“Yes,” he said slowly. “Things that draw my attention to the archives, for example. Not that it’s any of your business.” He took a step closer to me. “The Box was lost at your family home. Your sister is gone too. Unless you want to add suspicion to something that already seems to point to your family, I’d suggest you listen to the opportunity I’m going to give you. Find the Box, find your sister, and you will be a Watcher, I promise you.”

  I blinked, jerking back so I pressed into Apollo without even realizing it. “Can you…can you do that?” I asked. Judging from the looks on the members of Council’s faces, I didn’t think so.

  “I’m Zeus,” Zeus said, placing his hand over his chest. His tone implied this much was obvious and I was an idiot for thinking otherwise. “I can do whatever I want.”

  “Actually, Prince,” Cronus said, placing his hands on the surface of the desk and slowly coming to stand. His pale green eyes never left Zeus’s face, but it almost felt as though Cronus spoke directly to me, looked directly into my eyes. “Appointing someone to the position of Watcher is not something anyone can do. They must go through rigid tests in order to justify the position. If they cannot handle it, they will be deemed unworthy of being a Watcher at all.”

  “And you think retrieving the Box of Titans and my fiancée would make her unworthy of being a Watcher?” Zeus asked, furrowing his brows. There was something dangerous about his tone. It sounded innocent enough, certainly. It almost sounded ignorant of the entire process, just adding to the arrogance he seemed to possess. But there was also a warning deeply embedded in his tone, one that heeded Cronus not to argue with him.

  “Of course not,” Cronus said smoothly. “But it takes much more than that to be a Watcher.”

  “Tell me, then, Cranus,” Zeus said, “what else could be of greater import than finding the Divine I intend to marry as well as the Box that, if opened, could lead to our greatest downfall? Is it a test anyone can memorize the answers to? Is it a course designed to favor those that possess great physical strength? By those standards, not even I would be suited to be a Watcher.”

  “You’re not.” Cronus’s voice was flat. Before, I had been trying not to laugh at Zeus’s purposeful mispronunciation of Cronus’s name. Now, I was trying to keep my mouth from dropping open at Cronus’s blatant disrespect.

  I couldn’t see Zeus’s reaction from where I stood, but his shoulder tensed and he lifted his chin, almost as though he wanted to see Cronus more clearly, almost as though he couldn’t believe someone would dare assume Zeus couldn’t handle anything. And even if it were true, even if Zeus couldn’t be a Watcher based on what the current criteria was, no one was supposed to tell him as much. It was akin to blasphemy, not to mention incredibly stupid.

  “With all due respect, sire,” Cronus said, slipping on what he probably thought was a charming smile when, in essence, it was smarmy at best, “no one great Divine is. You are too purposeful to risk yourselves for the cause.”

  “I risk myself for my people,” Zeus said. “No matter the cause. And no matter what your little rules say. If I decree she will be a Watcher if she completes both tasks, I expect her to be a Watcher. Am I making myself clear?”

  No one said a word. My heart pounded against my chest, though I wasn’t sure why. I wasn’t nervous. It was more like…before now, I had never gotten much attention from the Council. And I expected that because I wasn’t anyone special. My mother didn’t rank highly among the Divine. And I was fine with that. I wanted the opportunity to prove myself.

  But now that I was here, in front of them, I didn’t know what to expect. What did they see when they looked at me? Maybe Zeus thought that if I retrieved the Box and found Seph was worthy of bestowing the Watcher title to me based on whether I accomplished it or not, but maybe they didn’t. And was I really earning it if Zeus told them to make me one?

  Discomfort teased at my spine, and I shifted, trying to rid myself of the feeling. Apollo still hadn’t released me.

  “Perfectly,” Oscar forced himself to say after another moment passed.

  “Now that we’ve discussed –”

  “And one more thing,” Zeus said. His hands went behind his back once more, shoulders hunched forward as he began to pace in small steps one way and then the other. “Apollo will go with her.”

  “What?” Oscar snapped before he could stop himself.

  Zeus paused his pacing. “I tire of your incessant questioning of my decision-making, Oscar,” he said.

