Apollo’s followers wandered around the smoldering remains of the church, seemingly oblivious to the sirens wailing and the EMTs rushing about, trying to herd them to safety. The rest of the cult lay scattered through the remains of the church, burnt to a crisp.
“What happened here?” I grabbed a bikini-clad girl by the shoulders. “Where’s Ap—Mr. Sunshine?”
Her eyes were red rimmed from crying. Or maybe it was something else. “The bad man made him say the magic words that turned him to dust.” She took a deep shuddering breath and then burst into tears.
Shock. Wonderful. I led her to one of the EMTs and continued my search. Behind me the girl who had been screaming nonstop changed gears and started singing an altered version of “You Are My Sunshine.”
I swore. If, and it was a very big if, what this girl had described was even half accurate, Zeus had forced Apollo to swear fealty. But how had he known where to find him?
I glanced at the church sign. Well, it wasn’t like Apollo had been subtle. We shouldn’t have let him come back here. But where were Demeter and Athena?
I grabbed the next teenager I passed. “There were two women who came back with Mr. Sunshine. One of them was blonde, nearly my height—”
The boy nodded, looking shaken. “And the hot Indian chick, right?”
I’d never heard Artemis described that way, but sure. “Where are they?”
“They vanished, man.”
My blood froze. “What do you mean vanished?” The boy didn’t answer and my voice rose. “Vanished like Apollo—er, Mr. Sunshine? Or just disappeared?” Why was I wasting my time with this kid? There were only two options.
I teleported back to Demeter’s and was nearly run over by Adonis carrying Aphrodite. Her hair draped over Adonis’ arm, almost touching the floor. The red was shocking against her sheet-white skin.
“What happened?” I demanded. “What the hell is going on?”
“You have to go back!” Melissa shouted from somewhere behind Adonis.
Adonis moved past me toward the living room, and I saw Melissa in tears. She launched herself at a bewildered looking Demeter.
Demeter, thank the gods. The tension in my chest eased, and I scanned the room for Artemis. She was curled up on the love seat with Ryan, face streaked with tears.
Demeter shushed Melissa and wrapped her arms around her. “What happened?”
Adonis and Melissa started talking at the same time. “Zeus was waiting for us—”
“He made Aphrodite charm everyone—”
“Didn’t work on Adonis—”
“I had to knock her out. She was going to make them swear fealty.”
“They told us to go—”
“I didn’t have a choice.” Adonis looked pale and shaken.
Melissa was sobbing so much it was getting hard to understand her. “I grabbed the two of them and teleported, but Ares and Hephaestus are still there! You have to go back! Please, Demeter!”
Aphrodite stirred, and Adonis sprang into action, grabbing a lamp off the end table. He raised it above Aphrodite, and I darted between the two of them.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“I’ll get them,” Demeter said. She vanished before I could object.
“If she wakes up, she’ll try to charm them into swearing fealty again,” Adonis explained. “He never told her to stop. She has to listen to him, doesn’t she?”
“Yeah, but gods! Don’t hit her!” I didn’t like Aphrodite much, but I wasn’t about to watch her get beaten to a bloody pulp every time she moved. She stirred again, and I turned, hand brushing back the hair on her forehead. A surge of power flowed from me to her, and she stopped moving.
I made a mental note to thank Hypnos for teaching me that trick. With any luck, she’d be out for a while.
Demeter popped back into the room along with Ares and Hephaestus. They seemed remarkably unscathed. As if reading my thoughts, Ares shrugged and pulled on the sleeves of his jacket.
“Zeus ported out as soon as Hephaestus and I charged him. I think he’d prefer to pick us off one by one.”
“I think it may have had something to do with Ares lighting him on fire,” Hephaestus added dryly. “Shame it didn’t last.” His lips twisted in what might have been a smile. It was hard to tell on his face.
Ares shrugged again. “Is Aphrodite okay?”
“What. Happened?” I demanded, catching Demeter’s eyes.
“Zeus was at the church, waiting for us. We got out. Apollo didn’t.”
I opened my mouth to demand to know why Demeter, one of the strongest deities left, had run when she had Zeus outnumbered three to one, but she shook her head, then inclined it toward the couch where Artemis was sobbing into Ryan’s shoulder.
I let out my breath. Ryan could be charmed and used against Artemis. There had been an entire congregation of hostages who could be used against Apollo. All it took were two words and one second of weakness to swear fealty to Zeus. It was lucky Demeter got Artemis out of there before Zeus became even more powerful than he already was.
He must have gone straight from the church to the prophet’s, which at least answered that question. There was no way he could have known our group would be in both places without prophecy.
Unless we had a mole.
The door opened, slamming into the wall so hard the doorknob punctured the sheetrock, leaving a gaping, dusty hole. I blinked, my mind not accepting the image of Poseidon, the shirtless surfer in bright blue board shorts, existing in Demeter’s living room.
He closed the door with just as much force, oblivious to the damage he’d caused. His frantic gaze scanned the room, then landed on me. “Hades! We need to talk.”
“Little busy,” I snapped.
Then I saw his face.
