Yes, I did think that at one point, but then I found out exactly what they were planning; and that changed everything. I didn’t want her involved in this. I didn’t want her getting hurt. Maybe if I let her think that we were here in Olympus still because Hades had won his fight for selfish domination… maybe then, she would be mad at me and she would return to the Underworld. Or go back down to Earth and return to her mortal home where she was safe. I could only hope.
“He set you free because she got through to him. He’s trying to be better for both of you, but siding with the Titans...” I paused for effect, glancing down at my feet as I mentally prepared myself for a big lie. Once more, Valentina interrupted us as I looked up, and she silenced me with her hand.
“If you’re going to tell me it really was self-preservation, just save it. Don’t tell me. I’m going to pretend like you were doing the right thing.”
I scowled; this wasn’t working. When had she gotten so headstrong and stubborn? “Fine.” I sounded like a petulant child who was being placed on time-out, I was also feeling a bit emasculated.
But she was so beautiful. My warrior Queen, ready for battle. Nothing I said was going to change her mind.
She was set to fight to the death for her loved ones. I couldn’t fault her heart, and frankly, I wouldn’t change it for the world. However much it annoyed me at the present.
She let go of me and stepped around me to survey the room, “alright, where are they keeping Aidan?” I followed her, turning to distract her from the pool of blood once more by reaching out and sweeping back a piece of loose bang with my fingers. I brushed it behind her ear, feeling that spark of attraction that always stunned me when we touched.
“Well, they were talking about a chair that Lincoln used—”
She cut me off again: “Savannah broke it when Aidan rescued her.”
“Yeah, they mentioned that, then one of them came up with a backup plan— something about a rock and an eagle.” Oliver had suggested it, but I didn’t know where this rock was, or who the eagle was; so that wasn’t particularly helpful. Valentina started to walk away again, and I rushed to catch up, trying to keep my body between her and Leto’s blood. I could always chance showing it to her in hopes it might deter her dangerous plan, but I didn’t want to see her upset, which was inevitable.
“Prometheus. Zeus tied Prometheus to a rock and punished him by having an eagle fly to him during the day, tear his liver out and at night it would grow back.”
That was a visual I could live without, even despite my feelings about Aidan, “sounds about right. They seemed to be all for punishing the Olympians for the wrongs committed against the Titans.” That was putting it lightly, I realized.
“What about Atlas, he’s a Titan.”
Last time I’d seen Atlas was here, and he’d gone off somewhere vague and mysterious. Not without mentioning telling someone about the success of the takeover. I still didn’t know whom he meant. But Atlas hadn’t been at the meeting earlier today, and he hadn’t been mentioned since. That could mean a lot of things with the Titan, who tended to withdraw himself when he was most needed. But I didn’t have a good feeling that he had survived the night what with his loyalty to the Olympians.
“Val, I don’t think they...”
“No. He told me himself it’s nearly impossible to kill him unless someone wants him dead. I can’t imagine they would’ve bothered to put that much thought into him. They must have him somewhere like they do Aidan.”
“I can look for you. As for Aidan, how are you going to find the rock?”
“The same way I find everything else around here, I’m going to summon it to me.”
“I don’t think it’s that easy.”
“It wouldn’t be if I asked the mountain to take me to Zeus, but instead I’m going to ask it to take me to Prometheus.”
“How is that going to help? He’s probably here in Olympus.”
“No, not the person. In the library, there are thousands of tomes that hold the histories of the Gods and Titans. If I ask to see Prometheus’s, the tome should be able to tell me where the rock was located.”
“And what if it doesn’t?” I didn’t think she’d have that much time here without being discovered. It was too dangerous for her with a target on her back. I also wasn’t comfortable with her wandering around and risking being caught by Soren without me knowing.
Then, to my utter disappointment she shrugged carelessly. “Val,” I said as sternly as I could manage. I needed her to take this more seriously. Maybe I should show her the blood pool.
“I don’t know, I never really thought about it. Why wouldn’t the tomes hold geographical information? I mean, they’ve told me everything else I need to know.”
I just didn’t want her wasting time in the library where she could be caught. I also couldn’t spend any time there because how highly uncharacteristic it would be. Especially if they were watching me like the rest of the Olympians. “Alright, well if your tomes can’t give you the information you need then —”
“The computers!” She cut me off again, “I don’t even need to go to the library. I’ll just go back to my apartment and use the Internet. Atlas said everything I’d ever need would be on there, so why wouldn’t this? I have to change anyways...”
I looked down at her, surprised to find she was still wearing her date night dress. Why hadn’t she changed? I realized then, she must’ve thought, or Persephone had given her the impression, that we had been watching her in the apartment. I almost wish I had, if only to ease the ache I’d felt for the last two weeks. But sadly, I had only seen her the handful of times we’d gone back to her.
“I wasn’t watching you, you know.”
“Huh?”
“In the apartment, if you had changed, we weren’t watching. We were preserving your dignity in that way.”
“How very thoughtful of you.”
“I know,” I smiled, but it felt awkward, it certainly wasn’t a gesture I was used to using. But she laughed anyways and
I felt more at ease, even after she put her hand on my arm.
