"What?" he asked innocently. "Tell me none of the rest of you have had that thought. Have you seen this kid? He's a beast on the battlefield. There's a burning fury inside him he unleashes the minute he takes a sword into his hand. I've never seen a mortal so fearless. It's as if he's daring us to kill him and wants to die.... He's definitely not a god with that mind set."
Archon returned his attention to Bethany. "You said he was Athena's champion?"
She nodded. "But it's not Athena protecting him in battle. It's an older god. Surely the rest of you have felt it, too."
Misos agreed with her. "She's right, brother. I tried to strike him down with my own hand, and he broke my axe."
His face turning red, Archon roared furiously. "Then how do we stop this little bugger prince?"
"Apollo." Moving forward to speak, Epithymia swept her gaze around the gathered gods. "As much as it galls me to say this, that Greek bastard is our only hope."
Archon snorted in derision of her proposal. "He wants this throne." He punctuated the word with a slap to the armrest. "Why would he stop his best commander to help us?"
"Because if the Greeks take Atlantis, he'd have to share our domain. He'd be as he is now ... just another god in the Olympian pantheon, ruling here, under Zeus." Epithymia addressed the entire group. "As you said, his ambitions are bigger than that. He wants to sit on your throne, and we all know it. He doesn't want the Greek pantheon here any more than we do. He wants us to conquer them, which is why we're winning in Greece."
Sitting back on his throne, Archon stroked his beard while he considered her words. "It makes sense, and you're right about his ambitions. But we can't tell him the truth about why we need his help to deal with that ... human. He'd mock us. So how do we sway him to our cause?"
Epithymia gave him a droll stare. "Use his lust against him. For a god of moderation, Apollo's licentiousness is well known and documented. He will nail anything. Animal, vegetable, mineral."
Archon nodded thoughtfully. "It's said the princess of Didymos is the most beautiful of all the Greek women. We can use the prince's sister against him. If we tie her to Apollo, King Xerxes will recall his son and his army for the ceremony.... Let them think Apollo is switching sides to be with the woman."
Epithymia smiled. "We tell Apollo we intend to use the truce to solidify our position for a larger attack on Greece in the future. But that we need time for it."
"He's dumb enough to buy that," Misos said with a laugh.
"Bet'anya?" Archon pinned her with a stare. "You negotiate with the Greek."
Was he serious?
Gaping, she was incredulous. "Do I look like Hermes or"-she gestured to the beautiful god standing on Archon's right-"Hephaestion? I'm not a messenger god."
"No, but you are more powerful against Apollo than we are. You have two pantheons you can call on. And while he disregards us, he fears your father ... and you."
Oh, right, throw that in her face. Like she could help it? But she knew arguing was futile. Archon was a prick that way.
Bethany held her hands up in surrender. "Fine. What do you want me to say exactly?"
"That if he helps us with this, we will tear down the gods of Olympus, and leave the entirety of Greece to him and his Apollites."
And that would definitely appeal to the god and his massive ego.
Bethany sighed. "All right. I'll go meet with him. But for my service, there is one thing I want."
Archon arched his brow. "And that is?"
Bethany hesitated. However, at this point, she no longer cared if they mocked her for her love. In spite of her best efforts, she'd been unable to locate the one person whose life mattered to her. And she was not about to do this and put him in danger. "A Greek soldier named Hector from Didymos. He is not to be harmed in the fighting by anyone, god or otherwise."
He inclined his head to her. "Agreed. Now go and let's get this Greek bastard off our backs and out of our lands."
* * *
Bethany paced outside of Apollo's Delphian temple. While she could appreciate the architecture and beauty of the island, she hated this place and the god who claimed it as home base.
"My father will be with you shortly."
She paused to study Strykerius. Like Apollo, he was tall and golden with vivid blue eyes to rival Styxx's. The two princes were probably about the same age, too. Though to be honest, Styxx seemed much older and more worldly. "You're part Atlantean?" She could smell it on him. Unlike the Olympian god, Apollo's son held a lot of their powers.
"From my mother, the queen."