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“Stop,” I say but Heph and Eros keep yelling at each other. That’s when I notice an earring by my hand. A single pearl on a dangling silver chain. It is simple, elegant and bold all at once. It’s exactly how Athena is, and she needs to get it back. I need to have her back. “Stop!”
They both stop yelling and turn to look at me, faces red and twisted in rage and panic. I know how they feel.
“Let’s go see what we can find on the security systems. Then we will go from there.” I get up and start making my way down, taking the back stairs to avoid as many guests as possible.
I run into a few familiar faces, and I make what I hope are appropriate excuses as to why Athena hasn’t made an appearance yet, and where I am off to. Honestly, I can’t tell who I talk to or what I say, I simply reach the basement as quickly as possible, Heph and Eros on my heels. They both sit down at the bar with their computers in hand and start typing. I grab the tablet that controls the security and see that it was disabled this morning. Probably to let the planner come in and out as she pleased with the caters and other staff working the party.
“The cameras were tampered with,” Eros says.
“What do you mean?” I put the tablet back and move to look over his shoulder.
“I mean, I can’t find any trace of anyone going upstairs or coming down that isn’t supposed to.”
“What are you saying? Paris got a magic carpet and went to her window Aladdin style?”
“No,” Heph interrupts. “He tampered with the cameras. Look at the time stamp. He erased fifteen minutes of footage.”
“Fuck!” I pick up the eight ball from the pool table and throw it across the room, taking out a lamp before it embeds itself in the drywall.
“I’m not seeing anything on the camera outside either,” Heph adds. “But the time didn’t jump.”
“What does that mean?”
“This driveway is the only way on and off the property with a car, and our security system is on a closed server.”
“How do you know that?” Eros asks.
“I went poking around once Athena got those pictures. I didn’t think it mattered when she diffused them, but I think that Athena and Paris are—”
“They are what?” I snap.
“They never left the property.”
Chapter
Forty-Five
Athena
My head is killing me as I come to. I try to rub my eyes, but my hands are bound behind me with rough twine that is cutting into my skin. I’m blindfolded as well, and my senses are going crazy.
“Where am I?”
“Don’t worry, angel. You are right where I want you. Well, actually, that isn’t true. You had to ruin everything. Why?” Paris growls out. “Taking the money that should have been mine wasn’t enough? You had to take my brothers, too, and now my mother? What else of mine could you possibly take?”
“I didn’t take anything from you.” I can feel him step closer to me. His fingers gently lace in my hair like they did when he would kiss me, a comforting loving embrace.
“You took everything,” he whispers in my ear as his grip on my hair goes from soothing to painful.
“No,” I say. “Your mother is getting the treatment she needs at the best facility in the country. She is waiting for you to come see her. I get daily reports that say she is doing wonderfully. She is now taking all her medications and is completely lucid. We can go see her now if you want.”
“Now? It’s too late for that now.” He lets go of me then rips off my blindfold, taking several strands of hair with it. “You know I was prepared to give you everything. I was going to destroy you, my beautiful angel. I was going to break you, then pick up the pieces and make you my wife.”
I blink several times before I can see properly. We are in some kind of small cabin. I can’t see much from my chair, just the table next to me with an old oil lantern and another chair and Paris looking all wide-eyed and crazy.
“What? Why would you destroy me if you want to marry me?” I don’t really give a fuck what delusions are currently going through his head, but I need to keep him talking and figure out a plan.
“Well, how else was I going to make you dependent on me? I can’t have a wife who can leave. I need a wife who relies on me for everything. My plan was simple. I was just going to make you love me, then I would make you let Perseus have the inheritance, and I would continue siphoning from it to support us. Probably get your father to invest with me as well, and I would embezzle from him, too. We would have been happy.”
