Page 41 of Flame and Fury

“Who says I’m sitting back?”

I blink in confusion. Does that mean he’s helping the clerics? Or planning something else?

Shrill alarms ring throughout the room. What is that? Ares frowns and pulls out his phone, which is making the ear-piercing noise. Not just his phone, but everyone in the room who has a phone. I’ve left mine back at the compound. Ares swipes over his screen and clicks on a link. A video pops up and all I see is Kat Nova’s face.

What is happening?

“Citizens of Zeus and Hera’s territory. For too long now we have bent to the whims of the gods. We’ve let the clerics rule our lives and randomly decide when we’re doing something wrong. The gods don’t care for us. They use their own children as expendable puppets in the Olympus Games. Injuring and killing them for entertainment.”

The image cuts away from her face. Photo stills and video footage flash over the screen of the clerics, their red robes a dead giveaway. They’re dragging people out of their homes, throwing them onto the dirty ground. Images flash of the men beating women and children, helpless people covering their heads with their hands. Mothers throw themselves on top of their children, and the clerics hold people back while their loved ones are brutalized. Homes are being lit on fire. Property and possessions destroyed.

It’s vile, nauseating. My Fury roars. My skin ripples with the need to scream and unleash my wings. To take down every one of the bastards that have harmed countless innocents over the years.

Kat is speaking over the flashes of images, but for a moment I can’t hear her words. My heart is pumping so hard that it blocks out all sound. Then her words register.

“We are done cowering and letting them treat us like we are less than human. Now is the time to rise up. Now is the time to fight back. No longer are we helpless. We have a weapon. We can put the gods back to sleep. Be ready. Be prepared. War is coming.”

The message turns off, and the ballroom is absolutely silent. All the blood rushes out of my head and I sway in my seat. Did she just announce to the world that she has a Fury in her back pocket? A Fury who doesn’t know how to put the gods asleep. My eyes find Atlas across the room. For once his face isn’t cold. There’s true fear staring back at me.

Billy is running through the crowd of stunned guests, grabbing the champions as he finds them and gathering us up. The stunned silence of the room slowly turns into frenzied whispers that get louder the more seconds pass.

Ares and I both stand from the couch. I’m feeling vulnerable and exposed, and I don’t want to be caught sitting down. Before Billy reaches me, Ares grabs my shoulder, a glint in his eye as he leans down to look at me. His words from only minutes before ring through my head. Did he somehow anticipate that this was going to happen?

“This is the real deal, Wren. Don’t disappoint me, champion.” Between his words and Kat hijacking the news networks to blast a statement of war, I’m too stunned to think.

CHAPTER23

ATLAS

Wren is staring at Ares with wide eyes and parted lips. I don’t know what he just said to her, but there’s a shell-shocked look on her face. Billy is sprinting through the crowd in an absolute panic, searching for the champions. He hisses at me to follow him, and we start toward Wren. Before I take two steps my father’s hand claps down on my shoulder.

“Whatever little games you’re playing with the peasant don’t leave the bedroom. She’s affecting your concentration.” Zeus’s fingers dig into my muscle, zaps of electricity pulsing into my skin. I suck in a breath through my nose and keep my face neutral.

“Fuck her behind closed doors, but don’t disgrace me by letting her lead you around by the balls.”

Charming as always. Coming from the man who chases after women like it’s a competitive sport.

“Understood,” I reply and shake off his hold, heading toward Billy and the rest of the champions.

The silence as we’re transported back to the compound is a contrast to the frenetic energy of the party. The gym in the training compound has multiple TVs hanging around the room and they’re flashing images of mass chaos around the country. Heraton, New York, Chicago, LA, Baltimore, they are all a mess. The streets are on fire, windows are being smashed out of buildings, and it’s impossible to tell who is causing the damage. There are guards and clerics running into houses. Clerics commanding guards to throw grenades and flaming bottles into crowds of people.

Wren slaps a hand over her mouth, staring at the screen in horror. I’m right beside her, pressing my arm into hers as a show of silent support. What I really want is to pull her into my arms and hold her, but my father’s words still echo in my ears. He can’t know how much Wren means to me. That would be a fucking disaster.

The rest of the champions stand with us, gathered around to watch the world fall apart on the TVs. What the hell was Kat thinking? Greer looks unsurprised but still disgusted, Drake’s brow is furrowed, his arms crossed. I practically feel his anger simmering. Jasper is shaking his head, a weary look on his face. Jade and Preston are smiling like this is all a joke.

“Everyone go to your rooms. Stay there until further notice,” Billy snaps at us, shoving and pushing at the group until we head toward our rooms.

“I hope they burn every last one of those Underground punks,” Preston sneers. I don’t know who he thinks he’s talking to, because none of us, except maybe Jade, are his friends. She’s a viper though, so he should be careful thinking she’ll have his back.“Maybe they’ll finally find Nyx. I’d love to see her lit up like a bonfire. Then all the original Furies would be dust.” He makes an explosion sound and gestures with his hands before he laughs.

Good luck finding her. She’s been in hiding for years.

“They’re all just a bunch of pathetic, entitled trash, who think they deserve shit they haven’t earned,” Jade says with disgust.

Wren scoffs, a fire kindled by anger making her dark blue eyes look brighter. Jade stops, her long blonde braid flipping over her shoulder as she turns to glare at Wren.

“Is something funny?” Jade snaps, her lips pulled back in a sneer.

“Yeah. I’m not surprised that someone raised as an entitled bitch is oblivious to the real world.”

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