Attending a meeting with all the members of the Thirteen is one of the most surreal experiences of my life. My father made it a habit of keeping them as separate as possible, aside from his endless parties, but even if he hadn’t, I would not have had a place at the massive oblong table we occupy now.
I study them each in turn, all too aware of the way they study me right back. There are my brother and Eris, of course, him at the head of the table and her across from me. Hermes and Dionysus sit close with their heads together, whispering and pretending they don’t see the way Poseidon glares in disapproval. He’s a giant white man with short red hair and an even redder beard, and he looks like he can haul shipping containers around with his bare hands.
Then there’s Demeter sitting passively with her hands folded on the table. She’s a white woman in her fifties with a distinct earth-mother vibe that almost manages to hide the sharp ambition in her hazel eyes.
Next is Apollo. I haven’t interacted with him a ton, but I’m a big fan of Cassandra, who works for him. He’s an East Asian man who’s about my age and who doesn’t often contribute to the political backbiting so common with this group. He catches my eye and gives me something resembling a reassuring smile. I smile back, even though I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him.
Hades and Callisto—Hera—sit together at the end of the table across from my brother. Callisto is Hades’s sister-in-law, so their easy way with each other make sense, but it still weirds me out. I notice a vein in my brother’s temple throbbing as he looks at them, but he glances away and smooths out his expression.
Hephaestus and Artemis are cousins, both sharing the same light-brown skin and glossy dark hair. They’re also wearing identical expressions of distrust as they watch me. I won’t find allies in that corner, but hopefully they’ll be willing to work together to protect Olympus.
The door opens and our final member arrives. Athena is wearing a cream suit and walks with purpose as she moves to my brother’s right hand. She catches my eye, but I can’t decipher her expression. It’s not warm, but it’s not icy, either.
My brother clears his throat. “It’s time to have a frank discussion.”
The next two hours are a study in frustration. I knew the Thirteen were fractured, but seeing it firsthand has me digging my nails into my palm to keep from yelling at them. My brother lays out the information he has, but Hephaestus, Artemis, and Poseidon argue that he’s exaggerating the threat to consolidate power for himself. Dionysus and Hermes make quips at everyone, though they watch the proceedings with sharp eyes. My sister has plenty of opinions, but even I’m not sure if she’s supporting our brother or not. I swear she’s simply playing coy to infuriate everyone and confuse the situation.
Hades and Demeter, surprisingly, don’t say much at all. From the way they watch the arguments that spring up and get diverted, I expect there will be a secondary meeting with them and perhaps Hera where they discuss their position.
Athena staunchly supports my brother, but she’s quick to say it’s Olympus she’s supporting. Not Zeus.
In short, it’s a fucking mess.
We adjourn without any sort of a plan or even an agreement. I pause next to my brother. “I understand now.”
He gives me a brief smile. “Come around tomorrow and we’ll talk.”
More back-office meetings. I expect there will be a lot of that going around in the near future, the segments of the Thirteen breaking off to converse with like-minded people. I don’t know how we can get them all on the same page. I don’t know if it’s even possible.
The only other option is for Olympus to risk falling to the enemies we can barely see yet.
I head to my new office. It’s only been a few days since I was named Ares, but my crash course in the job has spotlighted how lazy the last Ares was. Nothing is filed properly. His second-in-command thought he could talk over me because of my gender. I fired him, but not before I nearly put his head through a wall when he tried to punch me. It’s a mess.
Maybe I’d be more optimistic if I wasn’t nursing a broken heart.
Three days, and not a single word from Achilles or Patroclus. Eros returned late that first night to let me know that Patroclus came through surgery just fine and is expected to make a full recovery. He’s out of danger, but Achilles still hasn’t reached out.
Hard to misinterpret that.
Maybe they meant what they said during the trials. Even if it was true then, their feelings didn’t hold up to my ruining their plans. And fuck if that doesn’t hurt more every time I think about it.
So I don’t think about it.
I have plenty of work to keep me busy. If sometimes I hide in my office and cry when the emotions get too tangled in my chest, I’m only human.
A knock on my door has me biting back a curse. “I swear to the gods, Diomedes, if you’re here to bitch about the schedule again, I’m going to fire you, too.”
“Rough start to the job?”
I freeze, my gaze pinned on my desk. Surely I’m hallucinating. I must be, because there’s no way Achilles is here after three days of silence. When I look up, it’s going to hurt all over again, and then I’m going to have to do something about this heartache, because I need all my facilities for this job.
