before I can shake myself back to reality. It takes all of my willpower to snap the blankets back and get out of bed.
I don’t know what I’m looking for when I go into his closet, but once I’m there, it’s obvious—the paintings.
There’s the woman with paint on her body and a determined expression. But there are others too. The painting called Possession is the first in an arrangement of nine paintings. It’s the bottom-right one. A neat square, in Zeus’s neat closet.
They’re gorgeous.
And they’re more mysterious than anything I’ve seen here.
What kind of man hides paintings in his closet? And paintings like this? Each one of them is a small masterpiece. And I have no idea what they have in common.
The second one, next to Possession, is of a man whose eyes are almost black. It would be easy to get drawn into them, if a person had the courage to look. Even lingering on the painting makes me feel like he’s looking back. A shadow at his feet could be part of the landscape, or—is that a dog? The tag in the corner of the painting reads Like Father.
Like Father. Like son, is how that goes. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I’ve never seen a picture of Hades before. But the title of the paining—it has to mean something.
Next to Hades is a scene in blue. At first, I think it’s only shades of blue, but then the image resolves itself into a man, swimming in an endless ocean. Swimming or drowning? He looks like he’s at peace.
“You have to stop coming in here.”
Reya’s voice freezes me in place.
“I know,” I tell her. And I will. After tonight, I won’t have any choice. She stands in the closet door with a gown over her arm. “Is that for me?”
“Yes.” She presses her lips together. “Everybody else is at the party. You should be there too.”
A wild hope takes wing. Does she mean I should be there for Zeus? I can’t think of a way to ask that question, and Reya’s brisk about what she’s come here to do. We leave Zeus’s bedroom and go back to the spa, which is empty, the chairs waiting. Reya blows out my hair and creates a cloud of makeup that leaves me a hundred times more beautiful than I’ve ever been. Then she slips the gown over my head.
It’s light, a gossamer thing that gives the illusion that it’s sheer. In reality, my body is covered. It’s an invitation.
A tease.
“There.” She looks me up and down one more time. “You’re beautiful.” She sounds almost sorry. Reya bends to kiss my cheek. “You’re ready.”
24
Zeus
How does it go in the old stories? There was a princess. That’s enough for them to get started.
I’m in the main room of Olympus, with all its tables and booths, all of it dressed up like a fucking ball. It shouldn’t be a surprise that Brigit has turned herself into Cinderella.
I’m still surprised.
And annoyed, because I gave her an order, and now she’s disobeying me. Tonight of all nights. I’m already on edge.
Well. That’s the game we’re playing, isn’t it? She glows in the lights that the decorators have strung around the room, and my heart twists. She’s too hopeful for this. Too innocent, somehow. Despite what I’ve done to her. And I’ve done everything I wanted to do, everything another man will do to her later tonight. She learned to survive it.
So, though I want very much to take her up to my bedroom and punish her for her disobedience, I don’t. I end the conversation I’m in and go to her, offering my hand at the last moment. Offering a smile.
Brigit blushes.
“It’s the perfect gown for you,” I tell her. She doesn’t trust the compliment, telling me so with narrowed eyes. “It is,” I insist. “Come. Let’s show it to all our guests.”
Guests. Some of them are undoubtedly enemies.
“Our guests?” She arches an eyebrow.
“Some of them are here for you.” It’s a sidestep to her question. It’s only the first one of the night.
“How are we going to do that?”
I’m leading her through the room, and she’s rightfully turning heads. We stop every few feet so I can introduce her to another person, her name on their lips. Every man on her list is here tonight, some of them wrapped around other women while they bide their time. They’re keeping it relatively tame tonight. That doesn’t do a thing to disguise the