Page 73 of Edge of Stars

Maximus moves back again. Thrusts a heavy hand across his head. As he relents his grip and his hair tumbles against his spine, his shoulders sag too. “Doing nothing isn’t an option.”

“But neither is doing the wrong thing.” Zeus, much braver than I’ve credited to him, steps over and braces his son’s shoulder. He doesn’t back down even when Maximus attempts a violent shrug. “You do understand that, Maximus. I know it down to my marrow. Your mother wouldn’t have raised you any other—”

With a wide, windmilling arm, Maximus fights himself free. “You don’t know a damn thing about me, old man. Or anything—anything—about how I was raised!”

On the surface, the god king is still as imperturbable as Yoda and Mrs. Robinson’s love child. But I already know differently, even before the dark-blue flames in the depths of the All-father’s eyes. And the way he slowly narrows that gaze. And the seething pumps of air, in and out of his nose, so eerily like the way his son processes raw fury.

Wrath that drenches his every utterance now.

“I love your mother too, Maximus. I’d walk into Iremia through the front gate and let Hecate laser me through the heart if it meant Nancy Kane could walk over my body and out into freedom. But that’s not how the bitch is going to let us do this.”

There’s a low thwick from my far left, drawing my attention to where Jesse is trying to snag grapes from one of our leftover kouzilina orders. He pauses to join his serious stare along with Z’s.

“Dude…he’s right. Not what you want to hear, I know, but I’ve never dealt you dirty with the honesty, and I’m definitely not starting now.”

In any situation other than this, I’d be actually hugging the guy instead of hoping my small nod does the trick. But Jesse’s answering smirk conveys enough of his answer to ease my mind. I just wish we could work together to do the same for my husband.

I combat the nervousness with my favorite new way to fidget, by impatiently rubbing my middle. The space beneath my fingers warms, and I imagine our little girl smiling from the caresses.

For some reason, the moment seems exactly what Zeus has waited for. He straightens and ratchets back his shoulders before pivoting and confronting Maximus again.

“With Prieto’s help or not, the only way we’d get past Iremia’s border is with your wife—and child—in tow.”

Maximus slashes his arm so hard, it’s almost a fresh windmill act. “Absolutely not.”

“And if, by some magical miracle, that we do succeed, she’ll have you pinned and paralyzed faster than a gnat in flypaper.” The god pauses only fast enough to get stricter. His eyes no longer glow. They’re as black and stony as cinders. “At which time, she’ll use whatever means necessary to slice into your mind and access where you’ve hidden Kara from her. The bullshit you went through with Hades’s boys is going to seem like an hour at the Charlie Cheese Pizza Port.”

“No,” I cry out. “Maximus!”

“Kara.” His tone is a petition, but his stance is a mandate, his rigidly stretched hand sending me into silence. “We’ll figure this out,” he murmurs, now leading with the voice I usually hear during quiet mornings in bed. “I promise.”

I breathe in deeply, longing to believe him. Having to. He has as much here to lose as me. Everything. Together, we knew all these risks and took them. Now together, we’ll fix things.

We’ll get them back. No matter what it takes.

“All right. Jesse and Kell can take charge of it, then.” Maximus wheels his gaze around to them both. “You both know I trust you.”

“And guess who else does?” Poseidon drawls before I can dig my tongue out of my throat.

During the same pause, I watch a hard swallow take over my sister’s throat. Jesse’s reaction is similar, his plastic stress rope winding crazily around his hand.

Aloud, he quips, “I’d really just prefer a trip to Charlie Cheese.”

“Better than square one,” Maximus growls, dragging back his hair with renewed frustration. “Which seems to be where we’re headed. Again.”

Beneath his breath, he adds more words that I’m glad I can’t make out. Probably for the best. This isn’t the time or place to spout statistics about everything a human infant can hear in utero, let alone a special girl with demigod DNA.

Bigger priorities have to be stacked first. Along with them, arduous comprehensions. Glaring logistics that I can’t ignore so easily. That none of us can. Not if we want to see our mothers alive again.

Not if we also want one more shot, however sparse, at keeping peace between the realms.

I’m ready to meet Maximus’s stare when he finally turns back. It’s not easy, but I do it. He deserves to see, and to know, how much I love him, despite what I’m about to propose. But we don’t have a billion options here, and the strategy that rises first to my mind is going to be our best shot.

And his worst nightmare.

It has to be done. It’s the most solid way. But even after a dozen more similarly worded pep talks, I can’t open my mouth to dredge it into words.

I’m about to start pacing, praying that quick steps will shake loose the stubborn words, but Kell makes me the world’s most grateful sister by pacing forward with an adamant nod my way. She’s ready to jumpstart this engine on my behalf, ensuring I’m already jotting a few things on the brain as possible thank-you gifts. Twenty pairs of Ferragamos. Ten nights at her favorite Bali resort. The new Panamera she was eyeing at the shiny showroom in the mall.