Page 62 of Dark Restraint
“What do we do?”
That’s the question, isn’t it? We’re trapped here, but even if we weren’t, we shouldn’t be rushing around Olympus and hoping for the best. I take Icarus’s hand and let him pull me out of my spot. “We do exactly what we were planning on doing. We stay here and wait for Asterion’s call.”
31
The Minotaur
“Do we need to go over the plan again?”
I hang on to what’s left of my patience with everything I have. “What plan, Hermes? All you’ve said is that I need to walk through the front door.”
She beams at me. “Exactly. Now you’re getting it.”
I resign myself to not getting any further information and check my phone one last time. There’s nothing from Ariadne, aside from letting me know that they got to the address Hermes provided safely. That should be enough to reassure me, but everything about this feels rushed and wrong.
I don’t even know where the fuck we are. Hermes drives like an erratic old person on a Sunday outing, weaving and making wrong turns and circling back. I don’t know how the fuck she has a license because she’s an absolute terror. We’re somewhere near the edge of Olympus, but I can’t begin to guess where exactly. I keep having to tell myself that this isn’t a trap. If she wanted to ambush me, she’s had plenty of opportunity to do so.
The building we stand in front of looks abandoned. The glass on all the windows is foggy with dust and grime. The brick walls need a good power washing. I wouldn’t look twice at it if I was walking past…unless I noticed that the door has a brand-new lock or that there’s a camera tucked up in the eaves.
Someone really doesn’t want anyone to notice this place.
Hermes fiddles with her phone. “Give me just a moment… Oh. There we go. You can walk in now. Remember, I need ten minutes.”
“To do what?” I’m speaking to empty air. She’s melted into the shadows behind us. I stare hard at them, trying to divine where she went, but there’s no way to tell. I know she said it’s pure athletics that allows her to do this, but I can’t stop myself from shuddering. That shit is freaky as fuck.
I glance around, but the street is just as deserted as it was when we first arrived. It’s not late, but this place has even less to offer than the warehouse district. There isn’t a single soul around as I cross to the front door. It feels absolutely absurd to try the door, but it swings open soundlessly in response to my touch.
She really did hack it. It should be impossible with this tech, but when have the rules ever applied to Hermes?
I curse myself for getting into this mess and walk through the door. The outside of the building might lean more toward office, but inside is all military. There’s a foyer with a booth on the other side. Two people stand inside it, their shocked faces showing through the glass.
Well, shit.
Hermes could’ve given me some warning. As the guards and I stare at each other, I notice that their black uniforms don’t have an expected crest on the shoulders. It’s not Athena or Ares or even Artemis. It’s the gears and tools that denote Hephaestus.
She really was right. There’s something important pertaining to the barrier here.
“Hey.”
They stare at me. One is tall and nearly as broad as me, their skin the sickly kind of pale that comes when white people spend too much time away from the sun. The other one is nearly an identical build, but with warm medium-brown skin and a shaved head.
How long has it been? A minute? Two? I guess we could stare at each other for the next ten minutes while Hermes does whatever it is that she’s doing. But surely there are more people here than just this pair. If they’re going to such lengths to keep this place hidden, they would leave more than two people here to protect it.
I have the distant thought that Theseus had never mentioned this place, but he was a really shitty Hephaestus. His people hated him, and he hated the job. There’s probably a lot of really important stuff that he just never noticed or knew to even ask about. The irony that he held the position that we needed to actually bring down the barrier is almost too much to bear. I can’t even hold it against him, though, because neither one of us are cerebral. That’s not the kind of weapons Minos trained us to be. If he wanted us to be brainiacs, he should’ve gone about shit a different way. That’s on him.
All at once, the guards snap out of their shock. They draw their guns and start shouting. “What are you doing here? How did you get in? Who are you?”
The last one almost makes me laugh. For once, my reputation hasn’t proceeded me. Typical that it’s the one time it would’ve been useful. I hold my hands up slowly, skating my gaze around the room once more. There’s not a lot to work with here, but I don’t need much to make shit happen. “I’m just a tourist looking for a good time.”
They exchange a look of disbelief. The white guy starts to lower his gun. “Dude, you’re in the wrong place.”
His friend narrows his eyes. “He’s lying. There’s no way he could’ve got through the door unless he was trying to.” He points his gun right in my face. “Put your hands behind your head.”
“Sure, sure.” I do as he asks, but my shoulder screams in protest and the movement is jerky.
The white guy jumps back a step and grabs his radio. “Intruder at the front! We need more people up here.”
Well, fuck.