Poseidon looked like he’d aged a century since the last time I’d seen him. His skin had turned a sickly shade of gray. Tufts of his blond hair spiked out in a thousand different directions, and despair glittered his eyes. A sense of dread filled my gut.
I pulled him into the kitchen and closed the door behind us. For what felt like the thousandth time today I found myself asking, “What happened?”
Only this time I was afraid of the answer.
Chapter XXXIX
Aphrodite
I didn’t know how long I’d been unconscious when Persephone found me, but I could tell she was worried.
“I need your help. Hades isn’t answering me, and I’m in trouble.” Persephone explained the situation with Triton, and I frowned. The kid shouldn’t be able to overextend himself. Persephone was weird, because she had worshipers, but in most cases, power is a matter of having it or not. You can’t work yourself into a deficit, no matter how motivated you are.
Unless he had worshipers.
No, Poseidon had been too careful. No one but Persephone had even known he had a son until she spilled the beans.
She looked around my dreamscape, her bedroom, and raised an eyebrow at me.
I opened my mouth to explain how much my life had changed in the last few weeks. Yes, it was weird. And part of me felt guilty for using her room as my dreamscape. But it was the closest thing to a home I’d ever known, and I had memories here with people who hadn’t been charmed into hanging out with me.
“This is so nice of you,” she said before I had a chance to explain. The worry on her face eased as she ran her fingers over her smooth wooden dresser. “For a while there I was worried I’d never see any of this again.”
She dropped into the papasan chair and tucked her feet under her, looking so at home, and so much like she belonged here that the dreamscape wavered as I felt my place in it fading.
I shook my head, stabilizing the dreamscape, and summoned a chair for myself. “No problem. So about this kid—”
“I have a plan.”
Alarm bells went off in my head when she told me what she was planning to do.
“Okay, wait, you—” A tugging sensation cut me off.
“Persephone, I think I have to go.”
She looked up, alarmed. “Wait! Will my idea help him? Will it work?”
“Yes, but he shouldn’t—” I blinked, and the dreamscape changed around me. Now I stood in what looked like a board room. Over a dozen gods sat around a long conference table in black leather chairs.
“—need it,” I finished. “What is this?” I crossed my legs and leaned back in my chair. I started to make a sarcastic comment about being knocked out, but then I saw everyone’s faces.
There was no laughter or arrogance in Ares’ face. He looked grim. Hephaestus stared down at his hands with a startling intensity, and Poseidon. Gods, Poseidon. What had I missed?
“I didn’t get anyone to swear over, did I?” My eyes darted around to all the gods. “Where’s Apollo? Did I—”
Hades shook his head. “Adonis knocked you out before you could do any damage. Zeus did get Apollo, but you had nothing to do with it.”
I swallowed hard, fighting the compulsion to charm Ares and Hephaestus now that they were in front of me. It wasn’t even possible to do unconscious. Charm was never real in dreamscapes, but that didn’t seem to affect my body’s desire to fulfill Zeus’ orders. “If I didn’t have anything to do with it, why did you bring me here?”
Demeter’s and Hades’ eyes flickered, like they wanted to look at each other but didn’t dare, in case anyone noticed.
“We have to go ahead with our plan,” Hades explained. “Now. Are you still willing to swear fealty?”
“Yeah,” I said, shaken. “Just tell me who.”
Chapter XL
Persephone
“Triton?” I shook his shoulder, worry turning my voice sharp.
He was bathed in sweat. Eyes fluttering open, he groaned. “S…top,” he protested, pushing my hands away. “Hurts.”
I stopped shaking him and stared at him wide-eyed in alarm. He didn’t look so good. “What’s wrong with you?”
He didn’t reply, just groaned again and tried to roll over. I grabbed his shoulders to stop him. “Triton! Wake up.”
“Where’s my dad?” He tried to sit up and his face went ashen. Propping himself up on his arms, he sucked in deep breaths.
My pulse pounded in my throat. This was my fault. Triton hadn’t come into his powers yet, and I’d been running him ragged. He’d overextended himself. I needed to help him.
“I don’t know.” I glanced at the water, which seemed higher than it had before, and the full helplessness of the situation hit me. I couldn’t get him out of here. I couldn’t go for help. I couldn’t do anything. We were stuck here. “He’ll find us.”
“He’s not here. He’s never here.” Triton’s arms buckled, and he fell back onto the rocky floor of the cavern with a thud. “He’s got more important things to do. A realm to run.” Tears choked his voice. “He should have been here. He should have helped me.”
I shushed him and brushed his hair off his face. “Your dad’s looking for us. I know he is.”
“It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have left the circle. But I wanted to know what it was like out there.” A sob broke through Triton’s voice. “It hurt. It hurt so bad.”
My hand froze on his forehead. Why was he talking in past tense? “Triton?”
He cried out, body going stiff, rigid.
“Triton!” There was no time to wait for Hades. I hadn’t felt so much as a flicker of thought behind the wall he’d barricaded around his thoughts for over an hour.
Triton writhed and twisted, face contorted in pain. I looked back at the water, like it held some answers for me, but there was no help there. There was no help anywhere. Oh gods, this was either going to save him or kill him. I didn’t know enough about how fealty worked. Would there be any holding back? I closed my eyes. I swear—
Persephone, stop!
