Free Mortal Gods by Kendare Blake Page A

speak to him and have him speak back.
    “Where do gods go?” she wondered aloud. To Hades? To the underworld? Or somewhere else entirely?
    Behind her, Athena stood in the trees, feeding owls or something and waiting to take her home. Cassandra turned to see her guardian at her post, but Athena didn’t seem to be guarding. She was restless, pacing and kicking her toes into the snow like a deer after grass. Maybe she was missing Odysseus.
    Cassandra walked quietly out of the cemetery, and waited for Athena’s head to rise, for her to notice. But she didn’t. She didn’t notice until Cassandra was practically on top of her.
    “Your feet are freezing.” Athena glanced at Cassandra’s shoes, soaked through. Her toes curled inward and lifted as they walked to the street, trying to keep them off the cold ground. “I should’ve been warming up the car.”
    “It’s fine,” Cassandra said. They got into the Dodge, and Athena blasted the floor heater to no avail. It was basically shot; by the time they got home, the air coming out of it would be almost lukewarm.
    “How’s it going with Andie?” Cassandra asked.
    “It’s going well. She’s strong. Mindful of her balance.”
    “But none of that will make any difference if she comes up against a god,” Cassandra said. Andie was strong. Tough. Smart. But against a god she could swing a sword with a razor edge and it might as well be made out of Nerf plastic.
    “Against a god, the only thing she could do is die well,” said Athena.
    “Do you think that’s funny?”
    “Am I laughing?”
    “Why are you training her, then, if she can’t fight what we’re fighting?” Cassandra asked.
    “Because she’s afraid. And because she will have to fight, and Henry, too, before this is over.”
    “Your war,” Cassandra said. “But what about my war? When are we going to find Aphrodite?” Heat flooded her hands, right down to the fingertips.
    “No one seems to know where she is, Cassandra. And I heard about your maps. How well that worked out.”
    “I could try again.”
    “Great,” said Athena. “I’ll keep the fire extinguisher handy.”
    “You’re an ass.”
    “Cassandra. Aphrodite will die. In time. Let me fight the war and help me win, and she’ll die right and proper.”
    Cassandra clenched her fists.
    “Then let’s get going. You want help to find Achilles? You got it.”
    Athena glanced at her, surprised.
    “Do you think it’ll work?” she asked. “I didn’t think you’d want to help. You know I’m going to find and destroy him.”
    “He murdered my brother,” Cassandra said.
    “In another life.”
    True enough. In this life, Achilles was probably no different than Henry. Just as innocent. In this life, they could be friends.
    Athena pursed her lips.
    “No,” she said. “Not yet. I told Odysseus I would wait.”
    Cassandra groaned through her teeth.
    “If you were half the god you’re supposed to be,” she said, “Aidan would still be alive.”
    Athena didn’t react. Whenever Cassandra lashed out, she took it, like Cassandra’s pain was her burden. Athena reached for the heater controls and tried to push them farther into the red, as if that would make a difference.
    “Are your feet getting warmer?” she asked.
    “Shut up. You don’t give a shit about my feet.” Cassandra tucked them up closer, away from the blowing vents. “You just want to use me to kill the other gods, like Hera did. So you can live. You’ll probably find Achilles and decide to use him, too. You didn’t listen when Aidan asked you to leave us alone and fight your own battles.”
    “They were coming for you.”
    “They followed you here!” Cassandra shouted.
    “Of course it must seem that way. But they would have found you eventually. And Ap—” Athena sighed. “And Aidan wouldn’t have been able to protect you on his own.”
    “Don’t talk about him.” Fire rushed into Cassandra’s chest, intense as an itch, but clouded and red, not clear like