so because they don’t want to take a husband and spit out more kids to be slaves. Several of them are in relationships with each other, just like you want for Hermes and Eros. I can’t bring back the lives that are now trapped in the Pits in the Underworld, but I can bring who I can home.”
“I’ll make it happen, Artemis. I’ll talk to Hades,” Hephaestus said.
“I also need to apologize to you, Hephaestus. I know I snubbed you like everyone else, but I want to explain why. We can heal any injury. The fact that Zeus gave you a permanent limp was terrifying to me and a lot of us here. It scared us that if it was possible and he could do it to his own son, that the rest of us weren’t safe from him. It wasn’t right. It never was, and I’m sorry.”
Well, there was a fucking apology I could get behind. And I guess I understood why they made him feel like an outsider. His limp was just so minor to me. I barely noticed it until he pointed it out. But I could see why it would be a significant thing to a race that healed any injury and couldn’t die until now. Still, a lot was going on under Zeus’s nose. They could have been nicer to him where he couldn’t see now that I knew they weren’t omnipotent.
Hephaestus just bowed his head.
“I get it. I totally do, and I’m over it. No one here was outright cruel to me. Our plan is good, and I have a feeling Athena might bring more than just Poseidon. She’ll bring anyone sympathetic to them. I’m sure I’ll see all the bullies there. Like I said, this wasn’t why I forged this weapon. If there were another solution, I would have taken it. Demeter brought my mate to my forge to get a weapon to kill Hades, thinking it didn’t exist. She thought River would try, and he would turn on her. It was part of the ruse.”
Artemis wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed Hephaestus into a tight hug.
“I’m glad you found her, Hephaestus. I have to get back home.”
They mostly left us alone. Dionysus served us lunch then disappeared with Apollo and Hermes. I think that was the first we had been alone since we got here. Things were just moving so quickly. Kimon grabbed my waist and yanked me into his lap. Demos and Pavlina started stroking my arms and playing with my hair. This was not the time for orgies.
“I like her,” Pavlina said. “We were completely wrong about Artemis and her handmaidens.”
Hephaestus collapsed in an overstuffed chair.
“She’s changed. She didn’t use to treat them like that, and there was a time she laid out her own curses. Most of the people she cursed were men who hurt women, but not always. Let me call Hades.”
“How did you get a phone?” Demos asked.
That was a good question. I would guess when Zeus kidnapped him, he took it to go through it. Hephaestus just smirked.
“After I broke Aphrodite’s neck, I stole it back and disappeared out a secret passage. Zeus left it in his war room. He was probably trying to crack the passcode. Hermes could have done it, but it’s not like he could have asked him, now could he?”
“Can you put it on speaker?” Barbatos asked. “I need to talk to him too.”
Hades must have been waiting for the call because he picked up on the first ring.
“Is it done? Are you safe?”
“We have allies, but we’ve hit a bit of snag. One ally we have has a request. Artemis wants her handmaids back.”
“Since when?” Hades boomed. “She hasn’t given a shit about them before. Have you forgotten what they did in my realm? Do it without her, then.”
“Hades, be reasonable,” Barbatos said. “Everyone here is out of practice with a bow except her. We need her to take Zeus out so we can get rid of everyone in the room. Your plan is going to work. Several people here want change. We have our own plan, and it involves getting them all in one room. We don’t know how many people Athena will bring, and we could end up outnumbered. We want Zeus out of the equation before we storm in here. I know Ares pretended to be the God of War, and he’s going to be there. All we’ve heard is what an awful bully he is.”
Yeah,