Page 120 of Ungodly Rich

And now she had unwittingly taught her son to love in the same way, with a love that forgave all hurts, a love that didn’t expect trust.

Before Hera could voice any of this, a wild roar of anger resounded through the ballroom. The four of them all looked back to where Zeus stood with Hermes. What were they doing over there? Hera had thought Hermes was long gone, that he’d left with the other minor gods who were off searching the grounds for Julia.

“Hera!” Zeus bellowed, and began to stalk down the aisle in her direction.

With each step, he seemed to grow taller, the edges of his body glowing with otherworldly light. Sparks flew off him as if a million electrical fires danced over his very skin. But the change went beyond what was visible; it was the sensation of Zeus’s immense, immeasurable power, the vast magic that he normally kept on a tight leash, breaking loose into the world. It felt like the room was full of highly combustible gas, and any minute someone might light a match.

It had been a very long time since Hera saw her husband’s powers in full force.

“Hera!” Zeus’s voice vibrated through the air in some register outside normal sound, low and deadly, like the thunder they had heard these past few days. “Is it true? Did you kill Claire Henningsen?”

“I don’t…” Hera swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. Julia wasgone.How had Zeus found out? Then her eyes drifted to Hermes skulking behind him, and in a flash she understood.

This was why Hermes had pounded on her door yesterday, demanding to discuss Julia with her. He’d known the truth, and Hera had unknowingly snapped at him to leave—thus ensuring her downfall.

“Do you deny that you killed her?” Zeus was halfway down the aisle now, a figure composed entirely of rage and hurt, a black hole sucking all oxygen from the room.

Oh, she wished she could deny it. But to lie about this would only make things worse. She had to tell her husband the truth, no matter what it cost her. For the sake of Hephaestus’s marriage, if not her own.

To show him what it looked like, to hurt your spouse and be honest about it.

“I didn’t mean to kill her.” Hera’s words were soft, but she knew that every god in the room heard them. “I set the fire by accident. The woman wouldn’t listen to reason! I told her that she was sleeping with a married man, and she said she didn’t care, that his wife was a shrew and a harpy and he was leaving her—”

Lightning snapped from Zeus. It curled toward Hera like an angry fist—there was a flash of flame, and a row of wooden folding chairs exploded in a confetti of splinters. Hera flung up her hands to protect her face. The air smelled like brimstone, like sulfur.

“Please, Zeus.” Hera forced herself not to tremble as he stalked forward. “You need to know how much I regret what happened. As I said, I never meant for her to die. The house was so old and flammable, it went up like a pile of kindling.”

“Does Ares know?” Zeus demanded, looking to his younger son. “That you killed his girlfriend’s mother?”

Ares looked at Hera in shock. “What is he talking about, Mother?”

“I’m so sorry, Ares.” Hera reached a hand toward him, but her son flinched back.

“Why would you kill a mortal woman?”

“Why do you think?” Zeus demanded, seething. “I was in love with Claire, and your mother murdered her.”

At his words, Hera’s guilt rekindled into a blaze of anger. How typical of Zeus to stomp about throwing lightning bolts like a spoiled child. He hadn’t beenin lovewith Claire; it was ridiculous for him to even make such a claim.

He was angry that Hera had defied his authority and hurt a mortal he considered his.

This wasn’t the howling grief of a heartbroken lover; this was the petulant tantrum of a little boy who’d had his toy snatched away.

“As I said, I regret that she died. I never meant to take her life,” Hera repeated. “But, Zeus, don’t insult our family by claiming you werein love withher. She was a passing fling, nothing more.”

It was the wrong thing to say.

The rage that crackled through the room was like a physical thing. Dimly Hera wondered what the mortals downstairs thought of this, if they were even aware of the noise.

Then Zeus took another step forward. His power swirled palpably around him, pressing down on them all, suffocating them.

Hera’s eyes shut as she braced herself for what would come next.

Chapter Forty-Eight

Aphrodite

Aphrodite stared, transfixed, at the lightning crackling in the air around Zeus.