  “It’s just…” Oscar’s glare was reserved for Apollo and Apollo alone.

  I turned my gaze to the Divine next to me, but his focus was solely Oscar. Or maybe it was his sister. I couldn’t exactly tell. In fact, his face was passive, cool, indifferent. He seemed to have no reaction whatsoever to Zeus’s instruction, which was odd since I expected him to be up in arms over it. I highly doubted he wanted to come with, especially since he didn’t seem to want anything to do with being a Watcher at all. His arms dropped from holding me and crossed over his chest. It was clear he didn’t want to be here, clear he’d probably rather be anywhere else. But he had yet to comment on anything once Zeus showed up, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. He was difficult to get a read on.

  “Is that wise, Prince?” Cronus asked, his voice much more calm than Oscar’s. “Apollo has disgraced the Watchers after his last assignment. He is nothing more than a drunk with the surprising ability to remain on his two feet no matter how much his torso sways back and forth. I don’t think he’d be an asset to finding your fiancee or the Box. More than that, apparently he and Pandora are bound together, though I have not heard of such news. It wouldn’t be right having them work together on this matter.”

  “I apologize, Cronus, might you remind me where I asked you what your opinion of my decision is?” Zeus asked, bringing his finger to his chin. “Quite frankly, I don’t remember asking you anything at all, and yet, you believe it wise to offer me your opinion like some sort of sacrifice.” He looked over at Apollo. “Is this true?”

  “What part?” Apollo asked in a flat voice.

  I had the sudden urge to smack him.

  Maybe not sudden. The urge had been lingering for a while. But it was most prevalent right now.

  All he needed to do was answer honestly. That was all Zeus was looking for. And it almost sounded as though he was giving Apollo a chance to redeem himself, which was exactly what Apollo needed. Whatever the reason for not being perfect when it came to being a Watcher, whatever the reason for his reclusive behavior and his snarky undertone and his avoidance of everything Watcher, Zeus was giving him something no Watcher ever got.

  And Apollo was blowing it.

  “Any of it,” Zeus said. “Are you really such a disgrace?”

  He hadn’t asked about the bond. That was good.

  Apollo lifted a shoulder, still not sitting up straight.

  Still not doing anything worthy that would inform Zeus he respected the Golden Prince.

  “I suppose that would depend on who you asked,” Apollo said.

  “All right, that’s enough.” Artemis’s low tone took on an edge to it I hadn’t expected. In fact, I didn’t think I had ever heard her disgruntled before, let alone annoyed. “We will not sit here and watch Apollo make a mockery of everything we stand for. Zeus, you have given Pandora a mission – retrieve the Box and your fiancée, her sister. If she accomplishes both tasks, we will raise her status to that of Watcher if that is what you’re instructing us to do.”

  “You can’t be serious,” Oscar said.

  Even Cronus had his brows knit together like he wasn’t sure where Artemis was going with this and was concerned by the fact that he didn’t know. I nearly smirked. I liked watching him squirm, even if he was good at hiding it.

  “We haven’t agreed –”

  “Let her speak, damn you!” Zeus bellowed. “You are not the only one allowed to vocalize their opinion, Oscar. Or shall I stitch your lips together so I do not have to hear your voice at all?”

  Oscar was wise to keep his mouth shut, but there was nothing he could do about the glare on his face. Even though Zeus lashed out at him, his eyes burned through Artemis, as though she was responsible for his public tongue-lashing.

  No one made a sound once Zeus finished. It was as though his words imparted a heaviness on everyone present, and we were all trying to take it in.

  “However,” Artemis continued, boldly looking at Zeus. However, she wasn’t trying to defy him. Instead, she held his stare like she was his equal, rather than someone beneath him with a chip on her shoulder. “To reinstate my brother would be asking for too much.”

  “Yeah, I don’t want to be reinstated,” Apollo quipped.

  No one paid him any mind.

  “Find the Box and my fiancée, and we can talk then,” Zeus said. “But I will negotiate no further. We can’t sit around and talk about it. We must act.” He took his right fist and slammed it into his left palm.

