Page 27 of Carry Your Debt

I’m seriously considering begging Zeus to let me break my ‘no drinking’ rule, but the stern look I get as I’m eyeing the decoy glass in his hand says he knows exactly what I’m thinking and to put that errant wish to bed.

“What the fuck was that?” he mutters darkly as he reluctantly hands over the flute.

“I think he’s got someone watching me at the Academy,” I wince.

“Fuck,” he spits before draining the rest of his drink.

“Yeah,” I agree, every inch of my exposed skin still crawling from the encounter. “Where’s Orbison?”

Zeus’s jaw ticks. “On your six, keeping Sinclair and Rhodes occupied.”

“What? Why?” I ask, my voice weirdly high. There’s an odd thrill of excitement skating down my neck at the thought of these two sides of my life finally colliding.

“It looks like the two of them were about to storm over here,” Knox remarks, watching with amusement while I rotate in myunwieldy gown as casually as possible. As Midas left to meet with the Arbiter, it occurred to me that I’ve yet to clock a single identifiable Suit so far tonight—but that doesn’t mean I’m not being closely watched.

As I finally finish painstakingly rearranging my skirts, I glance up to where Dionysus is busy manhandling a stony-faced Apollo and Hades, and my entire expression slams shut with an Oscar-worthy display of nonchalance.

I wassoright. Apollodoeslook pornographic in a tux.

The newly revealed Grayson wears a traditional black tuxedo suit, cut well to his athletically broad shoulders, and paired with an ornately embossed black tie. His dark hair is neatly styled to the side. Even with his identity partially obscured by a simple, metallic gold half-mask, the resemblance to his older brother is unmistakable. Not for the first time do I wonder how the fuck I didn’t notice the connection sooner.

D still has him pulled up by the nape, alongside Hades. Hades, who’s out here exiling souls from bodies left and right with how criminally good he looks in that brocaded corset vest of his. In head-to-toe black, with his long hair slicked back in a neat bun, he’s wearing a gold mask that perfectly matches his best friend’s and is no doubt hiding a grade A scowl.

The two Rox Boys might be slightly taller than D, but with how flushed Apollo’s neck looks and how rigid Hade’s shoulders are, there’s no doubt about who has the upper hand there.

Unfortunately, seeing the three of them together is proving hazardous to the scrap of silk masquerading as my lingerie, and as much as I’d love to sit back and enjoy the show—discretion remains key.

We don’t need any opportunistic Gray Men reporting back to Lexington that the Rox Boys have my inner thighs doing their best impersonation of a Slip ’N Slide.

Or—fuck—back to Midas, for that matter. He seemedentirelytoo interested in my ‘academic life’.

No, I can’t haveanyonethinking my fledgling Pantheon remains anything but a mandatory recruitment project for the Suits, so I instead fix my attention back onto the threeConcordiaagents I’d noticed during my earlier room sweep.

Baron Teague, 29, Maddox Williams, 28,andRiver Lee, 28.

There’s nothing particularly scandalous to be found inside any of their modest Gray Men dossiers.What initially had the trio snagging my interest was the way in which they’ve each been obsessively tracking Medusa from the moment they came on shift.

I chuckle lightly into the champagne glass. Either the infamous bounty hunter’s facing disciplinary action, or these Peacekeeper boys are nursing three massive, stalker-level crushes.

Can’t say I really blame them, though.

The things that woman can do with the right paralytic.

“What’s so funny, troublemaker?” Zeus murmurs as he leans in, his voice a low, husky kiss behind my ear.His large hand caresses down the length of my spine, gently soothing over the ghostly afterimages of Midas’s touch.

My lashes flutter as it settles back onto my hip.

Any minute now, and I’ll wake up to find this newly blossoming dynamic of ours has all been nothing but a blissful dream.

Before I can formulate a mostly mature,mostlynon-horny response, however, the massive, red-lit chandeliers overhead begin to dim, and an expectant hush falls over the entire gathering.

A frown pulls at my brow. I’d hoped to have finished getting a lay of the land before the opening ceremony, but I realize I still haven’t laid eyes on HermesorAres.

Or our Gray Man Council, for that matter.

Zeus’s grip on my hip tightens expectantly and I wince as I feel the first dull throb behind my eyes. A sign I’m starting to approach the limits of my forced sobriety.

In my periphery, Dio’s massive form rejoins Knox just as the sound of curtains being drawn back dramatically has everyone’s focus moving to the black-marbled dais. The crowd shifts in anticipation, and I lose sight of Apollo and Hades.

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