Fear unlike I’ve ever known takes hold of me. I grab my husband’s arm. “No. Don’t hurt him.”
Another of those sighs, as if I’ve disappointed her. “I realize you’re enjoying your time as Hera, but the work you’ve done with the orphanage has garnered you enough goodwill that you could hold office if that’s truly your desire. When this is over, you won’t need him.”
Hold office. When this is over.
Somehow, even in my quick processing of this betrayal, I still hadn’t grasped the true depth of it. I take Perseus’s hand. I don’t know what else to do. “What did Circe threaten you with to make you betray Olympus?”
“You know me, darling. I don’t deal well with threats.” Mother shrugs. “Circe came to me with an offer. I saw value in it. The people have done the rest.”
“The people…” Perseus murmurs.
“No one is happy in Olympus. Not really.” The light voice comes from deeper in the tent. Even knowing who’s coming, it still feels like a blow to my body when Circe walks up to stand next to my mother. She’s wearing jeans and a knit sweater, which should make her look more approachable, but there’s nothing approachable about this woman. She smiles, sharp and cutting. “Demeter hasn’t forgotten about the people she serves, or that leadershipisservice. Pity that you have.”
Perseus moves in a surge, stepping quickly to the side and pulling me behind him, keeping me between his body and the side of the tent. “Traitor.”
“History will say otherwise.” My mother doesn’t lookparticularly happy, but she’s clearly set on this path and there isn’t a damn thing anyone can say to divert her from it. She brushes a hand down her sleeve. “We are holding a vote next week to dismantle the Thirteen and set up new representatives for the population.”
“Representatives that you’ll no doubt be part of,” Perseus snaps.
“I’ve always been a representative of the people.” She doesn’t rise to meet his anger. “Unlike you and the others,Iwas voted in.”
He’s brimming with rage and practically vibrating with a need to act, to attack. If he does, we’re both going to end up dead. More than that, no matter how angry I am at my mother right now, she’s still my mother. I don’t want her hurt. Maybe locked up for a few years until she learns to stop using people as pawns, but not hurt—certainly not dead.
I press my hand to the center of his back and strive for calm. “And what of the legacy families? They’ll never stand for it.”
Circe smiles, a cat with the cream. “Funny thing, that. Olympus has lost its connection with its roots. When the Thirteen were originally created, there were only three legacy positions—intentionally. The founders always meant for the best and brightest to hold the other positions—not for them to be recycled through a handful of families with too much money and power. If anything, we’re returning the city to what it was meant to be.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“I know.” She comes around the edge of the table and leans against it. “Those families have contributed to the rot choking the city and its population. After the trials, that won’t be an issue any longer.”
“Trials…” Perseus is retreating into himself. I hadn’t realizedhow much he’d let his ice-king persona fade around me until it forms around him, so thick that I’m distantly surprised his back remains warm against my palm. He straightens a little. “I’m sure these trials will be fair and just.”
“As fair and just as the legacy families and the Thirteen have been.” Circe’s smile never falters. “Killing you in the dark would be satisfying for me, but I would never dream of being so selfish as to deny all of Olympus the same satisfaction.”
Mother shoots her an unreadable look and holds out her hand. “Callisto, come here. The guards will take Zeus to his cell to await trail.”
At that, I laugh, harsh and grating. “No trial for me, then?”
“Everyone knows Heras hold no power,” Circe states blandly. “Why punish another victim?”
I stare at her for a long beat. “Why bother to threaten me and my family if you were already working with my mother?”
She shrugs. “It’s smart to hedge one’s bets. Demeter is too clever to be a sure thing, and if you could have accomplished your aims, it would have resulted in the same thing. Victory.” She flicks her fingers at me. “There’s just one last element to consider. I meant what I said,Hera. You can leave Olympus and keep that little cluster of cells, or remove the cells and stay. I don’t particularly care which option you choose, but you will choose.”
My mother’s eyes go wide. Her surprise only lasts a heartbeat before she has her charming earth mother facade back in place, but it’s there. “You’re pregnant.”
Perseus is stone against my touch. My whole body goes hot and then cold. I didn’t want him to find out like this. “I’m sorry I didn’ttell you,” I whisper. For him, only for him. When he gives me no response, I meet my mother’s gaze. “Yes, I’m pregnant.”
Mother’s gone pale. “You didn’t tell me.”
“I didn’t tell anyone.”
Circe looks between us, her careful smile still firmly in place. “Very well. I’ll honor whatever your choice, but I’m not in the mood to deal with schemes when I’m this close to victory. If you keep it, you’ll occupy a cell with your husband until the trials. Once they’re concluded, I’ll have you escorted out of the city and you can go on your merry way.”
“Why not just kill me and ensure I don’t take a page from your book and return with an army?”
Her smile broadens. “You can try. But I think once you have that baby, you’ll find your priorities shift. It would be a shame if something happened to the little one because of their mother’s vengeance.”
