Free Zeus (The God Chronicles) by Kamery Solomon Page A

then you can take it up with Zeus—I’m here to see him.” The poor valet appeared shocked, but nodded his head and started waving the other cars and cabs around mine.
    I stormed into the front lobby, which closely resembled the casino except there was a large front desk instead of slot machines.
    “Where is Zeus’s office?” The girl standing behind the counter jumped at my demand. She pointed towards a pair of closed, dark-brown doors, off to the left side of her station. She looked just as stunned as the valet had been, but didn’t argue either. For that I was grateful—I already felt bad for yelling at both of them. If someone slowed me down before I got there, though, I wouldn’t be able to go in and deliver my rant.
    Making a beeline for the doors, I took in a couple deep breaths, my hands forming fists at my side. Angry tears were trying to form, but I pushed them back down. I would not give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry.
    “Who, exactly, do you think you are?!” I yelled as I burst through the doors. “We had a great time and then you never called! Is this your way of getting back at me? Do you feel superior now? I should have—” I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Zeus’s face—like the weight of the world was resting on his shoulders. There were deep worry lines creasing the corner of his eyes, and his hair looked like it had been run through with a rake. The stare he was giving me plainly displayed surprise mixed with guilt.
    “Oh,” I said softly, my fire having suddenly burnt out. “I’ll come back later, I didn’t mean to—”
    “No, Karly, please stay,” he sighed. “I owe you an explanation, you’re right. Please sit down.” He gestured to a pair of chairs next to a window. Despite being on the ground floor, the window showed an amazing aerial view of the Strip.
    “It’s a video feed,” he explained, noticing my confusion. “It shows the view from my room. I felt like the office needed a little bit of pizazz. You can only spend so much time in a dark office before you lose your mind.” He smiled weakly as he got up from his desk and moved towards the chairs. I followed him there, still confused as to what his explanation would be.
    His office was dark. It was decorated in rich brown colors, with giant bookshelves lining the wall behind his desk. Between the doors and his desk was a large rug, which depicted a map of ancient Greece. There were similar paintings hanging on the walls. The ceiling was vaulted, giving the room an open feeling, but the lack of lighting added to the darkness.
    We settled into the arm chairs in front of the window-like screen.
    “I did mean to call you,” he began. “But I didn’t want to seem too eager by calling the next day.”
    “Two weeks was too long,” I said, not able to stop the ice creeping into my voice.
    “I know,” he shot back, growling a little. “Just let me finish, okay?”
    “Okay,” I conceded.
    “I decided I would call you back in three days. That seemed like a good time. But then things got  . . . messy.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “My . . . uncle, Kronos, sent a message to me.”
    “You weren’t joking when you said your family was into Greek names,” I said, mostly to myself. Zeus still smiled at my comment, but continued on like I hadn’t interrupted.
    “He feels I’m not fit to run . . . uh . . . Tartarus. He wants to take control of it from me.”
    “But didn’t you start it? I mean like paying for everything, getting it all set up, all that?”
    “Yes, I did.” He slid a hand over his face, the tired demeanor growing.
    “Well, that doesn’t sound very fair,” I said. He laughed a little at that.
    “You’re right, it’s not very fair,” he chuckled. “He won’t stop until he gets it, though. That’s the problem. He’s not a very honest man either. I worry about what he’ll do to get it. This is where the messy part comes in.” He slouched over in his chair,