“Poseidon smuggles people out for the right price. Or, if not him, then Triton does it even more often. You have the money to get out of Olympus. Athena won’t send me after you if you leave the city. Not even Zeus will bother with you then.”
Calypso studies me, a strange expression on her face. “You really are honorable, aren’t you?”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have stolen from Odysseus, but it’s not right what they’re trying to do.” Saying the words aloud feels a little like a betrayal. But that strange, soft expression isn’t going away, and I can’t mislead her. “And I’m not honorable. My hands are stained with the blood of a whole lot of people.”
“We all do what we have to in order to survive. I’ve happily lied, cheated, and stolen. No one is innocent.”
Perversely, her defending me only makes me want to dig in my heels more firmly. “Those things are forgivable, Calypso. What I’ve done isn’t.”
She narrows those dark eyes. “You don’t like what you do.”
This conversation has veered off the tracks I intended it to stay on and I’m not sure how to get it back. I drag my hand through my short hair. “It doesn’t matter if I like what I do. I’m trying to get you out of Olympus alive.”
“I don’t want to leave.”
I stop short. During the whole awful trip through the city and across the river, the thing that had gotten me through was the intention to get Calypso free, even if I couldn’t admit it to myself until just now. If she’s beyond Athena’s reach, then I don’t have to choose between doing the right thing and doing the thing I’m required to. It won’t help me the next time the choice comes around, but this is egregious, even for Zeus.
Then again, the man is rumored to have killed all three of his wives.
I shake my head. “You have to leave.”
“No.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “For better or worse, Olympus is my home. I just signed a rental agreement, and Sandra is too nice to fuck over.”
I blink. “Who’s Sandra?”
She waves that away. “Go back to your boss and tell her it can’t be done.”
“Calypso,” I say gently. “I’m standing in the same room as you are right now. It was difficult to get across the bridge, but not impossible. Athena’s too smart to believe a weak lie like that.”
“Then tell her you finished the job and I’m dead.”
“She’ll check. And when she finds out you’re alive, she’ll send someone else.”
Now it’s her turn to blink. “She doesn’t trust you.”
“I didn’t say that.”
Calypso pushes off the edge of the bed and takes a step toward me. “Not in so many words, no, but if Athena is checking up on your jobs, then that’s what it means. She doesn’t trust you.”
I flinch. I can’t help it. The words sting, and not because they’re wrong. I need to shut this down now. I don’t know this woman, and she’s been all but declared an enemy of the upper city. Athena and Zeus want her dead. I most certainly shouldn’t be pouring out my heart to her.
I force myself to look away from her. “She knows I waver from time to time. It’s normal for her to check up on that. She’s one of the most powerful people in Olympus, but she wouldn’t maintain that title without being smart and ruthless.”
Looking away from her was a mistake because I don’t notice Calypso closing the distance between us until she reaches up and presses two fingers to the bottom of my jaw. Her nails prick my skin lightly as she guides me to look down and meet her gaze.
I expect derision. Or shock. Or even anger.
Instead, she offers empathy. “Are you trying to convince me or yourself?”
“Stop,” I whisper. “I owe Athena everything. I can’t… I don’t…”
“Medusa.”
My name on her lips makes me a little woozy, but not in a bad way. I’m hardly inexperienced, but all my flings and relationships—such as they were—were with people like me. Special forces. Or, in a few rarer cases, with one of Ares’s soldiers. They were not soft, generously curved, artfully beautiful people like Calypso.
She’s a songbird to my…
I don’t know birds that well, honestly. Something predatory and plain.
I clear my throat. “Yes?”
She still hasn’t removed her fingers. She’s shorter than me. Weaker. I could break the contact at any time. Instead, Calypso holds me immobile with two perfect fingers. She’s oh so serious as she says, “Do you still want to kill me?”
I should lie. Maybe if I scare her, I can get her to leave the city and flee to safety. Now’s the time to strike, to throw her off-guard and ensure the end result won’t add to my nightmares. If I don’t remove Calypso, Athena will send someone else, and they aren’t likely to be as concerned about saving her from pain or suffering.