“‘Might’ is better than no chance at all,” Justin countered.
There was no way around it. He wouldn't give up. It wasn't in his nature.
“There are . . . other considerations,” I admitted hesitantly.
“What do you mean?” Justin asked.
“Even if he survived the ritual,” I began slowly, “he would arrive in the Heavens . . . weakened.”
“Does that matter?” Justin asked.
“It matters,” I assured him.
“It has to be better than dying here,” Justin insisted.
“There are . . . politics,” I said carefully. “Zeus is king. And I’m queen. But it hasn’t always been this way.”
“Are you saying you have . . . enemies in the Heavens?” Justin asked.
“No, of course not,” I snapped. Silence. “Not exactly. But there are gods who would consider themselves . . . next in line.”
“But if Zeus dies, won’t they just replace him anyway?” Justin pointed out.
“Obviously,” I said. I paused. “If they knew.”
“Which they won’t unless you return him,” Justin finished. He let out a long breath. “So, your choices are to hope he recovers here--but he’ll probably die--or send him back and he might die anyway, and also, as a bonus, he might start a celestial power struggle.”
“Nothing matters more to me than my duty,” I said fervently, “and my greatest duty is protecting order and keeping the worlds safe. That comes first. For all of us. It has to.”
“But the coup you’re talking about, it might not even happen, right?” Justin reminded me. “I mean, you don’t know that the other gods would actually try to overthrow him. Or you.”
“No, I don’t,” I admitted. I took a deep breath. “But what about Zeus? What if he does recover in the Heavens?”
“I don’t follow,” Justin said.
“What if he recovers and I'm not there? It's quite the opportunity. To finally take control,” I said.
There was no point denying it. And I was past being too proud to confide in Justin. The truth was I couldn’t trust my husband. It was why we’d both come down from the Heavens in the first place: neither of us could leave the other alone there for very long. The chance to finally take complete control was far too tempting. For him. Maybe even for me.
Zeus had come down to the mortal world without me before. To visit his many, many lovers. But his visits were short, and he’d always been clever enough to cover his tracks, waiting until I was too busy to even know he was gone.
“Would he really do that to you?” Justin asked.
“In a heartbeat,” I answered. “Zeus and I . . . have a complicated relationship. You know that.”
“But you don’t know what will happen,” Justin said. “Not for sure. All you know is that if you don’t send Zeus back, he will die.”
“But I can’t take the risk of sending him back,” I replied, exasperated. I'd been having this fight with myself all night long. “A celestial war? Now? It could destroy both our worlds! Maybe existence itself! Do you want that?”
Justin was quiet.
“Sure, now you don’t have the answers,” I muttered. “Everything’s such a mess. How did it even get like this? We came here on a mission. A simple mission. And we’ve . . . lost Athena. We can’t lose another god. We need all the help we can get to find the Fates.”
“And another god can’t replace him because it’d put too much strain on the worlds,” Justin guessed.
“With what happened to Athena, and now Zeus, who’d agree to come anyway?” I replied. “Plus we’d have to find a body for them, which takes time. Plus we’d have to make sure that whoever’s left behind in the Heavens won’t upset the balance of power, which takes time. Everything takes time. The one thing we don’t have!”
“Hera--” Justin began.
“It’s just too much!” I exploded. “It’s too much! There’s too much to consider! I can’t even think straight. I hate it! I hate this body! I hate its brain! I hate it!”
Justin took my shaking hands in his.
“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. Just try to calm down,” he urged, looking deep into my eyes. “You’re freaking out. Slow down. Breathe.”
I breathed. It wasn’t easy. I didn’t want to. I didn’t have time to breathe. What I needed to do was think. But I breathed anyway.
My thoughts were racing in circles. There were too many questions that I couldn’t answer. I kept trying to chase down each and every scenario, catalogue each pro and con. It’s what Athena would’ve done. But, unlike her, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to do it.
