Page 49 of Dark Restraint

I’m also aware of that. I don’t know what that means for Asterion, for Olympus, or for me. It’s tempting to ask Dionysus, but I manage to hold the question inside. He’s not the one I made a deal with. Hera is.

“Ariadne.” Dionysus holds his coffee cup in both hands and peers at me over the rim. He’s as serious as I’ve ever seen him. “I get that this isn’t your fault, or your brother’s, for that matter. But Hera is…” He sighs. “You have to understand. Your people are a direct threat to ours.”

I try for a smile but give up halfway through. “I understand. My deal with Hera won’t stand if I can’t uphold my part of the bargain. As for our marriage—”

“It stands.” He takes a long sip of his coffee and sets it aside. “Your Minotaur is fearsome indeed, but he’s only one man. He can’t protect you in this city. I can, at least to some extent. But depending on how things go with Hera, it might be wise to send you to the countryside until this is over. One way or another.”

I stare. Of all the things I expected him to say, this wasn’t even remotely on the list. “But you don’t want to marry me.”

“Darling, I don’t want to marry anyone.” He shrugs. “But if it has to be someone, why not you? We get along well enough, and you’re not looking for something from me that I have no interest in providing.”

It strikes me that, under different circumstances, I wouldn’t mind being married to Dionysus, either. He asks very little of me and is incredibly generous in return. There’s definitely a mutual understanding and respect between us. Marriages were built on less.

But I’m in love with someone else. After having experienced a taste of that, entering into a marriage that is, strictly speaking, a business partnership holds no appeal. Even with Dionysus.

“I can’t leave him.” I say it softly, feeling my way. “I can’t leave either of them. If Asterion keeps following my father’s orders, he’s going to end up dead. And Icarus…” I swallow hard. “My brother needs me.” I think he needs more than me, but as much as I am growing to respect Dionysus, that doesn’t mean I trust him explicitly. Not with my brother.

Dionysus presses his fingers to his temples. “You’re not making this easy, love.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Fine, fine, you’ve convinced me. Take your wayward brother and the monster of a man with you to the countryside. I’ll spin it as removing a weapon from Minos’s quiver. It’s a weak argument, but by the time I give it, you’ll be gone.”

I don’t tell him that it’s a Band-Aid, and not even a good one at that. If war comes to Olympus—and it’s going to—the people who reside in the countryside around the city won’t be immune from the conflict. It’s still a sweet offer. “Why would you do that? I know that I’ve helped out Olympus, but I’m still little more than an enemy.”

“You are.” He picks his mug back up and stares into his coffee as if it may hold the answers he seeks. “But you’re also a victim of your own circumstances and birth. And enough people have been hurt in this mess.”

Pan. That’s who he’s talking about. It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask how Pan is or if Dionysus has spoken to him since the attack. I don’t. It feels cruel to point out that in our own ways, we’ve both done plenty of harm to those who don’t deserve it.

So I just say, “Thank you.”

25

The Minotaur

As soon as I get confirmation from Ariadne that I won’t be shot on sight, I head for Dionysus’s place. We’re in the midst of a shitstorm, and I don’t see a way through. The only option we have is to cut and run, but I can’t even do that until the barrier comes down. With that in mind, I try to call Hermes. Naturally, it goes straight to voicemail.

Hello, darling, you’ve reached Hermes. I don’t know why you’re calling me instead of texting. Pretty sure this could’ve been an email. If you’re still here, I suppose you can leave a voicemail after the beep. No promises on ever getting back to you. Ta!

I curse and hang up without leaving a message. That woman is a menace. If I hadn’t seen the real person beneath her chaotic exterior, I might write her off as a loss. She’ll come through, though. I have no doubt about that. She’s gone through too much to ensure that Circe reaches Olympus. I don’t know why, but at this point, the why matters less than the fact that she’s not going to fuck me over. Probably.

I walk through the main entrance of the building, fully expecting to be stopped. The nervous looks the security guards give me aren’t reassuring in the slightest. But they don’t stop me.

As I take the elevator up to the top floor, a distant part of me wonders at the fact that Ariadne has managed to land on her feet so effectively. If it wasn’t for me, she’d be marrying a man with more money than even her father. At least if his penthouse is anything to go by.

Ariadne meets me at the door, and I can only stare at the opulence of the room behind her. It’s understated, but living with Minos for most of my life means I know what to look for. Wealth practically screams from every inch of the space.

I’m not usually one to let something like this get under my skin, but on the heels of wondering what kind of life I can actually offer Ariadne, it sends a sliver of uncertainty through me. That’s the only excuse I have for saying, “Are you sure?”

She blinks. “What are you talking about?”

“Us. Leaving. All of it. Are you sure you want to walk away from this?”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that to me.” When I don’t immediately respond, she sighs and lowers her voice. “Asterion, I’ve had people making decisions about my life since I was born. I’m not going to stand for it any longer. I told you my decision yesterday. I stand by it. Just because things have gone off the rails doesn’t change anything. Not for me.”

I exhale slowly. “It doesn’t change anything for me, either.”

“Good. Then we can figure out what the fuck we’re going to do now. Come on.”

---