Dragon's Gift: The Amazon Complete Series: An Urban Fantasy Boxed Set

by Linsey Hall

  Little tables crowded the space, but they were mostly empty. Prometheus sat at the same table he’d occupied last time I’d found him. He was as big and imposing as ever, but this time, he was far soberer. His clothes were clean and tidy, his face shaved and his dark hair swept back from his forehead. He sat hunched over a notebook, scrawling something. A small cup of steaming coffee sat at his elbow.

  Yep.

  My suspicions weren’t fully confirmed, but I was getting there. When I’d met him last, I’d taken him to be a drunk and worked on that assumption, trying to drink him under the table.

  I’d been successful—sort of. I’d ended up with the info I’d wanted and a massive hangover. But I wasn’t entirely convinced he’d been the drunk I thought he was. I was even less convinced now. He looked pretty dang sober.

  I hurried toward the fourth door in the hallway. It was shut, but if my guess was correct, it led to the kitchen.

  I slipped inside, grinning at the sight of a cook quickly chopping vegetables behind a counter. He scowled at me.

  “Can I speak to the waitress?” I asked.

  He scowled again, but I spotted the same dark-haired woman who’d served our drinks when I’d been here last. She was fiddling with a strange little pot that steamed, and I hurried to her.

  I stopped at her side, and she looked up, startled.

  “Ayse, you need help?” the cook asked.

  The waitress turned back to him. “I’m fine.” She looked at me. “What do you want?”

  Magic sparked about her, a signature that I hadn’t noticed before. It smelled of lavender and felt like cold snow falling on my face. She was far more powerful than I’d realized.

  I squinted at her. “You’re not a regular waitress.”

  She arched a dark brow. “And you’re not a regular patron.”

  I tried to get a better hit of her signature, but she locked it down tight. She was hiding something, but maybe it wasn’t my business.

  “What do you want?” she asked.

  “Just to ask some questions.”

  “That’s what they all say.” She shook her head. “Trouble usually follows.”

  “I can’t argue that. But I’m trying to get ahead of the trouble.” I tilted my head toward the bar. “The man who is in here all the time. He’s not a drunk, is he?”

  She shrugged, but there was knowledge in her eyes.

  The more I thought about it, the more this seemed like some kind of secret supernatural headquarters for something. The kind where people pretended to be normal—a waitress, a drunken patron—while actually doing something far more important.

  I glanced at the cook, but he was ignoring me now. Without getting closer, I couldn’t figure out if he had any magic.

  “I think this place isn’t what it seems,” I said. “And I think Prometheus was helping me last time I was here. Beyond just giving me info because I drank it out of him.”

  “Maybe he was.”

  “So if I went out there now, he might help me again? Without me having to drink him under the table?”

  The corner of her mouth pulled up in a smile, and she stifled a laugh. “You were quite the sight last time.”

  “I was a moron last time.” I’d made an assumption about Prometheus that had come back to bite me in the butt. “But I won’t be a moron this time.”

  She shrugged. “Maybe you won’t be.” She leaned close. “But if you really need his help, and he’s resisting, remind him of his debt to humanity.”

  “Debt?”

  “He gave man fire. It was a blessing and a curse, leading us from our blissful youth in the dark into the light of adulthood.”

  “What do you mean, exactly?”

  “Fire brought many gifts. But it also brought war and greed and rage. He feels guilt over that.”

  I remembered the myth. Prometheus had been the one to gift fire to the humans. He’d been punished for centuries, tied to a rock where an eagle ate his liver over and over again.

  “Thanks.” I made a circular motion with my index finger, indicating the restaurant. “Good luck with whatever it is you do here.”

  “Just saving the world.” She raised a little cup. “One coffee at a time.”

  Yeah, something important was definitely going on here. I stopped by the alley to grab Maximus and the Menacing Menagerie, then we entered the bar.

  Prometheus looked up as soon as we entered, his eyes narrowing. I smiled and waved, weaving my way between the tiny tables until I reached his.

  “Mind if I join you?”

