Innocence (Tales of Olympus #1)(71)

“That went well, I think,” Maeve said, looking at Cora over her steaming cup of tea. Maeve always said there was nothing that couldn’t be solved over a good cup of tea. But Maeve had only met Marcus once, and briefly, at the wedding.

“Hopefully the publicity will bring in more people to the shelter looking to adopt,” Cora said.

“I was eavesdropping,” Maeve admitted, making Cora smile.

“I would expect nothing less.”

Maeve’s face went serious. “But how are you really?”

She reached out and squeezed Cora’s knee. They were sitting in the back of the shelter in Maeve’s cramped office on stools beside the tiny rest area where a microwave, coffee, and tea station had been set up in a corner.

Cora tipped her head back and let out a heavy sigh.

“That bad?”

Cora looked back at her friend. “Not bad, necessarily,” Cora said. She wondered how much she could say without revealing the true extent of it.

“Marriage is… Well, marriage to a man like Marcus is…more complex and intense than I was maybe prepared for.”

“Honey, you’re only what, nineteen? I’d be shocked if it wasn’t, though I wish the honeymoon phase would’ve lasted a little longer.”

Cora smiled. “Marcus works long hours and he’s not always the best communicator.” That was putting it mildly. “And I guess I worry that…” How to put this? “I came to the city to try to find myself. To be free of my controlling mother and now…”

“Now you’re married to a controlling man?”

Cora nodded. Again, an understatement.

“It’s not that surprising, honey,” Maeve said gently. “It was what you were used to all your life. And it’s true what they say, unfortunately. We are attracted to partners like our parents because it’s all we know.”

Cora dropped her face into her hand. “Gods, don’t say that,” she moaned. “The last person I want to be married to is someone like my mother.”

Maeve laughed. But then she got serious again. “Is he good to you? Is he kind?”

Cora stared at the floor for a long moment before finally admitting, “Yes.”

She looked up at Maeve. “He’s not like my mom. He’s not petty or mean for meanness sake.” Then she wondered if that was true. “I don’t know, it’s still early. What if he really is like my mom?”

“Honey, you listen to me. You ever want to get away from that man, if he ever lifts a hand to you or starts being abusive with his words, you tell me. I don’t care who he is, we’ll get you away from here.”

There it was. Everything she’d wanted to hear ever since Marcus had flipped the script on their wedding night. Someone willing to help her escape him.

But Cora shook her head and reached out to give Maeve’s hand a squeeze. She told herself it was because she didn’t want to bring down the world of trouble Maeve’s words might incite from Marcus.

But she was afraid she believed her next words more. “I think I could be happy with him. It’s been an adjustment and we’re still learning to communicate but… I think I could be happy…”

She looked around her at the dogs in cages. Were the dogs happy there? They were well fed, taken out for walks once a day, and some of them in far better situations here than the abusive homes they’d been in before.

The dogs were grateful every time she poured food in their bowls or gave them a belly rub or took them outdoors for a walk.

But always they came back to the cage.

“Do you think they’re happy?” Cora asked suddenly. “Spending their whole life waiting in these cages until someone thinks they’re worthy enough to adopt them?”

“It seems to me,” Maeve said quietly after a moment, “happiness starts in here.” She leaned forward on her stool and pressed her fist to Cora’s chest, right over her heart.

Cora looked up at her and her eyes stung again like when she’d first gotten to the shelter. She swallowed hard. “It’s not that simple. All I ever wanted was freedom.”

Maeve gave the slightest shake of her head. “You already are free, baby. You always were. Where it counted.”

She lifted her fist and pressed it to Cora’s chest again. “I want the best for you, girl, whether you want to leave or stay, and I’ll help you whatever you choose. But till you demand your freedom here,” she opened her palm over Cora’s heart, “it won’t matter who you’re with or what rules they or their lifestyle puts on you.”

“I don’t understand,” Cora said.

Maeve smiled. “You will.”





Twenty-One





Marcus sat at a table in the back of Paulie’s with Sharo and several of his lieutenants. They did not have good news for him.

Angelo, a junior lieutenant, was animated as he spoke. “They hit us in the Westside, all at different parts of our business. One dealer was hit, two men approached him to take over his corner. He got away. A truck was targeted; we found it empty and abandoned on the Ape.”

The Ape, or Appian Way, was the main highway that linked New Olympus to Metropolis.

“Obviously it was the Titans,” Marcus said. “But you got anything more specific for me?”