Caught, I grinned at him, annoyed he looked so happy and all knowing.
“She’s undone me,” I confessed. “And it was what I’d hoped to prevent all along.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, abandoning his post and coming to join me.
I wanted to tell him so badly of my fate, to confide in my closest friend and brother in arms. I knew he would try to prevent it, though, getting himself into situations he shouldn’t be.
“I wanted to avoid feeling like this until after the war,” I said instead. “It’s not a very good time to find your other half.”
“You love her.”
It wasn’t a question, merely a statement of a fact, one I let him have.
“Well, at least you have her,” he smiled, clapping me on the back. “I’m convinced I’m going to die an old, lonely man while Aphrodite vacations in Fiji with her husband.”
Laughing, I turned and smiled at him, thankful for the distraction from my thoughts about the Titans.
“I doubt Aphrodite has even noticed you exist yet,” I goaded him.
“She’ll notice after we get the helmet back,” he said confidently.
Something of my worry must have shown in my features because his face softened in the afternoon light.
“She’ll be okay,” he assured me. “She has you. If it were me, I wouldn’t have a single doubt that you would take care of me.”
“You can take care of yourself if you need to,” I laughed humorlessly.
“She’s held her own pretty well against the things we’ve brought her up against so far.” He shrugged, going back to the helm. “I think she may just surprise us.”
“Cristos?”
I breathed deeply, woken by the sound of her voice as she moved in my arms, twisting to look at me.
“What is it?” I asked, not wanting to wake and let go of her just yet.
“I didn’t remember you coming to bed,” she whispered, laughter shaking her small frame. “I don’t know who else I thought it was, but I was just making sure.”
Cracking one eye open, I looked at her skeptically.
“Have you been inviting other men into bed with you?”
“Never,” she said, her smile barely visible in the dim light.
“Good,” I growled, hugging her closer to me.
“Do you know what time it is?” she asked, fingers playing with my hair.
“Early morning,” I mumbled, closing my eyes and burying my face in her hair. “I took the first watch last night. Arsenio’s out there now.”
“Of course,” she said, fingers moving to trace my lips.
“We’re right off the coast of Sicily,” I shared, pulling my head back and finally deciding it was time to be awake with her. “We’ll be at Mount Etna by late afternoon.”
“Oh.”
She fell silent, hugging me tightly as we lay together.
I knew she was scared. Gods, I was, too. I didn’t want to lose her, not now, not ever. How I’d managed to let myself agree to her staying and trying the trade was beyond me.
“There’s still time to run,” I said softly. “We can go together, just disappear. All you have to do is say the word.”
For a moment, she seemed to consider it before finally letting out a long breath.
“Your family needs you. I know you don’t want to abandon them either. I’m scared, but I can do this, for you. I need you to do it for me, too. We can make this world better.”
“Anything you want, zoi mou,” I replied, kissing her forehead. “I’ll do it.”
“Just hold me now,” she said, a slight tremble to her movements. “Just be with me.”
I obliged her, adjusting so she could lay her head on my chest and I could run my fingers through her hair.
“Arsenio knows,” I said in passing. “Apparently all of our staying away from each other was useless.”
“I wondered,” she laughed. “He always seemed like he was smiling at me for some reason, or turning his back just long enough for us to touch hands.”
“He’s not stupid,” I laughed. “But it was worth a try.”
Silence fell between us again, the motion of the water rocking us back and forth softly. I couldn’t help but think that everything would be different by this time tomorrow, hopefully for our good.
Zeus, I thought, hesitating on whether or not I should ask him to meet us at the volcano.
The prayer went unfinished, my attention turned to the woman in my arms.
“Avalon,” I said softly. “I don’t know what’s going to happen today, but either way, I want you to know something. I love you. It doesn’t make sense, not to other people anyway, but this is the best thing I’ve ever done. If you’re taken—or I am—don’t forget. I will come, because I love you.”
Her hand found the side of my face and she placed a gentle kiss on my lips before resting her head back on my chest.
“Then you better never forget that I love you, too.”
Chapter Twenty Two
My heart grew heavier with each mile that brought us closer to Mount Etna. Not needing to keep up appearances for Arsenio any more, I held Avalon close to me in the car, letting him drive us to our destination. By now, the Titans knew where we were headed and would be around. There was no point in trying to stay hidden and taking longer.
“Remember,” I said for what felt like the millionth time. “If they don’t take the deal, you immediately grab the axe out of my bag. Your hands will be tied, or at least look like they are, so they will think we’re really trying to hand you over.”
“I know,” she reassured me. “And I remember all of the moves you showed me to start out with, to gain the upper hand in any fights.”
Arsenio seemed uncharacteristically quiet, lost in his own thoughts as we neared the mountain. His worries were pushed aside for my own, though. All I wanted to do was grab Avalon and run, duty and callings be damned. If I ever went back in time, it would be to tell myself to never even utter a word about her being traded.
“Harpies,” Arsenio suddenly said, pointing out to something further out in the sky.
“They know we’re here,” I said, holding Avalon to me even tighter.