“Don’t try to think your way out of this,” Justin suggested. “It sounds like there aren’t any right answers. Just choices. It’s not about right or wrong. It’s just left or right. But you still have to pick. So go with your gut. What’s it telling you to do?”
“This gut isn’t even mine,” I muttered.
“Trust yourself,” Justin insisted.
I looked at Zeus. He was going to die if he stayed here. I didn’t know if the ritual to send him back would kill him, and I didn’t know if the Heavens would erupt into a war if we sent him back. But I knew if I did nothing, he would die.
I sighed.
“You’re right,” I said. “The ritual is Zeus’s only hope. I have to try to save him. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t.”
Justin nodded. He didn't understand the irony. How many times had I wished for just one chance to get rid of Zeus for good, to punish him for how he'd hurt me? And now that it was finally here, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I was equally disappointed in myself and relieved.
I stood. “We have to do it now before he gets any worse.”
I wasn’t sure of my decision. And I hated that. I was always sure. I was the definition of sure. But not this time. This was one hell of a bet, especially for someone who never gambled.
“Wake the others,” I told Justin.
I worked to calm myself. The others didn’t need to see weakness. They didn’t need to see doubt. That was my burden, not theirs. They needed strength. They needed their queen. And I would give that to them.
When everyone was ready, I told them. “Zeus is dying. If he stays here, he will die. But we can save him. If we send him back to the Heavens. We’re going to perform the ritual. Now.”
Jaws dropped. I could see the questions in their eyes. But I silenced them with a look. There would be no debate. I didn’t run a democracy. I didn’t have that luxury. Not when time was so short; not with so much at stake.
“Are you sure?” Hermes asked.
I glared at him. So much for no debate.
“I’ve made my decision,” I told him. “Get ready.”
“But this affects all of us,” Hermes insisted.
“Don’t make me repeat myself,” I snapped. “I’m your queen. And we are sending Zeus back. Now do as I command!”
Hermes opened his mouth to argue, but Demeter wisely intervened. “I think what Hermes means is . . . we want to make sure that you’ve had a chance to think about all the . . . factors. It’s a very difficult decision.”
“How difficult it was is not your concern,” I said, eyes blazing. “Now do as I say. Immediately!”
Demeter and Hermes bowed their heads. They’d tried their best, but they knew there’d be no more argument. Something was wrong though. They should’ve known that from the very beginning. I was slipping. Or they were changing. Maybe both.
I could feel the seconds ticking by, and with every one, a drop of Zeus’ strength drained out of him. He’d need every drop to survive the ritual. I couldn’t afford to waste any more time.
I turned to Justin. “What we’re about to do is of the greatest secrecy. It is sacred in the truest sense of the word, and so we bind you to silence by the River Styx.”
He nodded, his eyes on Zeus, who’d begun to thrash weakly in his delirium. He was already so much worse. H
is body barely moved now. The poison was impossibly quick. Death couldn’t be far.
“By the River Styx,” Justin agreed.
His eyes glazed briefly as the vow wrapped around him. I wondered how many more of these burdens he could shoulder before he cracked. He was only mortal, after all. But we needed him to be so much more. I needed him to be so much more.
Hermes touched Justin’s shoulder. “We’ll need a knife.”
Justin shut his eyes. A wicked-looking blade appeared in his palm. He opened his eyes and handed it to Hermes.
“And a cup,” I added. “Like a goblet.”
When it appeared in Justin’s hand, Demeter took it. It was beautiful and ornate.
Justin’s powers were increasing. Exponentially. Such cruel irony. The King of Gods lay dying, and this mortal was getting more powerful by the second.
Softly, Demeter began to sing. Her voice was rich and throaty, reverberating with deep strength. The ritual had begun.
Hermes joined her, his voice a throbbing tenor with a honey-like sweetness to it. He sang a different melody, but it intersected and wove with Demeter’s voice to create a new sound altogether. A more powerful sound.
Then I added my voice, high and pure, like a silver bell. All three of us, singing different melodies, yet the same song. Over and over. A perfect harmony in a language known only to gods. The practice of millennia.
