by Linsey Hall
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.
“Hold on!” Maximus shouted.
I stared up at my hands where I gripped the rope, spotting a frayed section. Oh no.
If Maximus joined me and gripped the rope near the frayed section, our combined weight might snap it. Especially if the wooden slats broke underneath his feet.
“Stay back! The bridge is weak here!” I kicked my legs and curled my abs, trying to get my feet up onto another wooden slat so I could pull myself up.
As I watched, the rope handrail on the left continued to unravel.
Crap. I was running out of time.
As the bridge continued to thrash in the air like waves, I tried one last gigantic heave. I got my feet up onto the wooden slats and scrambled to safety.
Relative safety.
“The bridge is breaking! Hurry!” I sprinted forward, my legs wobbly on the wooden slats.
I was nearly to the end when the bridge lost tension. My stomach dropped, and I turned back just in time to see the rope handrails snap right in front of Prometheus. He leapt and grabbed onto my side of the bridge.
The wooden slats beneath my feet fell away. I clung to the rope handrails as the bridge flew through the air, praying that Maximus and Prometheus had a good grip as well.
As we sailed toward the other side of the gorge, my stomach leapt into my throat, my skin chilling. When the rope bridge slammed into the cliff, the impact shook my entire body. Pain flared as I lost my grip. I plummeted, my hands scrabbling for purchase.
Just when I thought all was lost, Maximus grabbed my wrist, his grip iron tight. My body weight yanked hard on my arm, agony slicing in my shoulder. Beneath me, Prometheus hung onto the wooden slats.
My head spun as I reached for the rope bridge with my free hand. I latched onto it.
“Got it?” Maximus asked, voice tense.
“Yeah.” The word was breathless as it escaped my lips.
He let go of my arm, and I grabbed one of the wooden slats, hanging on for dear life.
“Climb!” Prometheus shouted from below.
We did, Maximus going first since he was higher up. He moved as quick as a spider, scaling the bridge that had become a ladder. I followed, my hands sweaty and legs trembling. As I ascended, I searched for vines or roots sticking out of the cliff wall. Anything to grab onto in case the bridge broke.
Controlling plants was about the only thing I could do in this circumstance. Maybe I could make the river rise up to catch us, but there were gators in it.
Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Ahead of me, Maximus flung himself onto the edge of the cliff, then turned around and reached down for me. I grabbed his strong hand, and he yanked me up.
I flopped onto the scrubby ground like a dead fish, panting and gasping. Maximus hauled Prometheus up, and we all lay next to each other, catching our breath as we stared at the sky.
“Holy fates, that sucked,” I said.
“Simple but deadly.” Prometheus sounded disgusted. “One of Hermes’s favorite tricks. I bet he’s on the other side, laughing his ass off.”
Aching, I staggered to my feet. The terrain ahead of us was even steeper than before, with rocky outcroppings and stone formations that looked like they could hide all kinds of dangers. There was less plant growth, and the air was growing cooler as well.
Maximus and Prometheus joined me. Maximus pulled me against him, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “Thought I might have lost you for a sec.”
Prometheus strode forward, starting up the mountain.
“I was too scared to process anything.” I tilted my head up to look at him, and he was white as a sheet. “Wow, that really worried you, huh?”
He looked at me like I was crazy. “Yes. The idea of losing you worries me.”
“Okay, when you put it like that, I see your point.” I grinned. “And likewise.”
In a big way. What would I do if I lost him?
I didn’t even want to think about it. We hadn’t known each other long, but I knew exactly how I felt about him. And it was serious.
We shared one last look, then started up the mountainside after Prometheus.
“Keep a wary eye out,” he said. “Olympus is riddled with monsters around the base.”
“It’s safer here for them, I’d imagine,” Maximus said. “So many more people on earth these days that they need a place like this to hide out. And with Hermes guarding this area, it’s even safer.”
Prometheus nodded. “The monsters made a deal to protect the gods. So, all we’ve got to do is get past them.”
“Oh, that’s all, is it?”
Prometheus and Maximus chuckled at my wry tone. Hermes was only the first guardian, apparently. I shivered, adjusting my potions bag on my back. I could almost feel the eyes of the monsters on me as we climbed, skirting around scrub brush and rocks.
“Exactly.” Prometheus sounded grim. “You’re lucky I believe in your mission or I sure as hell wouldn’t be here.”
As we climbed, the rock formations grew up around us, creating a narrow valley for us to travel through. It was only about thirty feet wide, and the stone outcroppings rose twenty feet on either side, providing dozens of places for enemies to hide. A breeze whistled through the valley, blowing my hair back from my face.
“I feel like I’m running the gauntlet,” I murmured.
“There’s dark magic in the air,” Maximus said.
