Chapter 36

I reach out and feel like I'm dreaming. That it's not real and that the cold rings aren't actually my fingers. Like the soft, comfortable, black clothes, they're not mine. Apollo is next to me and opens my phone. He hands it to me and for a few moments I feel like I've forgotten my password. Then I remember it. It opens and I see an old wallpaper. I open the gallery. My photos. Old ones too. I go outside. My diary. Old photos.

"We're going to the hotel," Apollo announced. "Everyone's there."

I agree. Instagram. The only thing new is the HUGE number of followers. Messages. I pick up the phone and look at my lawyer, my friend of the last few years. He is no longer the serious and frightening man from my Childhood, but then, I am no longer a child.

"Smile," I ask him.

He looks at me and likes me when I take a picture. I share it in the Feed and I don't expect my phone to immediately vibrate with messages and notifications.

"It sounds like you're suddenly famous, doesn't it? He laughs. You are, you know. You're a model of feminism or something. She wrote a magazine about you, an extremist one that I don't advise you to associate with, at least not for the next six months. Let the waters calm down. They're throwing you a welcome party today. Something intimate, with the family. The next few days you're free to do whatever you want, but on Sunday we were thinking of doing something bigger, more official. You're basically a star now. You'll give some interviews, smile nicely and say how much you're glad to be home. You'll talk about books if you want. We were thinking of taking advantage of your celebrity a little. For the hotel, if that's okay."

"Sure," I'm looking at my phone when I get a message from a familiar name. "Can I play a song?"

He looks at me for a long time but approves. I click on the link from Hades. I connect to the machine and play. Eternally Yours by Motionless in White. Apollo looks at me and smiles. He recognizes her.

"Hades," that's all he whispers. "Right?"

I agree. He sent it, yes. As soon as he saw the picture.

"Is it a problem? For you, I mean. Before, you didn't like the idea of him and me."

"I don't know. You're going to go after Delilah, right? Because she was there with Eddie."

"I don't know. Maybe..."

"I'd go after everyone," he whispers. Everyone. "That stupid bitch brought my boy to the brink of suicide. The boy, your husband, you know what she did to him. And I'm tired of David always invoking his wife's death to control me. I could use an ally, you know? They trust you already."

I look at him. Is he telling me what I think he's telling me?

"Do you remember Rory?" I ask. "She was in the business of fraud. Scams. And what's the Wade family without money?"

Smile.

"I knew we were the same," he takes my hand and kisses the back of it like Hades used to do. "It's a form of respect," he explains. "Of love. And you've always been part of the family. Do whatever you want to do," he asks me. "You have my full support if it ends with my son being free."

*Kassie is part of the family*, I remember Artemis' words.

"I won't be the only one risking my life if the situation gets complicated," I warn him.

"No. I know you don't. But Mina is just as angry and Artemis and Ares would throw her into this kind of situation anytime. The important thing is to protect Hades, right? That's what I hope we do. If you're thinking about me, don't worry. I'll be in danger of losing my neck at every turn. Are you feeling better?"

"Much better," I confess.

He laughs and asks for my phone. He changes the song. Secretary from Charming Disaster. He looks at me and waits. Waits for me to understand what he wants to say. Secretary know your weeknessess… wait. Wait.

"You want me to work for the Wade family company, I get it."

Approve.

"Since your other one didn't pass the psychological test at the academy, he works there. You can tell him that you want to be close to him. Or that you want to get involved for the good of the family or something like that. That's where you find out all their secrets. Everyone knows it. So?"

"Isn't that too obvious?"

"No. You're going to work with David, not him. He and Ted have been having relationship problems for a while… I've been slacking off, he confesses. And he would do anything for someone to take care of him. For a while, that's all we want you to know. Attention. Compassion. Then a touch here and there. You have to be both saintly and sinful with him, without committing any sin. You're beautiful Kassie, he thinks you're Beautiful. You don't have to do anything you don't want to. Just make sure he's too distracted by you, that he trusts you to plan his life. You have to be his friend while Rory and Artemis are digging up his back."

"You've thought about this in detail," I understand.

"Of course. And I can't do it without you. For Hades?"

I sigh. I don't accept it right away.

"Would he know?"

"Not everything. Just bits of truth, to start with. They wouldn't let you get too close to the fire, they'd be afraid you'd get burned."

"Please!" I'm snorting. "David is nothing compared to prison."

"Don't underestimate him. Artemis will teach you more. Hades will only know that you are helping us, he won't know how, okay? He asked me to do something."

And you decided to listen to him? This is a first… I know better than to tell him what I'm thinking. I change the song, and sit back again. I listen to him. I ask him about his family and let him talk while I enjoy the warmth, the leather seat or the clothes on my back. When I tell him I'm thirsty he doesn't wait for him to stop and buy me a latte. I look at Instagram for the rest of the way. Mina doesn't have any more pictures of Alissa, I know they've broken up for good. Her last post is, though, her, Ares, Artemis, Rory and Drako. They're all at the hotel. Ares' arm is around her shoulders. I knew Rory visits them sometimes, for Drako's sake, but I don't expect to see them close. I go to Delilah's profile. I see some new jobs, in modeling, as if I needed to be told how good she looks. I see a picture of her and Hades' hand, signing the marriage certificate but nothing from the actual wedding. I go to Hades' account. Stuff about Olympus. Lots of it, actually. Posts about the hotel, offers and new amenities. A picture taken from an article with him and Delilah then more about the hotel. The last real picture of him is from that night we all went out to the movies. No. I look back and see another. With his sister. She's on his shoulders and she's holding her hands to his face. It's the only post I appreciate.