“We have reports of shots fired and four victims. No deaths to my knowledge, but Hera and Persephone were both among those injured.”
Instantly, all flirtation is gone from his tone. “Why am I just hearing about this now?”
“Because of the people involved, the reporting security force called me instead of going up the proper chain of command. It was the right thing to do.” She glances at me and then returns her attention to the road, flying through a yellow light in the process of turning red. “I need you and Patroclus to go over the site with a fine-tooth comb to figure out what the fuck happened. I want the gunman, Achilles.”
There’s movement on his side of the line: he’s obviously already in the process of obeying her orders. “We’ll get the information, princess. And then we’ll bring you their head on a platter.”
“Thank you.” She swallows hard. “Be careful and keep me updated.”
“Always do.”
She hangs up and shoves the phone into the pocket of her jacket. “We’re almost there. Just hold on for a few more minutes.”
I am holding on. I think. There is a yawning emptiness inside me, deep and dark and ready to devour. This fucking city. It demands its price in blood again and again, never satisfied. And for fucking what? The thankless task of ruling?
I won’t pretend every member of the Thirteen stretching back to the history of the founding of Olympus have been good people or even good rulers. But there needs to besomeonein charge. No matter what perceived benefit we get from it, the cost is always higher than anyone should be expected to pay.
They shot my fucking wife.
Helen veers into the hospital parking lot and, without asking, pulls up to the front of the emergency entrance. “Figure out what’s going on. I’ll park and find you.”
I’m already out the car and charging through the doors. The person behind the desk sees me coming and their pale face turns sickly green. They half shove to their feet, get tangled with their chair, and crash back down into it. “Zeus! Zeus, you’re here. I have a report, uh, right here.”
I hold up a hand. The barrier of ice around me is so thick I’m able to speak perfectly normally. “Where is my wife?”
“She’s in a room. I could take you to her. Or, actually, John can.” They motion frantically to the nurse standing in the doorway behind them.
I need to go to her, but there’s Hades to consider. I fuckinghatethat I have to consider anything other than getting to my wife’s side as quickly as possible. I clear my throat. “And the other three victims?”
“Um…” The receptionist rifles through the papers in front of them. “Persephone is getting stitched up right now. Orpheus is in surgery for his broken collarbone, but the doctor expects him to make a full recovery. Medusa is with Persephone; she won’t leave her side.”
All alive. That’s all I need to know. “Hades will be here shortly. Have someone ready to take him to his wife as soon as he arrives.”
“Yes, sir.” They motion frantically at John again, and he steps forward to lead me down the hall past a set of locked doors. It’s miniscule security—only the doors themselves and no actual people to ensure someone doesn’t slip in. I make a mental note to tell my sister to ramp it up for as long as such high-profile patients are within these walls.
I shove past John into a small room with a hospital bed and a machine beeping steadily beside it. Callisto sits in the bed, her expression a mask of displeasure. She has a thick bandage on her upper left arm and several scratches on her face, but seems otherwise okay. That doesn’t stop me from rushing to her side. I reach out but stop short of touching her. “Tell me what happened.”
She blinks up at me, pure shock on her gorgeous face. “What are you doing here?”
“Someone. Shot. You.” I bite out each word. I can’t stand to be this close and not touch her, not reassure myself that she truly is alive and okay. Almost tentatively, I cup her cheek. I fully expect her topush me away or deliver some kind of sharp comment, but she just closes her eyes and leans into my touch, ever so slightly. “Tell me what happened,” I repeat.
“I needed to talk to my sister. She wouldn’t come fully into the upper city or allow me into the lower city, so this was the best compromise we could come up with. I don’t know how the shooter knew we would be there, but they started firing so fast that they had to have been watching the river. I was hit first. Medusa shoved Persephone to the ground, but Orpheus had to be a hero and tackle me, which was when he got shot. I had to hold the fucker together until the paramedics arrived.”
I’m all too aware of my wife’s feelings on Orpheus. My father used him to hurt Eurydice in an effort to draw Persephone out of the lower city, and though reports say Eurydice has taken him back, Callisto is not one to forgive or forget. The fact that she didn’t let him die is a testament to something, but I’m not entirely certain what.
“You were shot first.”
She opens her eyes and leans back just enough to break the contact of my fingertips against her skin. “It’s just a graze, albeit a deep one. I needed stitches. Persephone seemed mostly okay, but I know she was hurt. What were her injuries?”
“Similar to yours. Orpheus is the one in surgery. Your sister’s fine, according to the nurse. Her husband will be here shortly.”
“Fuck,” Callisto breathes. “This was already a shit show, but I’ve just made it worse, haven’t I?”
Yes, but I’m not about to tell her that. Not when she’s looking so frail in that hospital bed. Not when someoneputher in that fucking hospital bed. Achilles and Patroclus are some of the best, trained byAthena herself. If anyone can find out who the shooter is and where they went, it’s them. And when they do, I’m not going to be satisfied with simply a head on a platter. I want the gunman tosuffer.
“Where is your team?” It’s the first time I’ve seen her out of the penthouse without the trio since she acquired them.
A faint flush takes up residence in my wife’s too-pale cheeks. “I slept late and didn’t inform them of my plans. I didn’t think it would be a problem to go by myself…” She shudders. “Apparently I was wrong.”
