“Hera,” Zeus said, his voice a low rumble. His eyes glittered darkly as they trailed down her robed body, lustful despite the loss of his balls at the hands of the goddess Hecate. “You have not dressed for the day.”
“I have not dressed at all,” she said and let the silk slip from her shoulders, pooling at her feet.
The air in the room became thick and heavy with Zeus’s desire but also his suspicion.
“Why did you summon me?”
“Is it not obvious?” she asked.
He narrowed his eyes. “It is not usual.”
Hera let her eyes drop for a moment, and she took a step forward before meeting his gaze again, almost shyly. “I hoped we might put our differences aside.”
Zeus also stepped closer.
“We have many, Hera,” he said, though his voice had grown quiet—the tone of a lover and not a king. Perhaps that was Zeus’s greatest downfall. At heart, he wished to be a romantic and not a ruler.
“Have we not always overcome?” Hera asked. Now she was so near to Zeus, her breasts brushed his chest.
“This is a trick,” he said.
Hera’s eyes flashed. “Can I not desire my husband?” she asked, her tone hinting at the fury boiling in her blood.
Theseus wondered if her anger would sway him or if it would ruin this moment.
Zeus studied her for a long moment, his eyes falling to her lips.
“I have dreamed of it,” he admitted quietly. “But I can hardly believe it is true.”
“Then touch me,” she said. “And know that I am real.”
Hera reached for his hand and guided it to her breast, where Zeus’s eyes stayed as he squeezed her, pinching her nipple between his fingers. Hera’s breath caught, and she closed her eyes. Her mouth was tight, and her arms went to her sides, fists clenched. They were signs that could be interpreted as desire, and they seemed to satisfy Zeus, who bent his head closer to Hera’s.
“I cannot please you the way I wish,” Zeus said, and she opened her eyes to hold his gaze. “But I can bring you pleasure all the same.”
It took Hera a moment to speak, to gain control over her voice as she managed to lie.
“All that matters is that it is you.”
Zeus kissed her, and his hands sank into her skin as he brought her slick body to his.
When he broke away, he spoke, his mouth close to hers. “You know it has only ever been you,” he said, impassioned. “I have only ever loved you.”
“Shh,” Hera implored. “Do not speak. Love me instead.”
Zeus’s eager mouth closed over hers again before he kissed along her jaw and down her neck. Her fingers tangled into his graying hair as he made his way to her breasts, lapping at the oil coating her skin.
“You taste so good,” he said with a growl.
Like sleep, Theseus hoped, annoyed that this was taking so long. He glanced at Hypnos, who remained on his perch, eyes averted from Hera and Zeus’s painful display of affection.
Had Hypnos given Hera a fake potion? It would be one way to enact revenge.
If something did not happen soon, Theseus would snare Zeus and Hera together. What torture it would be for the Goddess of Marriage to be trapped beneath her husband, who would then know her seduction had only been a scam.
There was a part of him that wanted to witness that aftermath.
Zeus continued his descent, and as he lowered to his knees, Hera turned her head to the ceiling.
“How long does it take?” she asked.
Zeus chuckled, assuming her frustration was borne from ignorance.
“Patience, my pearl,” he said. Hera’s gaze dropped to his, and his expression grew very serious, his eyes shining with a strange light. “I will kneel for no one but you.”
Hera let her hands thread and twist into his hair as he pressed kisses to each of her thighs, his mouth inching closer to her sex.
He groaned, and then his head fell heavily against her legs.
“Zeus?” she asked and then took a step back.
He swayed and then fell to the ground with a hard smack.
“By the gods, that took long enough,” Hera said, snatching her robe from the ground and securing the tie firmly around her waist. “I shall have to bathe in acid to scrub the memory of his touch from my skin.”
She shuddered visibly.
Theseus removed the Helm of Darkness while Hypnos transformed from a chained bird to a chained god.
“If you had used the potion the way I instructed, you would not have had to endure such…torture,” said Hypnos haughtily. “It was meant to be consumed, not licked from your body.”
“I told you,” Hera snapped. “Zeus will not accept food or drink from me.”
“Could it be because the last time you offered him a draught, he woke up in chains?”
“Perhaps he should not wake up at all,” said Hera, glaring down at her sleeping husband.
“As much as I would like to indulge you,” said Theseus, “we need him.”
