I survived finals! Hope everyone else gets through the end of the year relatively unscathed. Good luck to everyone else taking finals or just trying to make it to the end of the semester! Thanks for all the good luck wishes and the reviews/favorites/follows!

~secrethalfblood

Tpov

Two hours later, and with some help from Daisy, I was all dressed up ready to go to the opera with Adam and his family, minus Robert, feeling distinctly uncomfortable in a black evening gown his mother had picked out for me, and my hair done up in a way I knew would have been beyond useless in a monster fight.

"You look so unhappy." Daisy said chuckling as we walked from her room to the stairs that would lead to the main entrance of the house. She too was in a long dress that was blue and her hair was once again pulled back so you couldn't see the color in it.

"I can't run in heels." I said moodily.

"Oh stop whining. Dressing like a girl for once won't kill you and besides, you get to stare at my brother all night." She said knowingly. "Isn't that why you put up with all this?"

She was sort of right. Even if I hated dressing up, when I had to it generally meant that Adam had to as well which was something I thoroughly enjoyed.

"Speaking of Adam…" she said smirking slyly at me as we spotted him at the bottom of the steps.

He turned when he heard his name, and when he spotted us he seemed stunned.

"Close your mouth brother." Daisy said amused. "It's not a good look."

"You look beautiful." He said grinning at me, ignoring his sister and I smiled.

"You look great yourself." I said which was perfectly true. He was wearing a dark dinner jacket and obviously tailored for him, and not for the first time I thought he looked like a movie star.

"Are you girls finally ready?" Nadine said sounding harassed, putting in a glittering earring and grabbing her hand bag from a small table by the front door. "We're very nearly late." she continued and I resisted the temptation to roll my eyes. Nadine's idea of late was everyone else's idea of politely punctual. If she wasn't at least fifteen minutes early for anything she didn't feel she'd had the proper time to prepare.

Like the first time I'd seen her she was in white, but her dress fell to the floor tonight and pulled up to a single shoulder, and part of me couldn't help but wonder if she was intentionally worn a dress that looked like a toga considering who was coming to visit.

"Hey, you told me you wanted her to look sophisticated." Daisy said defensively while gesturing towards me. "She's as hyperactive as a squirrel that just chugged a Redbull. It takes time."

"Well let's get going." She said opening the door only to stop in her tracks to see a tall man dressed in a black tux like Adam, with the same dark hair but his eyes were a much lighter blue.

"Oh." She said a little breathlessly and I was stunned to realize for first time since I'd met her, I might have seen Nadine caught off guard. "You're here."

Zeus was as tall as Adam with the same Hollywood style good looks. While I'd always pictured him with a beard, he was clean shaven today and his look completely modern. Like all of the gods, he radiated a sense of power but for once it didn't intimidate me. I mean it should have, he was the most powerful god on Olympus, but I couldn't quite manage to feel fear. Unlike Artemis, who'd always made me feel a bit on edge, something about his power felt familiar. I guess his appearance wasn't the only similarity he had with his son.

"You look beautiful Nadine." He said with a fond smile and she did something I never expected from her. She blushed.

"T-thank you." she said quietly and it was obvious to me from the expression she wore as she looked at him, that part of her was still totally in love with Adam's father.

He looked passed her and I saw his eyes land on Adam, whose hand had found mine.

"It's been a while since I've seen you, son. How are you?"

"Fine." He said and while his expression was neutral, I felt Adam tense next to me as his father's eyes landed on me.

"I see like your brothers and I, you've developed a preference for beautiful women." His eyes darted to the ring Adam had given me, which I'd worn since our mission together over the summer. "It seems to be a family trait."

Nadine went crimson again but I felt an eyebrow raise and I could see Daisy was wearing a similar expression. I knew we were thinking the same thing. Was he seriously hitting on me for Adam?

His brow furrowed for a moment as he contemplated me, but his face quickly relaxed.

"You look very much like your father when you do that." He said amused then turned back to Nadine. "We should be going. We'll miss our reservation."

He offered her his arm which she took after a moment's hesitation, and together they walked out of the house.

"And once again I've been completely ignored." Daisy said sourly, obviously annoyed as she glared after Adam's father. "You'd think to him I was invisible."

"To be honest that went better than I expected it too." Adam muttered.

"The night is still young brother." Daisy said with a smirk. "There's still plenty of time for things to go wrong."

"Thank you Daze." He said scowling and she chuckled.

"Hey, at least he think's your girlfriend is hot. 'Cuz that's not creepy at all."

