapsed in an overstuffed chair.
“She’s changed. She didn’t use to treat them like that, and there was a time she laid out her own curses. Most of the people she cursed were men who hurt women, but not always. Let me call Hades.”
“How did you get a phone?” Demos asked.
That was a good question. I would guess when Zeus kidnapped him, he took it to go through it. Hephaestus just smirked.
“After I broke Aphrodite’s neck, I stole it back and disappeared out a secret passage. Zeus left it in his war room. He was probably trying to crack the passcode. Hermes could have done it, but it’s not like he could have asked him, now could he?”
“Can you put it on speaker?” Barbatos asked. “I need to talk to him too.”
Hades must have been waiting for the call because he picked up on the first ring.
“Is it done? Are you safe?”
“We have allies, but we’ve hit a bit of snag. One ally we have has a request. Artemis wants her handmaids back.”
“Since when?” Hades boomed. “She hasn’t given a shit about them before. Have you forgotten what they did in my realm? Do it without her, then.”
“Hades, be reasonable,” Barbatos said. “Everyone here is out of practice with a bow except her. We need her to take Zeus out so we can get rid of everyone in the room. Your plan is going to work. Several people here want change. We have our own plan, and it involves getting them all in one room. We don’t know how many people Athena will bring, and we could end up outnumbered. We want Zeus out of the equation before we storm in here. I know Ares pretended to be the God of War, and he’s going to be there. All we’ve heard is what an awful bully he is.”
Yeah, and I was going to kill that fucker.
“Hades, do it. I’ve already forgiven them. They were just following orders. Artemis may care about them now, but you know how she feels about deserters and giving up. They were only doing what they were told, and some of them really didn’t know. Before my mother drugged me, it was only ever the same women over and over, and they couldn’t leave the temple. I know some of them should have spoken up, but what do you think Demeter would have done to them if they mutinied and couldn’t get to Artemis?” Persephone said.