Bonded (The Olympus Brotherhood #2)

Awake

"I pride myself on not being stupid. What did you take?"

"Nothing of importance," he said too quickly for my liking. "You needed to be pulled out of your seizure inducing coma, and The Order helped."

I would ask Damon what happened when I found him. "Thank you. Why?"

"Because you did promise at our last meeting to give our side a shot. Now seems to be the perfect time," he passed me the cup of tea he just made and I stared down at the green liquid suspicious. "Besides, with my brother's house destroyed, The Brotherhood and Haven not wanting too much to do with you-"

"You figured I was desperate?" I said putting the teacup back on the tray, "Well, you are right." That caught Roman off-guard, I saw a small victory lap gaze in his eyes, "I really don't care what The Brotherhood and The Order are fighting for, I care that very soon we will have a full-blown war of the gods at our front doorstep, and no one is listening to reason. Gaia had warned us, and neither side is listening. The Brotherhood won't work with The Order, The Order won't work with The Brotherhood and the gods couldn't care less about any of us." I stood up, feeling stronger as I stared up at Roman, "You're all about what you can get out of someone. Working with me gets you a future. Preservation of your life. Isn't that worth caving just a smidge?" Before he could answer, it hit me. I needed to learn from Ariadne, "What will it take?"

"For us to work with The Brotherhood? Nothing you could give. Hercules gets people to come to his table because he's offering Elysium. What can an untrained demigod give me? Or anyone?"

"That's what I'm asking you," I said with conviction. I stepped closer to him trying to read anything on his face. The only way Roman would truly help is if he felt like he won in the end. So, how does Roman win?

Roman gave me a coy smile before turning away heading back to the door, "What if I stayed here semi-permanently? I can't give you spells or some legendary skill that sets me apart, but I can give you what The Brotherhood doesn't have. Call me what you will, but I'm doing pretty good for an untrained demigod. I can control all four elements, I'm a daughter of war, a God-Killer, I fought Zeus and Hercules yet I'm still here, I can teleport, and I held my own in Hades Playground. My story is just beginning I may not be on the level of Hercules, but one day I could be. And when they write my story it could be tied to The Order's story. That's my value, I'm a world of opportunity."

That made Roman stopped dead in his tracks, he turned to face me with the amusement in his eyes, "You would join us?"

"I never said join." I set the record straight.

"Then I'm not really getting anything," he said with a slight tilt of his head.

"Aren't you? I've been at Haven since February and they showed me their way of life. They prefer to keep to themselves, separated from man's world. They definitely showed me where I stand with them. Maybe now's time to see how the other half lives, and maybe by the end of this experiment I'll end up standing with you."

I could see every cog in Roman's head spinning at the speed of light. Wow, I made him speechless.

"What exactly do you want? We're not going to break down millions of years of prejudice with one person."

"I'm not trying to fix prejudice; I need an army ready to fight. If I fail in in the Primordial Realm, I'm going to need a hell of a lot more than twelve people to help me. If The Brotherhood won't take the first step to peace, I need The Order to take it. It's not even peace it's a temporary ceasefire."

"I can take your concern to The Ministry and see what they-"

"I'm not asking The Ministry, I'm asking you- the Archon, the leader, Roman Gideon. What. Will. It. Take?"