Page 141 of A Touch of Chaos

“You will not let me?” Aphrodite repeated. “Sincewhenhave I required your permission for anything?”

“This isn’t up for discussion,” he said.

“What is this? Some feeble attempt to act like my husband? You let me out of those obligations a long time ago, remember?”

Hephaestus towered over her, narrowing his eyes. “Do not act as if you were not eager to be free of me.”

“You call this free?”

“Why don’t you both just fuck and get it over with?” asked Hermes.

Aphrodite whirled on Hermes. “I willmurderyou!”

“Point and case,” said the god.

“It’s caseinpoint, Hermes,” said Sybil.

“If we hold funeral games for Tyche and Hypnos,” said Apollo, “we communicate to the entire world that Theseus has found a way to murder us all.”

“That is better than letting Theseus do it,” saidSybil. “At least then you have control over the narrative.”

“And what narrative is that?” Apollo asked. “That Theseus is more powerful than the Olympians?”

“That Theseus murdered innocent gods,” Sybil replied.

“If that is true, then has he fulfilled the prophecy of the ophiotaurus?” asked Dionysus.

“We will know come nightfall,” said Hades.

If the prophecy had been satisfied, then the ophiotaurus would return to the sky as a constellation, but Hades was not hopeful.

“Holding funeral games may help our favor with mortals, but it does not solve the problem of Theseus,” said Dionysus.

“Unless he dies during the games,” said Apollo.

“That would be a violation of the rules,” said Harmonia.

Which was true. It was traditional for warring sides to declare a cease-fire. The games were supposed to be a time to celebrate life, not encourage more violence.

“Given the circumstances, the last thing I would concern myself with are rules,” said Hades.

“I thought you were worried about public perception,” said Sybil. “If you kill Theseus during a cease-fire, you will only prove him right.”

“Do not make the mistake of thinking Theseus will fight fair,” Hades said.

“Can we be sure he will even attend the games?” Persephone asked.

“He will attend,” said Ariadne. “He will want to defend himself against Aphrodite’s accusations.”

Hades could feel Hephaestus’s anger spike. That was exactly what the god feared.

A tense silence followed.

“So this is your plan?” asked Dionysus. “Execute Theseus publicly and then what? He has an army of demigods with weapons that can kill us.”

“Then we attend armed and assume the games will end in battle.”

No one spoke, not in favor or opposition, but Hades knew they had to do something. Theseus’s plans were already in motion. They had been from the moment he’d requested a favor from Hades in exchange for Sisyphus. That favor was his access to the Underworld—to his helm and to Hypnos. Zeus’s slumber was just another phase, and now that Theseus was in possession of the lightning bolt, Hades dreaded discovering what came next.

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