  He waved his hand to indicate the chairs. “I doubt I have a choice.”

  “Well, no. I do have to ask you for something.” I pulled out a chair for the Menagerie, and they all climbed on. Then I sat on my own.

  His mouth flattened and he nodded, then he looked at Maximus. “You were here the other night as well, weren’t you? When she tried to drink me under the table.”

  “Succeeded,” I said.

  He shrugged. “But only because I let you.”

  Maximus sat and stuck his hand out. “Maximus Valerius.”

  They shook, and Prometheus looked at the Menagerie. “Who are you?”

  “The Menacing Menagerie,” I said. “Formerly the Magical Menagerie, greatest all-animal circus in Europe.”

  Prometheus’s brows rose. “You must be skilled.”

  The three nodded.

  Prometheus looked between Maximus and me. “What do you want now?”

  “I need a guide up Mount Olympus, and I’ve been told you’re the guy.”

  “Me or Atlas. Go bother him.”

  “He’s busy.” And damned hard to find.

  “So am I.” He indicated his notebook, and I looked at it. The scribbling writing disappeared as soon as my gaze fell upon it.

  “Nice trick.”

  He grinned. “I’m full of them.”

  I leaned closer. “I really need your help.” As quickly as I could, I explained the threat of the Titans.

  “Those bastards?” he asked. “I knew they were making a fuss about rising.”

  “Will you help us, then?” Maximus asked.

  “What will you do for me?”

  “It’s not so much what we’ll do for each other,” I said. “It’s more what we’ll do for the world.”

  He scoffed.

  “I know you care,” I said. “And I think you’re some kind of secret operative who does good deeds.”

  He looked at me like I was nuts. “Like help old ladies across the street?”

  “On a bigger scale.”

  He scowled, expression skeptical, but I could tell there was more to him. So I pulled out the big guns. “I was told to remind you of your debt to the world.”

  His scowl only deepened. His gaze flicked toward the kitchen, where I assumed Ayse was watching. He was clearly considering it, and I held my breath.

  “Fine.” He held up a hand. “But on one condition. After this is over, I’d like the help of your friends there.” He pointed to the Menagerie. “With one little thing.”

  “Is it dangerous?” I demanded.

  Eloise perked up at the idea, and I knew that if he said yes, she’d only be more inclined to help.

  “A bit, yes.”

  We’ll do it.

  I glared at Romeo.

  He shrugged. We make up our own minds. We’ll help the big man so he’ll help you. Easy peasy.

  “It looks like they’ve agreed,” I said.

  A satisfied smile sliced across Prometheus’s face. “Good.”

  “Can we get started now?” I asked.

  “After lunch.”

  “Can we have it on the go?”

  He sighed, then nodded. “I rarely let anything get in the way of my stomach, you know. It’s no way to live.”

  “Fair enough.”

  He polished off his coffee, shoved his notebook in the pocket of his dark canvas jacket, and stood. He was one of the few people I’d ever met who was as tall
as Maximus. Between them and the Menagerie, I had some good backup for Mount Olympus.

  We swung by the kitchen, where we each picked up a savory pita filled with steaming meat. Even the Menagerie took one despite the fact that it hadn’t been in the bin first.

  We ate in silence as we walked out onto the street. Prometheus polished his off in less than a minute, then turned to look at us. “It’s good news for you that I can transport.”

  “Fantastic.”

  “The less good news is that it’s not a fun journey.” He grinned, and it was just a little bit evil.

  “We don’t go via the ether?” Maximus asked.

  “Sorta.” His smiled widened, and he used his hand to draw a large circle in the air. The space filled with dark smoke, and a cold wind emitted from it. “Come on.”

  He leapt into the circle, disappearing immediately.

  “Crap.” I scowled at the portal.

  Maximus didn’t hesitate. Just stepped in.

  Romeo looked up at me. We’ll see you later.

  “Wimp.”

  He grinned, little fangs gleaming white. Smart.

  I couldn’t argue with that. I gave the Menagerie a quick salute, ate the last bite of my pita, then jumped into the portal before it disappeared.