  Artemis locked eyes with me for the first time. “Well, you heard the Prince,” she said. “Let’s act.”

  Chapter Five

  “Well…now what?”

  I locked eyes with Apollo in the empty room. Everyone left, even Zeus.

  Even Cronus.

  Now that he was gone, it was as though a weight had been lifted from my shoulders and I could breathe again. I couldn’t bring myself to stand up just yet, but I was much more sinewy, relaxed. Plus, it helped that Apollo was here with me. Not because I needed him to protect me like I was a damsel in distress and he was some knight in shining armor – I knew he wasn’t that at all – but I didn’t think Cronus would act so openly in front of someone else, even if he didn’t think he wasn’t doing anything wrong.

  “How the fuck should I know?” Apollo’s tone wasn’t confrontational nor defensive, but there was a hint of annoyance. He leaned against the long table the Council sat behind, arms crossed over his chest. His arms bulged slightly without strain, and my gaze lingered. He was stronger than I gave him credit for.

  “We have to start somewhere,” I said. Now that I had something to focus on, a task to accomplish, I was able to stand up and move my legs. “Come on, Apollo. You’ve done this before. You were a Watcher. What would you have done?”

  Apollo opened his mouth, ready to respond. I stopped pacing and waited for what I assumed was going to be a brutal reply. Instead, he shut it and locked his jaw, looking away.

  “What do you think my job was as a Watcher?” he asked instead. He wasn’t looking at me. He fiddled with the sleeve of his shirt, frowning when he noticed a loose thread. He yanked at it once, twice, before dropping it altogether.

  I should have stayed where I was, but it bothered me. The stray strand of material was itching me, so I all but stomped over to Apollo and grabbed his left hand. He opened his mouth, probably about to ask me what I thought I was doing, until I began to pick at the thread. His body eased and he cocked his head to the side, eyes on my face. If I looked up, I’d be able to tell how he was looking at me, if his gaze was gentle or harsh. Most likely, it would be confused. I had no idea what the hell I was doing, and still I was here, holding his hand with one of my own, while the other picked at his clothing.

  When I finally yanked it out, I smiled, only to then realize just how close I was to him. That I still held onto his hand. Rough hand, I noticed. Which meant he used them a lot. His hands.

  I shook my head, dropping it like it was one of my mother’s potatoes from her garden baking into one of her boiling pots, trying to rid myself of my jumbled thoughts. But I didn’t let him go. I thought I should, I tried to tell myself to do just that, but I couldn’t seem to release my hold on him. And he…he wasn’t pulling away either.

  I swallowed.

  “I don’t know,” I admitted when I realized I had yet to actually respond to his question. “I imagine you’d be on missions, saving people, finding things. I don’t know.”

  “I was sent to kill people,” he said. His gaze was on my hand, and without saying anything else, without picking up his gaze to look at me, he pulled my hand away from his wrist. I thought for sure he was going to drop it so I wouldn’t be touching him anymore. Instead, he turned it over so my palm faced up, and he began to brush his fingertips across my skin.

  I took in a shaky breath, just watching him. The intimacy of his touch wasn’t something I had experienced before. Funny, Cronus had groped me and I was curled and coiled with nothing but disgust. But Apollo was barely touching me at all, on my hand, no less, and I was erupting in goosebumps, my heart missing a beat.

  This was strangely intimate. But it felt…right. The scrape of his callus on my skin. The surprising warmth he brought to the caress. Everything about it felt…right.

  “Kill?” I asked stupidly. Again, I lost track of time, too wrapped up in his touch to remember he said something. “Like an assassin?”

  “Exactly like that,” Apollo said. “I fucking hated it. I thought…I thought I’d be helping but…” He let his voice trail off, his grip on me tightening, but not enough to bruise. I didn’t even think he realized what he was doing. “I was wrong. The Watchers are just a private organization who thinks they can do whatever they want, that they’re above the law. I will never be one again, even if that means Zeus sends me to the Underworld in order to punish me for the rest of eternity.”