Justin was enraptured. No mortal had ever heard this song. Hopefully, no mortal would again.
As we sang, Hermes pricked his finger with the knife. He passed the blade to Demeter, who did the same. Then it was my turn. We never stopped singing, never missed a note, never stumbled on a word.
As our blood dripped, Demeter caught some in the goblet. She knelt by Zeus. He was spasming constantly, but he was too weak to hurt her. She dipped her fingers in the blood and anointed him. Forehead. Temples. Eyes. Lips. Throat. Chest. Stomach. Hands. Feet. She poured the rest of the blood in a circle around him.
On and on we sang as she worked. Slowly, the blood began to glow. The light shone, and then spiraled up into the air.
“From one dream to another,” Hermes intoned.
“From one family to another,” Demeter called.
“From this world to the next,” I finished. “Return him to his rightful place.”
The light flared, igniting into white fire. It blazed with a heat that was beyond physical. It seared the soul. The light peeled away from the circle around Zeus, lifting into the air. It formed a column that hung, suspended in midair, above his body. Then, without warning, the light plunged down and consumed him in an explosion so intense I had to look away.
When I looked back, Zeus was gone.
“Did it work?” Justin asked in a hushed voice.
I didn’t answer. Because I didn’t know. I just left the camp without looking at anyone. And when I was sure that I was far enough away, I tried to cry.
I tried. I really tried. But, somehow, I couldn’t. My shoulders shook, my body heaved, but I just couldn’t bring myself to cry. The sadness stayed where it was, deep inside me. And there it would remain. Like always.
I wanted to scream.
I felt Justin’s hand on my shoulder. Ever so gently, he turned me and guided me back to the camp, laying me down near the embers of the fire. He lay down beside me, not too close, but close enough that I could feel him nearby.
I didn’t sleep that night. I felt like I’d never sleep again. Zeus was gone. For the first time ever, no matter how hard I concentrated, I couldn’t even feel him. I was totally by myself. I was alone.
Free.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
And then there were four. Three gods. One mortal. Stuck in the Dreamlands.
Hermes gently shook me. I wasn’t asleep. I’d just been drifting in an oblivion of my own--unseeing, unhearing, unfeeling, but without rest.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Hestia,” Hermes told me urgently. “She’s made contact.”
I was on my feet instantly, squinting in the dawn’s light. I was so excited, I’d completely forgotten about my ankle. Thankfully, Hermes hadn't. He caught me around the waist as I gasped in pain and started to fall. I gave him a grateful look.
I was about to ask how Hestia had managed to reach down to us from the Heavens, but ultimately it didn’t matter. The Dreamlands was a different world with a different Necessity. My sister must’ve sensed us moving between worlds somehow and figured out a way to exploit that.
“Take me to her,” I ordered.
My arm around his shoulders, Hermes helped me toward the fire. During the night, the Dreamlands had changed. No longer were we on the baked ground of the hot savannah. Instead, we were surrounded by the thick, lush foliage of a steaming tropical jungle. Insects whirred and buzzed everywhere, and monkeys and birds chattered and chirped, leaping and flying through the canopy overhead.
“Well, where is she?” I demanded.
Hermes turned me toward the fire.
There, wreathed in flame, was the face of my eldest sister.
“Hestia!” I said.
“Terrible news,” she replied, her voice crackling and popping in the fire.
“Is it Zeus?” I asked, my throat tight.
“He arrived,” Hestia assured me. “I sensed his return before the others, and I took him to a secret place to recover.”
The ritual had worked. He was still alive. But it wasn’t just relief I felt. I also felt something else, something I couldn’t quite name.
If anyone could keep Zeus safe and hidden, it was Hestia. She knew the Heavens better than anyone, and her power was subtle but staggering.
