“Can I fix you anything?” Hermes asked. Athena had never been less hungry.
“Save me an egg,” she said. “I’m going to check on the packing.” She put silent feet to the basement stairs and stopped when she heard their voices: Odysseus and Calypso.
“It will be all right,” Calypso said.
“It might,” he said. “It might not. But she thinks she knows.”
Athena bristled hearing them talk about her. She wondered what else they said, when she wasn’t there. Had Calypso told him what happened last night? Had they laughed at her together?
“If you think she’s making a mistake,” Calypso said, “then why are you following her?”
Odysseus paused. “Because I always follow her,” he said. Fabric moved, and metal slid against metal. “Because old habits die hard.”
Because you can’t let me go without you. Say it.
“I need you to do something for me, Cally.”
“Anything.”
“I need you to look after Andie and Henry. She’ll be preoccupied with Cassandra and Achilles. Andie and Henry are vulnerable.”
“But she must know that,” Calypso said.
“Of course she does. She’s been a general long enough to know that soldiers die. But she wouldn’t tell them that. So, take care of them, will you?”
“I will. With my life. They’ve become friends to me.”
“Me, too,” he said.
Athena backed quietly up the steps. So that’s what he thought of her. That she would let Andie and Henry die. Sacrifice them, for Olympus, like an offering of blood might help their chances.
He had no faith, though he’d seen her wage many battles. Though she was the goddess of war. She had the weapons, and the Fates were with her. She’d always intended to have Andie and Henry covered in the back, to face off against wolves or nothing, with Hermes standing guard. The battle would be hard, and there would be pain. But they would win. And it would be a one-sided, glorious victory.
Before the day was over, he would see.
*
Henry took Andie home to change early. They met her groggy mom, fresh off the night shift at the hospital. Andie hugged her long and hard, so long that her confused mother started to laugh. Andie laughed, too. Henry just stood there with a lump in his throat.
It wasn’t long before she’d dressed, in light shoes with good treads, pants with extra pockets, and a jacket. She emptied out her backpack to be filled with knives and other supplies. When she was ready, they got back into Henry’s Mustang and sat, his hand idle over the shifter.
“We don’t have to go,” he said. “They’d track Cassandra if she didn’t show, but not us. They wouldn’t even come looking.”
“That’s my line,” Andie said. “Andromache’s line. ‘Don’t go, Hector, don’t fight.’ But we have to, Henry.” Her hand trembled over his. “They sent those wolves, and they’ll send them again if Athena loses. We can’t let them get Lux again. We can’t let Cassandra go alone.”
She leaned over fast and kissed his cheek. He blinked at her in shock.
“I feel our old lives coming through today,” she said. “It feels like I should tie you up. Or stand in front of you. I’m terrified I’ll see you die. And then I’ll remember what it was like the first time. Pretty dumb, huh?”
Henry reached over and took her hand. It felt like ice, but her fingers twisted through his and squeezed.
*
They’d have to take two cars, Athena realized. She should’ve thought of that and rented a van, but it was too late now. Hermes loaded a green canvas pack into the trunk of the Dodge, on top of everything else, right near the front. Another sat at his feet, to go into the trunk of Henry’s Mustang.
“Hey.” She nodded toward it. “What’s that?”
“That is a combat medic first aid bag. I may have lifted them from the army base a few days ago.”