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Byron cleared his throat. “He’s right. Ares is the one you have to worry about.”
Ares. Daire. Tess was worried about him. Though his safety wasn’t what these men were alluding to.
“Why should I be worried about him?” she asked.
Byron and Hugo couldn’t know about her intimate relationship with Daire. They did know that he’d been the one to track her down.
“Because he’s the only one capable of persuading the men Hades isn’t necessary.”
They’d tried offering him Hades’ mantle before and Daire refused it. He’d been the one first approached about taking over from Zeus after eliminating him. Her Heart had been smart enough to know that the order to execute Zeus would be quickly followed by a similar order to murder Harry.
“He wouldn’t do that,” she said, shaking her head. “He wouldn’t.”
Looking into his glass, Byron shrugged. “He’s valuable and has power over the men under him. Almost as much as Harry … Maybe more… Everyone has endured a lot this past year.”
Everyone except those with their riches and jets and connections.
“If Zeus wants to recruit Ares, why am I the one sitting here?” she asked.
Byron shared a laugh with Hugo, giving the impression they were laughing at her. “The only way we’d ever be able to get Ares across the Atlantic without his permission would be to…”
“Drug him?” Hugo suggested. “Bribe him?”
“With what?” Byron asked. “He doesn’t care about money.” And Daire had the means to get green if he did want it, as he’d told her that day. “He’d have to be unconscious.”
“There wouldn’t be much he could do about it after you were in the air, I suppose,” she said, disliking the idea they’d take away her Heart’s will as they’d removed hers.
Hugo scoffed. “Except snap the necks of everyone present and land wherever the hell he wanted.”
Daire could fly a plane? No big surprise. He could do everything to perfection. That skill wasn’t in her repertoire… not that she could snap necks either. All that would stand between Daire and his freedom were the two men at the table, a security agent, stewardess and apparently pilots, none of whom she’d seen. That was about as frustrating as it was hot. If he was there, she’d be fine. They wouldn’t have to go anywhere near Zeus. Daire wouldn’t let it happen. Unless it involved some larger plan on his part.
So Daire was safe. For now. That was some consolation.
Interesting that the Six, or those left of the patrons, understood their vulnerability. “You’re afraid of Zeus,” she said. “You’re afraid of Ares… Don’t you ever wonder about the monster your predecessors created?”
“The machine works,” Byron said. “If every part understands its place.”
“You’re doing it again,” she said. “Talking as though all of this wasn’t your doing. You wanted Zeus off the board. You took the plan to Hades. He never would’ve acted on it alone. Every part understood its place right up until Six broke ranks… Are you afraid of him too?”
It was difficult to imagine someone more powerful than a former president… other than the current president. Byron had already confirmed he wasn’t involved.
“The situation with Lowell is not about fear.”
“No, you need a link to Zeus,” she said because they’d already explained that part. “You know he’ll betray you again. That you won’t ever be able to plan anything within your group that you don’t want Zeus to know… You won’t even be able to take him out later because…” That was when she got it. “Because if you kill Lowell, Zeus will view that as a declaration of war. He’ll know Six was killed because he was loyal to someone other than you. Zeus will obviously think you plan to remove him as well.”
And Zeus was Olympus, at least that was what he believed.
“You understand our position,” Byron said. “It wasn’t supposed to go this way.”
No, they’d wanted Zeus off the board, Daire in his place, and then eventually Hades, and maybe Poseidon erased too.
She shook her head. “This is a mess of your own making. I won’t let you forget that or put it on anyone else.” Tess pushed the champagne away and laid both hands on the table. “I think I’ll rest now.”
Hugo had to move to let her out. Byron showed her to the rear cabin, then retreated forward again, closing the door behind him.
Tess wasn’t tired, she just had to be away from the men who’d taken her from safety. Daire was her safety and when he found out where she was, where she’d been taken… Swiping a tear from her cheek, she was more afraid for him than herself.
Either Zeus would put a bullet in her the moment they met, or he planned to use her. It wouldn’t work with Harry. But Daire… he wasn’t going to like this development at all.
