He leaned forward and gave me a peck on the cheek, then headed up the path to the house. I watched him go, touching my cheek self-consciously. He’d kissed me. My brother had kissed me. That was going to take some getting used to. Conflicting feelings surged through me—pleasure at my rediscovered, if dysfunctional, family; frustration at my inability to remember them or anything much else; a fierce longing to be kissed in a completely different way by the man Apollo had gone to get.
Well. It wouldn’t do to still be standing here on the footpath when the two of them returned, looking like a lovelorn teenager. I turned smartly on my heel and marched down the street, in the direction of my own home.
Syl whirled as I opened the door into our apartment. She’d been standing at the big window that looked out towards the sea. Her worried expression changed to one of sheer relief, then almost as quickly to fury.
“Where the hell have you been?” she demanded, stalking across the floor like a lioness about to spring on her prey.
“I told you, Apollo took me to meet with Poseidon.”
“That was yesterday! Do you have any idea what time it is?”
I couldn’t help it; my mouth twitched. “You sound just like a mother.”
“Don’t you laugh!” She jabbed me in the chest with her finger. “I’ve been worried sick. I thought the shadow shapers had taken you.”
“I’m afraid you’re still stuck with me. Ouch!” She’d just jabbed me again, even harder. “Syl, quit it! It took longer than I expected, and I left my phone behind and didn’t have any way to get you a message. I’m sorry, all right?”
“Sorry? I’ll make you sorry,” she muttered.
“Oh, for goodness’ sake.” I pulled her into a hug, and she sagged against me like a puppet whose strings had been cut. She really had been wound up. “You’re awfully violent for someone so small.”
“I thought you were dead!” she wailed into my shoulder, and I hugged her harder, stroking her dark hair.
“Where’s Lucas?” I would have expected him to be here, keeping her fears under control.
“He went out to look for you. I stayed here, in case you came back.” She drew back, sniffing, then jabbed me one last time for good measure. Her finger felt as though it was made of steel. “Don’t you ever do that to me again.”
I rubbed at the sore spot on my chest. “I’d love to be able to promise you that I’ll stay safe, Syl, but this is a war we’re fighting. You can’t wrap me in cotton wool.”
“You need a bodyguard.” She folded her arms, her expression grim. “Leave it with me.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“I’m not the only one who worries about you, so …” Evidently pleased with whatever scheme she was plotting now, she threw herself down on the couch in a sudden change of mood and looked at me expectantly. “So, tell me everything. Where have you been all this time? What happened?”
And just like that, she stopped being angry at me. Talk about sunshine and storms. Good old feline curiosity to the rescue. I sank into one of the armchairs and began the story of our voyage in the good ship Iceberg to see Athena. She interrupted me with exclamations of surprise when I explained that the mysterious benefactor who had saved us from the Merrow in Brenvale was another god, but apart from that little outburst, she listened without comment.
I was in the middle of describing the massive warrior statues that had barred our way onto Athena’s island when a knock on the door interrupted me.
“That’s probably Lucas come back,” she said. Raising her voice, she called out, “Come in; it’s not locked.”
But it wasn’t Lucas. I leapt up as Apollo walked in, followed by a familiar figure. My heart hammered as I drank him in, from the top of his dark head to his feet, pausing along the way to gaze into his blue, blue eyes and admire his broad chest and strong arms. He wore slim-fitting dark trousers and a white collared shirt. He looked as though he’d just come from casual day at the office.
“Hello, Jake,” I said, managing not to sound as desperate to throw myself into his arms as I was. My body remembered exactly what that felt like. Not to mention how it felt to have him moving above me, how his skin smelled when I buried my face in his chest, how—
He nodded at me. “Lady Artemis.”
Gods above. I felt like I’d been doused in cold water. He was beautiful, but I’d forgotten how annoying he could be. I took a deep, calming breath and forced myself to keep smiling. “Call me Lexi.” He opened his mouth to make some stupid objection, and I snapped, “That’s an order.”
