Curses of Olympus (The Olympus Trilogy #2)

50. Medusa

50

MEDUSA

M edusa steps out into the fresh air and walks to the harbor. She had walked away from the confusion of the group while their focus was on getting the mystery woman set up with Psyche in the medical ward. Now she sits on the edge of the pier with her legs dangling in the water, her favorite spot to clear her mind.

There will be so much to process, and Medusa is not ready for that yet. She has a new history of Olympus to learn.

Cadmus being a titan was a shock, but it does not come as a surprise to her. She always sensed there was more to him beneath the surface, and she could not have been more correct.

What does Alec’s titan status mean for her? If he is her uncle, is her father, Kronos, was also a titan? For the others, they may have gained bright new insight, but for Medusa more questions sprout from this information than answers.

Between this and her confrontation with Poseidon, Medusa needs to step away and breathe before she can face this mind-boggling new world. The one thing she did notice, however, is that the Titans do not seem to have regained any powers they might possess, and that is definitely a curiosity.

Footsteps sound behind her, and she turns to find Cadmus. All she wanted was a few minutes to peacefully watch the ships come and go before having to deal with any of this.

“Where did you go?” Cadmus asks curiously.

“Does it matter? There is too much going on right now for you to be so focused on my comings and goings.” She doesn’t want to be cruel to him, but every second without the space she needs makes her snippy and on edge.

“Of course it matters. What if something happened to you and none of us were there to help you?” He runs a hand through his curls in frustration.

“I am more than capable of taking care of myself.” How can he still think her so weak?

“I know you are.” Some of the frustration leaves his tone. “But it is difficult when you love someone, and we are at war. Can you not see the difference?”

Medusa bites the inside of her cheek, casting her gaze down to her feet. “I suppose.”

“So, talk to me,” he says gently.

At the desperate look in his eyes, she says, “You are going to be angry with me. Maybe I am not ready to have that fight right now.”

He furrows his brow in confusion, but then his eyes go wide with understanding. “You didn’t.”

Medusa’s cheeks burn. “I needed to do it to move on. It was eating away at me. I want to heal. I cannot do that if he still lurks in the shadows, always waiting to find me. I don’t want to spend my entire existence looking over my shoulder for him.”

“You could have been killed!” he shouts.

“Don’t you understand? I felt like I already had been!” Frustration claws at her. How can he not see her point? Deflated, she adds, “It doesn’t matter, though. What’s done is done.”

Cadmus’s face fills with shock. “He’s dead. Seriously?”

Medusa nods, and Cadmus runs his hands through his hair.

“I can’t say I’m not glad for there to be one less Pantheon asshole, but you are also not seeing my side of this. If the outcome were reversed, what do you think that would do to me? To Psyche? Alec?” He puts his hands on Medusa’s shoulders, but she shrugs them off.

“I know. It was not a decision I made lightly…”

“It’s not one you should have been making alone.”

“But,” Medusa continues stiffly, “what’s done is done.”

With a nod, Cadmus seems content to drop it, but everything about his demeanor adds a for now to the end of that statement.

“Am I interrupting anything?” a jovial voice asks.

Medusa startles and finds Hermes standing next to them.

“We didn’t hear you approach,” Medusa says.

Hermes chuckles and points to his shoes. “They are not as good as the pair you still have of mine—I will want those back by the way—but they get the job done.”

“What are you doing here?” Cadmus asks.

Hermes pulls a sealed scroll from inside of his robes. “I’m afraid this is an official declaration of war from the Pantheon.”

Medusa takes the message from Hermes. “Do they know where we are?”

Hermes shakes his head. “No. With my role as Messenger of Olympus, I can always find my recipient.”

“Well, if you know where we are, I imagine they will know soon, no?” Medusa raises an eyebrow.

“Excellent question. I, and some of the other gods, have been sitting back and watching, assessing. We abhor the atrocious behavior of the other members of the Pantheon. Now that war has been declared, we are prepared to stand with you.”

“How many of you does that include?” Medusa does not dare to be hopeful, but she can’t fight the glimmer rising in her chest with Hermes’s words.

“I will return to you with names. Deliver this message to Hades and the others.”

Medusa and Cadmus nod, exchanging nervous glances.

They watch Hermes take to the sky and leave.

Cadmus turns to Medusa and says, “We have a war to strategize.”