She followed her mother and Zeus out of the house and I looked at Adam.

"That wasn't that bad." I said but he didn't seem reassured, in fact, he looked worried. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know." He said quietly but his eyes hadn't left his father. "Something's off with him."

"He seemed fine to me." I said shrugging. "Completely relaxed."

"Yeah, that's the problem." He said his eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it Thea." He said frowning. "My father is the God of law and order in a world of chaos and gods and monsters that are always fighting with each other. Between prophecies, demigods, and Titan wars and gods know what else is going to happen in our world, when has he ever been known to be relaxed?"

I looked after Adam's father not entirely sure what to think. He had a point. Zeus wasn't exactly known for being lighthearted but he'd been here what? Five minutes? Maybe he was just happy to see Nadine again. His affection for her had been obvious. He'd seemed happy to see Adam too.

"I'm sure everything is fine." I said trying not to laugh at the irony of Adam, of all people, being concerned over someone's inability to relax, but before he could respond Daisy poked her head back into the house.

"Are you guys coming?" she asked irritated. "I was trying to talk to you guys for like a whole minute before I realized you weren't behind me."

"Sorry Daze." I said amused and pulling Adam towards the door. "What were you going to say?"

Daisy and I talked about her up coming trip with her friends to Austria as we crossed the lawn and got back into the limo. She was going skiing over fall break while Adam and I would be going to camp. Adam's parents spoke quietly a few feet apart from us on the seats, but he didn't say much. As Daisy explained to me about the different levels of ski slopes, he continued to look at his father every so often who at first glance appeared perfectly at ease, but I noticed his shoulders were set with the same tension that Adam's had when ever he was worried about something. Nadine didn't seem to notice this however. She was smiling more than I'd ever seen and looked several years younger as she spoke to Zeus. Daisy seemed to pick up on this as well because I caught her rolling her eyes several times when she glanced at the pair. She saw me looking at her when she did this once and gave me an incredulous expression, as if to say. 'You're seeing this too right?'

I grinned but kept my mouth shut which I figured might have to be the policy for the night.

I was relatively well behaved at dinner, I spent most of my time talking to Adam or Daisy, but when we got to the Kennedy Center for the show and I thought of the hours of boredom a head of me, I got a little carried away.

"Put it back." Adam muttered catching my arm as I lifted a wallet off a wealthy looking elderly man as well as liberated his much younger, rather more attractive, wife of her diamond bracelet.

"Alright." I said with a sigh returning the money and the jewelry.

"How are you already bored?" he asked amused. "We haven't even gone to our seats."

"How are you not?" I asked raising an eyebrow and looking around. "There's so much havoc to be wreaked here and I'm expected just to ignore all of it?"

"Yes." He said grinning. "Mortals don't like havoc. It makes them panic."

"Well then what am I supposed to do to entertain myself?" I asked stubbornly.

"Figure out how you would steal that." He said gesturing towards a massive gold and crystal chandelier that was glittering above us. "That should keep you busy."

Over the passed few months, Adam had developed a series of strategies that dealt with the struggles of dating a energetic kleptomaniac. He'd found several ways to keep my mind occupied when I was bored and restless in a situation I shouldn't be, and this was one of his go to's. He'd pick a random item in the room and ask me how I'd steal it, and I spent the next few minutes formulating a plan until I'd figured it out and he'd move on to the next item. At first I thought this might annoy him, but he seemed to rather enjoy hearing my ideas. It had become sort of a game between us, he'd try to pick the most difficult things and pick apart my plans, and I'd have to prove that stealing them was possible. Granted, it wasn't the same as actually stealing things, but I found I had more fun when Adam was involved.

"How much prep time do I have?" I asked with interest.

"No prep time." He said. "It's as if you were trying to steal it tonight."

"Can I pull the fire alarm?" I asked grinning at him.

"You're trying to be a discrete as possible."

"Interesting." I said looking back up at the chandelier. That might actually be a challenge.

This kept me preoccupied through the first half of the show and during the intermission I told him my complex plan, which involved a string of minor thefts from the concessions stand and seducing a maintenance worker, but I was surprised when a voice said.

"Or you could simply ask the god accompanying you for the evening to send it where ever you like."

We both turned to see Adam's father looking at us amused.

"But, forgive me if that seems too easy."

"I didn't think you'd have much interest in grand theft." I said looking up at him.

"I don't." he agreed. "But I'll admit, it is an intriguing mental exercise. One I'm sure your father would appreciate." He gave me a shrewd look. "You are very much like him."

