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Uncle Hades and Aunt Persephone are the only ones who manage to be subtle at all. Daisy whispers to her dad out of range of the cameras. There are no flashes—anyone with the credentials to be at the event is required to use calibrated off-camera flashes and only then if the ambient light isn’t enough. The clickclickclick of the camera shutters decreases when Hades bends his head to listen to his daughter. Anyone with the credentials to be at this event knows it’s better to err on the side of caution than risk crossing a line with him.
Music.
Dancing.
A pair of cufflinks flashing silver. I remember he did come here with a pair too late and can’t find the cufflinks again.
Where is Artemis?
Here.
Where is she?
Still here.
Where?
Here.
And then we’re in some narrow inner corridor on the Intrepid, Artemis marching down the length of the hall with purpose. She drags me into an alcove by my lapels. The music beats in my ears, but her voice is absolutely clear.
“What the hell was that, Apollo?”
Her hands stay on my lapels, and mine go to her waist. I can’t risk letting go. Not tonight. Maybe not ever again.
“I had to.”
“Because of one random Senator? Don’t lie to me. You looked like shit.”
“I had another episode.”
Her eyebrows draw together. “It can’t have been that bad. I barely felt it. Did something else happen?”
“A meeting. With the Senator. He showed up at my office, and then I was—I was sick, Artemis, I was out of my mind.”
“Why didn’t you call me?” She shakes her head, irritated, disbelieving. “Apollo, why didn’t you just call?”
“I don’t know.”
“I could have come to you. And if this is—this has to be something different. They happen at the same time. They always happen at the same time?—”
“Not anymore.”
“Then—”
“I don’t know.”
“What’s going on?”
“Artemis.”
“You don’t know,” she says, her hands moving up to my neck. “You have no idea. You just don’t like it when men talk to me. Is that it?”
“No.” Except I hated when Chris Walsh was talking to her. I hated when he was looking at her. I hated that he was standing on the same aircraft carrier deck with her. “Yes. That was part of it.”
Artemis lets out a sound of pure frustration. “That was part of it? You’re the one who said we would never kiss again!”
“Because you said it never happened!”
