“Nah, the harpies keep it stocked and will do anything for the prince of the underworld.” Thad chuckles.
“Shut it,” Jayden growls.
“I’m not wrong,” Thad says.
“I don’t know what the plan is at this point. We need to regroup, find out if we lost anyone, and have funeral rites performed if we did. Once that’s done, we shore up our defenses and prepare for the next attack,” I say.
“We have Hephaestus’ army now. Are we sure they are going to attack us again?” Greyson asks. “Maybe the rest of the war is being fought in Olympus?”
“I don’t think that’s the case. I wouldn’t be the one who needs to save everything and then just wait around for the gods to fightthe final battle. There has to something more. The queen is going to bring this war to us one way or another.”
“I think you’re right,” Adrian says. “You’re too important not to be a part of the final battle.”
“You haven’t seen it?” I raise a brow at him.
“I’ve seen it, yes, but I can’t tell you anything.” Adrian shrugs. “You know that.”
“Fine. I know you can’t tell us anything.” I flop back on the bed.
“What I can tell you is that we have a little downtime before the final hurdle.”
“Okay, so that’s something the queen never gives me… a break before the storm.” I sit back up and continue to eat in silence.
A bolt of lightning flashes out the window and I wince. The gods are fighting and we’re the only ones who know anything is going on. Will my father be able to defeat his wife? Will they win this war so everything can continue in this world?
“Have you heard anything from Hades?” I ask Jayden.
“No, which is somewhat odd. He would normally be contacting me to tell me everything. It’s bothering me more since Artemis left to go hunt an underworld beast that’s running loose in Olympus.” Jayden rolls his shoulders back with a sigh.
“I’m sure he’s fine. I just wish I knew what was happening. The chaotic weather patterns make me nervous.”
“We’ll know what’s happening soon enough. It’s our time of rest before everything pops off again,” Adrian says.
“And pop off it will,” I mumble.
Jayden threads his fingers through mine as I continue to eat with my other hand. Why couldn’t that have been the final battle? It couldn’t be that easy, though. Just an army of Hephaestus’ automatons wouldn’t deter the queen from what she wants.
“All we can do is rest and prepare for what’s to come, baby.” Jayden squeezes my hand.
“How can we prepare? We have no idea what’s coming next.” I raise the fork with fluffy mashed potatoes and gravy to my lips.
“Just like you said. We rest, then tomorrow we assess the damage, find out if we lost anyone in the night, have the funeral rites for anyone we lost, and then fortify our defenses. That’s all we can do right now.”
“Yeah, you’re right. That’s about all we can do right now.” I lower my shoulders.
Adrian slumps over in his chair, convulsing again, and Thad lowers him to the floor on his back.
“What in Hades is going to happen now?” I huff.
“Who knows? Anything is possible at this point.” Raven leans back against my headboard.
I toss a pillow to Thad. “Put that under his head. Just because he’s having a vision doesn’t mean he has to be uncomfortable.”
Thad places the pillow under Adrian’s head, and we eat in silence as we wait for Adrian to wake from his vision. He finally wakes up, gasping for breath and scanning the room wildly.
“It was my father. The gods are lagging in their fight. We may be called upon sooner rather than later.” Adrian covers his eyes with his elbow.
“Shit. Called upon? For what? Will the fight come to us?” I ask.