He closed his mouth again, and I felt a certain satisfaction to see the muscle in his jaw jump as he clenched it. Good to know that I could still annoy him, too.
“I’ve filled Jake in,” Apollo said, giving me a reproving look. Oh, he didn’t like me ordering his precious Ruby Adept around? Maybe he should tell him not to be such a giant pain in the arse, then. “Are you ready to go?”
“Go?” Syl repeated, looking from one to the other of us in surprise. “You only just got here.”
“Well, those statues I was telling you about wouldn’t let us through, and we need to get past them to see Athena. We only came back to get Jake so he could help us. We figured with his metalshaping powers he’d be able to control them.”
“As I explained to Lord Apollo, that may not be the case,” Jake said. “My metalshaping is fading all the time, and if they have a very strong enchantment on them …”
“Well, there’s only one way to find out, isn’t there?” I said briskly. “Syl, please don’t panic if we don’t come back straight away. We’ll be gone at least a day, maybe two.”
“Oh, don’t worry about me,” she said, giving me a meaningful look. “I’ve got some other things to organise.”
“I hope you’re not still thinking about bodyguards.”
“And why shouldn’t I be? You had all of us in a panic when you disappeared without warning—and trust me, you don’t ever want to see a wolf pack in a panic. You can’t pull a stunt like that and expect there to be no consequences.”
“You’re sounding like a mother again, Syl. You could give Holly a few tips for when Mireille is a teenager.”
“Don’t try to wriggle out of it by making everything a joke either. You’re not fit to be let out without a keeper. At least Jake will be with you this time.”
Apollo blinked in surprise. “What, the sun god’s not good enough protection for you?”
She gave him a stern look. “No offence, Apollo, but you gods have already shown that you’re vulnerable to whatever tricks the shadow shapers are playing. Jake doesn’t have that vulnerability.”
“I will protect the Lady Ar—Lexi—with my life,” Jake assured her.
“I know,” Syl said drily, and he shifted uncomfortably and looked away. Stupid bloody man. Everyone could tell he still loved me. Why wouldn’t he just go with the flow? We could all die tomorrow, and I was sure he wouldn’t be lying around bleeding out and wishing that he’d treated me with a little more deference. It was ironic, really: I’d been alive for millennia, yet I had a better grasp on the whole live for the moment thing than he, a human with a fleeting lifespan, did.
Still, there was no point getting upset about it now. We had a job to do, and I had other things to worry about. But once we had Zeus back, I was going to carpe the hell out of a certain fireshaper’s diem.
***
Poseidon gave us all rooms so we could sleep while the iceberg made the long journey back to Athena’s island. I’ll admit, it did cross my mind to pay Jake’s a visit in the middle of the night, but I wasn’t going to beg, and I certainly wasn’t going to order, so I figured I’d be better off getting some sleep. I contented myself with the hope that he would sleep badly, knowing that I was only just down the hall. He could toss and turn all night, as far as I was concerned, wishing he was in my bed instead of his own. It would only help my cause.
When we all assembled on the small, level patch on the iceber
g’s surface that I now thought of as the deck, he did look pretty tired. Excellent. For a fleeting moment, I wished that I was wearing something more alluring than jeans and a T-shirt, but the main item on today’s agenda wasn’t seduction, and my practical clothes were much more suitable for trekking through jungle and scaling that damn mountain.
It loomed over the island, clouds wreathing its tip. At the moment, there was no sign of the warrior statues on the beach below it. Even the tips of their helmets were gone. Hidden underneath the sand again, presumably, waiting until the next intruder threatened the island.
The humidity stuck tendrils of hair to my neck and forehead and caused my T-shirt to cling uncomfortably to my back. It would probably be even hotter once we got into that jungle. At least out here we had the sea breeze.
“How far up that mountain is her house?” I asked. Maybe I should have worn shorts. Every inch of me would be soaked in sweat if I had to climb all the way up there.
