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)
That doesn’t stop me from moving his gun out of reach. Just in case.
Icarus is openly weeping, clinging to Minos’s hand like a child. But Ariadne kneels there, her expression cold and contained. Later, she’ll break down. I’m certain of it. But right now, it’s almost as if she’s bearing witness.
We don’t have to wait long. Minos’s breathing becomes weak and soft and then stops altogether. I’m the one to rise first, urging Ariadne to her feet. Then we both have to drag Icarus off his knees. “Come on, Icarus. We have to go. We can mourn later.”
“You shot him,” he whispers. “I can’t believe you actually shot him.”
Ariadne flinches, the reaction so slight, I doubt her brother notices. Not that he would anyway. He’s too lost in his own fucking world right now. I want to shake him and yell in his face. To point out that the only reason she shot their father was to save her foolish brother’s life. Neither of them will thank me for pointing it out. Not now. Not like this.
So I simply wrap my arm around Ariadne’s waist and give her a squeeze. And then I keep it there, ready to catch her if her knees buckle. “There’s not much time left. We have to go.”
“You’re not going anywhere.”
I start to spin around, but the voice isn’t coming from the land. It’s coming from the dock ahead of us. A mountain of a man moves out from the shadows of a particularly large yacht. I recognize him instantly. Poseidon.
“Fuck,” I breathe as people melt out of the shadows on either side of us. There are five—no, six. Too many to fight without risking Ariadne or Icarus. Damn it, I should’ve come to the marina earlier and cleared our way. Not that it would’ve helped, because I would’ve had to leave to deal with Hermes and retrieve Ariadne and Icarus. Fuck, my brain is running in circles. I don’t see a way out of this.
“It’s too late, Poseidon.” Ariadne sounds more tired than I’ve ever heard her. More defeated. “Minos is dead, but you have bigger things to worry about. The barrier will fall and Circe is coming for you. Taking us won’t do a damn thing to stop either.”
“So you say.” He shrugs. “We’re going to lock you up all the same until we know for sure. Now isn’t the time to let enemies of Olympus run rampant.” He motions at his people. “Take them.”
34
Ariadne
I don’t know if I believe in curses, but nothing has gone right since we came to Olympus. Since before that, even. Maybe things started to go wrong the moment my father threw his ambitions in with Circe and turned his eye on this city.
And now look at us. I have my father’s blood literally staining my hands. My brother will never forgive me, even if he doesn’t realize it yet. And for what? Our escape from the city is closing before my very eyes.
Poseidon’s people approach slowly, cautiously. It’s then that I realize I still have the gun in my hands. I start to lift it, but Asterion gets there first. He plucks it from my hands as if taking a toy from a toddler. I thought I had a good grip on it, and he doesn’t hurt me in the taking, but one moment the metal warmed by my palms is a comforting weight, and the next it’s gone.
This time, at least he doesn’t push me behind him. But he does step forward to face Poseidon, raising the gun to point at him. “Not another step.”
Poseidon ignores the order and moves forward. “Shoot me if you must, but my people will open fire on your companions the moment you do.”
Asterion glances at me, his eyes wild with the desperation coursing wildly through my body. He shifts his stance to point at the person to the right of Poseidon, their body clothed in black with his distinctive crest on their shoulder. “Maybe you’re willing to die, but are you willing to let them die? You care about them more than the others. Every one of them can walk away from this confrontation if you make the right choice. Stand down.”
I search Poseidon’s face for some sign of weakening resolve. There is none. “Every one of them knew what they signed up for and agreed to the risks.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck. We’re not getting out of this. My brain scrambles, frantically spinning in circles, but there are no answers to be found. There’s no clever way out of this. “Please!”
Everyone is so focused on me and Asterion that they don’t see Icarus move. Truth be told, I don’t either. It seems like one moment he’s cowering on the other side of Asterion, and the next he darts forward, too quick to stop. Poseidon doesn’t see him coming.