Page 37 of Whiskey, Thieves, and Bastards
And I was never pissing Persephone off. She blinked and New Eden ceased to exist. Hannibal and Saul could claim everyone got murdered and a bunch of dangerous supernaturals broke out, but they’d never be able to prove it. And current vibes from literally everyone was that blaming demons was a little too convenient with all the other evidence.
Saul and Hannibal were looking like utter fools. Saul was up for reelection in a few months. He needed this to look good to win and step up the political ladder to president. I was pretty sure he was gunning for Vice President in two years and then President.
This didn’t look good for him.
I still didn’t know how we were going to use this to shut the Coalition down for good. It needed to start at the government level.
But there was another genius in our group. One my mate was furious at and who was suspiciously absent right now. And she’d made this complicated murder board with red strings and something that looked like weird math that I couldn’t even remotely comprehend.
“Can anyone decipher what Athena is trying to do?” I asked.
“I love a good murder board, but looking at that is making me constipated,” Benji said.
“I tried really hard to seduce Isaac Newton, and all I got from it was learning Calculus. Whatever she’s written is more complicated than that,” Jezebel said.
“This is more advanced than any math on this realm,” Dionysus said. “Athena invented it and she uses it to solve most of her problems.”
“Problem is,no oneunderstands it except Athena. I’ve asked her to teach it to me. A few other gods have asked her because she’s really done the impossible with it. Everyone is pissed with her about how she handled Medusa, but Medusa really was always her favorite. Sheneverplays favorites and everyone might want to remember she’s got a brilliant mind and is an excellent strategist. We’re going to want her on our side,” Hades said.
“So, as hilarious as the Sugar Tits name is, maybe lay off for now. Athena knows everyone is pissed at her, but she’s here taking it, anyway. Shenevergets this involved with her heroes. This is just an important quest.”
We all grunted. Benji wasn’t going to stop calling her Sugar Tits until Medusa forgave her. The rest of us knew we needed her help, but we were legally obligated to be mad at her until Medusa wasn’t. It was a mate thing.
Athena finally reappeared, and she’d better not have been out there poking my mate while she was trying to learn.
“Sis, let her come to you. She has every reason to be pissed,” Dionysus said.
“Her being pissed is what’s holding her back. This is allfated.It’s preordained. Everything that led to this point has happened the way it was supposed to. She was my favorite because she was so strong and smart. I’m not shocked she was chosen by the Fates for this.
“I hate what they put her through. I hate what they put youallthrough. It’s more than anyone should bear. But it’s what you needed to bring down the Coalition. It’s stupid. No one should have to go through any of this, but it happened. Anyway, telling her that got her to portal. The furies went after her.”
I didn’t know what to make of Athena. She was right. Itwasstupid. She was also probably right. We were all motivated byour experiences. I could sit here and stew about it or I could do what we all wanted to do.
“Explain your board. I don’t know math like this.”
“No one does. I’ve been chatting with our mystery woman, too. I’m pretty sure she’s a politician.”
“That’s what I thought,” Pax said. “She’s managed to get places you can’t be unless you are.”
“The way I see it, you can’t just topple the Coalition. You need to change things at the government levelandyou have to change the minds of the people.”
“How we gonna do that, Sugar Tits?”
Athena shot Benji a withering glare.
“I’m still working on it. I think the upcoming election and this mystery woman are key. Give me time.”
We didn’t have time. The election was in two months.
The furies didn’t appear until I’d screamed myself out. They finally appeared next to me and wrapped me in a giant hug. It was great being with my sisters among all this beautiful nature. Cas had really claimed a spectacular place for his home. I was really going to need to take more time to explore his village.
“Athena wasn’t wrong. It sucks. Furies are creatures of Fate. We’re almost like distant cousins.”
“At least I figured out how to portal because I needed to get away.”
“True. I’m pretty sure she let you get mad at her on purpose to get you to portal. You should be able to do it again now. The rest of your training is going to have to take place when wedo girl’s night. We can’t teach you to sniff out evil when you’re surrounded by amazing people.”
“Mean things to stupid boys,” I nodded.
