Page 68 of Dark Restraint
So I simply wrap my arm around Ariadne’s waist and give her a squeeze. And then I keep it there, ready to catch her if her knees buckle. “There’s not much time left. We have to go.”
“You’re not going anywhere.”
I start to spin around, but the voice isn’t coming from the land. It’s coming from the dock ahead of us. A mountain of a man moves out from the shadows of a particularly large yacht. I recognize him instantly. Poseidon.
“Fuck,” I breathe as people melt out of the shadows on either side of us. There are five—no, six. Too many to fight without risking Ariadne or Icarus. Damn it, I should’ve come to the marina earlier and cleared our way. Not that it would’ve helped, because I would’ve had to leave to deal with Hermes and retrieve Ariadne and Icarus. Fuck, my brain is running in circles. I don’t see a way out of this.
“It’s too late, Poseidon.” Ariadne sounds more tired than I’ve ever heard her. More defeated. “Minos is dead, but you have bigger things to worry about. The barrier will fall and Circe is coming for you. Taking us won’t do a damn thing to stop either.”
“So you say.” He shrugs. “We’re going to lock you up all the same until we know for sure. Now isn’t the time to let enemies of Olympus run rampant.” He motions at his people. “Take them.”
34
Ariadne
I don’t know if I believe in curses, but nothing has gone right since we came to Olympus. Since before that, even. Maybe things started to go wrong the moment my father threw his ambitions in with Circe and turned his eye on this city.
And now look at us. I have my father’s blood literally staining my hands. My brother will never forgive me, even if he doesn’t realize it yet. And for what? Our escape from the city is closing before my very eyes.
Poseidon’s people approach slowly, cautiously. It’s then that I realize I still have the gun in my hands. I start to lift it, but Asterion gets there first. He plucks it from my hands as if taking a toy from a toddler. I thought I had a good grip on it, and he doesn’t hurt me in the taking, but one moment the metal warmed by my palms is a comforting weight, and the next it’s gone.
This time, at least he doesn’t push me behind him. But he does step forward to face Poseidon, raising the gun to point at him. “Not another step.”
Poseidon ignores the order and moves forward. “Shoot me if you must, but my people will open fire on your companions the moment you do.”
Asterion glances at me, his eyes wild with the desperation coursing wildly through my body. He shifts his stance to point at the person to the right of Poseidon, their body clothed in black with his distinctive crest on their shoulder. “Maybe you’re willing to die, but are you willing to let them die? You care about them more than the others. Every one of them can walk away from this confrontation if you make the right choice. Stand down.”
I search Poseidon’s face for some sign of weakening resolve. There is none. “Every one of them knew what they signed up for and agreed to the risks.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck. We’re not getting out of this. My brain scrambles, frantically spinning in circles, but there are no answers to be found. There’s no clever way out of this. “Please!”
Everyone is so focused on me and Asterion that they don’t see Icarus move. Truth be told, I don’t either. It seems like one moment he’s cowering on the other side of Asterion, and the next he darts forward, too quick to stop. Poseidon doesn’t see him coming.
He kicks out the bigger man’s legs and then slips behind him. We all freeze at the metal glinting in the low light cast by nearby boats. My brother is holding my father’s discarded gun to Poseidon’s throat. His eyes are wild and reckless, his voice panicked. “No one move or I blow his head off.”
“Icarus, no!” I lurch forward, but Asterion catches me around the waist and pulls me back to his chest. I’m struggling and I can’t seem to stop, but he holds me effortlessly.
Poseidon’s people have frozen. The man himself seems shocked by the turn of events. My brother has a fist in his dark-red hair, and he’s holding the gun so closely that the muzzle dents the skin at Poseidon’s temple.
Icarus looks around wildly at the black-clad people gathered around. “No one move or he dies.” He jerks Poseidon back a step, closer to us. “I mean it!”
This has all gone so wrong. “Icarus…”
But he’s not listening to me. “Throw your guns away. Now.”
Poseidon’s people don’t hesitate. There is true fear on their faces as they carefully set their guns down and kick them away. Asterion might have been right about Poseidon caring about his people, but it’s obvious that they care about him just as much.
“Move, Ariadne. We don’t have much time.” Asterion tugs me back a few steps, and Icarus follows, muscling an unresisting Poseidon along as we retreat down the dock. Poseidon’s people carefully shadow our steps, but they keep well back. Too far away to help, and yet…I don’t see how we’re getting out of this. Even if we make it to the boat.
Eventually, the dock runs out, and Asterion pulls me close to a white sailboat with Daedalus written across the bow. “Up.”
I’m afraid of what will happen if I leave the dock. “But—”
“Trust your brother.” He lifts me and all but tosses me onto the boat, quickly following behind.
I stumble and scramble to the edge. The deck is a little higher than the dock so I have a perfect view of the standoff happening below.
“Give me a few minutes, Icarus.” Asterion takes my shoulders. “I know you’re scared, sweetheart, but I have to focus on getting this thing running. I need you to untie the lines keeping us at the dock. Can you do that for me?”