“Keeping the takeout restaurants in business,” Odysseus said, but it wasn’t hard to read between the lines. Hermes was no better. The food wasn’t helping. “Did Demeter know where Aphrodite was?”
“Can we talk about it tomorrow? I just want a hot, hot shower.” A bath would’ve been nicer, but with all the sand in her hair it would be like lounging in a mud puddle before she was through.
“A simple yes or no will do. Or I could join you in the shower, if you’d rather talk there.”
“The punishment for watching a goddess bathe is to be eaten by hounds,” she warned.
“Right,” he said. “By your own hounds. And I’m distinctly houndless.”
“I’m sure Henry would give Lux out on loan.” She opened the refrigerator and grabbed a takeout box. Sesame chicken, and plenty of rice. “Why are there leftovers? He’s supposed to eat—”
“Even he has limits.” Odysseus grasped the back of Athena’s neck. His fingers found their way into soreness she hadn’t known she had. “Do you want him to burst?”
“I suppose not.” She leaned back and closed her eyes. Let his fingers work their magic on the dozen or so knots in her neck, and down her back and shoulders. His touch had come to feel familiar and safe. Until he slipped one hand beneath her shirt and the other up into her hair.
“Odysseus. You don’t know how to not put the moves on someone.”
“Only you, goddess,” he whispered, and then chuckled softly. “There’s sand in your hair. You been sleeping on the desert floor again?”
“Under the stars,” she said. “Scorpions and night spiders danced across my belly.” Odysseus slid his fingers across her stomach and she felt it all the way down. A little more pressure, and she might’ve bent in two. She put her hand over his to stop him.
“How is Cassandra?” she asked.
Odysseus sighed and let go.
“Broken,” he said. “And not healing. But she did do a nifty trick with the maps. Right before she set the maps on fire. You’d better deliver Aphrodite into her hands, and fast.”
“Artemis first,” Athena said. “What happened with the maps?”
“She says Artemis is somewhere in the Malaysian rain forest.”
The Malaysian rain forest. So far away. Again. But their sister had to be found and saved. Artemis was clever, and a skilled hunter. Coolly indifferent, and quicker to rage than Athena, but so very protective of those she pledged to. She would make a fine soldier. She would avenge Aidan beside Cassandra, and that would be fitting.
“I’ll shower, get a few hours’ sleep, and repack for the climate. How fast do you think I can get a flight connecting to Kuala Lumpur?”
“Not so fast,” said Odysseus. “You just got here. Why not let Hermes and me go?”
“I—”
“It’ll do him good to roam out of Kincade a bit. And me. We’re not children, you know.”
“Please. When have I ever treated you like a child?” But she had, she supposed. In the old days. Odysseus had been her favorite, and she’d guarded him like treasure.
What will happen to you if I fail, hero? What will your destiny be, if I’m not around anymore to guide it?
She touched his face, and he grabbed her hand. Dried blood capped her index finger, where a feather had burst through on the return journey and torn most of the nail away.
“It’s nothing,” she said, as Odysseus dragged it under the kitchen light. “It barely stings anymore.”
“Are there others?”
“None that I can feel. Not now.”
“Not yet,” he said.
“Don’t worry about me.” She tugged her hand away. “Worry about Hermes. He’s fading, and hurting worse than a cracked fingernail.” She paused. “I don’t know if it’s the best idea. The two of you going off on your own. To the middle of nowhere.”
“It’s a better idea than you going off again,” he said. “You’re away from Cassandra too much, Athena. You should know better than to leave your primary weapon unguarded for so long.”
He had a point. The girl who killed gods was no secret. Every former immortal who didn’t hold Athena’s favor would try to eliminate Cassandra, that is if they couldn’t convince her to jump into their pockets instead.
“Speaking of weapons,” Athena said. “When are you going to tell me where Achilles is?”
“Never,” he said. “You said he was no use to anyone, and you were right. He’s my friend, but he follows his own mind. He’s better off hidden.”