  Instead of being sucked into the ether, I fell, hurtling through space as if I’d jumped off a cliff. Icy wind blasted by me as I plummeted through the cold air. A scream tore from my lips, and my stomach leapt into my throat. My hair whipped around my face and my eyes watered.

  Holy fates, had we been tricked?

  I tried calling on my magic, desperate to develop some kind of flying skill. And where was Maximus?

  I tried looking down, but I couldn’t see anything. Just open sky and clouds as the cold wind nearly blinded me.

  Oh fates, I am going to die.

  4

  All I could hear was my scream as I fell. I shrieked like a banshee, unable to stop myself. I fell for an eternity, or so it seemed.

  Prometheus’s portal jerked me to a stop, as if I were tied to an invisible bungee cord. I blinked, my eyes watering, and realized that I was near the ground, floating slowly toward it. Prometheus’s portal was one hell of a ride.

  I looked down, spotting Prometheus and Maximus standing on the ground. Maximus was white as a sheet, and an enormous inflatable mattress sat next to him. Clearly something he’d conjured.

  Prometheus grinned up at me like a maniac. “Fun, huh?”

  My feet hit the ground gently, and my stomach retreated to its proper place in my abdomen. I growled at Prometheus. “Jerk.”

  He shrugged, a fake-innocent look on his face. “I warned you.”

  “Not well enough.”

  “The Menagerie was too smart to come?” Maximus asked.

  “Yep.”

  I turned in a circle, inspecting our surroundings. We were at the base of a massive mountain. Olympus soared into the sky, surrounded by clouds at the top. Down here, there was dusty ground and scrub brush. Slightly farther up were huge gray rock formations that I didn’t like the look of.

  Maximus touched the huge inflatable mattress and it disappeared.

  “Quick thinking,” I said.

  “I probably would have bounced pretty far if Prometheus’s portal didn’t have the built-in brakes.” He shrugged, his expression rueful. “But it was the best I could come up with on short notice.”

  “At least you’d have lived.” I’d have hit the ground and splatted like a bug.

  Not one of my finest moments.

  “You two done flirting?” Prometheus asked.

  “Never.” I turned to him, grinning. “We’ll flirt even more if it will annoy you.”

  He cracked a smile.

  Dang. I liked this jerk. It felt a bit like my relationship with Connor. Like Prometheus was my annoying brother or something. Maybe we were connected somehow. Him being a Greek Titan and me being the Greek Dragon God.

  Ah, well. No time to dwell on it.

  I looked up at the mountain. We had a long way to go. “I don’t suppose there are any shortcuts? No portals?”

  “The gods don’t like to be disturbed, so they don’t make it easy.” Prometheus shrugged. “Ten thousand mortals climb the human side every year and pose for pictures. No one ever climbs this way. It’s been centuries.”

  “No one wants to visit the gods?”

  “Not often, these days. The religion is essentially dead. Besides, they’re jerks.” A sour smile striped Prometheus’s face. “No one would know better than I.”

  He was still holding a grudge about Zeus tying him up so an eagle could eat his liver every day. I couldn’t blame him. I had some conflicted feelings about the Greek gods myself.

  We continued up the sloping mountainside, which grew steeper as we ascended. Ahead of us, Prometheus stopped abruptly, raising his hand to indicate that we should do the same. I joined him, staring down into a deep gorge. A wild river rushed below, and there was no passage across as far as I could see. The gorge was at least a hundred meters across.

  “Got a plan?” I asked.

  “We wait.” Prometheus’s brow was set in deep creases.

  I glanced at Maximus, who shrugged. We only waited a moment, however, before the air sparkled with magic. It rolled over me, powerful and strong, heralding the arrival of a god.

  “Who’s coming?” I asked.

  “The Guardian of the Gate.” As soon as the words left Prometheus’s mouth, Hermes appeared.

  He stood at the edge of the gorge, his golden hair a match with the winged shoes on his feet. Both gleamed brightly, along with the white tunic he wore.

  “I wondered when I’d be seeing you,” he said.

