Godtown

Chapter Forty-Four

No self-respecting Olympian would live in the place I came to next. Apparently everyone else in the neighborhood – Olympian or otherwise – felt the same. At least six houses had bars on the windows. It was proof that there was a crime in Theopolis. I had only heard of it from Zeus' desk.

I reached her house a block later. It was locked like all the others. There were bars in the windows and even on the doors. Calling it a house was practically paying a compliment. It looked more like a shack. But as with virtually everything else in Godtown, outward appearances were customarily deceiving. My hand hovered over the door frame.

I hesitated. Everything about this screamed a bad idea. Pan thought so. Every Olympian I had spoken to thought so. So what the hell was I doing here? But no amount of time changed the fact that Artemis was the best tracker I knew. It was also clear she was on the outs with Olympus Towers, meaning there was a chance – and only a chance – she could help me.

I pounded on the door. To my surprise, it slowly fell open. I sighed. This was never a good sign. Against my better judgment, I stepped inside.

It resembled a shack on the outside. It also resembled a shack on the inside. I walked down the hallway. I couldn't see much of the shack. It was as dark as a tomb, and a haze of smoke obscured any trace amount of light. The ground was littered with clothes, cigarette butts, and beer cans. Next to this place, Cupid's apartment was a palace.

"Hello?" I said as I entered the living room. I thought I'd see Artemis. Instead, I saw six dogs – all very big – looking up at me. And growling. And bearing teeth.

Paws clacked against the wood floor as they quickly encircled me, and I had a feeling they didn't want to sniff me or get me to play fetch. I put out my hands, but they had no interest in doing anything but biting them off. My hands reached deep into my pockets.

"Easy," I said. The canine starred at me with grisly intent. "I'm a dog person."

I reached for my revolver. This could get messy – for me and the dogs. I kept my eyes glued to the guard dogs surrounding me, but I was careful not to make eye contact. Years with Cerberus had taught me that was the quickest way to become a chew toy.

A dog's bark blasted through the air. My hand tightened on the revolver deep within my coat. A second dog bark and my hands began to lift the gun from my pocket. I never got a chance to fire it.

"Down!" a female voice commanded from around the corner. It was haggard and throaty.

Artemis walked into the room. I had always remembered her as a tall and slender girl barely out of her teens, always lurking in the woods with her brother Apollo. The woman in front of me looked twenty years older. Like most gods, she was devoid of any wrinkles. It was the eyes that held her age.

"What do you want?" Artemis asked from behind a mess of brown hair, stringy and unwashed. Her make-up was hastily applied, even with conjuring. She had failed even at putting on her sweater, leaving one arm and shoulder exposed and hanging out of her clothes.

"Artemis," I said. "It's been a while."

"It has, Hades," she said plainly. "What do you want?"

"Why do I have to want anything?" I said.

"Because that's the only reason I see my family." She said behind her dark eyes.

I nodded. I was never the most social of gods, but compared to her, I was Dynosius. I may well have been Hermes.

"How long has it been?" I asked.