“Of course I do. I know you’ve been watching the trials Hera’s put me through.”
Helios saw everything that transpired on Earth, even the things he pretended to ignore. The entire reason Hades had abducted his cattle in the first place was because he’d refused to give the location of Sisyphus, the man who had stolen souls with a relic he had obtained from Poseidon.
The god gave a lazy smile. “I watched long enough to see your face get beat in by Heracles. That was a satisfying fight. Pity he did not win.”
“Or better that I won,” Hades said. “Or your cows would have become permanent residents of the Underworld.”
There was a beat of silence.
“Is this your peace offering? Rosie? Or are you offering the whole lot?”
“Think of Rosie as a start,” Hades said. “The more cooperative you are, the more Rosies you get back.”
Helios’s mouth tightened. “What do you want?”
Despite knowing that the God of the Sun was very aware of what Hades needed, he decided it was best not to quarrel with him—as much as that was possible given his mood.
“I need to know where the Graeae are located. They were taken from Dionysus’s club.”
Helios laughed and Hades frowned, uncertain about what exactly his response meant.
“You are so busy searching for the gray monsters, you haven’t even noticed what is unfolding around you.”
“And what exactly is that?”
“Unrest,” he said. “And do you know what unrest breeds?”
War.
Hades did not say the word aloud because he did not wish to speak it into existence, but he knew what Helios was implying.
The god laughed again. “I predict another war soon. Olympianomachy,”
he said in a lofty voice, smiling. “It has a certain ring to it, doesn’t it?”
“So certain we will lose?” Hades asked.
“I have no doubt.”
Helios was loyal to only himself. Even his choice to side with the Olympians rather than his fellow Titans was born out of a wish to maintain his well-being rather than loyalty to Zeus.
“You forget that you are all seeing, Helios,” said Hades. “Not all knowing.”
“I’ve always chosen the winning side,” said Helios. “That has never been by chance.”
“Treason is a poor look, Helios.”
“I have taken no action,” said the god. “And I am helping you. That is far from treasonous.”
He was helping, albeit resentfully.
“What does all this have to do with the location of the Graeae?”
Hades could speculate all day long, but he asked because he wanted a direct answer.
“Everything,” said Helios. “I am doing you a great service in telling you that the Graeae were intended to be a weapon. Their gift was supposed to be the foundation on which a war was built against the Olympians.”
Hades was not surprised.
“Intended?”
“We both know you are in possession of the eye, and without it, the sisters are blind… useless.”
Hades gritted his teeth. They were not useless, even without the eye. In fact, Hades felt like the greatest power they possessed was the secrets they kept.
“You said they were intended to be the foundation on which a war was built. What do you mean?”
He did not want to mention Medusa, even if Helios was aware of the gorgon. He’d rather the god bring her up on his own.
“Hades, don’t play dumb. Their eye gives access to the future. It is a valuable tool for anyone in battle. In the…wrong…hands, it is an avenue to lay the foundation for victory.”
It was a thought that had crossed Hades’s mind before.
“Who took the Graeae, Helios?”
“Is that what you wish to know? Who took them, or where they are? You only get one question, one answer. I have already given you a mine of gold.”
“Are you not interested in obtaining the rest of your cattle?”
“Rosie here will do,” Helios said, patting her back. “With her, I can breed a new herd.”
Hades curled his lip in disgust.
“Choose wisely, Hades,” said Helios.
He did not need to think long. The most immediate need was obtaining the Graeae. Hades would find out who abducted them later. In fact, he thought he could already guess who was responsible. There was only one organization bold enough to think they could go against the gods—Triad.
Though that thought was paired with the image of Hera and Theseus sitting side by side during his second trial. Had Hera found an avenue through which she intended to overthrow Zeus?
“Where are the Graeae?” Hades asked at last.
Helios offered a wicked smile.
“Lake Tritonis,” he said. “You’ll find them held in the caves.”
The God of the Sun pulled Rosie close, his great strength allowing him to carry the animal under his arm.
“You are about to find out, Hades, that you’re on the wrong side.”
Hades narrowed his eyes at the message but said nothing. Not that Helios would have listened, because in the next second, he was gone. Hades could
safely say that while he’d suspected an inevitable uprising against the Olympians, he had always thought that relics would be the avenue through which an opposition would attempt to gain power over them—not via literal divine monsters. Worse yet, divine monsters could be created, and if Triad was responsible for this, if they had managed to gain the support of a handful of Olympians, then they were far more of an adversary than Hades had thought.
At least now he had a path forward, and it began at Tritonis.
He called up his magic to teleport when Hera appeared in the clearing.
“Fucking Fates,” he said, the words coming out slowly as a hiss.
“Hades,” she said, a wicked smile on her face. “I’ve been looking for you.”
Chapter XX
The Amazons
Now is not the time, he wanted to say, but he knew what she would threaten.
His future with Persephone, though he had done enough to damage that himself during their last encounter. His chest ached at the thought of how he’d left her—with no comforting words, only a countdown to say goodbye to her friend—and even though he had fucked up, he did not need Hera making it worse. It was that thought that made him relent, despite the pressing matter of locating the Graeae.
He would just have to send Ilias to Lake Tritonis. For a brief moment, he’d considered including Dionysus in the retrieval, but he did not know the god’s loyalties, and with a potential revolt on the horizon, he did not want to take any chances.
“What is it?” he snapped. He saw no reason to hide his resentment of the goddess. Especially after what she had put him through during the last two labors, though that only made his stomach churn. What did she have planned for him next? Was it to be something far worse?
“I’d like you to retrieve Hippolyta’s belt,” she said, almost casually.
Hades’s brows lowered. That was a relatively tame ask given what she had saddled him with before.
“Hippolyta’s belt,” Hades said. “Why?”
“Do not question my wants, Lord Hades. It is none of your business.”
Hades narrowed his eyes. “Does Ares know of your wants?”
“The belt was his gift to Hippolyta. I see no reason to ask him.”
Hades glared. There was nothing particularly stunning about the belt. It was leather, and Hippolyta wore it to symbolize her status as Queen of the Amazons. Its only power was that it gave its wearer superhuman strength, a useless power for both Hippolyta and Hera, who already possessed such a skill.
Unless, of course, it was an attempt to gain another weapon in her fight against Zeus. The belt could give an Impious mortal the power to face a god.
Hades’s mood darkened, and suddenly he wondered just how much his labors had intertwined with her ultimate goal of overthrowing Zeus.
He did not let himself think on that long, though. He filed the information away for later. Perhaps he was onto something—something that would allow him to end Hera’s labors and prevent her retaliation against Persephone.
“Do whatever you must to trade,” she said. “You have until sunset.”
Hades gave a frustrated growl as she left. He took out his phone and called Ilias.
“Yeah?” the satyr answered, out of breath.