I sniffed, trying to get a hint of it. Finally, I did. A very faint scent of old dust. It wasn’t outright terrible, but it was definitely unpleasant.
“Do you know what lives around here?” I asked Prometheus.
“All sorts of things. But here specifically? No.”
Magic prickled against my skin as we continued between the rocks, and I shivered again.
“Something is watching us.” I could feel its eyes. I called upon Artemis’s gift of animal senses, hearing a slight shifting noise to the left, about thirty feet away, high in the rocks. “To the left. There’s a faint noise.”
A blast of magic hurled from that direction, a glowing green streak of slime. I dived left, narrowly avoiding it, and the slime slammed into the rock on my right. The stone sizzled as the acid ate away at it.
“Oh, shit, avoid that stuff!” Prometheus lunged behind a rock.
I followed, Maximus at my side. We wedged in next to Prometheus.
“Any idea what threw that?” Maximus asked.
“If I had to bet, it’s an Echidna.” He peered out from behind the rock and winced. “Yep.”
I shoved him aside to get a look for myself, cringing at the sight of the huge snake woman. She was gorgeous on her top half—and totally naked—but the bottom was a massive two-tailed snake. The scales gleamed a beautiful green to match her eyes. Her dark hair streamed down her back, shining in the sunlight.
She raised a hand again, and green magic glowed around her palm. She was about to throw the slime at us when she stopped and smiled.
It was an evil smile. A satisfied smile.
And it was directed at something right above our heads.
“Move!” I shouted, as instinct propelled me to lunge out of the way. I managed to glance upward as I darted away from our hiding spot.
I caught sight of another Echidna—this one with blonde hair and blue snake tails. She hurled a blast of blue magic right at the spot we’d been hiding. It slammed into the ground, a sonic boom that blasted a six-foot hole into the stone.
Thankfully, Maximus and Prometheus were quick, and they’d dived out of the way just in time.
As we scrambled away from the blue Echidna, I called upon my magic. “I’ll take the blue one!”
“I’ve got green,” Maximus shouted.
“And I’ll take red,” Prometheus said, just as a blast of flame hurtled toward us from a third Echidna with red hair and tails.
Maximus conjured a dagger and hurled it at the green Echidna. It flew through the air, headed straight for her. She lunged left at the last moment, and the blade lodged in her right shoulder, throwing her back. She screeched, a sound of rage and pain, and I had a feeling that wasn’t the last we’d see of her.
I spun to throw my potion bomb at the blue Echidna. My aim was good, but she was fast, darting out of the way. She made her green-tailed sister look like a sloth.
She threw another sonic boom, this one bigger than the last. I lunged right, avoiding the worst of it. The edge of the boom caught me in the legs, and pain flared. My limbs went numb, and I dragged myself over the ground, clawing my way to a rock outcropping that could serve as cover.
Blood pounded in my head as I debated my options. No way I could accurately throw a potion bomb when I was in this shape, and she was too fast anyway. I needed something else.
I peeked out from behind the rock, eyeing her. She stood on a stone ledge, about twenty fe
et away. I called upon my new gift of lightning, feeling it crackle and burn inside me.
It exploded from the sky, shooting downward to pierce the Echidna. She lit up like a lamp post, then laughed, clearly delighted.
Crap!
To my right, Prometheus stood out in the open. He raised his hands, and magic sparked around him, hot and fierce. It exploded outward, a massive wall of flame that surged toward the three Echidna, coming from all sides. He was going for all of them, and the amount of fire he produced was astonishing.
It was an inferno that surrounded us, twenty feet tall and rolling like a tsunami over the three Echidna and the rocks that surrounded them.
Heck yeah.
“Where were you hiding that?” I asked. One blast of his fire and we were home free.
A cocky smile tugged at the corner of Prometheus’s mouth. “Just a little something I had saved up.”
A half second later, a triumphant shriek sounded from within the flames.
“Oh, shit.” Prometheus frowned. “I think they like it.”
The laughter continued.
“Yeah, they do.” And we were screwed.
5
“Run,” Maximus said. “Our only hope is to make it through the gauntlet before they can see through the flames.”
He took off, sprinting down the valley that had formed between the rocks. Prometheus and I followed.
My lungs burned as I ran, going as fast as I could on my wobbly legs. The Echidna’s sonic boom had done a real number on me. “Keep up the fire, Prometheus.”
If anything, it gave us a bit of cover until the Echidna reached the edge of the wall of flame and could see us.
I darted around rocks and leapt over fallen logs, running like my tail was on fire. Hell, it almost was.
But I was still too slow. I felt like Usain Bolt, but I was moving like an out-of-shape desk jockey, my legs still totally wobbly. The heat was intense, making sweat pour down my face and back.
Maximus glanced back from up ahead, frowning at the sight of me lagging behind. He spun on a dime, racing back to me.
