This wasn’t just a feast for the Olympians. Someone, probably Eros, because he wasn’t with us, went around inviting humans. Awkward didn’t even cover this at first. They served all the food buffet style, and there was a wine fountain for people to serve themselves. The Olympians looked like they didn’t even know how to fix themselves a plate of food, and the humans looked like they didn’t know if they should ask if they should make them one.
I guess we weren’t just here to kill people. My monsters and I worked the crowd trying to get the humans to enjoy the food and wine and give the Olympians the stink eye so they wouldn’t ask the humans to feed them.
It seemed to take ages, but when Apollo and Hermes broke out their lyres, people finally relaxed. They were fucking talented as hell, and people were getting a little more wine in them. The humans still didn’t know why they had been invited to this party and weren’t asked to work it.
I’d give it to Dionysus. He waited until everyone was good and drunk before he dropped his bomb about the new society. Problem solved. The Olympians wouldn’t have to have awkward conversations with their servants that could go wrong, and they’d have no backup.
He did it in a way that they didn’t find out about the weapon. All he said was that they had overthrown Zeus and a few other Olympians. He swore the servants of Athena, Poseidon, and Ares would have things better, and he offered passage to Earth for anyone who wanted it. Hera gave the same offer to help them if they wanted to leave with her.
I couldn’t blame these humans. A lot of them wanted to leave right that minute and take their chances in an unfamiliar world. I would give this to them. Maybe it was fear, perhaps it was something else, but they didn’t hurl any insults at the Olympians on their way out. They just wanted to get as far away from them as possible.
There were a few that were too afraid of Earth and what it was like to leave. Each group had someone who spoke for them, and they answered their questions. I noticed the ones that wanted to stay and weren’t asking questions weren’t dressed in rags and filth. Some less vocal humans looked well fed and taken care of. I was guessing they lived with the very Olympians we had worked with to bring this all about.
They all seemed to expect this too. I knew a lot of the humans that lived with Dionysus, and they seemed to know this was coming. So did a lot of them. I noticed many humans that seemed to see this coming flocked around Hermes, Apollo, and Eros. The ones that surrounded Hestia looked well cared for, but none of them had asked to leave. I guess Hestia really had changed since she tormented Demos and his family.
I was glad we didn’t have to kill more Olympians after seeing how small their numbers truly were. I was glad none of them were making a scene at this party while their servants disappeared on them. They’d had a huge wake-up call.
Still, I hoped leaving one of Hephaestus’s weapons with them didn’t lead to another revolt because they were angry about losing slaves.
Chapter 29
Hephaestus
E
veryone finally seemed content to drink and party. A lot of humans were now back on Earth. Some wanted to wait for Hera, and there were some that wanted to stay. The humans currently at the party were enjoying the food and wine. The Olympians had finally realized they could serve themselves, and some were trying to talk to the humans here.
Still, I didn’t feel safe drinking. There needed to be at least one sober person here, and I already knew Dionysus made intense wine. I waited and watched until people either fell asleep where they sat or went home. I was exhausted, but I didn’t sleep. Olympus had coffee beans, and Dionysus had an Olympian version of an espresso machine. It wasn’t exactly the same as what the humans had, but it made a potent brew.
I carried River and Pavlina to bed and just sat in Dionysus’s courtyard and watched all these drunken people sleeping on the grass. This had gone smoothly so far, but at any moment, someone could change their mind and fight. I realized I wasn’t alone. Hera sat next to me with her own mug.
“You don’t seem like you enjoyed the party, Hephaestus. Things went a lot smoother than I expected. Artemis said your injured demon has perked up and is hitting on her handmaidens. You didn’t lose anyone you brought. Why do you look so morose?”
“People still died, Hera. I didn’t like what I felt in that room. I wanted to be the one that killed Ares. I wanted to be the one that drove the dagger in his heart.”
“No one would have blamed you if you did. I tried pulling him aside and asking him to just ignore you. He was horrible to you. I wouldn’t have minded killing him if I knew how to fight with a blade.”
“Hera, you’re going to have to learn how to use your fists if you insist on living on Earth. You’re going to have to take self-defense classes. My weapon might not be there, but people have changed since you were last there. People don’t fear you as a goddess anymore. If you piss them off, they’ll chop you into little pieces and drop you in the ocean. You saw what happened to the others when they tried to fight us with magic. Olympians need to learn other means besides magic if they are opening the gates because there are other realms with magic and other supernatural creatures on Earth.”
“It’s strange, isn’t it? I’ll bet they lived in Greece when we were there too and stayed hidden. I’ll bet there were creatures like your witch friends and demons that hid from us. Zeus was so focused on Greece. I’ll bet they fled and immigrated somewhere we weren’t.”
“I’m almost certain you’re right. Witches and warlocks visit my forge sometimes, and I don’t think all of that is because humans still teach each other about us. Charley said they have their own gods and goddesses they pay tribute to. Some of them believed what they taught about me enough to seek me out. Some of them wanted awful weapons, and some wanted a little demigod. Some wouldn’t take a hint, and I threw them into my forge to get rid of them.”
“Then why are you so upset about Ares? He was worse to you for way longer than some witch who wants a sperm deposit.”
I sighed. Why was I so upset that I wanted to be the one to kill him? I’d killed before, but it was always bad people. Everyone we had killed had done bad things. Way worse than any witch I’d tossed in the fire. Was it because I kept telling myself they didn’t know any better? Because they did.
“I guess there’s just a part of me that thinks if all of you could want change, we could have given them a chance. I never pegged you for wanting to start a business in London.”
“Zeus never would have changed. You’ve been gone for a long time. Over time, he grew increasingly paranoid about being overthrown. Athena, Poseidon, and Ares fed into that and stoked his fear because they were trying to find a way to do it. None of them would have changed. If you had given them the option, they would have pretended to be okay with things long enough to get their hands on your weapon and killed anyone who stood in their way. I think you know this.”
I blew out a sigh and sipped my coffee. Yeah, I knew that. I had been gone for a long time, but I totally knew that. Zeus had been paranoid long before I left. It was part of why he injured me so badly. I stood up to him, and he thought that would lead to me overthrowing him. Well, it kind of did. I only came up with that weapon to protect myself from him.