  I paused, letting his words sink in. “The Underworld?” I asked stupidly.

  Apollo furrowed his brow. “You know,” he said slowly. “Where Hades lives? Where the souls go in the afterlife?”

  I gave him a flat look. “Hades was at the party the other night,” I said.

  “He was? Huh.”

  “That surprises you?” I asked. I knew it would, but I needed to hear it from him. I needed his perspective.

  “Everyone knows Hades can’t stand his little brother,” Apollo said. “Why would he show up in the first place if it’s a literal celebration about Zeus and his new fiancée? Unless, of course, Hades knows this could be a miserable time for Zeus. Then again, we did catch him fucking Hera at his own party.”

  “Don’t remind me,” I growled, wrinkling my nose in disgust. I didn’t want to think about how classless, how moronic the Golden Prince was. Then again, it wasn’t as though anyone could make him face consequences for those actions. He could do whatever he wanted and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

  My brain started to tickle with something, but it had nothing to do with Zeus and Hera. I pulled myself in a standing position and began to pace up and down the length of the room, hoping to jar whatever was stuck in my head out. Apollo seemed to know enough to keep his mouth shut. The last thing I wanted was to hear one of his distracting comments, especially when I had a feeling I was onto something.

  “Hades,” I murmured. “Hades, Hades, Hades.” Something about it felt off.

  Suddenly, I stopped directly in front of Apollo, eyes wide. “Wait,” I said. “Why do you think Hades was at the party?”

  Apollo blinked once. Confusion touched his brows, but otherwise, his face was passive. “Because Zeus basically told him he had to be?” he guessed.

  “Okay,” I said, rolling my eyes and waving a hand. “Sure. But do you think he was there because he saw it as some kind of opportunity for himself to, I don’t know, get revenge?”

  “Revenge?” Apollo rested his elbows on his knees, leaning forward. “As in, he came there with a second purpose in mind?”

  “He would know Zeus would bring the Box,” I said. “Everyone knows Zeus wants to show that thing off any chance he gets.”

  “And if Hera showed up –”

  “Hera was definitely not invited,” I said firmly. “My mother doesn’t…Well, she doesn’t have a high opinion of her, and that’s not taking into account that Hera is obviously Zeus’s ex.”

  “That he keeps going back to,” Apollo added. “It’s not like one of the girls he fucks, then leaves. Sorry, did I disturb your feminine sensibilities?” He grinned at the flinch that encompassed my body before I could do anything to control it. “It’s the truth. Hera has this way about her. Gets under your skin.”

  “Do you know that from personal experience?” I asked in a pathetically tight voice, looking anywhere but at him. I shouldn’t have even asked the question in the first place. It was none of my business, and if Hera was part of his past, so be it.

  So why was I holding my breath?

  Why did I care so much about trying to figure it out?

  Why did the answer mean so much to me?

  “Why?” He slowly stood to his towering height, taking a step towards me, then another.

  I took one back. I didn’t know if I just needed space, if I didn’t appreciate what Cronus did to me in this room, the way he made me feel trapped, the way he made me feel like I couldn’t get out. I suddenly couldn’t breathe, especially when my back hit the desk.

  He frowned. “What are you doing?” he asked. “Why are you –”

  I brushed past him, my face clammy, flushed. I fiddled with my hair, trying to keep my hand from twitching, especially in Apollo’s line of sight.

  “Do you and Hera have a thing?” I asked.

  It was petty of me to question him. In all honesty, it wasn’t any of my business, but at least it shifted the subject of conversation from me and this feeling of entrapment over to him. I didn’t want to tell him why I felt claustrophobic around him. What if he laughed at me at how ridiculous I was being? What if he was offended? What if he felt sorry for me, or told me that that was what I should expect if I wanted to be a Watcher?

  I didn’t want to hear any of those things, especially not from him.

  “Hera?” he asked. I turned to look at him now that there was a reasonable amount of space between us. He had a wrinkle over his nose. “No, actually. I’m not into that.”

  “What?” I asked. “Beautiful, seductive Divine?”

 

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