Page 137 of Crown of Olympus
Oh.
Oh, this could be fun.I smirked.
Ask them if they’ve pictured you naked,Velira suggested coyly.
Vel!I admonished — but asked anyway.
Caelus looked horrified.
“No,” they answered simultaneously.
Interesting.
“What do you really think of each other?” I followed up, my lip curving wickedly.
“I dislike you and the relationship you have with your father,” Aros lied matter-of-factly, arms crossed over his broad chest. He looked unruffled — like admitting it had cost him nothing.
Caelus raised his brows and eyed Archimedes. Arch shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Either the pink liquor had reached its boiling point, or he was withholding his truth.
Arch sighed deeply, resigned. “Quite frankly, I think you’re ravishing, and I enjoy watching you train shirtless,” he admitted with closed eyes and a coppery blush staining his cheeks.
A flicker of white down to my left caught my eye. I cringed.
Oh, Tartarus, I did not just see that enormous thing twitch — nope. No, I did not.
Velira cackled through my mind. The adolescent dragon’s laughter scratched awfully down my spine in sharp, smoky rasps.
Hush, you.
“Are you hiding any secrets?” Aphrodite asked coyly, leaning forward to rest her arms on the table.
“No,” Aros answered through pursed lips.
“Yes,” Archimedes confirmed.
Aphrodite smirked like a panther toying with her prey. “And does your secret have anything to do with the trials?”
“I don’t think they should have to answer that,” Caelus interjected sharply. “Everyone is entitled to their secrets.”
He’s hiding something as well.
Agreed. His scent just soured.
“But not everyone’s secrets will affect the entire realm. Or all three, in fact,” she said, her voice hardening. “Answer the question.”
Arch groaned and muttered a quiet “Yes.”
Aros clenched his jaw, glanced at me, and quite literally, lied through his teeth.
“No.”
Aphrodite opened her mouth, but I cut her off before she was able to utter a syllable.
“That’s enough, Aph,” I said quietly. “Let the men keep their little secrets and gambles. The last trial istomorrow, and I’m willing to bet that Hera has ensured it’s the most difficult one yet.”
Everyone sobered.
“After all, there can only be one winner, right? A single crown for a single ruler.”
