Then he did the most unexpected thing of all. He offered his hand to Solin. "Brothers."
"Brothers," Solin said, taking D'Alerian's hand and shaking it. "Thank you."
He inclined his head to them before he vanished.
Kat cocked her head as she frowned over their exchange. "What did I just miss?"
"Nothing," Solin said quickly. "It's just Oneroi weirdness." He let out a deep breath as he faced them. He smiled at Geary. "Last I heard, Persephone was on Olympus with her mother. I can't go there, but Kat can and she can take you with her."
Geary didn't understand that. He was a god and should be as welcomed on Olympus as any other god.
"Why can't you go there?"
"Solin is under a death warrant," Kat explained. "There are too many gods who would kill him on sight if he were ever dumb enough to pop into their backyard."
"Oh," Geary said in understanding. How awful for him. No wonder he'd been so angry over them in the past. It sounded like he was fully entitled to it.
Geary stepped forward and kissed him on his cheek. "Thank you for your help, Solin. I really appreciate it and I'm sure Arik does, too."
Solin nodded. "Just make me one promise."
"And that is?"
His gaze burned into hers. "If you get Arik back, you won't be stupid again. Love is a rare thing, Megeara. Hold on to it with both hands."
Tears gathered in her eyes as she realized he was speaking from his heart and from a past he had no intention of sharing with her. But his words were too genuine to be an arbitrary recitation. "I fully intend to."
"Then it's worth it."
That confused her. "What is?"
Solin chucked her gently on the chin. "Whatever they throw at me." He inclined his head to Kat. "You two kids have fun, and good luck." Then he vanished, too.
Geary frowned at Kat. "Is it just me or was that the oddest exchange?"
"No," she breathed, "it wasn't. You're just missing part of the story. Remember, at one time the Oneroi had feelings. Some of them were in love and even had families at the time they were rounded up and punished."
A bad feeling went through Geary as she noted the ominous tone of Kat's voice. "What happened to their families?"
"Let's just say Zeus was really angry."
It didn't take a genius to ascertain what that would have led to. "He killed them."
She nodded grimly.
Even though Geary had guessed it, she was still aghast that he'd be so callous to his own family members. " All of them?"
Kat nodded again.
Tears gathered in Geary's eyes as the magnitude of their punishment truly hit her. She couldn't imagine the horror that they must have been put through. No wonder M'Adoc was psycho. "Did Solin-"
"No," Kat said quickly, cutting her off. "He was the family they tried to destroy and he survived by the skin of his nose."
"Arik told me that, too. God, I feel so bad for them."
"All of us with any decency do, but there's nothing to be done for them as a group. Not unless you go up against Zeus, and that takes more god power than what we have." She offered Geary a smile. "But right now we have one god in particular we might be able to help."
She was right. Before they plotted a war, they needed to win a battle, and Geary was ready to take on all of Olympus for Arik. "Let's get on it."
GEARY DIDN'T REALLY KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT FROM Olympus and the gods. True, she'd spent the whole of her life listening to her father and grandfather tell stories about them. But that had only been speculation on everyone's part.
Now she was actually here.
And it was scary and invigorating to know that those legends were real. That things she'd taken for granted as fiction weren't. Wow.
Just like the stories told, Olympus was breathtaking. The weather was perfect. Not too hot. Not too cold. It was like a mid-spring day. The sky was so blue as to be unreal in its celestial hue, and the mountains around her were lush and green. The air was fresh and laced with a sweet scent. She'd never experienced anything like this.
Dreamy was the only word for it.
But what fascinated her most was that she could look down and see the world below in all its glory through the misty clouds that kept the gods isolated from the world.
"This is incredible."
Kat smiled. "Yeah, I know." She looked around with pride. "I was raised here."
Geary couldn't imagine having a childhood like that. "Really?"
"Yes." Kat pointed to a large circular gold building at the end of the golden cobblestoned street. "That is Artemis's temple. When I was a little girl, I used to sneak out of it and run to there"-she pointed to another temple at the opposite end-"to Athena's temple, and play with her owls." She laughed at the memory. "It used to make Artemis crazy."
"Why?"
"They have a long-standing feud with each other over some nonsense that happened aeons ago. And Artemis wanted me to stay as far away from Athena as I could."
"But you couldn't resist, huh?"
Her smile widened. "Not really. According to Artemis, I've made a lifetime study of irritating her."
Geary laughed as she looked around and saw three fawns sprinting across the walk ahead of them. The deer vanished into the woods, where she swore she glimpsed a centaur running. "I can't believe this is real."
"Oh, believe it. Scary as it can be." Kat pointed to a huge hall made of gold and ivory that was on a hilltop above them. "And that is where Zeus resides with Hera. It's the great hall where everyone gathers to mostly bicker and complain."
It was as magnificent as the rest of the area. Truly, it was like walking in a dream. "Is that where we're going?"