Page 82 of Flame and Fury

“You need to trust your instinct. It will guide you to the truth. That said, there is a problem with this plan.”

“There aren’t enough Furies left,” I say.

Nyx sighs, and the room loses its warmth. I didn’t realize how much I was clinging to hope the Nyx would have all the answers. That things would be easy for once in my life. I don’t know why I thought putting the gods to sleep would have a simple solution. It’s idiotic when I stop and think about it. Still, I had hoped that Nyx would reveal some secret easy route for us to follow.

“What now? We all get our own set of enchanted jewelry and go into hiding for the rest of our lives?” I roll my neck, but it doesn’t work out any of the stiffness.

Nyx drops her head to the back of the couch, lifting her forearm to cover her eyes. “Let me think,” she mumbles to herself.

Atlas and I eye each other, a silent conversation passing between us. Or what I imagine he would be thinking if I could read his mind.

What do we do now?

I can stab my dad with one of Hephaestus’s blades.

Where exactly are we going to get one of those?

I bet Ares has one.

“You two need to stop thinking so loudly,” Nyx grumbles.

“It’s too bad we don’t have that soulstone thing.” Estella and Poseidon had both mentioned the object to me. Too bad it’s probably not real.

Nyx drops her arm and turns her head to stare at me. “The soulstone? Where did you hear about that?”

“Uh, at a really awful dinner party. Poseidon was just talking out of his ass, though. Wasn’t he?”

Atlas is slowly shaking his head, his eyes turning more gold as he stares at me.

“The Olympus Games are following Heracles’s trials this year,” Nyx states, as though Atlas and I don’t know this firsthand. “Do you know if they'll be sending the champions to a maze?” Nyx peers at Hades.

“I'm not typically invited to challenge planning parties.” Hades drawls sarcastically.

Nyx rolls her eyes. “See what you can find out. If they are going into a maze, we may just have a shot.”

“The minotaur's maze?” Atlas asks.

Nyx nods, her finger still rapping out a rapid beat. “It’s a possible solution to our problems.”

“Great. What are we waiting for? Why don’t we head to the maze now. Why are we waiting for a challenge? Wouldn't that be an incredibly bad idea? There will be cameras and the eyes of half the world on us if we try to sneak in when the games are using this maze too.” I don't know what's in the maze, but if it helps us put the gods to sleep, then I’m ready to go.

“The maze isn’t just one place.” Hades joins the conversation, looking more interested now than he has been since we entered Nyx's apartment. “Poseidon controls its location. Honestly, the problem is less about the place and more about the minotaur that guards it. Still, I highly doubt Poseidon will share the maze’s location with me.”

I feel defeated before we've even gotten started. "What do we even need from the maze?"

Nyx's eyes light up. “The soulstone amulet.”

“It’s real?” I ask.

Hades groans. “Yes. The minotaur guards the maze and the amulet.”

“Poseidon stole it and hid it away before he was put to sleep. He wrongly thought that without the stone the power of the Furies would be diminished.” Nyx goes on.

“I’ve heard the stone has incredible power and that it can enslave people,” Atlas says, leaning forward in his chair.

Nyx nods. “It’s an incredible conduit for power. You can channel emotions through the stone, which can then be used in many different ways. Perhaps someone like Poseidon, with limited imagination, would only think to exploit it to control others, but that’s not the only thing it can be used for. With this stone, we could put the gods back to sleep, even if there are only two Furies left.”

CHAPTER42

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