“You need him,” Hera countered. “I am not trying to win Cronos’s favor.”
“But you are trying to win a war,” said Theseus.
“Yes,” Hera hissed. “And you released the one Titan who has had endless time to dream of all the ways he will take his revenge against the Olympians.”
“Perhaps you should cease considering yourself an Olympian.”
“Do you think that will matter? Cronos does not forget transgressors.”
“A trait you seem to have inherited from him,” said Theseus.
“And you inherited your father’s arrogance,” she countered.
“I did,” he said. “But at least mine is not unfounded.”
He had killed the ophiotaurus and eaten the golden apple. He was now destined to overthrow the gods, and he was invincible.
“Well?” Hypnos snapped. “What now?”
Theseus summoned the net with his magic and laid it on Zeus as if it were a blanket, covering his entire body. It was so finely made and so light, it was hard to believe the mesh could restrain a god.
“He will hang in the sky as he hung me,” said Hera. “Let the Olympians bear witness to his shame.”
For a brief moment, Theseus wondered why he hadn’t considered trapping her and Zeus. He was under no grand illusion. He knew the goddess had only allied with him in the hope of overthrowing Zeus and taking the throne for herself.
What she failed to understand was that the future of the world did not include Olympians.
“Only Olympians?” Theseus questioned.
Hera stiffened. “The mortal public cannot know. They will question our power.”
“They already question your power,” said Theseus. “And now they will know you can be defeated.”
Hera’s mouth tightened, but Theseus held her gaze.
“The lightning bolt, Hera,” Theseus said. “Bring it.”
She did not move.
As he stared at her, four of his men entered the study, all demigods of varying parentage. Two dragged Zeus away, and two dragged Hypnos forward.
“Release me!” Hypnos snapped, struggling in their grasp, but Damian and Sandros, the sons of Thetis and Zeus, maintained their hold.
The god glared at Theseus.
“What are you going to do?” he asked.
“Use you,” said Theseus as a blade materialized in his hand. He jabbed it into the god’s neck. Blood gushed from the wound, bathing Theseus in a spray of crimson. Hypnos’s eyes went wide, and he gave a few gurgling breaths as he fell to his knees, his white wings spread wide before he tipped forward and landed on his front.
He did not move again.
Theseus looked at Hera.
The goddess had yet to witness the effects of the Hydra’s venom or the power of his weapons firsthand.
He was satisfied with the fear in her expression.
“The lightning bolt, Hera,” he said again.
This time, she did not hesitate.
CHAPTER XXV
DIONYSUS
Dionysus woke many hours later to Ariadne in his arms, and he immediately stiffened.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t just his dick that was surprised, but his brain too.
He’d expected her to be gone by morning, even though she’d asked to stay a little longer last night. He’d told himself not to get too excited about that request, just like he’d decided he didn’t care about her reasons for wanting to have sex with him. She’d been through some pretty traumatic things in the last twenty-four hours. Fuck, her whole life was a tragedy.
She was just seeking comfort.
And he was fucked up enough to give it.
He repeated that to himself over and over, hoping that if he thought it enough times, it would stop his heart from racing when he looked at her and keep it from breaking when she decided he was her biggest mistake.
“Ari?” He shook her gently to rouse her.
“Hmm?”
“I think you… I mean, I’m not sure…but your sister might be worried.”
There was a pause, and while he couldn’t see her face, he imagined the reality of last night was settling in. He even leaned back a little so she wouldn’t hit him in the face when she jerked up and jumped from his bed in complete shame.
Except that she didn’t do that at all.
She rolled over to face him, looking sleepy and content. She even smiled. This had been part of his dreams for a while, and now that it was real, he hated the alarm going off in his head that told him to be cautious.
“Hi,” she said.
He took a moment to overcome the urge to narrow his eyes and ask her what was wrong, which would inevitably lead to some kind of fight. Then he would have only himself to blame for ruining the best morning of his life.
He swallowed the suspicion.
“Hi,” he said. “How did you sleep?”
“Fine,” she said. “You?”
He nodded.
She frowned. “Are you sure?”
“I said yes.”
“You didn’t say anything,” she said. “You just nodded.”
“I realize I’m not well-versed in mortal customs, but I believe that means yes.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Why don’t you just admit something’s wrong?”
“Nothing is fucking wrong, Ari,” Dionysus said. “Just leave it alone, gods-dammit.”