“And if I can’t find it on a computer, I’ll go to the library.” She finished up her plan with an affirmative nod and I stood there scrutinizing her for a moment. There was no convincing her not to do this, so I would simply just have to do my best to distract the Titans and keep them off her scent. However delicious I found it to be.
“Then what?” I would go along with this only if I had the full details and nothing less. I couldn’t let anything go wrong for her; I would take all the heat if I had to.
“Then I go and find Aidan, and we’ll go back down to Earth.”
“What about the key?” Aidan needed that if the rest of the Gods were going to come back up here. He was the only one who could invite them.
“The Erinyes told me that the key changes form, it might take me forever to find out what the key actually is and we don’t have that kind of time. You do reconnaissance and see what you can find. Then you can meet me on Earth.”
Reconnaissance, she sounded so serious about this whole thing. This was a proper secret mission in her eyes. It was adorable, even if the circumstances were quite deadly.
“Where?” I didn’t know if I would be able to get away, but I’d play along. So long as she could get to Aidan and free him, she’d be safe. I didn’t need to worry about freeing myself. It wasn’t important.
“Stonehenge.” I was surprised by her pick. Of all the places in the world, she chose one that was known worldwide as being a center of power and magic. Well, at least it was in the legends.
“Really?”
“Yes.” She was grinning in excitement, proud of herself, and I just wanted to kiss her again.
“Okay, Stonehenge.” I forced myself to focus once more, “I’ll meet you there.” I hoped it was a promise I could keep for her, but I wasn’t very optimistic. At least I’d know where to look on the screens to see her if I could even see the scree
ns after this.
She hugged me quickly and was gone so fast from my arms that it was a shock to my system. A voice in the back of my mind reminded me this might be the last time
I saw her, and I kick-started myself again, moving after her.
“Val.” She turned and I caught her waist between my hands, pulling her flush against me, as we kissed once more. Every inch of passion and love was imbued in that one kiss. It was one that said everything I was too afraid to say myself. I just hoped she could hear it beyond her own wild thoughts.
“Be safe,” I murmured against her soft, swollen lips. “Please.” I reluctantly let her go, feeling her body shrink away from me. I opened my eyes as the warmth dissipated altogether
“I’ll do my best.”
“I mean it.” Gods, I should tell her everything. I shouldn’t send her out there this blind.
“So do I.” She moved back into my arms and kissed me one more time, quick and fleeting, as she turned and left the room. I closed my eyes again and took a deep breath, holding it until my lungs burned for a reprieve.
As I exhaled, I looked around the throne room, wishing I could do something to return it to its former glory. But that wasn’t what I really wanted to fix. I wanted to go back two weeks and spend the two weeks kissing Valentina, getting to know her better, hold her in my arms and let myself truly and deeply fall in love for the first time. But I couldn’t, and restoring the throne room wasn’t going to fix that either. This was all that was left now.
If I ever wanted to stand a chance of seeing her again, even if through a screen, I needed to protect her. I had to find the others, distract them and somehow keep Soren from ever knowing she was here. I wasn’t going to let him add her to his collection of corpses.
As I left the throne room, I thought about the other Titans. The mountain brought me into another room I once recognized as the swimming pools Charlotte used for her parties, but it too, had been destroyed and the pool was now stained a sickly shade of pink. I could only imagine the cause of such a dye.
Lounging on the deck was Hanna, Soren, and Montgomery. They were laughing and talking about something, but Gage and Oliver were missing. Father and son were dangerous ; but the real man to fear was here, so I would stay. I still had a few seconds before they noticed me, so I took a moment to stare at Soren, trying to read something else on his features; but for all my searching, he looked normal. If not for the circumstances of the mountain, you would never know that behind that handsome and charming grin lay the product of a millennia worth of dormant evil.
Chapter 12
"Griffin!” Soren pressed a false smile to his features as he rose and came toward me. I descended the last few steps and crossed toward him myself, wincing slightly as he slammed his hand down on my back like we were old friends. All I could think of was, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. He knew.
“I thought maybe since we’re in this together, it wouldn’t hurt to be a little social with the group.” I flashed what I hoped was a charming, genuine smile, but even I could feel the strain in my cheeks.
“Of course, c’mon... Sit with us.” He moved back next to Hanna, and I watched him slide his hand up her thigh. Apparently, mother and son boundaries were beyond him. I took the seat on Montgomery’s left and nodded my hello to him. So long as I kept them preoccupied here, I kept Valentina safe. I still had no way of accounting for Gage or Oliver, but hopefully, they wouldn’t stumble on her.
“We were just talking about our mortal lives.”
I looked up in surprise, the shock lacing my voice as I quickly replied: “really?” It seemed to me, what with their obsession with their Titan’s lives and histories, that they had completely suppressed the souls of their mortals like Cronos had with Lincoln. I found it hard to believe that they would keep their mortal halves intact; what with their desire to wipe out the entire human population.
“Yeah, it’s interesting to see the parallels of our lives.” I considered Hades for a moment, what did I have in common with him besides the darkness and our uncanny ability to destroy everything we set our hearts on?
