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“Maybe not for a guy with a God complex.”
“Is he capable of trying to recruit Ares?” Styx asked, shifting up the bed to lean on the headboard. “Yes. There is nothing wrong with Zeus’s ego. But why is he staying here? Why so far away? If he was closer, he’d have a better overview of Gamma. He’d make sure things were done his way, that nothing was sabotaged.”
“He’d also be an easier target though, right?”
“If he’d turned Ares?” he asked, his brows rising. “No. Whoever Ares is playing for when Minotaur is extracted, wins. Simple as that. Ares and Zeus together at beta means game over.”
“Z’s score on recruitment isn’t that hot. He’s killed all five of Harry’s guys that approached him since the Exodus.”
Another frown crept onto his face. “Something they shouldn’t be doing without H’s say so.”
“You think he gave the mission to others?”
“H brought Zulu to me first. Before anyone else. To temper reactions, we decided to loop the guys in one at a time. Sure, some of them had their own gripes with him, but they shouldn’t do anything without H’s say so. They might work off an order from Ares, but if Zeus is spreading the word they’re working together, orders from him could be viewed as a test.”
“If they were working together, Daire wouldn’t want Zeus dead,” she said. “And Daire took me to Harry. He could’ve brought me here to Zeus, but he didn’t.”
“Are we absolving my brother?”
“I didn’t think he was feeding Zeus information.”
“He’d be more likely to just do the killing and get it over with than waste time tracking the guys down to put them in harm’s way. My brother loves Olympus, but there’s no love lost between him and Zeus. He wouldn’t think twice about taking him down if that was what he’d decided needed to happen.”
Thinking of Daire’s relationship with the head of Olympus reminded her of what had happened the previous night. “On the call,” she said, twisting to bring her knees up onto the bed. “Daire said something in some language I didn’t know… Something weird went between him and Zeus, I don’t know what it was. I don’t think anyone else understood it.”
“A secret signal?”
She shook her head. “They weren’t covert about it, and it felt… sinister. It wasn’t a happy exchange.”
“I don’t know,” Styx said on a shrug. “I lost track of how many languages Ares speaks, he was in lessons daily, talking to locals, from childhood… There are some languages only he and one other in the Olympus ranks know. I think it’s Greek for him and Zeus, they use the ancient grammar and syntax, I don’t know. He and Poseidon use Latin sometimes… He’d do it to piss me off. I wouldn’t even try to translate for you.”
It didn’t matter, Tess couldn’t repeat what had been said anyway. “It was more the energy of it that worried me. Zeus accepted it, whatever it was, like it was a challenge or something.”
“There are many weird and wonderful ways of Olympus. Ares is the encyclopedia; you’d have to ask him.” Whenever she next saw him, which could be in twenty years. Styx stood up. “I’m gonna get some food and then we’ll try to figure out what Zeus wants from you… Work for you?” She nodded. “Don’t let anyone in.”
He departed.
The last time she’d been left alone in a hotel room Albany appeared and shot her. Happy memories… or not so happy.
Styx was the kind of guy who’d have booby traps set for snoopers. It could be that he had secret cameras set up too. Other than her coffee cup and the bed, there was only one other thing in the room she’d been allowed to touch.
Going to sit at the desk, she turned Styx’s device toward herself. She called it a device because it was nothing like the computers at the drop-in learning place.
Easing the screen up, she waited for it to flash on and then pressed the arrows until she found the feed of Daire. In the living room, he ran his fingers along the top of pictures, examining everything he touched.
For the first time, they were alone. Her fingertips grazed the screen. Without witnesses, touching was allowed… Not that it was the same as feeling his heat beneath her skin… or above it.
Although tempted to press buttons to hunt for audio, she didn’t dare. There was a better than likely chance she’d delete the mesmerizing images. She couldn’t risk breaking the fragile link.
The room he searched was the same one they’d been reunited in after her run in with Albany. Her lips began to move, without making a sound, she recited the lyrics of her Danny’s seduction song … Her Daire.
Longing for him wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. Admitting they were over wasn’t easy even with half the planet between them. How would they do it when they were side by side? Face to face. Body to body. She had no choice. She couldn’t be a part of Olympus. Couldn’t be a part of his life.
Ignoring the tear that tracked down her cheek, she pressed the arrow to follow Daire into the next room. He stopped by the fish tank to talk to Zip. Had someone found something? She hoped so. Styx was right that tech would be easier to handle than a betrayal by one of his own men. Daire didn’t deserve that. Didn’t deserve going through more disappointment.
In a daze, she didn’t move to follow the next time Daire walked away. He disappeared with Zip at his side. His man. His team. His people. Her numb fingers rose to close the device. Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself back in the chair and swiped tears from her face.
It was time to stop being a passenger and take the wheel.