But when I look up, he’s actually here. More, he’s not alone. He looks every inch the golden god he always does while standing behind a wheelchair containing Patroclus. He looks good, considering the last time I saw him, he was being rushed to the emergency room. He’s paler than normal and there’s a bandage peeking out from the collar of his shirt, but he’s here and smiling.
They’re both here and smiling.
I can’t move. I don’t have any frame of reference for them to show up like this. Are they here to let me down gently? Or…
“Can we come in?” Patroclus’s voice is a little raspy.
“Um. Right. Yes.” I start to stand but stop myself. “Shut the door behind you.” If this goes bad, the last thing I need is the old Ares’s people hearing me be officially dumped. It will undermine my authority even more. Achilles and Patroclus were soldiers beneath the last Ares before they went to Athena. I haven’t missed the whispers saying Achilles should have won, that’s he’s one of them and a known quantity. I’d just resigned myself to having to add my soldiers to the list of motherfuckers I’m going to prove wrong.
Achilles wheels Patroclus into the office and pauses to softly shut the door behind him. I open my mouth but force myself to hold my silence. They came to me. Achilles pushes Patroclus closer and drops into the empty chair next to him. He sighs. “Sorry it took us so long. The doctor was being stubborn—”
“If by stubborn, you mean doing his job,” Patroclus cuts in.
“Yeah. That.” Achilles waves the statement away. “How’s it being Ares?”
I plant my hands on the desk, mostly to hide the way I’m shaking. “I’m not saying I’m not happy to see you, but I would like to know why you’re here. Did you really come all this way to make small talk?”
“Right. That.” Achilles gives me a faintly guilty look. “You reached out for reassurance at the end of the last trial, and I kind of brushed you off. I’m sorry about that. It was a lot all at once, and I wasn’t thinking clearly. Still, that doesn’t excuse leaving you in the wind, and I’m sorry.”
An…apology.
Hope flares, so sharp that I flinch. “It’s nothing. Forget about it.”
Patroclus shakes his head. “It’s not nothing, or you wouldn’t be looking at us like that.” He hesitates. “Unless you’ve changed your mind about the future we talked about.”
The hope inside me gets stronger. I could shut this down and keep from putting myself out there only to be let down devastatingly gently. I can’t. If there’s even a chance to be with these men, to realize the future they spun out for me, I have to try. I lick my lips. “No. I didn’t change my mind about it or about you.”
“Thank fuck.” Achilles slumps back in his chair. He grins, looking like his old self for the first time since he walked into my office. “We resigned from Athena’s leadership. We’re free agents right now. Let’s make it official.” He leans forward. “Make us yours.”
“Just like that,” I say faintly. This is happening so quickly, it’s making my head spin. “I don’t understand. You wanted Ares more than anything. You’re really going to set aside your ambition just like that?”
“No, of course not.” He hesitates, a strange look passing over his face. “When it came right down to it, you wanted Ares more than I did. I faltered. You didn’t. You deserved the win, princess. You earned it.”
“I…” I swallow hard. “But—”
“But that doesn’t mean I’m going to kick back and ride on your coattails for the rest of our lives.” Achilles grins. “Sometimes plans change. Make me your second-in-command. We’ll kick these fuckers into shape, and I’ll make a name for myself helping you keep Olympus safe. Really, it’s better this way. Instead of just another Ares, I’ll always be Achilles.”
There he is. Relief makes me a little weak. I should have known that nothing sets Achilles back on his heels for long. “Ambitious, aren’t you?”
“That’s not going to change.”
Thank the gods.
Patroclus clears his throat. “We…we make a really good team, Helen. I think we’d make an even better one with you involved.”
My disappointment is even stronger than my fledgling hope. “A…team.”
Achilles nudges Patroclus’s shoulder. “You’re being too careful. She thinks we’re offering a business partnership.” His grin widens. “Team in public. True triad in private. Patroclus has to take it easy for a few weeks, but there’s no reason we can’t tease him a bit in the meantime.”
“Achilles.” The exasperation in Patroclus’s tone is tempered by fondness. He turns back to me. “We want you, Helen. All of you. Will you have us?”
I’m already nodding. “Yes. How is that even a question? Yes, I’ll have you.”
“Good.” Achilles pushes to his feet. “Let’s get married.”
My jaw drops. “What?”
“Kidding!” He booms out a laugh but then goes serious. “At least for now. That can come later.”
Patroclus and I share a look, and this time, I don’t have to decipher the meaning. We’re both so hopeful for the future, so happy to have years ahead of us with this man at our sides. I don’t know if I believe in happily-ever-afters, but these two men are going to do their damnedest to convince me.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
