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Maybe I really am naive, because her words shock me to my core. “You made this deal thinking you wouldn’t survive it?”
“I made this deal because I had no other choice.” She turns to my sister. “I accept your terms.”
Persephone nods. She doesn’t look particularly happy, and that’s the only thing that keeps me from losing my shit. I know my sister doesn’t see things that way, but it’s hypocritical in the extreme. I’m essentially in the same boat as Ariadne, but she would go to great lengths to make sure I was never hurt because of the family that I was born into.
Persephone motions to Medusa. “There’s a safe house set up for Ariadne. I need you to arrange transportation for her there.”
Medusa pulls out her phone. “Consider it done.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “In the upper city or the lower city?”
“If I told you that, it wouldn’t be much of a safe house, would it?” She shakes her head. “We can fight about this later if you’d like. Right now, there’s business to attend to. You wanted to be on Hades’s payroll. This is what that looks like. Making hard decisions to protect the lower city.”
To protect the lower city…or to protect Hades?
I don’t ask the question. It’s not fair, and I’m certain I won’t like the answer. Instead, I turn to Ariadne and take her hands. “If you have any reservations about this at all, tell me now and I’ll fight this. I promised you safety, and you’re in this mess because you believed me.”
She gives my hands a single squeeze and slips free. “Like I said, I had a good idea of what I was getting myself into when I called you. It was only a matter of time before my father bargained me away in marriage. At least this way, I’m making a choice for myself instead of having him make it for me.” She won’t quite meet my gaze. “And there was the other thing.”
Right. I’m not in danger of forgetting that. Still… “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
I glance at where Orpheus stands just outside the kitchen, leaning against the wall. I’m not sure what he thinks of the situation. The few times he’s met my sister before coming to the lower city, she was firmly wearing her sunshine mask. Bright and happy with not a single harsh thought to her name. That’s not the woman whostands before him now. He catches me watching him and offers a small smile of solidarity.
“Eurydice, I would like a word. Privately.” Persephone motions to Minthe. “Come along.” When Orpheus takes a step forward, she pins him with a glare. “What do you think you’re doing?”
To his credit, he doesn’t wilt. He also doesn’t puff out his chest and lean too hard into bravado. He just meets her gaze steadily. “I gave Charon my word I wouldn’t let her out of my sight.”
My sister raises her chin, hazel eyes flaring. “I outrank Charon and I’m telling you to wait inside.”
“With all due respect, Persephone,I’mnot on Hades’s payroll. I don’t answer to him, and I don’t answer to you.”
For a moment, I think my sister might be provoked into actual violence. It never would’ve been a fear of mine three months ago, but three months ago she wasn’t pregnant with twins and riding the waves of emotions and hormones that I find terrifying.
She gets herself under control though. “So be it.” She turns and leads the way through the apartment and out the door. Our strange little group ends up clustered around one of the trees that line the street in front of Medusa and Calypso’s apartment. My sister draws herself up and gives me her full attention. “You have something to say. Say it.”
“This is shady and underhanded. Hades gave his word that Ariadne would be protected, and the first thing you two do is marry her off to some asshole?”
She lifts a brow. It’s an expression I’ve witnessed her husband make a hundred times, and it’s incredibly disconcerting to see on my sister’s face. “We grew up with those so-called assholes. They were our playmates and friends and companions until ten years agowhen we came to the city proper. If things had fallen out differently with Mother,wewould’ve married them. I’m not going to allow anyone who is a monster on that list. They’ll treat her well, and it will remove her from the firing line.”
She has a point, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to let her have it. “It’s still not her choice. It’s not right.”
“Surely you can’t be that naive, even with how thoroughly we’ve protected you. Minos has been shopping her around since he arrived in Olympus. You know the kind of people who populate the legacy families in the upper city. Can you honestly say that they are better options than the one I’m giving her?”
I open my mouth to say exactly that, but I can’t quite manage it. Because she’s right. Almost to a person, the scions of the legacy families are predators. There’s a reason my sisters worked so hard to avoid a marriage match. Ironic, that. All three of them are married to three of the most dangerous men in this entire city. Eros and Hades treat Psyche and Persephone like spun glass, but that doesn’t change the fact that they’re still predators.
It just turns out that my sisters are too.
I don’t know where that leaves me. I might be stronger and more capable than they give me credit for, but that doesn’t mean I’m fully comfortable swimming in the depths alongside them.
“I hear what you’re saying, and I don’t necessarily disagree, but that doesn’t mean I like it.”
My sister’s smile is knife-sharp. She’s never looked more like Callisto in this moment…or more like our mother. “Now you’re getting the idea.” She glances at Orpheus and leans close. “Now, I think we need to talk about—”
A strange sound cuts her off. For a moment, I think a car might be backfiring, and I actually turn to look for the source. That’s when I see the van. It’s completely nondescript. I notice too late that the plates have duct tape over them. Even as I watch, the back door slides open, and two people appear, dressed in black with masks over their faces marring their features.
Too late, I notice the guns in their hands.
