Electric Idol (Dark Olympus #2)(98)

“We’re done talking!”

Psyche sighs. “Yes, I suppose we are. I’ve got more than enough. So has the rest of Olympus.” All the quiver is gone from her voice, her fear tucked away as if it never existed, leaving only cold calm and steely determination in its place. She reaches into the flower bed and extracts a phone from the space behind her. She holds it up to her face, and just for a moment, the calm flickers and she gives a trembling smile. “So, you see, everything is not okay. It’s not okay at all. Aphrodite wants to kill me and frame my husband.”

Aphrodite’s jaw drops. “You’re livestreaming us.”

“One hundred thousand viewers and counting. Before the end of the day, all of Olympus will have heard you confess to trying to kill me.” Psyche’s trembling smile goes sharp. “Sharks aren’t the only predators in the ocean, Aphrodite.”

Holy fuck. Holy fuck. There will be no sweeping this under the rug, no pretending it never happened. She’s just paved the way for a bloodless changing of power with the title Aphrodite; there’s no way my mother will retain the role after this. Relief makes me giddy. “It’s over. There’s no coming back from this. It’s finally over.”

“It’s not over until I say it’s over!” Aphrodite turns fully to face Psyche, her expression going ugly and hateful. “If I go down, you’re going down with me!”

“No!” I sprint forward, moving faster than I ever have. Even as I do, I know I won’t be fast enough. There’s too much distance between me and Aphrodite, too little distance between her finger and the trigger.

I don’t count on Psyche.

She surges up, grabbing Aphrodite’s wrists and shoving them up toward the sky as the gun goes off. She stomps on my mother’s foot and yanks the gun from her hands, flinging it in the opposite direction. Aphrodite curses, but Psyche shoves her to the ground. The whole thing took two seconds.

I grab Psyche and pull her into my arms. I know she didn’t get shot, but I can’t help searching her body for wounds despite that. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine. I’m safe. We’re both safe.”

“Thank fuck.” I point down at my mother, currently trying to sit up. “Do not move.”

In the distance, sirens sound. Psyche presses her forehead to my chest for a long moment and then moves away. “Now, it’s time for the final act.”





32


Psyche

Things happen quickly after that. Ares’s people arrive. Half of them cart Aphrodite off in a black van; the other half act as our escort to Dodona Tower to face Zeus. Good. I have some choice words to say to him.

Eros sits next to me in the back of the car. He hasn’t said a word since Ares’s people showed up. He’s stayed close to me, but I can’t read the expression on his face. He’s iced me out. I open my mouth but decide against speaking before any words escape. We aren’t alone, and this needs to play out before we can have anything resembling an honest conversation.

I don’t know if he’ll forgive me for lying to his face and going behind his back.

We reach Dodona Tower and are escorted up to Zeus’s office. He’s waiting for us in nearly the exact same position he was during our last meeting. He glances up as we walk through the doors, his gaze landing on the soldiers behind us. “Leave us.”

They obey instantly. I’ve never had much desire to have power for the sake of power, but his ability to state commands and have people leap to obey is something that would be useful. Especially right now.

Zeus rubs his temples. For a moment, he almost looks tired, but it passes and then he’s the implacable cold man he’s always been in my presence. “When I said I needed evidence, I didn’t mean I wanted you to stream that evidence to half of Olympus.”

“The entirety of Olympus will have seen it by dinnertime.” I clasp my hands in front of me, hoping he doesn’t notice the way they shake. “Especially once MuseWatch picks it up, which we both know they will. A homicidal Aphrodite makes for juicy headlines.”

“She’ll be exiled.” He sits back, blue eyes cold. “But then, that’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”

It’s exactly what I wanted. Killing Aphrodite, whether sanctioned execution or no, will hurt Eros. He’s shouldered enough hurt for a lifetime. I know I can’t shield him from it forever, but I can do this. “Yes, that’s what I wanted.”

Zeus shifts his attention to Eros. “And you. There are plenty of crimes to lay at your feet. I should exile you as well. It’s not only the Thirteen who will pay the price for breaking one of our most sacred laws; it’s also anyone they loop into the plot.”

“No!” I cry out before I can stop myself.

Zeus shakes his head slowly. “I would have done it. However, the situation has changed.”

The shift is too unexpected. I stare at him blankly. What could have possibly changed that saves Eros from punishment? “Because it was livestreamed?”

“No.” He gives me a long look. “Because you’re family now, and unfortunately, that allows you—and your husband—some leniency. As such, I will not be pursuing any sort of charges against either of you. However, this is your one and only warning. If you continue to plot and scheme and make my life difficult, I will make examples of both of you.”