Neon Gods (Dark Olympus 1)

Psyche puts her hand on Eurydice’s shoulder. “Tell us and then we’ll decide how to react.”

That’s about as good an offer as I’m going to get. I sigh and then tell them everything. How I pushed the bargain. Hades’s constant mothering. How good the sex is.

I leave out Hades’s history with Zeus, the scars wrapping his body that no doubt came from the fire that killed his parents. The fire Zeus caused. I trust my sisters implicitly, but something in me rebels at sharing that story. It’s not exactly a secret, but it feels like one, like a piece of knowledge that Hades and I share, that bonds us together further.

And…

I hesitate, but in the end, who else can I talk to about this? “I feel like I can breathe here. I don’t have to pretend with Hades, don’t have to be perfect and bright all the time. I feel like… Like I’m finally starting to figure out who I am behind the mask.”

Eurydice has hearts in her eyes. “Only you could manage to run away and fall into bed with a sexy man determined to do anything to protect you. You’re truly gods-blessed, Persephone.”

“It didn’t feel like it when they announced the engagement.”

Eurydice’s happiness dims. “No, I suppose it didn’t.”

Psyche is looking at me like she’s never seen me before. “Are you sure it’s not all an elaborate trap? You’ve developed those defenses for a reason.”

I bite down on my instinctive denial and force myself to think about it. “No, it’s not an elaborate trap. He hates Zeus just as much as I do; he has no reason to think breaking me would hurt anyone but me. He’s not like that anyway. He’s not like the rest of the Thirteen at all.” That, I know for truth. I’ve survived moving through Olympus’s circle of power and influence this long by trusting my instincts and lying through my teeth. I don’t have to lie with Hades. More, my instincts mark him as safe.

“Are you sure? Because we all know you’ve had this fascination with the title Hades for—”

“Hades is not the problem.” I don’t want to tell them what I know about Mother, but they need to know. “Mother threatened to cut off the entire supply line to the lower city until Hades returns me.”

“We know.” Callisto drags her hand through her long dark hair. “She’s been ranting about it ever since you left, working herself up into a frenzy.”

“She’s worried,” Eurydice says.

Callisto snorts. “She’s angry. You defied her and left her with pie on her face in front of the rest of the Thirteen. She’s going out of her mind trying to save face.”

“And she’s worried.” Eurydice shoots our eldest sister a look. “She’s been cleaning.”

I sigh. Easy to paint my mother as the villain right alongside Zeus, but she does love us. She just doesn’t let that love get in the way of her ambitions. My mother can be stone-faced when issuing her orders like a general about to go into battle, but when she’s worried, she cleans. It’s her only tell.

Ultimately, it changes nothing. “She shouldn’t have sprung that on me.”

“No one is arguing that.” Psyche holds up her hands. “No one is arguing anything. We’re just worried. Thank you for checking in.”

“Stay safe. I miss you.”

“We miss you, too.” Psyche smiles. “Don’t worry about us. We have things under control here as much as possible.” She hangs up before I really register the statement.

Don’t worry about them.

I wasn’t worried about them, not really. Until now.

I call them back. It rings a long time before Psyche picks up. This time, Callisto and Eurydice are nowhere in evidence, and Psyche doesn’t look as chipper as she did a few minutes ago. I frown. “What’s going on? What aren’t you telling me?”

“We’re fine.”

“Yes, you keep saying that, but it sounds like you’re trying to reassure me and I am not reassured. Speak plainly. What’s going on?”

She looks over her shoulder, and the light in the room gets a little dimmer as if she shut the door or a window or something. “I think someone is following Eurydice. Actually, not just her. Callisto hasn’t said anything, but she’s even more on edge than the situation warrants. And I think I’ve seen the same lady the last three times I’ve left the penthouse.”

A chill cascades down my spine. “They know where I am. Why would they try to track you to me?”

Psyche presses her lips together and finally says, “I think they’re making sure none of us try to flee.”

“Why would Mother—” I stop short. “Not Mother. Zeus.”

“That’s my thought.” Psyche runs her fingers through her hair and twists, a nervous gesture she’s had since we were children. She’s scared.

I did this. Zeus wasn’t following any of us before I ran. I close my eyes, trying to play through possible scenarios, possible reasons for him to do this beyond safeguarding their presence in the upper city. I don’t like what I keep coming back to. “You don’t think she’ll sub one of you into the marriage instead of me, do you?” If that’s the case, I have to go back. I can’t be the reason one of my sisters ends up married to that monster, even if I have to take the hit to ensure it doesn’t happen.