“I am well aware of the fact that she wants to rip my heart out and eat it,” Castor said. “She’s the best tracker in the hunt. Better than any computer program—no offense.”
Van waved his hand.
“If anyone can find Wrath and figure out whatever his bigger plans are without being detected, it’s her,” Castor said. “And, frankly, we could use more power to push back against him when the time comes.”
“If she doesn’t kill you first,” Lore reminded him.
“I agree. That is an absurd idea,” Athena insisted. “Set aside that distraction and focus your efforts on the matter at hand. We do not need Artemis to kill the imposter, nor do we need her help to find the aegis and the poem inscribed on it.”
Lore drew in a sharp breath, better understanding the goddess’s reluctance now.
“I didn’t bring up the aegis at all,” Castor told her, “or the poem. But it’s good to have confirmation you’d rather see your sister dead than risk her getting to them first. Are you really that scared there can only be one victor, daughter of Zeus?”
“Artemis will never consent to working alongside the slayer of Apollo,” Athena said, ignoring the bait in his words. “And as she wounded me to save herself, I feel no urge to come to her assistance. However, I concur that a new strategy is necessary to disrupt our enemy’s plans and his search for Melora.” She turned to Van. “Do you possess further knowledge of his holdings and property? Perhaps there are vulnerabilities there.”
“Of course I do,” Van said. “I have files on all the leaders and elders of the bloodlines. Believe it or not, I was once naïve enough to believe I could neutralize the bloodlines by releasing all of their shady dealings and having their assets seized and their leaders arrested.”
“Why didn’t you, then?” Lore asked.
“Because the Agon is a hydra,” Van said. “It doesn’t matter if I cut off the heads of the bloodlines. There are always more hunters to replace them, and even if I had exposed the Agon to the wider world, some of them would have still found a way to continue the hunt.”
It struck her then, in a way it hadn’t before, that all of them truly wanted the Agon to end—just for different reasons, and by different means.
“I get what you’re saying,” Castor said. “But is there anything that could be released to the press to draw unwanted attention onto Wrath? He might have some city and police officials in his pocket, but he can’t own all of them—”
“Do you know where their weapons stocks are?” Athena interrupted. There was a frightening look of concentration on her face. “Where their vaults are hidden?”
“A few of them,” Van said. “I have no doubt they have more than I know about here in the city and abroad.”
“A few would suffice,” Athena said.
“Where are you going with this?” Lore asked.
“There is more than one way to kill a king,” Athena said. “You can bleed the life from him, or you can sap his men’s confidence in him.”
Van caught on to her meaning. “Hitting his weapon stocks might shake his hold on the hunters who flocked to him thinking he was the more powerful leader and protector.”
“As he has dedicated so many hunters to searching for Melora and his rival gods, these vaults and weapons stores may not be as well-guarded as in the past,” Athena said.
“The remaining Achillides still loyal to Castor are in desperate need of weapons,” Van said. “And I have to imagine it’s the same for Iro and her hunters. The locations all observe the same shift-change hours. We could strike as early as tomorrow morning.”
“We can find other weapons,” Castor said stubbornly. “A raid isn’t going to do anything but make him double his efforts to find Lore and speed up his plans. We need help. We need someone with Artemis’s skills—”
“We are not going to waste time looking for Artemis right now,” Lore cut in sharply.
Castor tried to seek out her gaze, his brows drawn in surprise. A lance of guilt shot through her, but Lore pushed it away. Athena was right. Artemis was nothing more than a distraction at this point.
“Guys,” Van said. “It’s not an either-or. We can do both at once. I’ll run a continuous search for Artemis in Argos—”
“You just said a minute ago you haven’t been able to find her,” Castor said. “We need to go out and look ourselves.”
“You keep forgetting that you’re a target, too,” Lore said, “and that there are still hunters looking for a shot at godhood.”
Castor’s jaw set.
“We’ll look for her after the weapons raids, all right?” Lore said, softening her stance. “The Kadmides will be distracted and trying to regroup. It’ll be safer for you to be out in the open.”
“I don’t care about being safe,” he told her.
Her nostrils flared as she drew in another long breath. “Well, sorry. I do.” She turned to Van. “Tell the Achillides which weapons stores to raid and give me one or two locations and a time I can text to Iro.”
He looked to Castor. The new god nodded.
“I’ll run the search,” he promised Castor. “And I’ll put out more feelers through my sources, too—”
Van’s phone vibrated on the table. He scooped it up, the screen flashing against his dark skin as he scanned the new message there. “The Kadmides contact says he has something on Wrath’s next moves we may be interested in.”
Lore’s heart leapt. “But?”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea anymore,” Van said. “Not after what happened with Belen and now this—something about it doesn’t feel right. He’s insisting he’ll only meet with Miles.”
“Because he hates you,” Miles reminded him. “I can do it.”
“You can, but it doesn’t mean you should,” Van said.
“How many times do I have to prove you wrong?” Miles demanded. “I can—”
“No,” Van snapped, rounding on him. “You’re not one of us, and you don’t get a say, all right?”
Miles rose, confusion twisting into anger at the ice in Van’s expression. “And you don’t get to tell me what to do. Do I really have to keep reminding you that you wouldn’t have gotten this far without me?”
“Wrath just had two innocent children killed,” Castor reminded him. “If this is some kind of trap, I can only imagine what he’ll do to you.”
Miles moved closer to Lore’s side until he was on the opposite side of the room from the others. “Good thing he won’t catch me, then.”
“We’re doing this for those little girls,” Lore insisted.
Castor leveled her with a piercing look. “Which ones?”
Lore’s body went cold. She drew in a deep breath, holding it until her chest began to ache.
“I’ll go with Miles,” Castor said. “I’d feel better knowing he has someone there to protect him.”
“Because I can’t?” Lore shot back. “If anyone is going, it’s me.”