Page 76 of Radiant Sin

She won’t meet my gaze. Her eyes dart around the room and her lower lip quivers. “I don’t know ifIbelieve me and I actually heard them talking. It’s too wild, too much.”

I think back over the last little bit and make a few connections. “Hermes and Minos.” It has to be. Surely the staff talking wouldn’t shake Cassandra like this. From there, it’s another leap in logic to guess what scared her so badly. “They were talking about the real reason he invited everyone here. It’s worse than we guessed.”

“Pan was a mistake.” She closes her eyes and her shoulders slump. “Minos is going to kill one of the Thirteen and take their place.”

Impossible. I barely keep the word inside, but she somehow knows. She opens her eyes and stares down at me. “I know it sounds unbelievable. Trust me, I’ve already gone through the denial phase, but the fact remains that Minos plans to use the same law that my parents attempted to exploit to set himself up as a member the Thirteen.” She gives a bitter laugh. “He certainly has his pick of options at this party.”

Again the denial nearly gets past my lips. I tighten my grip on her hands. “How could he possibly know about that law? Most of the city is unfamiliar with it. They kept your parents’ attempt under wraps. It’s in no one’s best interest for every ambitious person in Olympus to start sharpening their knives.” No one has successfully ousted a member of the Thirteen in this way in generations, well before we became the center of a culture of fandom and social media and gossip sites.

“He knows because Hermes told him,” she says simply. “I don’t know the details, but she’s working with Minos in exchange for information on his benefactor—the person who’s the real threat against Olympus. You were right in suspecting that he held back information, but Hermes is after it for her own reasons. She admitted it to me herself afterward.”

I tense. “You spoke to her after? She knew you overhead?”

“Yes.”

Hermes could have killed Cassandra. It would have been the wise move to ensure her and Minos’s plan stayed secret. Or, at the very least, she could have locked Cassandra up somewhere and pretended she went back to the city. I might not have believed it, but I’d have no way to prove otherwise. Most of the rest of the party guests wouldn’t care enough to be suspicious. “Why did she let you go?”

“I don’t know.” She looks so wretched, I want to hug her, but if what she’s saying is true—and no matter how much I don’t want to believe it, it must be true—then we need to move. Now.

“If he tries this, he’ll be making it unsafe for everyone,” I mutter. “I can’t believe Hermes would hand him that kind of dangerous information. It has the potential to hurt her, too.” We might—might—be able to keep it under wraps again, but the city has its attention on Minos.

Zeus ensured that when he made the man and his family citizens in a public ceremony. If Minos is successful, then it will destabilize Olympus more efficiently than literally anything else. Marriage or politicking or the normal ways of gaining power will forever be second to murder. I shudder. “We have to move now, before everyone scatters. We have to warn them.”

“They won’t believe you. Not when the information came from me.”

“I’ll make them believe.” I rise to my feet and tug her up with me. “Change your shoes to something you can move easier in. Hurry.”

“Apollo…”

Even with the urgency clamoring in my veins, I can’t ignore the misery written across her face. I pull her into my arms and hug her tightly. “I believe you, love. The rest of them are too invested in their own safety to disregard a threat to their lives. I need you to trust me on that.”

She nods against my chest. “Okay.” Another pause. “Okay.” Cassandra pushes away from me. “Let’s move.”

I wait for her to change her shoes, my mind already going to what comes next. No matter what I told Cassandra, there will be resistance from some of the party guests. It’s the nature of the fractiousness of the Thirteen that if I say the sky is blue, several other members will shout that it’s green. I hope that their self-preservation will override the instinctive desire to dig in their heels simply because I’m the one delivering the news, but I’ll deal with whatever waves arise as soon as we get back down there.

Cassandra pulls on a pair of flats and rushes to the door. I’m right on her heels. She keeps up well enough as we start down the hall, but I still have to check my stride to accommodate her shorter legs. She huffs out a breath. “Just go.”

Under no circumstances am I leaving her alone. Hermes might have spared her, but if Minos discovers that she knows his plan, he won’t. “We go together.”

Another huff, though this one sounds almost fond. She frowns as we hit the stairs. “What will happen to Hermes?”

“Likely nothing. She broke no laws.” Even if inviting an enemy into our city is traitorous from where I’m standing, it’s not technically illegal. The most unforgivable thing is that she endangered Cassandra in the process. I can’t say as much aloud. Cassandra won’t thank me for feeling so protective of her, and Hermes couldn’t have known that I’d bring Cassandra here.

Which is enough to make me wonder… Did Hermes plan onmebeing one of the victims?

We race down the stairs and through the hallways to the living room. I barely manage to keep from bursting through the doors. The sight that greets me makes my stomach sink.

The room is half-empty. We’re missing five people. Minos, Theseus, the Minotaur…and Artemis and Hephaestus. “No.” I spin to pin Hermes with a glare. She’s reclining on the couch, her head propped on her hand, picking at a loose thread on the cushion. “Where are they?”

“How would I know?” She shrugs a single shoulder. “I’m no one’s keeper.”

“Hermes.” Cassandra comes to stop next to me. “Please.”

Aphrodite rises, looking between us. Her sharp dark eyes narrow. “What’s going on?”

It’s too late to play this hand close to my chest. “Minos intends to utilize the assassination clause.”

She flinches, her golden skin going pale. To her credit, she doesn’t flounder long. She spins to where Ariadne, Icarus, and Pandora are huddled together on the couch across from Hermes. “Is this true?”

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