  The messenger god had appeared to me before, directing me to visit the Amazons for the first time. Apparently, he was also a guardian of sorts.

  “May we pass?” Prometheus asked.

  Hermes tapped his chin. “Well, that depends. You’ll have to earn it.”

  “Anything,” I said, determined to get this over with. I needed more power to defeat the Titans, and I wouldn’t let a little thing like a god and a deadly river gorge stand in my way.

  Hermes grinned brightly. “I’d be wary of making that offer to too many gods. I’m a reasonable sort, but I can’t say that for the rest of them.”

  “What must we do to pass?” Maximus asked.

  “Hmmm.” Hermes looked us up and down. “It’s different for everyone who wishes access, but I think yours will be a test of cleverness and wits.” His gaze turned to Prometheus. “Not you, though. It’s up to the two of them.”

  Prometheus shrugged.

  “What’s the test?” I asked.

  “A riddle.”

  Ah, crap. I hated riddles.

  Hermes straightened his stance and adopted a booming voice. “I look at you whenever you look at me. You see but I see not; no sight have I. I speak but have no voice; your voice is heard. My lips can only open uselessly.” He bowed, finishing it off with flair.

  I frowned, wracking my mind. A quick glance at Maximus showed him equally confused. Prometheus, however, fairly vibrated with excitement. His eyes were bright and his mouth tense. He looked like a guy who wanted to shout out the answer at trivia.

  If only I had mind-reading powers.

  But since those didn’t seem to be coming any time soon, I repeated the lines of the riddle in my head. I probably muddled some of them, but it was the bit about the lips opening uselessly that finally clued me in.

  “I’ve got it.” I looked at Maximus.

  He nodded. “Go for it. I’ve never been good at riddles.”

  “A mirror.” I grinned triumphantly.

  Hermes smiled back. “Not bad. That’s a very old one, you know.” He turned and gestured to the river, waving his arm so a long wooden suspension bridge appeared. It stretched over the riotous river below, swinging gently in the wind.

  “Oh, come on,” Prometheus said. “That’s our passage?�
�

  “It was a fairly easy riddle, so the passage will be difficult.” Hermes shrugged. “Another way of proving your worth.”

  Nerves pricked along my skin as I stared at the suspension bridge. Hell, it was so flimsy that it looked like it was made of rotten old matches.

  “Best of luck.” Hermes disappeared. “You won’t have long, so hurry.”

  “I think we’re going to need it,” Maximus said.

  I grimaced and started forward.

  “Move swiftly,” Prometheus said.

  “Should we go one at a time so that our weight doesn’t break it?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “I don’t think it will stick around that long. When Hermes said we wouldn’t have long, he meant it.”

  “Let’s do this, then.” I stepped onto the bridge, my skin chilling as I looked down through the wooden slats at the river below. It was hundreds of feet down, but even from up here, I could see the alligators.

  Oh, fates. I was in an Indiana Jones movie.

  Maximus followed me, with Prometheus bringing up the rear.

  Fast as I could, I hurried across the bridge, gripping the rope railings for support. The old wooden slats creaked beneath my feet, ominous cracking noises sounding from them.

  I could hear Prometheus and Maximus behind me, but I focused on the bridge. I was halfway across when it began to move. It shuddered beneath my feet, then began to undulate as if a great giant were shaking it from behind.

  I turned back to look, but saw only Maximus and Prometheus.

  “Hurry!” Prometheus shouted.

  I turned back and picked up the pace, clinging to the rope, and I hurried along. The bridge shook and waved so much that it was impossible to hang on. My foot slipped on a loose board, and I almost went through a gap in the slats. I gripped the ropes tight, catching myself at the last minute. Sweat dotted my brow, and I pulled myself upward and continued forward.

  So close. More than halfway.

  The bridge heaved even harder, thrusting me up in the air as I clung to the rope. When it slammed downward, the force of my body weight on the wooden slat caused it to crack. I plunged through the gap in the bridge, both feet kicking as I gripped the rope handrails tightly.