“It’s actually at the base,” Poseidon said. He seemed in a much better mood today. Maybe Manannan had had a quiet word with him, or maybe he’d realised that Apollo was right, and he was already stuck in the middle of this mess, so he might as well be helpful. “There’s a place where a stream comes down from the hills and forms a lake. It’s very pretty, full of water lilies. Her house is out in the middle of the lake.”
“Let’s go, then,” Manannan said. “Are you ready, Jake?”
“Yes, sir.”
I rolled my eyes at that “sir”. Jake didn’t seem to know how to deal with Manannan. He wasn’t from the pantheon that Jake worshipped, so apparently, he didn’t rate a “my lord”, but he was still a god. Jake’s devoutness couldn’t seem to cope with calling any god by their name unless he was ordered to, so he’d compromised with “sir”.
Manannan stepped down onto the surface of the sea and gestured for us to follow him. Jake and Apollo followed without hesitating, and the water bore them up. I closed my eyes for just a second as my foot left the comforting solidity of the iceberg—deep inside, I really expected to fall into the water, despite seeing the three men supported. It was the oddest feeling—the surface gave under my foot, but I didn’t sink. It felt like walking on a trampoline, kind of bouncy and uncertain.
Gingerly, I followed the other three towards the shore. As we grew closer and the water paled to that vibrant green shade, it became even more peculiar. I could see the fish swimming beneath my feet. They flocked towards Manannan, as if the sea god’s footsteps were a magnet—even some big ones. A couple of reef sharks as big as me joined their brighter cousins, flitting beneath our feet, and it gave me a particularly nasty feeling to see them draw nearer. Reflexively, I reached for their minds, ready to turn them away. But I needn’t have worried. Manannan shooed them all away with a laugh, as if they were flies, and they scattered obediently.
Soon, we stood on the wet sand, with waves breaking around our ankles. The sun beat down on my head, and I wished I’d thought to wear sunglasses, as the glare from the white beach was fierce.
“Where are the warriors?” Jake asked.
“You’ll see,” Manannan said. “Watch this.”
He strode up the beach, stopping when the tips of the conical helmets poked up from the sand.
Jake shaded his eyes with his hand and gazed along the beach. “That’s a lot of warriors.”
“You think you can handle them?” Manannan asked. “It would really spoil my day to get pulverised by some antisocial goddess’s welcoming committee.”
Jake rolled his shoulders as if limbering up for a fight. “Maybe not all of them.” He glanced at Apollo. “Will it be enough to freeze the ones directly in front of us? Do you think the others will follow us once we break through the line?”
Apollo shrugged. The sun glinting off his blond curls was almost as bright as the glare off the white sand. Today, he wore a shirt as white as Jake’s, which, I realised, was the first time I’d seen him in anything but black. Must be a concession to the heat. “Knowing Athena, they’re just as likely to chase us all the way to the bloody house. Best to be ready for anything.”
I rolled up my jeans as far as I could, sweltering in the heat. Apollo looked as cool as if he were still on the iceberg. Goddammit. I’d forgotten again. I could regulate my own body temperature. No sooner had I thought it than the bite of the sun receded to nothing more than a pleasant warmth. That felt so much better. I could get used to this god stuff.
Apollo and I were to wait on the beach until Manannan and Jake saw Athena and gave us the go-ahead to approach our prickly sister. Manannan started toward the tree line, moving slowly to give Jake time to prepare. He didn’t seem to be doing anything, though, unless he was praying. The sun beat down on his dark head as he waited, arms hanging loosely at his sides, his gaze fixed on the metal cones. Little waves foamed around my shoes as I stood next to Apollo, holding my breath.
Even though I was expecting it, I still gasped when the sand erupted and the mighty statues heaved themselves into the light. They were so fast. One minute, only the tips of their helmets were showing; the next, the armoured giants were looming above our heads.
“Any time, now, Jake,” Manannan called over his shoulder, his steps slowing even further.
I would have been nervous, too, if I were him. Even from back by the water’s edge, those statues were intimidating, and he was a lot closer than I was. He took one more step. They grounded their spear butts in the sand. An air of readiness hung about them, and an implacable aura of menace.
