We landed on the private helipad atop Stormwright Tower as the sun began its descent toward the Hudson. Nikos was already waiting for us. “We have a problem.”
I stepped off the helicopter and let the familiar weight of New York settle around me. After the disaster in Samos, I couldn’t imagine what could possibly be worse. “What kind of problem?” I asked.
“Robert Cross is in your office.” Nikos fell into step beside me as we crossed toward the rooftop entrance. “He arrived three hours ago with Elias Swift. They have a House Hermes representative with them.”
I stopped walking.
Robert Cross. Andie’s father. The man who’d hated me from the moment he learned I existed. He’d looked at me in that hospital waiting room like I was a disease that had infected his daughter. He’d been right to hate me. I’d proven him right over and over again.
And now I had to face him with his daughter’s blood still under my fingernails.
“House Hermes?” Argos asked sharply. “Elias reached out to his old House?”
“It appears so,” Nikos said, holding the door open. “He made the arrangements with his cousin, Loren Swift. Whatever happened on Samos, he’s decided talking isn’t enough anymore.”
The elevator ride down to my office took thirty-seven seconds. I counted each one. Argos stood beside me, radiating the cold authority that had built House Zeus into what it was. Nikos kept his eyes forward, but I could see the tension in his shoulders.
“What do they want?” I asked, though I already knew.
“Andromeda.” Nikos paused. “And answers we probably can’t give them.”
The elevator doors opened onto the executive floor. My assistant rose from her desk, mouth opening to speak. I walked past her without stopping. Whatever she had to say could wait.
The doors to my office were closed. Two figures stood guard outside—my own security. Whoever was inside had been allowed in deliberately. I pushed through without knocking.
Robert Cross stood in the center of the room like a man braced for war. Behind him, Elias Swift sat in one of the leatherchairs, his prosthetic leg stretched out in front of him. And in the corner, perfectly still, Loren Swift waited with the patient attention of a predator watching prey.
He was one of the most well-known Betas in House Hermes and a favored messenger for the Olympian Council. In hindsight, it was a little embarrassing I hadn’t realized he was related to Elias until now.
But the Olympian House element wasn’t relevant right now. I ignored Loren and focused on Andie’s parents. “Dr. Cross. Mr. Swift. I wasn’t expecting—”
“Where is my daughter?”
Robert crossed the distance between us in three strides. He stopped close enough that I could see the sleepless nights carved into his face.
“Where is Andromeda?”
“You know where she is. She’s being cared for. At the Heraion, under Helena’s supervision—”
“Cared for.” Robert laughed, sharp and ugly. “Helena told us the same thing when she took Andie to that island. That she’d be cared for. That she’d be safe. And yet, Helena has been refusing to let us see her for weeks.”
He stopped and swallowed hard. For a moment, the fury gave way to something rawer. The terror of a father watching his child slip away.
“I want her back,” he snarled. “I don’t care about your politics or your curses or whatever the hell Helena thinks she’s doing. I want my daughter home. You’re not helping her. I know it.”
I had no answer for him. Everything he said was true. But at the same time, returning Andie to them would solve nothing. The curse would still consume her. The madness would still claim her mind.
“The situation is being handled,” Argos said. “Helena is the matriarch of House Hera. She has authority over—”
“She has authority over nothing.” Robert spun on my father with renewed venom. “Andie isn’t House Hera property. She’s my daughter. Mine and Elias’s. Helena gave up any claim to her a long time ago.”
“Robert.”
Elias’s voice cut through the room, so cold it sent shivers down my spine.
Robert turned to his husband, chest heaving. “Elias—”
“You know he won’t listen to you.” Elias rose from the chair, his eyes never leaving mine. “Andie was right about that, at least. House Zeus only listens to its own politics. Its own kind.”