Chapter XLI
Hades
Persephone, stop! I yanked Persephone into my dreamscape with a thought. She stumbled into me.
“How am I here?” She looked around my dreamscape of the library wide-eyed.
I let the library fade into its usual indistinct swirls.
“Hades!” she demanded. “How am I here? I’m not sleeping.”
My heart felt ready to beat right out of my chest. Had I not checked in on her right then… Had Aphrodite not told me what she had planned…
The thought made me cold. “Poseidon came to see me.”
Irritation flashed in her green eyes. “What is he doing with you? Tell him to come here, now! Triton needs him.”
I took a deep breath. “He can’t find you.”
“What do you mean he can’t find us? We’re in his realm! I should stick out like a sore thumb.”
“Sit down, Persephone.” I felt a flash of worry go through her at something in my voice. I hesitated, more rattled than I cared to admit. I didn’t even know where to begin. “You’re not in Poseidon’s realm.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Of course I’m in his realm. I’ve been playing little mermaid for weeks, so tell him to get his butt in gear and—”
An overwhelming sense of frustration and impatience tinged with panic washed through me. She fiddled with her necklace, and I closed my eyes. Look. I crossed the room, reaching for her. Her breath caught when my lips touched her forehead. I sifted through her thoughts. The last few weeks flashed across her mind as I dug through them. When I reached her escape from Zeus, I paused.
She’d stepped outside of her dream, leaving him in it. How had I missed that before? You gave him control, Persephone.
“No! I woke up.”
I shook my head. He just let you think you did. You never escaped. It was a distraction that kept you occupied and kept us busy looking for you.
She stiffened. I don’t believe you.
I can’t lie.
“This is a trick!” Persephone shouted. She sprang out of her chair, fists clenched to her sides. You’re not you at all! Zeus is messing with me again, he—
“I’m Hades, no tricks, no deception.” I held my hands out to her in a placating gesture. “I know this is hard, but—”
“I would know if I were dreaming,” she argued, green eyes flashing with fury and fear.
I let out a deep breath. “You did. Remember? I’m the one who convinced you it was real. I’m sorry.”
“No!”
I stood, crossing the distance between us and tapping the air plant necklace that rested on her collar bone. “When you’re with Triton, are you wearing that?”
She gave me an odd look at the change of subject. “Yes.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out her necklace, letting the rest of the room go blurry. “Look.”
The necklace was in hyper focus, just like the two of us. Real objects in an otherwise intangible dream. Her hand went to the identical smear of a necklace dangling from her neck.
“It’s a piece of your realm, Persephone. It’s a conduit. Did you really think he would let you keep it?”
She reached out. Felt the pointy tips of the plant. The cool glass of the pomegranate. It was here. It was real. She couldn’t deny it felt real.
The necklace around her neck wavered.
“Think. Even if he had let you keep it, you think you fell out of the sky into the ocean. I felt you land, Persephone. I felt you break. How come it didn’t?” Any injury sustained while dreamwalking became real. Dreamwalking could be as much a weapon as a convenient communication method. But most gods kept their minds closed to intruders. Persephone had handed hers over to Zeus.
The blood drained from her face. “No,” she whispered. I gripped her hand as the pieces fell into place in her mind with a horrifying click. She’d never escaped. She was still with Zeus.
“I’m sorry.”
“But Triton. How is he—”
“Poseidon thinks he’s with you. He can’t feel him in his realm, and Demeter would know if he crossed over to hers.”
Images of Zeus sprang up
in her mind. The things he’d done to her. “Zeus has Triton?” A vision of the child god moaning in agony flashed in my head. “That’s what’s wrong with him, isn’t it? Zeus is doing something to him, and it’s—” Her voice broke off with a sob. “Hades!”
“I know.” I’d already determined to help him.
Iron glinted in her eyes. “How do I wake up?”
I hesitated. “It doesn’t have to be you. I could—”
“I know all about your plan.” She kissed my cheek, sending along a tangle of images of Aphrodite detailing my plan, and offering an out. A surge of anger swelled within me, but it was lost in the general storm of the emotion.
Every single thing that had happened since he’d taken her had been infuriating. Every fiber of my being was already saturated with rage.
And fear.
“You’re not strong enough to go against Zeus.”
She followed my line of thought, saw all the gods waiting for my word so they could swear fealty.
“So make me stronger.” She touched her forehead to mine. “I love you. But I’m not worth breaking the world for.”
“You are to me.” I drew her into my arms and kissed her. My mind flitted to Demeter’s plan, and I let out a deep breath, shielding my thoughts.
She would never forgive me. But she would be alive. “I’ll try to filter it so the powers don’t burn through you. It won’t be enough to kill Zeus, but it may be enough to escape. Find the kid, then come back to me.”
“But what about—”
“You aren’t his only child. Let the others handle this. Once you find us, you can transfer the power to whomever you want. Ares is always itching for a fight.” I put a picture of Ares in her mind so she’d recognize him. “You don’t have to be the one to do this. Just get out, and be safe.”
She nodded. “Okay, I’m ready.”