“Jake?” Manannan said.
“I’m not sure if this will work,” Jake said, speaking through gritted teeth. He held his hands out toward the warriors and flames, almost invisible in the bright sunlight, leapt from his fingertips to the nearest half dozen. With excruciating slowness, the flames spread to others further down the beach. Nothing about the statues changed, but whatever Jake was doing, it was costing him an effort. “This isn’t the kind of metalshaping I’m used to.”
“Just try not to damage them,” Apollo said, from the relative safety of the waterline. “Athena won’t be feeling too cooperative if we destroy her pets.”
“Can’t you help him?” I asked in an undertone. Jake’s arms were shaking already, and he’d only just begun. “I know metalshaping isn’t your forte, but you could do something, couldn’t you?”
“I don’t want to interfere with whatever he’s doing,” he replied. “Our shapings could work against each other. Best to just leave him to it.”
“I hope he knows what he’s doing.” I eyed Jake’s trembling arms with deep misgiving. He’d been totally wiped out by animating the giant statue of Apollo that time in the Plaza of the Sun, though, admittedly, he’d also been shot, which hadn’t helped. But this would not be a good place to collapse, if he didn’t manage to contain all the statues. Anyone lying on the sand would soon be trampled by those monsters.
Uneasily, I sent my senses out, hunting for anything in the jungle that could give us an edge. I found plenty of birds, some small monkeys, and a handful of leopards. Lots of smaller things, too—lizards, snakes, rats, and so on. Nothing big enough to take on one of the giant warriors.
I wasn’t sure what I’d expected—a dragon, perhaps? I was certainly a lot more open to unusual possibilities than I used to be, but, alas, Athena had no mythical surprises lurking in her jungle. Or, at least, if she did, they weren’t animal enough for me to locate and use them with my powers.
“I’m moving again,” Manannan announced, taking an exaggerated step forward.
The statues directly in front of him, six in all, didn’t react, standing stock still while Jake’s flames played around their heads and shoulders. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for the rest of their companions. On either side of the still six, warriors raised their spears in threatening poses.
“Damn,” Apollo muttered. “I’d hoped for better than that.”
True, six out of fifty-odd wasn’t a great resu
lt. “It can still work. That gap is plenty big enough for them to get through.”
“As long as the others don’t get involved.”
And that didn’t look very likely, since the others all had spears raised, responding to the threat posed by Manannan’s advance, even though he wasn’t threatening them specifically. Damn. It all hinged, now, on what happened once Jake and Manannan gained the safety of the jungle—would it actually constitute safety, or would the attack continue all the way to Athena’s house?
“I’ve just thought of something,” I said, speaking quietly so as not to break Jake’s concentration. “What if there are more safeguards further in?”
We’d been so focused on getting past the warriors that we hadn’t considered that there might be more dangers to face once this one was defeated. There could be traps or other kinds of magic that a sea god and a fireshaper with a side of metalshaping couldn’t handle.
“Shit,” Apollo said. “I hate standing here uselessly like this.”
“Well, there’s still the blast them all to slag option if we get desperate.”
“Only as a very last resort.”
“Only then,” I agreed, then raised my voice. “Jake, you’d better get moving or Manannan will leave you behind.”
He didn’t reply, but Jake began to move up the beach towards the trees. He looked distinctly wobbly on his feet, and my heart lurched into my mouth. I was sure that he was going to faceplant into the sand any minute now.
Manannan had upped his pace now that the statues in front of him appeared to be frozen, and he was almost at the trees. The motionless warriors loomed over him. But as he took his next step, he must have crossed some magical point of no return.
All hell broke loose on the beach, and that was saying something, since I’d actually been to Hell. The warriors in front of him quivered but otherwise stayed still. Sadly, they were the only ones. The rest of them hurled their spears and came charging up the beach, their massive feet scoring great gouges in the sand. A few that Jake’s flames had touched moved a little slower than their companions, but that was scant consolation.
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