"I don't know whether you mean that as a compliment or an insult." I said. I'd heard it used as both.

"I think I'll let you decide what you think I mean by it." he said cryptically and while Adam looked annoyed by this, I grinned.

"Compliment it is then.

"She's certainly confident." He said looking at Adam whose expression was hard to read. "I'll give her that. Just like your mother."

The lights dimmed signaling the end of intermission, but when Adam took my hand to drag me back to the music and wailing, his father spoke.

"I was hoping I could speak with you, son."

"Now?" he asked a little confused and Zeus nodded.

"In private." He continued.

"Why?" he asked and I felt his grip on my hand tighten slightly, but whatever his father had wanted to say, he obviously didn't want to say in front of me.

"Well this seems personal." I said letting go of Adam's hand. "I'll see you inside alright?"

He nodded and I made my way to Daisy who'd been flirting with the guy behind the ticket counter. But as the lights dimmed again, signaling the final warning for the show, I looked over my shoulder back at Adam and his father who were making their way towards the exit and my mind presented me with a choice. Boring opera or mysterious conversation with the King of Olympus?

I didn't have to think very hard.

"Where are you going?" she asked as I started to push against the crowd that was flooding back into the concert hall.

"Bathroom." I lied quickly.

"You waited until now?" she asked but I ignored this and allowed myself to get lost in the sea of people, following Adam and his father at a distance.

They'd made it outside now and I'd thought I'd lost them for a minute, but I spotted them walking about thirty feet away on the patio that over looked the river. Though it was dark out, I hesitated. We were the only ones out here; everyone had gone back inside for the show and if they heard anything they were bound to see me. I glanced around and grinned when I saw a wall of ivy that climbed up to the roof and though it might not have been very lady like, I kicked off my heels and started to scramble up to the ledge, able to follow them quite easily now I was no longer at ground level.

"She's a bit unusual isn't she, your girlfriend?" I heard his father ask as they looked out at the water and I shivered as a cool night breeze swept across me.

"I like unusual." Adam said shrugging and I couldn't help but smile.

"I can tell." Zeus said amused. "Not many people would have the courage to stand up to Artemis. Though if I'm honest, I'm surprised your mother lets her anywhere near you."

"She doesn't have much choice in the matter. And besides, Thea's grown on her."

"You must really like this girl if you stood up to Nadine."

Adam didn't respond to this and I wondered what he was thinking, but his father continued before I could figure it out.

"I like her too." He said eventually. "Your little adventure with Eris was all over Olympus. I have to admit I was favorably impressed with Hermes's daughter. Not many would have made it out of there alive."

"Why are you here Dad?" Adam asked flatly.

"I can't take an interest in my son's life?" Zeus asked casually looking down at Adam and while I couldn't see his expression, I saw Adam's jaw set in the way that meant he was annoyed about something.

"You really expect me to believe out of all the things you could be here for, it's because you've finally taken an interest in who I date?"

"Alright." Zeus said quietly looking back at the water. "You're right. But Thea is the reason why I am here."

"What do you want with her?"

"Nothing." He said. "I just hoped she might be able to help me with something."

"What do you mean?"

"I was hoping she might have heard from her father." he said and Adam looked at him.

"Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"Technically as Gods were not supposed to have favorites, but she's one of his. I figured if he was talking to anyone it might be her, but it's obvious she hasn't heard anything."

"She hasn't." Adam said and I could hear the frown in his voice. "What does Thea's father have to do with anything?"

"Because no one has seen him for two days." He said gravely and I felt something cold go through me as my stomach contracted. "He vanished on a delivery between Hephaestus and Ares and no one's heard from him since."

"What was he delivering?" Adam asked quietly but I had a feeling I knew. What else would Ares want from Hephaestus?

"A weapon." Zeus said gravely confirming my fears. "And now he's disappeared."

His voice was low as he continued and finally, the stress he'd been holding off all night was starting to show.

"And you think, because of what he was delivering, he's been captured?" Adam said darkly.

"It is very likely."

Adam ran his fingers through his hair and sighed.

"You can come out now Thea." He said sounding tired and after a moment's hesitation, I dropped between the two, Adam helping me to my feet.

Zeus looked stunned.

"How long has she been up there?" he asked looking suspiciously at the roof. It was obvious he was not used to being sneaked up on.

"A while." Adam muttered shaking his head but I ignored this and looked at Zeus and as I spoke, I could hear my voice shaking.

"What happened to my father?"