Page 31 of Heroines of Olympus

They part ways and Hestia walks to her quarters, breathing deeply to keep it together until she can be somewhere private.

Rushing into her chambers, she goes straight for the bathing room, where she immediately drops to the floor. Her lungs scream for air as sobs overtake her, chest tightening as Hestia finally allows herself to react to everything she has overheard. Her stomach threatens to revisit today’s lunch, and she fights to rein herself in.

The Pantheon’s callousness should not surprise her anymore. But to hear just how far they are delving into their own depravity has her truly scared to think of the depths to which they would sink to get what they want.

When enough time has passed, and her nerves and stomach have finally calmed, she heads for the library, eager to share what she has learned with Alec and the Allegiance.

* * *

The stone is glowing againas Hestia pulls it from the cubbyhole. His presence makes her smile, even if it may contain bad news. There is always that risk. The reward of Alec’s voice is sweet as it fills her mind.

For the first time, the message contains no news. Alec only wanted to talk to Hestia.

Alec tells her about his past few days and how happy he is to be back at the Isle, even if it is never for long.

When he finishes speaking, Hestia takes a minute to bask in the glow of joy that sparks in her with each new message, then steels herself to deliver the gut-wrenching news. The Allegiance has no clue about these auctions. The thought of what else the Pantheon could be hiding makes Hestia shiver. Especially as they seem to be getting bolder and discussing these things in more public spaces. They do not seem to care if anyone catches them, but that cannot be the case. If it became known, the people would resist.

Does she tell him about the possible traitor amongst them? Does she have proof that there is one? Maybe all that information will do is rip the rebels apart with suspicion. No. Definitely better to wait until she has more specifics.

As Hestia tucks the stone away, she pauses. Hestia neglected to mention her feelings. She does not want that declaration tainted by the news she delivered. A separate message should be all right.

Once again, she closes her eyes and speaks.

“Hello one more time, my dear friend. There was no place for this in my last message, so I want to say it here. I couldn’t go any longer without telling you I, too, think of you. Quite often. It seems silly. We have spent little time in each other’s company, but your eyes follow me everywhere I go. I look forward to the day when I get to see them in front of me again, instead of only in my heart and dreams. In the meantime, I will make a deal with you. I’ll do my best to be careful as long as you do the same.”

Content, she puts it in the nook and slides the board closed over it, her magic making the seam disappear.

Dragging a cart behind her, Hestia walks through the library. After a few minutes, it is filled with books on nymphs. Hestia must keep her research to nighttime and put the books away each time she is done, lest the Acolytes get too curious. This may be her temple, but this close to Zeus, one never knows where anyone’s loyalties truly lie.

19

MEDUSA

It is a beautifully sunny day, but Medusa finds little joy in it as her nerves take over and the weight of her impending visit to the Oracle crashes over her with every step she takes The crowd now has more sets of eyes that have shifted from curiosity to suspicion. A lot less than she expected, though, after last night. They must not know about the men she killed yet.

A group of small children are playing tag, weaving in and out of the people walking, neither group paying each other any mind. One of the boys slams into the back of Medusa’s thighs after not watching where he was running. He cries with a hand to his head and she crouches down to check on him. He looks up at her and his eyes widen, but not entirely with fear.

“You’re the snake lady,” he says, barely louder than a whisper.

Medusa answers, prepared for the horror that is sure to sweep across his face any moment, “I am. Is your head okay?”

He nods, forgetting to blink. “I think it would be so cool to have snakes growing out of my head. I love animals! It would be like having ahundrednew best friends. WOW.”

Medusa’s jaw drops. He is not afraid of her? And thinks these cursed serpents are agoodthing?

The boy’s friends return with a woman who appears to be his mother. Concern is etched on his mother’s face. As Medusa scans the children’s expressions, their eyes focused on her in fear, she wonders if the boy’s friends were protecting him fromher. She braces herself for what she knows is coming. The mother grabbing her child and pulling him away in horror, dragging him off while scolding him of the dangers of being around someone so treacherous.

Much to her surprise, the woman says, “Joshua! Milo and Jeorge came to get me and said, you’re hurt!” She turns to Medusa and adds, “Thank you for looking after him until I arrived. I hope he wasn’t too much of a bother.”

“Not at all,” Medusa replies genuinely. “We were having a lovely chat about animals.” She winks at the boy, who is looking back and forth between Medusa and his mother. He beams despite the growing bump on his head. One of his friends tugs on Joshua’s arm and he they run off.

Joshua’s mother leans in closer to Medusa and says,“I won’t speak much on the subject because, frankly, I don’t think they are worth our time.” A passion comes through strongly in her voice that catches Medusa off guard. “I was very sorry to hear about what happened to you last night. Don’t worry,” she quickly adds. “The whole isle doesn’t know about it. I work up at the compound where you are staying. They’ll all know by the end of the day, though. I think you’ll find more people here than not will feel angry about what happened to you. What we have here, this community, is fragile and there’s no home here for people who would treat another person that way.”

A Person.

Not a monster, not a beast. But a person.

Medusa expected the people here to riot against her when they heard what happened to three of their own. It never occurred to her for a second that any empathy would be spared for her and the realization makes tears stream from her eyes despite her best efforts to conceal them.

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