The Call of Monsters (My Beautiful Monsters #3) - J.B. Trepagnier Page 0,12
about that bitch. I want to go again.”
“I’m not going to stop you.”
I ran the entire courtyard three more times. I got better at not tripping, and I figured out how to use my wings for balance, but I never got airborne. As much as I wanted to get this figured out, I was still pretty proud of what I managed to do.
Maybe soon, I could join Demos in the air.
Chapter 7
Kimon
I
wanted to be alone with my baby bird. I watched her exhaust herself trying to take flight, and I just wanted to wash her back and snuggle with her to make it better that she couldn’t do it. She accomplished a lot. I could tell from the sidelines she was making progress every time she took off running again, but I knew she would focus on how she didn’t take to the skies so she could help Hephaestus.
I didn’t get my alone time, and River didn’t even get a hot shower. When she agreed to leave it for the day, Hades came out to pull us to a meeting. Pavlina insisted food be brought because River had to be hungry after all that running.
Hades had been ignoring us to do his own thing, and we were used to that. River wasn’t. Hephaestus made a move without Hades’s approval, and now he had to scramble and plot. Now we were getting called into the planning part. I liked Hades, but he was a bit of a control freak, and even though they didn’t get along, I don’t think he liked the idea of killing his brother.
I thought Hephaestus had the right idea. What was he supposed to do? Let the Olympians torture him while Hades tried to talk things out? I would have snapped Aphrodite’s neck and escaped too. I had to deal with her when Persephone would have lunch with her, and I have no idea how Hephaestus stayed married to her without flinging himself into his forge to get away from her.
We all sat down in Hades’s meeting room, and there was no food here. River needed to eat. Everyone noticed.
“Where’s the food I asked for?” Pavlina said.
Hades just rolled his eyes.
“Unless you want me to feed her finger sandwiches, the food needs time to cook. It’s coming. Sit down and pay attention.”
Barbatos had been with us watching her try, and he beamed at River.
“You were so close. I’ll bet you can manage it tomorrow.”
“You almost had it a few times,” Pavlina said.
“I wish I could fly,” Charley sighed. “Despite rumors to the contrary, I can’t enchant a broom and go flying wherever I like.”
“Seriously? I’ve seen you do all kinds of shit,” River asked.
Charley just yawned.
“Witches and warlocks have been trying to perfect that for ages. We have levitation spells, but they only last long enough to bring something across the room. A few have enchanted the broom, but it goes feral, and you can’t sit on it. It’s more likely to beat you to death than carry you anywhere. You got pretty close.”
“Yes, River’s wings are amazing,” Hades snapped. “Can we focus on my brother?”
“Yeah, sorry. What did the asshole do?” Pavlina said.
“Is he coming so we can sneak into Olympus?” Tryphon said.
Hades ran his fingers through his hair.
“Zeus may be a lot of things, but he’s not stupid. He knows Hephaestus can make a weapon that can kill him. He also knows if he comes to the Underworld in person and everyone here rallies around Hephaestus and me, he could get trapped in the Pits of Tartarus with his father, and Kronos would love to get his hands on Zeus. He knows Hephaestus escaped, but he called me instead of coming here.”
Well, shit. Zeus was pretty stupid too. Most of the time, he thought with his cock. We couldn’t entice him to the Underworld with anything like that because everyone here hated him, and he knew that. Zeus needed to die. Hephaestus and the Underworld wouldn’t be safe now that he knew about that weapon. Trying to reason with him was out.
Sending him to the Pits was also an option, but how would we get him in the Underworld in the first place?
“So, what’s the plan, then?” Tryphon asked.
“Zeus is on the warpath. He sent Aphrodite to seduce the answer out of Hephaestus, and he’s not happy he snapped her neck and escaped. He’s playing this carefully. He didn’t come charging to the Underworld when Aphrodite woke up after she healed. He even checked with