Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Which means if we go to the countryside, we’ll be just as trapped when Circe lays siege.
“I understand that you think—”
“Sweetheart, listen to me.” I take her shoulders and move her back just enough that she looks up to meet my eyes. “I’ve been in contact with Hermes. That barrier is coming down. And the second it does, we’re getting the fuck out of here. We can’t do that if we’re miles away.”
She stares. “We’ll circle back to that little nugget of information in just a second. Even if the barrier comes down, it’s not as if we have a clear path to get out of here. There are only two roads and the bay. You don’t think the roads will be watched?”
They will be. And we can’t even get to one, because it leads out of the lower city. I don’t know what will happen to the barrier that runs along the river when the external one goes down, but we can’t afford to assume that it will come down, too.
“We’ll take a boat. Hermes is bringing the barrier down on her timeline, not Circe’s, so there’s a decent chance the blockage won’t be in place when it happens. We can slip away before anyone knows what’s happening.”
I can’t read her expression. I can’t tell whether it’s filled with hope or despair. Finally, she says, “I don’t have a boat tucked somewhere convenient. Do you?”
“Not yet.” The marina will have plenty of pleasure yachts of the rich and bored, but I haven’t had reason to spend time there. “Guess we’ll just have to steal one.”
26
Ariadne
Too much is happening too fast. I’ve been known to pivot in my time, but going from planning to bring down the tower to flat out abandoning Olympus and fleeing for our lives… It’s a lot. Steam swirls around us as I stare at Asterion. “So you’re just going to, what? Sneak into the shipyard and steal a private vessel? Do they even have private vessels in the shipyard?”
“The shipyard is only for commercial shit. There’s a marina right next to it. I think most of the fuckers in the upper circles have boats there, but you never hear about them using them.”
I seem to remember reading something about the marina, but it never came into play for anything we were doing in Olympus, so I didn’t bother worrying about it. I suspect that most of the people who own boats in Olympus do so simply for the sake of owning them, not to spend time on the water. The barrier cuts across the bay, so theoretically there’s enough room for water sports, but if you misjudge your location, you could be in for a world of hurt.
Which also applies to us.
But we can’t move forward until we address what he initially said. “Hermes? The woman who betrayed her city and people? The one who will betray us too if given half a chance?”
Water runs down his scarred face, and he’s never looked more beautiful to me—or more intense. “I’m not looking for her loyalty, sweetheart. She wants the same thing I do right now, and that’s enough for me. That barrier is coming down. When it does, we’re going to be ready to get the fuck out of here.”
He keeps saying that. And maybe he’s right. Maybe it’ll go exactly like he plans. The barrier will come down, and we will escape before any of the enemies on either side of the line make a move. But what then?
I don’t want to ask the question. I don’t know if the answer even matters. Except…it does matter. To me. “What happens after that, Asterion?”
I half expect him to brush me off, but he just strokes his thumbs over my shoulders. “I have some money stashed away. Some connections that can get us new papers. I don’t expect that anyone is going to be looking for us at first—or maybe even at all—but there’s no reason not to cover our trail as soon as we possibly can.”
Hope flickers to life in my chest, but I stomp it down. “And then?”
He curses. “We talked about this. If you don’t want to drive south to Brazil, we can do whatever the fuck we feel like. You have a whole room papered with dreams of traveling. I know you don’t like hearing it, but I have a skill set that can keep us in good finances for a long time. Maybe forever.”
I shiver despite the heat of the water hitting my body. I know what he’s talking about. Doing the same job he did for my father: murder, wet work, a whole host of sins. I’ve never shied away from what Asterion is capable of, but…
Maybe I’m being too precious. I can do the backflips of logic necessary to justify the violence he’s committed in service of my father. But can it truly be justified? No, probably not. Which means it’s not that much of a reach to commit violence for other people, to put money in our pockets and ensure that we can live the life we desire.