“It will be okay,” she whispered to me.
I was astounded by her strength and willingness to do what she was about to. Any other person would have thought it crazy, or would have had to been part of an actual trade. It made me feel a little sick to think I’d actually intended on doing something like that in the beginning.
The rest of our drive was spent in silence, myself thinking over everything I could do to save her from harm should the need arise, even if it meant sacrificing myself to do so. The anticipation was growing thick between us all, the clock counting down to show time.
Finally, the peak of Mount Etna rose above us, the most active volcano in the world, waiting to see how our fates would play out today.
“There’s no one here,” Avalon said as we got out of the car, wind blowing hair in our faces.
“They’ll be inside,” I said. “There’s a door that opens up to the lower chamber.”
“Inside?” she asked, shocked. “Won’t the fumes be too much?”
“Not for immortals,” Arsenio said, smiling as he slung his bow over his shoulder.
“Okay,” she gulped, breathing deeply. “Okay. I can do this. Let’s go.”
I grabbed her hand tightly, looking her in the eye one more time.
“Zoi mou,” I started hesitantly.
“Do it,” she encouraged me.
Halfheartedly, I removed a rope from my bag and tied it loosely around her wrists, making it easy enough for her to get out, should she need to.
“Gods be with us,” Arsenio prayed as we started out.
The trek to the door of the mountain was uneventful, but I maintained a careful watch, not even the slightest rustle of a bush going unnoticed.
The stone door was easy enough to find, one of the old portal doors from before the Undoing. All w
e had to do was walk through it and we would find ourselves inside the volcano, the hot magma boiling beneath us.
We passed through the entrance, appearing deep inside the earth, almost in Hades itself it seemed, the rocks around us super-heated and the air filled with smoke. The dirt ground stretched out in front of us, making the arena for our imminent confrontation.
One lone figure stood out in the smoke, standing on the edge of the overhang jutting out over the lava, his golden armor glinting in the brightness of the liquid. Instantly, I was on guard, pulling my sword from the bag and nodding to Arsenio.
“There’s no need for that,” the form said, turning to look at us.
“Helios,” I hissed.
“Who is that?” Avalon whispered intently.
“Someone who deserves to rot in Tartarus,” I snarled, glaring at him.
“Oh, so they do still talk of me on Olympus,” he laughed, hands clasped behind his back. “Good.”
“They tell the story of a traitor,” Arsenio spat. “Who betrayed his family for the promise of power he never got.”
“No,” Helios frowned. “But then, the war isn’t over yet, is it?”
He moved towards us, undeterred by our weapons and nodded at Avalon.
“So this is her?” he drawled. “The daughter of Typhon. I have to say, you’re much prettier than he is.”
He reached a hand out and touched the side of her face, causing everything within me to want to jump out and attack him. It took every muscle in my body not to obey, to let him touch her and look her over. She did a good enough job of showing her revulsion herself, recoiling from him sharply.
“I’m assuming you want something for her?” he asked, grinning wickedly at me. “Perhaps your uncle’s helmet? But that would be silly. Why would the Titans trade you anything for something they don’t want?”
It was like the air was sucked from my sails, all of the mental psyching up I’d done in preparation for this exact moment falling flat.
“What?” I asked lamely.
“We don’t want her,” he said slowly. “Oh no. Why would we want something that is so obviously wanting to help the Olympians? We don’t need dissention on our home turf, you see. And, as you know, we don’t take prisoners.”
It suddenly made sense, his lone appearance. Where were the rest of the Titans? I’d been sure they would all be here to fight for her, to take their family back from me.
“I’ve been attacked by enough Titans to prove you’ve been trying to take me,” Avalon said boldly.
“No, my dear,” Helios said, turning from us as he shined a piece of his armor with his glove. “But you were attacked by enough to make everyone think we wanted you.”
My head was spinning, trying to come up with what the plan might be now, since I’d been so obviously wrong. My stomach felt sick at having brought Avalon into this for nothing, for putting her in needless danger again. Whatever happened here today was going to be my fault and mine alone.
Suddenly, the air around us crackled and filled with a great light, and the other gods of Olympus began to appear around us, each of them armed to the teeth and ready for a fight.
“Kronos!” Zeus’s voice rang out as he appeared, lightning in hand. His eyes were crazy with wrath, falling confused on our little group as he searched for his villainous father.
“Oh dear,” Helios laughed, a touch of madness in his eyes. “It appears I sent the wrong message to you as well. Or was it exactly the right one?”
His laughter grew as the smoke closed in around him, his voice echoing off the walls around us.
“Let The Purge begin!” he shouted as he vanished, leaving the whole of Olympus in the heart of the volcano.
Just as suddenly as the gods had appeared, the ground shook, a mighty explosion from above rocking the earth and all within it. In my heart, I felt the sudden death of millions of mortals, their cries pounding against my ears for help.
“To the surface!” Zeus called, flashing out to see what was happening, the gods around him following suit.
“Come on,” I said to Avalon, untying her hands and pulling her back towards the door we’d come through. Arsenio followed after, his expression matching the terror of what I was feeling.
