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Delphine’s side.
    Nike pulled her close. “Tell me what has happened.”
    Again, Delphine spoke in only the quietest of tones. “Azura got to him before I could. She promised him freedom and revenge if he’d join them.”
    Zeus cursed. “I shall have you both killed for this!”
    Nike stepped in front of Delphine. “My lord, please bear with me. I’m the goddess of victory, and Cratus is my brother. Believe me, if there’s anyone in this room who knows how to reach him and sway him, it is I.”
    Zeus curled his lip. “Then sway him, but that has nothing to do with their lives.” He gave a meaningful glare to Phobos and then Delphine.
    Delphine definitely didn’t like where this was heading, and she wanted to get out from under Zeus’s angry countenance. She also had to bite back the question of why Nike, if Nike knew her brother so well, hadn’t been sent after him to begin with.
    But the point of this was to save her life, not goad them into murdering her.
    â€œWhat my brother needs, I cannot give him.” Nike glanced at Delphine. “But she can. Give us a chance, my lord. Please. I know we can regain his allegiance.”
    The fury on Zeus’s face intensified until Delphine was sure he’d strike out at her.
    But after a few horrendous heartbeats, he conceded. “One chance is all you have. Azura and the others will kill their hostages in two weeks and then come for the rest of us. You have twelve days to sway him or kill him.”
    Delphine shook her head at his order. “Cratus can’t be killed.”
    Zeus laughed bitterly. “Oh, yes, he can. Even if they restore his powers to their full potential, stab him in his heart and he will die.”
    Delphine frowned. “How?”
    The pride on Zeus’s face sat ill with her. “His immortal heart was ripped from his chest when I cast him out of here, and it is a frail human heart he has now. Pierce it and he dies, plain and simple. And there will be no resurrection for him in the morning as we’ve done in the past.”
    She saw pain flash in Nike’s eyes. “Come with me, Delphine.”
    Delphine followed the smaller goddess to the doors that led out onto a balcony overlooking the rainbow falls and the thick green foliage that surrounded the hall. When Phobos started to join them, Nike shooed him back inside.
    â€œThis isn’t for you, Phobos. Please understand.”
    He inclined his head before he returned inside and shut the doors behind him.
    The moment they were alone, Nike pulled Delphine to the farthest corner of the balcony before she spoke in a hushed tone. “You know what’s at stake so I won’t even reiterate it. But what you don’t know is the part of my brother that only I was ever privy to. He and I bonded because he protected me from our parents, and I worshiped him for it. He’s a good man, but it’s not easy to find that part of him that he keeps guarded and that was before his punishment. You will have to remember that he’s the son of Hatred and War, and those two things are mother’s milk where he’s concerned. It’s what he does best.”
    Delphine didn’t understand what that had to do with her mission. His birth didn’t matter to her, only his surrender did. “And how do I defeat him?”
    â€œYou can’t. Not if he has his full strength. That’s the honest truth. Our own father tried to beat him after he’d reached adulthood, and Cratus left him a bloody heap for the effort. The only reason Zeus was able to hurt him originally was because Cratus didn’t fight back. Had he done so, he would now be the king of the gods.”
    â€œThen I shall have to kill him.”
    â€œNo!” The ferocity in her tone made Delphine’s eyes widen. “My brother doesn’t deserve that. He suffers now because he spared the life of an infant. Those are not the