Heart of Fire (Blood of Zeus #2) - Meredith Wild Page 0,52
butler as he saunters into the house.
The drive home is too long. I’m a tangle of emotions. Nervous and hopeful and then terrified all over again that there may be no good way out of this mess we’ve made. My only comfort will be the shelter of Maximus’s arms again. I grow needier for him with every mile we cover and stoplight we clear. Soon…soon…
But when I return, the house is eerily quiet and entirely too dark.
“Maximus?” My voice bounces off the high ceilings.
“He’s asleep.”
I whip my stare toward the sound. Small sparks of light crackle off Z’s fingers, illuminating his face in the darkened sitting area. I move farther into the room and switch on a table lamp.
He looks me over with an appreciative gaze.
“My my my. If Maximus saw you in that dress, I’m not sure I could have dragged him away from you.”
I drop onto the couch adjacent to him and fold my arms across my bodice defensively. I’m not in the mood for diplomacy or for his frivolous flattery. “What happened?”
He lifts his brows. “A few things. Some good. Some not so good. And your beloved may have a bit of a headache come morning…”
“What?” I stiffen and jolt, moving to perch on the cushion’s edge. All too quickly, my vision from earlier bombards my brain. If Maximus and Arden really did lock horns…and then trade blows…
“He’s fine,” Z reassures as if reading my mind. “He just had a little more of the devil’s poison than he probably should have. Then again, I wasn’t too far behind him in that department.”
The devil’s poison. I frown. Then his meaning clicks. “He’s…drunk?”
“Very.”
I’m a little annoyed and worried over this news, but my curiosity about the meeting itself wins out. “What good came of the meeting, then?” The next question, what not good came of it, is there too, but I don’t voice it aloud. I trust—and dread—he’ll get there, whether I like it or not.
“Well…the meeting itself, I suppose,” he finally says.
I grip the cushion’s edge to avoid overtly clenching my teeth. “Excuse me?”
“Getting three conceited bastards such as ourselves to sit down and have a conversation without starting a war is always a win.”
Outwardly, I deflate a little. Inwardly, I’m ready to toss the whole coffee table through the window. I truly hope—and damn near pray—there’s more good news than that.
“But what about Maximus and me? What did Hades say…about us?”
Z curls his bottom lip between his teeth, a gesture that makes him look either torn or confused.
“We didn’t get as far with that as I would have liked,” he finally confesses.
I slap my hands on the cushions now. “Are you serious? You didn’t even discuss it?”
“No, we did. But we’re of two minds when it comes to this dilemma, and it will likely take more than one meeting to sway him. Hades… He’s very…”
“What?” I demand when he tries to buy time with the lip-gnashing move again.
He frowns. “He’s very interested in you, I’m afraid. Specifically.”
I push together my own brows. “Which means what? Are you sure?”
“I am. Maximus couldn’t talk about anything else once we left the Labyrinth. After he and Hades spoke in private, he seemed convinced that this is about more than my brother keeping all his subjects in the right place.”
Nothing about his countenance gives me a glimmer of hope. In fact, I’m washed over with fresh dread.
“But you said Maximus was drunk.”
He lifts his brows. “Oh, yes. Definitely.”
“And you still believed him?”
Z shrugs. “Gods are unpredictable. Much like the weather. But if Maximus’s instincts are correct, you being the object of Hades’s fascination… Well, it could be an interesting development.”
My eyes bulge. “Interesting? Nothing about this is interesting, Z. This is terrible and terrifying. My fate is hanging in the balance here, and you’re both out getting drunk!”
I shoot to my feet, enjoying the brief advantage of height over him, which is ridiculous because he’s a god and I’m just wearing stilettos. The inequity between us is staggering, but I’m not deterred. I’m furious to the point of fires igniting in my eyes, enough that I see the little bursts reflecting in his.
“You should be fixing this, damn it, not sitting around drinking and bickering and bantering.”
He sighs and rests his cheek against his propped-up fist. “But Kara, that’s how politics works. If all we did was remove the hindrances and fix our problems without delay, eternity would be so incredibly dull.”
I give in to gnashing my teeth, internally biting on