he wanted to take her flying with those spiffy new bat wings she had. She promised him that later they could. May I say that I loved how Pavlina was dressing River? So much black leather, so little time.
River was trying to fling knives while fending off my tentacles when Hades came running into the room. I had no idea what he wanted, considering we hadn’t seen him in a while, so he could try to placate Zeus verbally. Like that would ever work, but we had to keep up appearances. River dropped her knife to her side, and I used the opportunity to yank her to my chest before Kimon could grab her. That Minotaur was sneaky with his hugs.
“Please tell me we are going to Olympus now,” she said.
Hades ran his fingers through his black hair.
“Hephaestus jumped the gun and escaped. Zeus will most likely be coming here to search for him.”
“Where is he?” River demanded.
I’d like to know that myself. Hephaestus always came to River when he was here. The only time he was apart from her was when he was on god business. Was he caught? Hades looked furious and started pacing.
“Hephaestus has some good points and some terrible ones. On the one hand, Zeus will not stop now that he knows there’s a weapon out there like that. On the other, Hephaestus wants to kill Zeus.”
And the problem with that was what now? Kill them all. I’d never dined on Olympian before. I’d knife them in the heart and feast on god flesh. Fuck, I’d eat every last one of them until I got a little tummy ache. I looked at Pavlina, and she gave me a curt nod. She wouldn’t mind eating them either. They’d hurt every last person in this room, including Hades.
Kimon just rumbled.
“I think we should let him. Zeus hurt Hephaestus, and I doubt they were having tea while Zeus had him now. Kill them all!”
“Zeus is going to be even angrier because Hephaestus snapped Aphrodite’s neck to escape.”
“Go Hephaestus,” Pavlina said.
“I wouldn’t mind snapping that bitch’s neck either,” River growled.
“We aren’t mad at Aphrodite, remember?” Hades pointed out.
“I am,” River said.
“I’ve never liked her,” Demos sniffed.
“She’s not all that bad,” Persephone said, floating into the room.
That was Persephone for you. She was always looking for the good in people. I met Aphrodite through Poseidon, and she was a total twit. I didn’t have to ask him to know how she treated Hephaestus. I wouldn’t mind snapping her neck myself.
“Oh, she is,” Kimon said. “Remember when you had lunch, and she dumped that stupid kombucha on the waiter because he messed up the photo she was taking for her Instagram?”
Persephone grimaced.
“Okay, yeah. She is pretty bad.”
“When Zeus realizes he’s gone, he’s going to come here looking,” Hades moaned. “I hate when he visits.”
Barbatos had been watching training.
“If the goal is to kill Zeus, why don’t we kill him at the gate? He had to knock the last time. I guess he doesn’t know about the entrance I used?”
“Because he didn’t bother asking. Hephaestus wants a team in Olympus to take Zeus out, and he’s requested all of you. Zeus only knows about one entrance to the Underworld. Hephaestus’s plan is for me to tell him he’s not here and request that he use Alethia to verify that. I can’t lie to her, and I’ll be telling the truth, anyway. Hephaestus is not here, and I don’t know how to make that weapon. I’ve already asked Persephone to move the weapons to a location I don’t know, so technically, I don’t know where Zeus can get them either. The blade used to kill Demeter was destroyed when she died, so I won’t be lying about that either.”
I rubbed my tentacles together. I loved it when a loophole benefited us. He’d be lying through his teeth, but technically telling the truth. I so loved that. I felt like I needed to let an evil villain laugh slip.
“So, we’re going to Olympus?” River asked.
“I insist you take Charley, Finn, and Solron. You’ll need witches and a shadow demon just in case,” Barbatos said. “I’ll fetch Solron.”
“Hephaestus is going to let us know when Zeus is coming. We’re going to use his gate crossing to sneak you into Olympus,” Hades said.
“Well, then River definitely needs to learn to use her wings,” Demos said.
Fucking phoenix. He wasn’t wrong, but I knew he said that to get her alone.
Chapter 6
River
H
ephaestus was free. Holy shit. He was out.