Page 58 of Wildfire

She also, quite clearly, had little respect for Hermes. She didn’t once ask his opinion, and the few times he tried to interrupt, to ask for information or explain something to Wilder, she gave him an icy glare the whole time his mouth was open.

Wilder, having become rather partial to his obnoxious mouth, paid close attention whenever Hermes felt a need to interrupt Athena’s planning.

“Just keeping your distance might not be enough,” Hermes announced as Athena was giving him a rundown on how best to stay alive in the fight. Wilder might not be terribly attached to the notion of living forever, but he wouldn’t lie—he was attached to remaining alive for now. He wasn’t even thirty, for goodness’ sake.

He looked at Hermes. “He does seem to be able to jump a considerable distance. Is that what you’re worried about?”

Hermes made a face. “The stories say he can spit poison.”

That... was an odd way of putting it. Hermes, like Wilder, usually grounded his words in facts. He was a fanciful creature, but “the stories say,” was something Ward would tell them, not Hermes.

“Have you actually seen him spit poison?” he asked.

Hermes shook his head, but there was worry in his eyes. That was when something occurred to Wilder. “Have you ever seen him fight, other than at the school when he almost killed you?”

Another head shake, and a clear picture began to form in Wilder’s mind. “Just how much fighting did you do during the war?”

Hermes ducked his head and gave a little shrug. “I mean, um—”

“He isn’t a warrior,” Athena said, and it was the first time she’d done anything remotely kind for Hermes. Wilder didn’t think it had been intended as kind, merely matter-of-fact, but it was an excuse for behavior that she clearly found lacking. He was her brother, and she thought his lack of martial skill was a failure.

Wilder thought of Elise asking to go home to South Dakota, and what Athena’s reaction to that might have been.

“Some people aren’t,” he agreed. “Which is why asking the students to come to graduation isn’t appropriate.”

Quite clearly, she didn’t understand. “They won’t have to come. We won’t lie, they’ll know it’s dangerous.”

He shook his head. “No. They’ll feel pressured to come if we say it’s graduation. We need to start by cancelling graduation altogether. Then we can tell the students who’ve been coming to the lessons that we’re still gathering, and give them the option.”

“And if Typhon catches wind? If he doesn’t come, and we lose our chance?” She stood straighter, crossing her arms and tipping her chin up. She looked every inch the terrifying goddess of legend, and Wilder thought maybe this would change her mind about him. Maybe if he defied her now, she wouldn’t want him for... whatever it was she had implied but not stated outright.

That would be too damned bad.

He mimicked the stance, crossing his arms and clenching his jaw, refusing to break eye contact. “Then we’ll find him another way. I won’t win by hurting innocent people.”

She pursed her lips thoughtfully. “If he doesn’t come, we’ll have to use you as bait.”

“No fucking way,” Hermes interrupted as Wilder shrugged. He turned to glare at Wilder. “You’re not doing that. You’re not immortal yet.”

Wilder let his stance soften slightly, reached out one hand to cup Hermes’s face, and smiled. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, we have no reason to believe he’s got access to the students’ email accounts. If he would have shown up for real graduation, he’ll probably show up for this.”

Hermes didn’t stop frowning, glancing back and forth between Wilder and Athena for a moment, gaze finally lingering on his sister. “Maybe I’m not a fighter, but if you get him killed, we’re going to talk.”

She quirked a single brow, and it was the closest Wilder had ever seen her to surprised. Without a word, she inclined her head in acquiescence. Hermes leaned against him. From the scowl that remained on his face, he was not pleased. Mollified, but not pleased.

Wilder wrapped an arm around him. “We should get dressed. The students will be meeting soon, and we need to be there to talk to them. Dean Woods needs to email the student body and their families about graduation being cancelled.”

It was Athena’s turn to scowl, but she finally gave a short nod. “I will see you later.” Then she turned and was gone.

Wilder had to work not to slump into Hermes when the door closed behind her. Being in her presence had always been a strain, even when she was his human mentor—the only person who had ever seemed to want him for what he was, and not what they wanted him to be.

That, once again, had turned out to be untrue. Athena, Dean Woods, whatever he was supposed to call her—she wanted him for what he could do for her. On her orders or demands.

Hermes trailed a hand down the little vee of Wilder’s chest left bare by his robe. “I guess we gotta go, huh? Wish we could stay home and just, like, eat brownies.”

Oddly enough, so did Wilder.

Building an Army

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