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)
He wants them to think we climbed the fence and escaped out the back.
It’s a desperate play, but it’s the only one we have. I open my mouth to say something, but the creak of the back door stops me short. I turn slowly to see the outline of a person standing in the doorway. It didn’t seem that dark a few minutes ago, but now it feels like midnight. They step out into the courtyard and look around slowly.
Instinctively, I close my eyes and duck my head, letting my hair fall over my face. Willing myself to melt with the shadows behind the bush. Without my eyesight, every sound feels amplified. Their soft footsteps over the cobblestones are as loud as gunshots.
They stop less than five feet from me and curse softly under their breath. A few seconds later, they speak in a normal tone. “Atalanta here. I searched the whole place. They were definitely here just like you saw, but they must have escaped out the back at some point.” She moves to the fence and rattles it a little. “I can see two side entrances from here and not a single damn camera. If they got into one of the apartment buildings, they could be anywhere now.”
I press my lips together and hold my breath, willing Icarus to stay just as silent. Atalanta. That means she’s here at Athena’s behest. And that’s bad news for us. With Ares, we might have a chance at a public trial or just be tossed into a cell somewhere. If Athena is sending her people after us, then she wants us to disappear. Permanently.
Atalanta listens for several beats. “We’ll keep eyes on both entrances going forward. I doubt they’ll come back here, but there’s no reason to be foolish about it. Yeah, I’ll meet you up front.” She turns and stalks silently back to the door.
Even so, I don’t move. I barely breathe as the seconds tick into minutes. I finally gather the courage to lift my head and look out through the space between branches. The courtyard is empty. She obviously did exactly as she said and went back through the front door. There’s still a part of me that’s certain this is a trap. That as soon as we come out of our hiding places, we’ll be killed.
Eventually, Icarus makes the choice for me. He slips out of his hiding spot and crosses silently to me. “Well, we’re fucked.”
“Probably.”
“What do we do?”
That’s the question, isn’t it? We’re trapped here, but even if we weren’t, we shouldn’t be rushing around Olympus and hoping for the best. I take Icarus’s hand and let him pull me out of my spot. “We do exactly what we were planning on doing. We stay here and wait for Asterion’s call.”
31
The Minotaur
“Do we need to go over the plan again?”
I hang on to what’s left of my patience with everything I have. “What plan, Hermes? All you’ve said is that I need to walk through the front door.”
She beams at me. “Exactly. Now you’re getting it.”
I resign myself to not getting any further information and check my phone one last time. There’s nothing from Ariadne, aside from letting me know that they got to the address Hermes provided safely. That should be enough to reassure me, but everything about this feels rushed and wrong.
I don’t even know where the fuck we are. Hermes drives like an erratic old person on a Sunday outing, weaving and making wrong turns and circling back. I don’t know how the fuck she has a license because she’s an absolute terror. We’re somewhere near the edge of Olympus, but I can’t begin to guess where exactly. I keep having to tell myself that this isn’t a trap. If she wanted to ambush me, she’s had plenty of opportunity to do so.
The building we stand in front of looks abandoned. The glass on all the windows is foggy with dust and grime. The brick walls need a good power washing. I wouldn’t look twice at it if I was walking past…unless I noticed that the door has a brand-new lock or that there’s a camera tucked up in the eaves.
Someone really doesn’t want anyone to notice this place.
Hermes fiddles with her phone. “Give me just a moment… Oh. There we go. You can walk in now. Remember, I need ten minutes.”
“To do what?” I’m speaking to empty air. She’s melted into the shadows behind us. I stare hard at them, trying to divine where she went, but there’s no way to tell. I know she said it’s pure athletics that allows her to do this, but I can’t stop myself from shuddering. That shit is freaky as fuck.
I glance around, but the street is just as deserted as it was when we first arrived. It’s not late, but this place has even less to offer than the warehouse district. There isn’t a single soul around as I cross to the front door. It feels absolutely absurd to try the door, but it swings open soundlessly in response to my touch.