AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The sneaky little… Her fingers curled into a fist. Smacking him in the face might be fun though the satisfaction would be short-lived.
“Where are we going?”
“To meet someone special,” he said. “Someone who’s eager to meet you.”
One was a special meet. Yet, Hugo thought there was someone more special out there. Replaying what Byron said about them being sponsors, her attention whipped around fast.
“Oh, you…”
Exhaling, her head fell back. The fuckers had been leading her around by the nose and she’d let them. All the talk, all the hints, the softening up. She was a frog enjoying the hot tub.
“He won’t hurt you.”
“No,” she said, her attention sinking to meet the former president’s again. “Because apparently I’m useful. Have you been working with him all along? No way Harry knows that.”
Hugo’s assertion that her father knew where they were going had to be a lie. Maybe Harry knew they were getting on a plane, but he couldn’t know that One and Three planned to take her to the enemy.
“Harry is doing his job,” Byron said. “As he always does, he’s doing it well. It’s our responsibility to ensure he has everything he needs to carry out his work. He needs Minotaur.”
“Yeah,” she said. “But I don’t think he’d be willing to throw in with Zeus to get it. They can’t trust each other. There’s no way you can piece this back together with the same three men at the top.” Translated: Zeus and Hades couldn’t work together. “Hades was doing his job, what you asked him to do… But he’s your sacrifice, isn’t he? You wanted rid of Zeus because he had a God complex.” Hugo had revealed that earlier on the flight. “But you’re too scared to eliminate him. You have to win him back. The only way to do that will be to get rid of Harry.”
Asearing heat of rage built in her, it tensed her muscles and burned in her sinuses. These men planned to execute her father. He was back there, where they’d just come from, training men for Olympus purposes. As soon as those agents were up to speed, Zeus would demand he be taken off the board.
“If it was that simple, I wouldn’t deny it being a possibility.”
“It’s a possibility, everything’s a possibility,” Tess said, sick with such anger that she grabbed up her champagne to gulp it down, hoping to quench the fire that threatened to make her do something irrational and dangerous. “You bastards.”
“Harry’s men trust Harry,” Byron asserted. “They do what he tells them to do. They love him.”
Which took her thoughts to Daire. Goddamnit. Zeus would want his loyalty. He was probably the most useful Olympus agent. No, there was no “probably” about it. Daire was definitely the most useful Olympus agent. He had a lot of Harry’s knowledge. Tess wasn’t sure that the other principals or the Six knew how Harry had coached his apprentice in things he shouldn’t.
Zeus needed Daire to take Harry’s place or he’d lose control. But Zeus’s plan was flawed in the face of the truth. The seeds being sewn were sealing her love’s grave fate. Daire didn’t value himself as an individual and was protective of others. Her Heart put his colleagues ahead of himself on missions.
Those facts were true, but not the reasons for her certain heartache. No, it was much simpler than that. Daire loved Harry. For all their conflicts, the two men loved each other. And just as father would for son, the son would go to war for his father. Daire still wanted his father’s approval; loyalty meant everything to him.
When he’d believed Harry had broken their trust, revenge spurred him into action. Daire had forgiven his father after learning he’d tried to come back for his son. Tess hadn’t thought a lot about it at the time, but after seeing them together and learning more about Daire, she understood why.
Harry, in a lot of ways, was Daire’s only family, which mirrored Tess’s relationship with her mother. Daire forgave Harry to please him, but also because, like her, he’d had no other place to go.
As Byron said, Harry’s men loved him. They wouldn’t take to Zeus’s leadership without complaint. They could go along with it if they feared for their lives; Zeus could rule with fear. Though that fear only went so far. Agents of Olympus had to be willing to give their lives for the cause. Still, maybe they could adjust to different leadership in the name of survival.
Daire wouldn’t have that much regard for his own life.
Learning that her father’s future was uncertain filled her with renewed grief. There was so much they hadn’t done. So much they hadn’t said. She didn’t even know if he valued her or not. Daire said Harry didn’t know how to talk about his feelings; that didn’t mean they were non-existent.
When would it happen? Would Zeus give the order and one of the men carry it out? Was there a mole? An assassin lying in wait? One of the guys Garrick recruited before they got there who might jump up just to carry out their covert mission only to then recruit the others for Zeus? Maybe all of them were allied with Zeus. They’d been setup in Vegas, ready to go for God only knew how long.
“Would you like to get some rest?” Byron asked.
“I’d like to know more about how you plan to take my father off the board.”
Byron shook his head. “I don’t know how the situation will resolve itself. I can assure you that no one plans to hurt you or your father. Murdering Harry would martyr him and lead to an uncontrollable revolt. If his men banded together against us… It could cause Olympus a great deal of problems… If we erase your father, there will be no Olympus.”
On the night she and Hugo met, he’d talked about the Olympus operatives, about how they were recruited young. He’d said Olympus didn’t have time or the resources to waste starting over on an entirely green team.
“You don’t have to worry about us,” Hugo said. “We’re on Hades’ side. Even Zeus understands his importance.”
Though there was no telling what a God would do when his ego was bruised. Finding out that the people around him and those above him in the hierarchy all wanted him dead? That was a pretty big bruise. Tess hadn’t met Zeus yet, but it was obvious he wouldn’t be the magnanimous type.
