Athena smiled. He’d never pry an entire bucket out of Hermes’ paws.
“Maybe a leg,” she said.
The growl of Henry’s Mustang preceded it down the street.
“Never mind,” she said. “No time.”
* * *
“Anybody care for some chicken?” Hermes tilted the bucket of original recipe and passed it around the circle in the backyard where they’d gathered with Hera’s statue in the center.
“This is weird,” Andie said. “KFC in the cold backyard, talking about Olympus. Olympus. You guys I can handle. You’re real. In front of me. In the flesh. But Olympus? That’s a stretch.”
“I had the same reaction,” Hermes said around most of a leg.
Athena eyed the statue of Hera. She had to give her stepmother credit. Retaking Olympus was no small feat. She’d become a god again, in the gods’ home, and it seemed that the gods’ home healed those who resided there.
“I should have thought of it myself,” Athena said. “But what’s done is done. We’ll claim Olympus and turn them out.”
“What do you mean, ‘turn them out?’” Cassandra asked. “You mean kill them. The war doesn’t end until they’re dead. You said so.”
“No, it isn’t over until I am dead. That’s what Demeter said.”
“Whatever,” said Cassandra. “Hera dies. Aphrodite dies. They killed Aidan, and you promised.”
“I did. To give you comfort. Hera will be killed. Aphrodite might be. But vengeance isn’t…” Athena paused. “As rewarding as you might think.”
Henry and Andie exchanged glances.
“Is it right what Cassandra said, then?” Henry asked. “That you lost your nerve? You let Ares go.”
“To keep your sister safe,” said Athena.
“To keep her brother safe,” Cassandra muttered, and the mutter worked its way around the circle as if following the bucket of chicken.
“Dissention in the ranks,” Odysseus whispered into Athena’s ear. “Not the best time to mount an offensive.”
She brushed him away.
“As soon as my shoulder heals, we go,” she said. “It won’t be long. And the trip won’t be far.”
Cassandra crossed her arms. “So you remember the way?”
“Of course I do.”
“Oi.” Odysseus stepped forward. “Why are we talking like it’s decided? This doesn’t feel like much of a plan. We rush into Olympus with nothing but guts and bravado, ready to be put on spits?”
“We’ve got more than just guts and bravado, friend,” Achilles said. “And it sounds plenty fine to me.”
“Yeah, it would,” said Odysseus. “But how about some good old-fashioned recon? Maybe find out why they suddenly laid out the red carpet.”
“Hera overestimates herself,” said Athena. “Like she always does.”
“Maybe she’s not the only one.”
“Enough,” Athena said, glaring at Odysseus. The nerve. The balls. She’d have been impressed if it didn’t piss her off so much. “We go, and we go now.”
“Athena,” said Hermes quietly, “you don’t need to go so fast.”
His collarbones peeked out of his shirt. The fever radiated off him from across the circle.
“Don’t you say that to me,” she said. “You know I do.” Her mouth twitched downward. “I shouldn’t have taken so long … it feels late already.”
“Athena—”
“Save your breath, Ody,” Cassandra said. “It doesn’t matter that we have no plan. She doesn’t think we need one.” Her fingers twitched into fists. “Honestly, I don’t think we do, either.”
“Finally,” Athena said. “The oracle says something I know is true.”
“You really think we can win?” Odysseus asked.
As an answer, Achilles drew a hidden sword from behind his back. He swung hard, and the stone statue of Hera fell, cleaved clean in two.
22
THE SPACE THAT GODS INHABIT
“Olympus can be reached from the mouth of any cave. Just like the underworld can be reached from any lake or river.”
“There’s a … cave … up at the state park,” Andie said. Her face was white as a sheet. “We went camping up there sometimes before my dad left. And I can’t believe I’m saying anything to help you.” She looked at Henry like she was nuts, and he offered no arguments. “It’s not very big,” she said.