Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 95187 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95187 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
If Circe decides to take Hera’s offer, I don’t know that I can stop her. I might not even know she’s accepted it until I’m up to my neck in blood. The thought leaves me cold. I never should have taken her out there. I never should have let her have access to Icarus and, by extension, Circe’s phone number. Fuck.
Normally I’m at my office for several hours every day, but there hasn’t been a normal day in far too long. It looks much the same as when I left it a few days ago, sparse and utilitarian and matching my needs perfectly. The desk is large and sturdy, the chair equally so, the computer old but serviceable. The wall behind where I sit holds a paper calendar with various shipping schedules marked in carefully color-coded highlighter. The only real decorations I have are a few prints of Olympus’s rocky shorelines by a photographer I’ve liked since I was a kid.
It’s the polar opposite in almost every way to my uncle’s house. I can’t help glancing at Icarus, searching his handsome features for his reaction to this space that is more mine than anything else he’s seen so far. He studies everything with open curiosity. I look away before disappointment can filter across his handsome face.
“Have any ships been able to get through?” I ask, determined to focus on the problem before us and not Icarus.
“No.”
Damn. That’s what I was afraid of. Thanks to myself and Demeter, it will take some time before Olympus’s citizens feel the pinch of the blockade, but it will happen—and sooner than I’d like. I drop into my seat and slowly tap my finger against my thigh as I try to sync my breath with the contact. I don’t know what to do. I’m not equipped for this. Other than keeping watch…
I glance at Icarus, but while Orion might be more open-minded than Polyphemus, surely they would draw the line at me asking a known enemy for advice. Better to save any questions for when we’re alone.
Icarus sits on one of two chairs across from my desk and crosses one leg over the other. He glances at me and then appears to give Orion his full attention. “Do you have the ship names?”
Orion waits for me to nod before they answer. “The Swine, the Scylla, the Canens, the Moly, and…the Penelope.”
I jolt. “Did you say the Penelope?”
“Yes.” Orion nods their head. “It’s the flagship, the one Circe returned to after meeting with you.”
Penelope is a common enough name in Olympus, but there’s something there, something tickling the back of my brain, a memory I can’t quite place…
“That’s new,” Icarus murmurs, distracting me. He twists to face me, and I can see the wheels turning behind his eyes. “Do you remember how I told you that I have information on a number of people in Circe’s inner circle?”
“Yes.”
“Four out of five of the ships belong to those people. If I’m able to divert them from supporting her, you’ll have significantly better chances.”
None of my ships are warships. There must have been a time when Olympus didn’t have the barrier because there are old cannons in some of the towers that bracket the bay. They’re coated with rust and ancient enough that I have no idea how they work outside of theory. Even so, our odds are better if we have only a single ship to face. We could load up one of the smaller boats with explosives and ram her. I’d prefer not to do something like that, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Even if we didn’t attack the Penelope directly, we could run the blockade and get ships in and out. Probably not without losses, but some would manage it.
I glance at Orion, who’s absolutely stoic in the face of this prospective plan. Even so, I’ve worked with them long enough to know they don’t trust Icarus. They have no reason to. I’m not sure I do, but I can’t afford to pass up any possible edge. “Have our people continue their watches. If any of the ships move, I want to know about it. In the meantime, I’ll see what I can do.”
They open their mouth, seem to think better of whatever they were about to say, and nod shortly. “Consider it done.” Orion hurries out of the room, closing the door softly behind them.
I lean forward and brace my elbows on my knees. Part of me can’t believe I’m doing this, attempting this, trusting him. I finally say, “That blackmail information you have must be particularly damning if Circe’s generals would consider leaving her at this moment.”
“Oh, it is.” Icarus smiles slowly. “I just need a way to contact them.”
Surely you don’t trust this man after a couple days in his presence and one outstanding orgasm? Surely you’re not that much of a fool.