Page 76 of Flame and Fury

“I don’t know. Why would you keep it a secret to begin with?” I shrug.

“I already told you why. Maybe listen next time a god is imparting wisdom on you.”

I groan and roll my eyes, before catching myself. Should I be more afraid? But also, what’s he talking about? Does he mean his random lectures he’s given me at parties? About war and battles?

“Ignore him. He’s pouting because he likes having a secret no one else has figured out.” Hades dismisses Ares with a wave of his hand. “You’re looking for Nyx?”

I hadn’t counted on how awkward this would be. Why I didn’t consider that asking a god to find the being that helped put other gods to sleep for three millennia would be a conflict of interest, is beyond me.

“Yes.”

“Do you know how the gods were put to sleep, Wren?” Hades keeps asking the hard-hitting questions.

I shake my head. Hades nods. “You’ll have to ask Nyx for that story when you see her. I’ll take you.”

“You know where she’s at?”

“Yes, I do.”

I turn my attention back to Ares, who’s watching Greer shoot a bow like it’s porn on the TV.

“And you? You’re okay with this?”

Ares turns his head to look at me, a dark smile making him more menacing, if possible. “I already told you how much I love a good battle. And I’m itching for a fight.”

CHAPTER39

ATLAS

Hermes doesn’t reappear to take us to Wren’s grandmother. Instead, a long black limousine pulls up in front of Ares’s mid-century ranch. The vehicle sticks out like a sore thumb in the rundown neighborhood.

“She’s within driving distance?” Wren asks once she, Hades, and I are settled inside the car. Ares isn’t with us. He’d taken up residence in one of his recliners, watching Greer dominate the Olympus Games with a smirk on his face.

“It’ll be about an hour drive,” Hades responds.

Wren and I are sitting backwards while Hades takes up the majority of his seat. Wren is squirming, crossing, and uncrossing her legs like she can’t get comfortable. I can practically see the questions churning in her mind.

“Where are we?” Ares’s territory is near Australia and the South Pacific. I’m fairly confident that’s not where we’re at.

“We’re about an hour outside of Chicago.”

Wren stills, her eyes narrowing. I’d assumed Hermes transported us from one end of the continent to another. We’re barely an hour or two away from the safe house.

“Why does Ares have a house in a down-and-out neighborhood in the Chicago suburbs?” Wren looks out the window, but it’s too dark to see anything.

“Who knows?” Hades says. “He’s an odd one.”

I scoff, and Wren slowly turns to look at me with a raised eyebrow. “Calm down. You might strain something.”

Humor sparkles in her eyes, and I find myself smiling back at her. Wren blinks at me and then sucks in a breath like she forgot to inhale. For the first time in a really fucking long time, my face heats. Wren brings something out of me. No one else has ever made me want to shed all the ice and be myself. I want to banter and fight, laugh, and fuck. When I’m around Wren, I feel like I could be a better person, a better version of myself. Right now, I really want to drag her across the seat and into my lap, but I don’t particularly care to do that in front of Hades.

“Are we meeting someone in Chicago? Are they going to take us to see Nyx?” I ask once I finally pull my gaze from Wren.

Hades looks at us, studying our faces like he’s judging the two of us. I don’t know what he sees, but he nods, as if approving.

“No. I’m taking you straight to Nyx.”

“Nyx is in Chicago?” Wren’s voice rises in surprise. I haven’t had much of a chance to speak with Wren about her grandmother. Did she see her often? Are they close? Wren is refreshingly down to earth. Nyx is a primordial. How does that happen?

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