“Right,” I said quickly, realizing I needed to reply when I looked up to find them all staring at me. “I grew up in London,” I said, stating the obvious, “single parent for the most part... My dad left my mum when I was a kid. But she had a string of boyfriends to, uh, keep her company; if you know what I mean.” Soren grinned at me in a way that let me know he did know what I meant. His hand instinctively tightened around Hanna’s leg. “I left home when I was 13 because...” My jaw tightened as memories flooded back and I shook my head, trying to push them back to the depths they came from. “Shit happened,” I finished poorly, with a scratch of my head. “Lived on the street until they brought me here.”
That was the gist of it, for the most part, without a few choice events of course. Like the fighting, the abuse, the alcoholism, the drug use, the prostitution. I stood up quickly, glancing around for a drinks table. Reading my mind, the mountain brought a whiskey bottle to the table in front of my eyes, and I grabbed it quickly, helping myself. I could feel the other’s eyes burning into my back, the judgment that no doubt laced their features branding me. They didn’t have to tell me I was a pathetic piece of shit, I was aware of that fact.
I took another deep swig of the whiskey, but it tasted like water. It didn’t burn anymore; it didn’t even make me feel lightheaded as I drank it. My body was getting stronger with each day that I accepted Hades more into me. Did that mean the alcohol would lose its effect completely? How else would I keep the monster at bay? I turned back around, forcing another tight smile as I sat back down.
Evil as I knew they were, they at least had the decency to change the topic for me. Hanna brought up the fact that she thought we should open the mountain to the monsters, make them feel welcome so that they would be on our side in case a rebellion was ever incited. She seemed so sure she could control her “children” but how well disciplined were monsters? I could only image her bringing them to the mountain and all hell breaking loose when they started tearing into her, or Gage, or—hopefully—Soren. Now that I imagined that, I was all for the plan. It would save Valentina and Aidan a lot of troubles if they were stupid enough to get themselves killed like that.
But Soren saw the flaws of that plan and told her so. He told her that their gift for obedience was Earth where they would have full reign, save for a compounded city they intended to keep humans in for their amusement. I could only picture what their source of amusement would be like: a gladiator stadium, where they placed unsuspecting humans up against Hydras or Cyclopes. They’d sit in their cloudy thrones and look down in bemusement at the terror and bloodshed.
That was probably exactly what they would do.
“How do you intend to keep the humans locked in the same city?” I looked up, letting my train of thought take the reins.
“We’ll terrorize them. So long as they think it’s safe to leave the confines of the city walls they will, so we’ll show them it’s not. We can send pestilence, plagues, and monsters... Hell, if Gage ever felt like going down there himself, he’d be welcome too. Now that would give the mortals a reason to stay within the walls.”
“You’ll only keep one city in the entire world?”
Soren turned to look at me, thinking about this for a moment before nodding his head, “you’re right. What a waste. We’ll keep a few cities. Maybe one on each continent and then that’ll give us centuries of amusement.”
I smiled awkwardly again and returned to my bottle, I was only making things worse for the mortals. So I occupied myself with drinking, hoping state of tipsiness would find me soon. By the bottom of the bottle, I was still drinking it like it was water. I needed something stronger or I needed higher quantities. I stood, drawing the attention back to me as I did.
“Leaving so soon?” Soren turned to look up at me. l
“Empty already.” I wagged the bottle at my companions and Soren
nodded, then stood next to me.
“Let me see you out, then.”
I didn’t intent to go long; I just wanted to get something stronger from the bar. I didn’t have much choice in my chaperone, but at least this way, the most dangerous of them all was coming with me. I had to wonder why though.
At the door, Soren grabbed it, controlling where I would go when I stepped through, before he nodded me forward. A sense of uncertainty gripped me as I went through the threshold, bracing myself for whatever atrocities awaited on the other side. But it simply brought me back to Styx.
“This is where you wanted to go right?” I turned around, trying to relax slightly, as Soren came through after me, and nodded before excusing myself to go up to the bar. I hopped over the ledge to reach the alcohol, pulling down a few bottles of the harder stuff—Everclear, Absinthe, Balkan 176 vodka.
I nodded at the selection, “want some?”
“No, no... Help yourself.” Soren lowered himself into a stood against the bar, watching as I forwent a glass and took a swig of the Everclear. The burn was back, I sighed gratefully.
“Does it help?”
“Help what?”
“Help whatever it is you’re trying to drown.”
I looked up at Soren, eyes narrowing as I tried to guess what he was playing at. Why did he think we were friends enough to talk about this? Why did he think I would even indulge him into my motivations? It was a dangerous line to cross, but I couldn’t help but feel it had been erased some time ago. We both had simply been pretending it was still there.
“Why did you follow me here?”
“We need to have a chat.”
That didn’t sound promising.
“About what?” I took another long sip of the Everclear to prepare myself for whatever he was about to say.
“Your future, I suspect.”
I looked up at him, our eyes locking on one another as we sized the each other up.
“What about it?” I asked carefully, taking another long drag of the 190-proof alcohol. It burned, alerting me to its effects as it curdled in my empty stomach and raced through my veins.
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