Fuck, he should have just led with his initial question.
“So there is something wrong—”
“Why did you sleep with me?”
If she was going to insist, he might as well ask.
She blinked, surprised, and closed her mouth before answering, “Because I wanted to. Why do you think I slept with you?”
He didn’t answer.
“Dionysus.” She spoke his name like a command.
“You said you wanted to thank me.”
“Because I am grateful for what you did,” she said.
“I’m not sure I like when you say that,” he said.
Her brows lowered. “What?”
He averted his eyes. “I’m not sure I like when you kiss me or fuck me and tell me you’re grateful.”
“You don’t like it…but you fucked me anyway?”
Her tone set him on edge. It was full of rage, but that was okay, because he could match it.
“I fucked you because I wanted you,” he said. “I fucked you because I like you. Because I’d like to fall in love with you, but I don’t fucking trust you, and it has nothing to do with Theseus and everything to do with the fact that you regret me every time you have me.”
A strained silence followed his words. Now that they were out, he wasn’t sure why he had said them at all.
Beside him, Ariadne was still. She wasn’t looking at him either. She’d turned her face away and was staring straight ahead. After a few seconds, she threw off the blankets and scrambled out of bed.
“Ari—” Dionysus said, doing the same.
She was at the door when she whirled to face him.
“You think I regret you?” she asked.
“You said so!” He inched toward her. “And even if you hadn’t, I would know.”
“You would know? Can you read minds? Is that another power you failed to tell me about?”
Dionysus ground his teeth. “Every time we have sex, you distance yourself.”
“We’ve had sex twice!” she seethed.
“And when we came back from the island, you ran.”
“I didn’t run. I’m here, aren’t I?”
He swallowed, and when he didn’t say anything, Ariadne shook her head, lifting her arms in a frustrated shrug. She turned to the door.
“So you’re going to run now?”
She froze. His heart beat hard in his chest as he waited for her to decide, and finally, she turned to face him with such fire in her eyes, it ignited the one smoldering in the pit of his stomach.
“Fuck you.”
He thought she would leave then, but instead, she closed the distance between them, and then her mouth was on his and her arms around his neck. Dionysus drove her back into the door and lifted her into his arms. His arousal pressed into her naked flesh, and then he was inside her again. He paused for a moment, unmoving, his forehead resting against hers.
There was a part of him that questioned what they were doing and if it was right. Was this just some challenge Ariadne wished to win?
He felt her hand splay across his chest, and his words built up in his throat as she whispered, “I don’t know what you want from me.”
He swallowed hard and then drew back to look into her eyes as he answered, “I just want more of you.”
Once the words were spoken, he couldn’t take them back, and the only reason he would want to was that it had just now occurred to him that maybe she had nothing more to give at this very moment. If that was the case, he would accept anything, take anything.
What she offered was her lips and her tongue as she kissed him again. It sparked some kind of frenzy inside him, a thing he could not take control of. His hands bit into her skin as he held her pinned against the door. Each thrust seemed to steal the breath from her lungs, yet he could not get deep enough.
He peeled her away from the wall and tumbled into bed, hips grinding and thrusting, and she took it all, her nails scraping along his back and digging into his ass, pulling him closer, pushing him harder. Just when the pressure began to build inside him, his door opened, and it felt like everything happened at once.
Phaedra stood there looking horrified, and he froze.
“Oh my gods,” she said. “I am so sorry!”
“Phaedra!” Ariadne called, pushing against Dionysus’s chest. “Fuck.”
She didn’t even look at him as she pulled away and hurried after her sister.
A half hour later, Dionysus was dressed, but he hesitated to leave his room.
It was ridiculous given that this was his house, yet he could not help feeling anxious about what he would find once he left, and it had nothing to do with Phaedra walking in on them. Today, he would have to face the reality of everything that had happened and plan for Theseus’s inevitable retaliation.
The demigod was not stupid. He did not need evidence to connect Ariadne to Phaedra’s disappearance. He did not need evidence to know that Dionysus had helped her, which meant everyone associated with him was now in danger. The only thing working in his favor was that the refuge and the tunnels that led there were secret.
Finally, Dionysus left his room.
He was hoping that Ariadne would be in the living room so he could speak to her about today’s plan, but she was not there. He did find the television on and the baby sleeping in a bassinet that the maenads had brought the day before along with a fuck ton of other items.