The Call of Monsters (My Beautiful Monsters #3) - J.B. Trepagnier Page 0,72

a little demigod. Some wouldn’t take a hint, and I threw them into my forge to get rid of them.”

“Then why are you so upset about Ares? He was worse to you for way longer than some witch who wants a sperm deposit.”

I sighed. Why was I so upset that I wanted to be the one to kill him? I’d killed before, but it was always bad people. Everyone we had killed had done bad things. Way worse than any witch I’d tossed in the fire. Was it because I kept telling myself they didn’t know any better? Because they did.

“I guess there’s just a part of me that thinks if all of you could want change, we could have given them a chance. I never pegged you for wanting to start a business in London.”

“Zeus never would have changed. You’ve been gone for a long time. Over time, he grew increasingly paranoid about being overthrown. Athena, Poseidon, and Ares fed into that and stoked his fear because they were trying to find a way to do it. None of them would have changed. If you had given them the option, they would have pretended to be okay with things long enough to get their hands on your weapon and killed anyone who stood in their way. I think you know this.”

I blew out a sigh and sipped my coffee. Yeah, I knew that. I had been gone for a long time, but I totally knew that. Zeus had been paranoid long before I left. It was part of why he injured me so badly. I stood up to him, and he thought that would lead to me overthrowing him. Well, it kind of did. I only came up with that weapon to protect myself from him.

“It still didn’t have to be this way. Zeus could have stayed out of the Underworld and left me alone. He could have kept the weapon a secret, and Olympus wouldn’t have known about it.”

Hera started playing with my hair as she had done when I was a child.

“You’re focusing on the four lives that were lost today instead of the countless lives that were saved. You saw how many humans left. You saw how many wanted to wait for me. The ones who stayed are going to have a better life here. You helped with that. Instead of focusing on the fact that your temper got the better of you, focus on all the humans you saved and the fact that Olympus is going to be a better place.”

I missed this. I missed the chats with my mother. Hera had always been so fierce when it came to Zeus cheating, but never with me. She always had this way of making me feel better. I turned my head into her hand.

“Yeah, I guess we did. I’d still feel better if we destroyed all the weapons. That was my intention, but I understand why Dionysus and the others wouldn’t feel safe with me knowing how to make them.”

“I know. I haven’t had the chance to get you alone. Tell me about this woman I found you in bed with.”

Oh, wow. Talking about women with my mother. That was something we’d never done, even when I was married to Aphrodite.

“She’s simply amazing. I think you’d like her if you got to know her.”

“And you’re okay sharing her with those monsters?”

I just shrugged.

“She has a lot of love to give, and they are my friends.”

“I’m glad. Why don’t you go to her and get some rest? The sun is coming up, and these people will be too hungover to fight.”

I stood up and stretched. My back let out a pop. Olympians were not above their bodies creaking, and I’d been sitting on this bench for ages. She was right. These people would feel way too awful to fight. I had time for a cat nap. Speaking of cats, I needed to talk to River about that cat she whipped out when we were fighting Ares. That was sexy.

Hera stood and wrapped her arms around my waist. This was nice. I didn’t lose my entire family.

I still had my mother.

Chapter 30

River

H

oly shit. Olympian parties caused massive hangovers. And they wanted to boot us out of here right after the party. Hephaestus wanted to stay and help, but they wanted us all gone. I’m not sure if they didn’t trust us or if it was because Pavlina was carrying a bag with Athena’s head in it, but they