When we reached the surface, I stopped cold in my tracks, the explosion from the nuclear bomb that had been dropped still rising into the air, the shock cloud pushing out in every direction. I could tell the other gods could hear the prayers of the mortals as well, their expressions falling, some even covering their ears or hearts as the pleas for help flooded into our heads, different languages screaming for aid.
“Oh my—”
Avalon’s hand clapped to her mouth as she looked out in horror, tears filling her eyes at the site.
“It’s more than just here,” I croaked, grasping her hand tightly. “I can hear them, the prayers of people from across the planet.”
“The Purge,” she whispered. “It’s the mortals. They’re wiping them off the face of the planet.”
“Olympus will lose power,” I continued, trying to explain it to myself just as much as her. “We are lost.”
The other gods began to flash away and I pulled Avalon close to me again, intending to follow them.
“Close your eyes,” I told her. “And hold on tight.”
Glancing over at Arsenio, I saw him nod and place a hand on my shoulder, closing his own eyes. Then, gathering the strength I’d used so little, I flashed us to Olympus, following my family back to their home to see what was going to be done.
We came into an argument of the ages, each god clamoring to be heard and offer their ideas on what could be done before we were completely wiped out of existence.
“It was the helmet, no doubt,” Poseidon was saying over all of them. “The Titans would not attack with such weapons. They’ve feared men into doing their will.”
“It doesn’t matter if it was the helmet or not,” Athena countered. “Something needs to be done to stop it. Even know, the cries of the mortals echo through these halls as they die.”
I could feel eyes on me, staring from his throne at the head of the great oval room, the sky matching his dark, brooding mood. Straightening, ready to accept whatever he had to say, I turned to face my father.
“Cristos.”
His voice was calm, but the second the sound left his lips the room fell silent, as if he’d called down lightning to hush them all. Faces turned to look at the three of us, Avalon still wrapped in my embrace as she looked on in awe at the marble throne room, eyes resting on the king and his massive chair, designed to look like a gathering of lightning melting into the floor.
My mother was standing behind him, one hand on his right shoulder as she watched on, too, worry on her face. Her golden armor matched that of Zeus’s, a lightning bolt etched into the chest plate.
I tightened my hold on Avalon for a millisecond before releasing her and walking towards the throne, ready to hear whatever it was the king had to say to me.
“Is it true you have located a demi-Titan?” Zeus asked slowly, every syllable enunciated so all in the room would hear.
“Yes.”
I could hear some shift in movement behind me as the gods took this news in, staying silent as they waited to see what Zeus would say.
“You did not deliver the beast to Tartarus?”
“No.”
His face twitched some as he looked past me, at Avalon and Arsenio I assumed. It was too quick for me to decipher, so I remained silent, knowing I would be given the chance to argue if I wanted.
“Why not?”
“I intended to take her to Mount Etna and draw out the Titans to us,” I confessed, not missing several mummers behind me. “I believed they wanted her for their side and that I’d found a bargaining chip that could help us in the war.”
I clenched my jaw after answering, never looking away from his face, well aware of the fact I was on trial.
“You know Titans do not bargain,�
�� Karly said softly, only to fall silent as Zeus held up a hand.
“Why did you not tell any of the other gods of this plan?”
I frowned then, struggling with how I wanted to answer because it had changed so many times.
“Pride, to begin with. I wanted to say I had done it myself. Anger, secondly.”
“Anger at whom?”
Each question was crisp and clear, uttered without any emotional inflection.
“The Graeae,” I answered calmly.
For the first time, Zeus’s face showed surprise and curiosity he didn’t bother to mask.
“They cursed me with my fate,” I continued, not waiting for him to ask. “Which directly involves Aval—the demi-Titan. I wanted to prove them wrong.”
“And did you?” he asked, an eyebrow raised.
I stared at him, knowing I would have to tell him what they’d said if he asked. I didn’t want to reveal to him my fate, my certain betrayal of him and the fact that he would cast me out. Not like this.
“No.”
With a sigh, he fell back into his routine of interrogation, the emotion fleeing from his face.
“Were you aware your plans were made known to Olympus and that is why the gods appeared at Mount Etna with you?”
“No, I was not. I wasn’t aware anyone knew of them except for the three of us and the Titans.”
“A Titan revealed to us your plan after he was caught. We assumed it to be the truth, that all of the monsters were gathering and planned accordingly. It appears, though, we were all conned.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “I take full responsibility for the loss of mortal life today. If I had been more forthcoming it could have been prevented.”
“This is right,” Zeus agreed.
Looking over my shoulder again, his eyes narrowed, lips frowning at what he saw.
“Why did you bring the demi-Titan here?”
Taking a deep breath, I resisted the urge to look back at her, to tell her it was going to be okay.
“She doesn’t want to help the Titans,” I explained. “She’s one of us. Being half mortal, her belief helps fuel our power as well.”
“Being half Titan makes her dangerous,” Zeus countered. “And not welcome here.”
Adrastia (The God Chronicles Book 4) Page 16