“Zeus may recover too late,” Hestia warned me. “A while ago, Athena’s throne cracked and crumbled into rubble. The Heavens have been in an uproar ever since. Ares has been stirring up the others, saying you’ve lost control of the situation. He wants to go through with the purge.”
“He can’t be serious!” I replied sharply.
But I knew that he was. Ares had always favoured a direct approach toward mortals.
“Right now, the gods are divided. But they’re scared,” Hestia said. “And they’re only going to get more scared. For now, Ares says he won’t act alone. But if he gets the others on his side, he’ll kill every living thing in the mortal world, every man, woman, and child, until the Fates are returned.”
“What good would that do?” I demanded.
“Ares figures that whatever monsters have taken the Fates must be guarding them, which means they’re in the mortal world, disguising themselves as mortals. He’ll spare no one, just to be sure he gets those responsible,” Hestia explained.
“But if he kills everyone, he risks killing the Fates!” I said. “If they’re in the mortal world, they must be in mortal form, too. The others can’t possibly be listening to this madness.”
“After what happened to Athena’s throne, they are,” Hestia replied. “They’re panicked, and they’ll eradicate everything in the mortal world just to feel a bit safer. Hell hath no fury like a god terrified of dying.” She paused. “Is there anything you can tell me that might calm the others?”
“Other than the fact that killing people indiscriminately is only going to cause more chaos and make it more difficult for us to find the Fates?” I said. “No. All I know is Athena’s . . . gone.”
Hestia cried out once. The fire flared. I’d never heard her make a sound like that before. She was always perfectly calm. Serene. Always.
“So it’s true,” she whispered. “Athena is dead. Nothing will hold Ares back now.”
“How much time do I have?” I asked.
“Ares wants the consent of the Twelve, at least the ones still in the Heavens, before he goes through the purge,” she replied. “Where Zeus commanded, Ares promises to follow the will of the gods.”
“If they agree to support him as their new king,” I guessed. “So that’s what this is really about.” I shook my head. “Who’s
left for him to convince?”
“Dionysus. Hephaestus. Aphrodite. Me,” Hestia answered. “None of us enjoy violence the way the others do.”
“What about Persephone?” Demeter interjected. I hadn’t even noticed her beside me. “She’s too smart to fall for Ares’s crazy talk. Can’t she convince Hades to listen to reason?”
“She does her best, but Hades thinks he can take power for them both if they bide their time and pretend to give Ares what he wants,” Hestia responded.
I gritted my teeth. “You can tell Ares that the moment I--”
“No time, Sister. They’re returning,” Hestia warned, her face turning to the side, watching something. “I have to go. Hurry! Please! For all our sakes!”
With that, her face melted back into the fire.
“So it’s as bad as we thought,” Demeter murmured.
“At least Zeus is alive,” Hermes pointed out. “If he recovers, he’ll put a stop to this.”
“He’s stronger than Ares, but not all of them together,” I said. “And if it comes down to a fight, the battle will destroy the mortal world anyway.”
“They’ll really kill everyone?” Justin asked softly. “Everything on Earth?”
“It’s one way to be sure to wipe out whoever took the Fates,” Hermes replied. “Not saying I agree, obviously.”
“And it only works if it doesn’t kill the Fates,” I added bitterly. “But we can’t worry about the Heavens right now. For better or worse, that’s Hestia’s problem. Don’t underestimate her. She’ll be able to keep a lid on things for now. We stick to the plan. We find the necklace. Then the Oracle will help us find the Fates. Once we have the Fates, we’ll return, and I’ll take care of Ares personally. Justin, where’s the necklace?”
Justin glanced at the compass. “Not far. Just a bit north.”
“You can tell how far it is now?” Demeter asked. “You’re getting stronger!”
“Much stronger,” Justin admitted.
He lifted his hand, closed his eyes, and pointed north. The jungle ahead rippled and vanished, replaced by a cobblestone road.
“You’re one hell of a mortal to have around.” Hermes smiled, clapping Justin on the back.
Hera, Queen of Gods (Goddess Unbound) Page 15
