The Iron Queen (Daughters of Zeus) by Kaitlin Bevis

responsibility to protect my people, whatever the cost to me.
    And it was going to cost a lot. The second of clarity, coupled with the realization I’d just signed myself up for unending torture, fractured my already traumatized mind. Something snapped. My laughter bounced off the walls, eerie and maniacal. Zeus muttered something about taking it too far, and stood up, approaching me with wary eyes.
    “Goodnight, sweetheart,” Zeus murmured. “I think you’ve had enough for today.” He touched my head, and before I realized what was happening, a current of electricity surged through me.
    Goodnight indeed.

Chapter XIII
     
    Aphrodite
     
    “I should be driving,” I insisted for the hundredth time.
    Melissa tossed her brown hair over her shoulder and checked the rearview mirror before changing lanes. “I’m the babysitter. I drive.”
    Flipping down the visor, I examined my hair in the mirror, but when I locked gazes with myself, I was struck by a thought. Could I charm myself? I had enough control to avoid stupid mistakes. But only because Persephone had found me and trained me. What if she hadn’t? I stared into the mirror and pushed a little charm at it, watching my aquamarine eyes for any reaction. Nothing.
    Good. I flipped the visor back up and turned my attention to Melissa. “You get that if we get pulled over in this stolen car, I’m the one who can charm the police officer into looking the other way, right?”
    “You can charm him just fine from the passenger seat.”
    “You really don’t have an issue with me using charm?” I don’t know why I was surprised. She hadn’t objected to me charming our way aboard the flight to Miami, or the subsequent paperless car rental.
    Melissa shot me a condescending look. “I’m her best friend, not her carbon copy.”
    I fell silent, considering that.
    “You shouldn’t make fun of her, you know,” Melissa added. “If she didn’t have the moral high ground, Hades would have thrown you into Tartarus the moment he first saw you.”
    Not technically. I’d be in a sub-realm just outside of Tartarus. But it still wouldn’t be fun.
    “And she’d be better off.” I double checked the blue dot that marked our location on Melissa’s phone. It moved at a slow crawl down Ocean Drive.
    Finding a model from a photo in a magazine was hard. Even with charm. We’d spent most of yesterday tracking down the information we could glean from the ad. The model’s name was Adonis, and he lived in Miami. So we hopped on a plane at the Atlanta airport and spent the rest of the evening running around random offices in downtown Miami. Then Melissa had the brilliant idea to run a search for him on social networks.
    Adonis had some serious stalkers.
    Lucky for us, Adonis had a photo shoot scheduled bright and early this morning on Miami Beach.
    “You can’t really think that.” Melissa’s brown eyes were wide.
    I blinked, retracing the conversation to remember what she was talking about. “I’m grateful they helped me. But she would have been better off with me safely out of the way.”
    Melissa turned on her blinker and eased into a parking lot. I flashed a smile at the lot attendant, and he waved away Melissa’s money. “Is that why you’re being so helpful? You feel guilty?”
    I shook my head. “Don’t be naive. I benefit more from Zeus’ death than anyone.”
    Now it was her turn to fall silent. She turned off the car and stretched before she took off her seatbelt and reached into the backseat for her purse. “Well…what’s the plan?”
    “I charm Adonis and bring him back to Demeter’s.”
    “They aren’t going to be happy with us. My mom will probably kill me when she finds out where we’ve been.”
    My fingers fell off the handle of the car door, and I whipped around so fast I felt muscles in my neck give. But Melissa only looked pleased with herself, as if driving her mother to murder were the ultimate teenage goal. I rubbed my neck, scowling. Stupid