Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
She stares at me for a long moment. “Does that mean I’m not your target…or that you’re just not killing me today?”
If I were a better person, I would reassure her that I have no intention of killing her ever. But I’m not a better person. As much as I enjoy the sight of her before me, I can’t fully divorce it from the anger simmering just below the surface. She left me. She didn’t give me a chance to even fucking talk to her. She didn’t turn to me when she needed help. She snuck off in the night like a fucking thief.
So no, I will not be reassuring her right now. “I need the blueprints for Dodona Tower.”
“So go get them.”
I lean forward, and I like that she doesn’t shrink in her seat in response. “You know it’s not that easy. You, however, have the skills necessary to acquire them for me.”
She picks up her mug and starts to take a sip before she realizes she’s drained the entire thing. Ariadne sets it down with a clink. “This is the part where you’re supposed to threaten me. Tell me what happens if I don’t do what you’re demanding.”
“Ariadne.” I wait for her to look up and meet my gaze. Only then do I speak. “I don’t need to threaten you. Last night, you saw what I’m capable of when I don’t get my way. Get me the blueprints. I want them in my hands by tomorrow night.”
Her mouth drops open. “You’re asking too much. Do you have any idea of the security they have around—” She clamps her mouth shut, but it’s too late. She’s given herself away.
“You’ve already tried it.”
“I haven’t tried to get the blueprints, no.”
It’s a dodge, and not even a good one. I’m curious about what she was searching for, but there’s plenty of time to get the answer to that later. I pull out my phone and text her. Even though we’re sitting right across from each other, she checks it and frowns. “What is this? An address?”
“Be there tomorrow at midnight.” I rise slowly, letting my shadow fall over her. “If you don’t come to me, I’m going to come to you. Again. I don’t give a fuck what extra security they have in that building. If I have to cut every single one of them down, that blood is on your hands.” She’s too good of a person to let that stand. I’m counting on it.
She glares. “Why are you doing this? You don’t normally toy with your prey.”
“I told you before. The rules don’t apply to us. Be there, Ariadne. On time. You won’t like what happens if you try to call my bluff.” It kills me to walk away from her. We’re so fucking close; it would take nothing at all to toss her over my shoulder and haul her out of here. She’s mine. She should be with me, not some flouncy fuck in his high-rise apartment. She doesn’t have his ring on her finger yet. Maybe that should reassure me, but I saw the headlines. I know what she intends.
Even so, taking her now would be a mistake. I don’t have an exit plan in place. I might be formidable, but in the end, I’m only one man. If both Minos and the Thirteen rally their forces, there’s nowhere in the upper city or countryside I can hide with her. I need to be able to leave the city, and for that to happen, the boundary has to come down.
We’ll play this little song and dance to completion. In her heart of hearts, she knows I won’t hurt her, or she wouldn’t have come this morning. No matter how defeated she looks, I believe that. She’ll get me those blueprints, and Aeacus will do what Aeacus does best and bring down Dodona Tower.
In short order, I’ll have everything I’ve spent my life pursuing.
Ariadne and my freedom.
8
Ariadne
I can’t stop shaking. I sit in that coffee shop for nearly an hour after Asterion walks away, staring at my empty cup and replaying his words. My brother said he intends to kill me. The dead guards last night were a clear enough threat to confirm it. Asterion didn’t contradict any of it. He might be a monster in so many ways, but he doesn’t lie—not to me. If he had no intention of following my father’s orders, surely he would’ve said as much. Surely he wouldn’t have made a point of proving that he could get to me even through Dionysus’s formidable security.
He really intends to get what he wants from me and then fulfill my father’s order. Dodona Tower is a bastion of the upper city. An attack on that will crumble the power of the Thirteen even further. I know I’m capable of acquiring the blueprints, for all that the cybersecurity in Olympus is formidable. But just because I can doesn’t mean I should.