Battle & Brawl (Mythverse #5)

Chapter 2

2

“Wait, what?!” I clamp my hands tighter on my crown, Hippolyta’s strength having deserted me. These are regular old human fingers holding onto this crown, without the strength of Zeus, but I know I’ve got a good grip. There’s a reason I won the All Midwest Milkmaid Competition three years running.

“You do not call a vote on my campus!” Athena thunders at Hades.

“Moot!” Hades repeats, raising his arms for silence as Zeus climbs to his feet, Sora’s bruised and battered body healing before our eyes.

“Brandee Jean has won, uncle,” Athena says, clenching her jaw.

“This contest was begun on the assumption that Zeus had died, and we needed a new king of the gods,” Hades goes on, but is interrupted.

“He was dead!” Edie, my shifter-mentor cries out, breaking free from the zombie who held her. “I killed him!”

“Um, yeah…” Jordan, one of the contestants’ mentors, adds.

Hepa, who was Rada’s mentor, steps forward as well. “Edie killed you, then she burned your body.”

“Why are all my children so ungrateful?” He turns to Edie. “You did burn my body, didn’t you?” Zeus asks Edie, c*****g his head to the side and smiling with Sora’s mouth in a way that can still make me melt a little. “So I found a new one,” Zeus finishes.

“And now,” Hades says, “he’s no longer dead.”

“Hail!” Zeus cries. “Long live Zeus!” He begins a chant, which he’s clearly expecting his entourage to pick up. But Trevor is too busy whispering s**t-talk into Alaric’s ear and Hermes is still moaning over his broken ankle wing. Hades encourages his zombie army to give Zeus a round of applause, but when they comply a few rotted hands come flying off the end of their arms instead.

“You may be back, but your powers did not return to you automatically,” Athena says, quickly drowning out the half-assed support. “You are no more king of the gods than this i***t is,” she says, motioning to Hermes.

“What?” Hermes asks. His ankle wing has finally healed and he’s shaking out his leg. “Did I miss something?”

“I put forth that BJ is now the sole owner of your powers.,” Athena corrects. “We will complete the ceremony as planned.”

“I second,” Artemis says and a few gods mutter their agreement. But many glance towards Hades and remain silent, clearly still remembering his words.

“Well, I put forth that gods are gods and girls are girls, and that’s the way it should stay! All powers should be returned to Zeus, the rightful king of the gods,” Hades says. “So there!”

Athena glances at her fellow gods, gathered on the stage. I can see her weighing the potential outcome if she held a vote right now.

“This isn’t right,” Alaric shouts, finally breaking free of Trevor with a satisfying punch. He comes to my side. Zahara—a harpy with super smarts—flutters over as well. Her manticore mentor follows. Trevor glares at us. The other contestants don’t seem to know what to do. Sophia—a vampire princess—and her mentor Tina are strangely quiet, waiting for things to play out.

“We need time to discuss,” Athena says finally. “The gods will vote.”

“Oh hell no,” I say, shrugging off Alaric’s arm as he tries to stop me from advancing on Athena. “I won this crown!”

“Do you doubt the sovereignty of the gods?” Artemis thunders.

“If that means do I think that none of you have any business telling anyone else what to do, then yeah, I very much doubt your sover-inity.”

Artemis intercepts me easily, leading me to the side of the stage. “We’re trying to save your skinny a*s!” she hisses into my ear.

“Excuse me, don’t comment on the amount of junk in my trunk. It’s been a stressful few weeks. I haven’t gotten my squats in,” I snap, but I’m already offstage, the bickering of the gods and the murmur of the audience reduced to a low murmur. Hades calls off his zombies and Athena announces to the Amazons that there is a truce until further notice.

“We’ll probably have a redo,” Alaric says as he falls into step beside me. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“I’m not doing this all over again,” I moan, sinking onto a step, my head in my hands. “I can’t.”

“You can, Brandee Jean. And you will,” a voice above me says.

I look up and if I weren’t already sitting I would have fallen down. It can’t be.

She ignores him, her eyes on me. “You get back up on those spike heels and take this one in the teeth. It’s round two, baby girl, and Mama’s in your corner now.”