Wicked Beauty (dark Olympus, #3)

Wicked Beauty, the third installment in Katee Robert's Dark Olympus series, is set in Olympus, a modern city governed by the Thirteen, a ruling body whose members each hold a title drawn from Greek mythology. The story follows three protagonists: Helen Kasios, the 30-year-old sister of the current Zeus; Achilles Kallis, a soldier and second-in-command to Athena; and Patroclus Fotos, Achilles's longtime partner and lover.

After the recent death of Ares, the member of the Thirteen responsible for Olympus's security forces, his title becomes the only one open to anyone willing to compete for it. Helen has been secretly training for months, viewing the title as her sole path to freedom. Her father, the previous Zeus, was a tyrant who killed her mother and planned to marry Helen off before his own death. Her brother Perseus inherited the Zeus title and has proven nearly as controlling.

At a formal gathering, Perseus announces the tournament's three trials and then declares that whoever wins will also marry Helen. She is blindsided and furious. Across the room, Achilles watches with Patroclus. An orphan who rose to prominence under Athena's command, Achilles views the Ares title as his destiny, and Patroclus has entered the tournament solely to support Achilles's bid. Other champions register: Paris Chloros, Helen's manipulative ex-boyfriend; his older brother Hector, a formidable former Ares squad leader; Atalanta, a skilled warrior from Artemis's forces; and two imposing outsiders, Theseus Vitalis and a man calling himself only the Minotaur.

After the party, Helen confronts Perseus about being made a prize. Callisto Dimitriou, Perseus's wife and the current Hera, suggests Helen enter the tournament as both prize and champion, noting no rule forbids it. Fueled by rage, Helen registers before dawn. Outside, Patroclus spots her, and the two share a charged exchange rooted in a childhood friendship: Helen had protected him from bullies when they were eight.

When Patroclus tells Achilles about Helen's registration and flirtation, Achilles reacts with a jealousy neither man has experienced in their open relationship. He declares Helen off-limits. At the opening ceremony, Helen enters last, stunning the crowd and declaring herself both prize and champion. Achilles intercepts her at the podium with a calculated gentlemanly gesture she recognizes as an attempt to frame her as a damsel. He tells her she cannot win. She refuses to yield. The champions move into a walled compound where Helen, Achilles, and Patroclus are assigned neighboring rooms.

Tensions escalate quickly. Achilles visits Helen to convince her to resign, but their argument becomes mutual taunting. The next morning, Patroclus finds Helen overexerting herself in the gym and helps her stretch, leading to an intimate moment that Achilles discovers. Their confrontation turns into rough, unplanned sex. Patroclus, hurt by the hypocrisy of Achilles sleeping with Helen hours after declaring her off-limits, asks Achilles to leave for the night.

The first trial is a timed obstacle course defended by Athena's operatives. Helen allies with Atalanta, nearly falls twice, but fights her way through. Afterward, Paris corners Helen and employs the psychological manipulation he used during their relationship, calling her delicate and insisting she needs his protection. Separately, Theseus hints that he and the Minotaur have ambitions beyond the tournament, telling Helen that Olympus is "soft."

That night, Achilles goes to Helen's room and finds an intruder standing over her bed with a knife. He fights the attacker, and Helen saves his life by smashing a lamp over the assassin's head. Achilles insists Helen stay in his suite. Patroclus takes the first watch, and he and Helen share a vulnerable conversation in which she admits she gets reckless when hurting. The next morning, an encounter between Patroclus and Helen escalates when Achilles joins them, and the three begin a sexual relationship, with Helen firmly asserting her agency.

Troubling news follows. Perseus removed the captured assassin before Athena could interrogate the attacker. The assailant belonged to the delegation of Minos, the outside leader who brought Theseus and the Minotaur to Olympus, and claimed diplomatic immunity. Helen reveals the depth of her political knowledge, arguing that Achilles is dangerously unprepared for the political dimensions of holding the Ares title. Patroclus recognizes she is right. In their remaining time before the next trial, Achilles tells Helen he wants to pursue a real triad beyond the tournament. Helen wants to believe but cannot reconcile their competing ambitions. She shares that her father killed her mother and insists she deserves to be more than a prize.

The second trial is a maze with five hidden keys and a two-hour limit. Helen uses her gymnastics background to scale the walls, gaining a bird's-eye view. She ambushes Theseus in the center, dislocates his knee, and seizes a key. From the wall tops, she spots Patroclus losing a fight against Hector and screams directions to guide Achilles to him. Five champions advance: Achilles, Patroclus, the Minotaur, Helen, and Paris.

The third trial is open combat on a sand arena floor, with elimination by tap-out or first blood. The Minotaur deliberately targets Patroclus to draw Achilles and Helen in, then slashes Patroclus across the stomach. Patroclus collapses. Achilles attacks the Minotaur in a blind rage, and Helen eliminates the Minotaur by slashing his face. While Achilles beats the downed fighter, Paris shoots Achilles in the calf with an arrow from across the arena, eliminating him. Helen faces Paris alone. He fires three arrows, but she dodges each, closing the distance rapidly. She throws a dagger into his shoulder, sending him to the ground. Athena declares Helen the new Ares.

Helen tries to speak to Achilles as he follows Patroclus's stretcher, but he brushes her off. She then meets with Perseus, who reveals that the barrier protecting Olympus from the outside world is failing and that Minos has brought intelligence about an external threat. He asks Helen to stand with him before the full Thirteen, and she agrees. At a gathering with friends, Helen confides in Eros, her close friend and a fellow member of the Thirteen, about her feelings for Achilles and Patroclus. She asks Eros to visit the hospital and deliver a message: She still wants the future the three of them discussed.

At the hospital, Eros delivers Helen's message. Athena tells Achilles she needs him for the coming threat but warns that if he leaves her command for Helen, there is no return. When Patroclus wakes from surgery, he tells Achilles he intends to pursue Helen regardless and challenges Achilles to stop being a hypocrite: He expected Helen to forgive him for taking her dream, yet he refuses to extend the same grace now. Achilles recognizes the truth.

Three days later, after Helen has thrown herself into her new role, Achilles and Patroclus arrive at her office. Patroclus is in a wheelchair but recovering. Both have resigned from Athena's command. Achilles apologizes for brushing her off after the trial and asks Helen to make him her second-in-command, proposing they work as a professional team and a romantic triad. He acknowledges that Helen earned her victory and declares he will make his name helping her keep Olympus safe. Helen accepts, and the three commit to building a future together as they prepare to face the threats gathering against their city.