by Linsey Hall
“Are you challenging me?” she demanded.
I nodded. “Yeah. A competition. Something fair, but difficult. If I win, you give me the info I want. If you win, I’ll leave.”
“If I win, you’ll join my minions.”
Oh, hell no. That would not be happening. “What did you have in mind?”
She turned around and swept her arm out. The Phantoms disappeared, and so did the waterfall and platform upon which she stood. Suddenly, she was at my level.
The minions around us gasped and stepped back. Suddenly, there was no one standing between me and Hecate.
The underground cavern expanded, and a massive lake appeared in its place. It had to be the size of four football fields put together, and the water gleamed black. The stench of sulfur was nearly unbearable. I breathed shallowly through my mouth, nearly gagging.
Hecate turned back to me. “A little competition.”
I grimaced. “I’m not swimming in that.”
“No, you certainly aren’t. It’s acid, and if you fell in, you’d die.”
Oh, fantastic.
“We will, however, race to get across.” She swept her hand toward the ground, and two wooden rafts appeared. “You will go alone. The gladiator stays on the shore. The first one to the other side, wins.”
I swallowed hard, stepping forward. Maximus’ brow was furrowed and his eyes worried. He clearly didn’t like this, but Hecate wouldn’t budge.
“Fine.” I looked at Maximus, who nodded at me.
“You can do this.”
“Thanks.” I pressed a quick kiss to his lips, not giving a damn that I had an audience of two dozen minions and one seriously bitchy goddess.
I strode toward Hecate, eyeing the shitty little raft with dismay. It looked flimsy as hell.
Hecate’s magic surged again, and a long paddle appeared. “Because I’m feeling generous.”
“Thanks.” I didn’t sound thankful though.
She didn’t have a paddle, which probably meant she had something up her sleeve.
I stopped at the edge of the water, where it lapped against the shore. Gingerly, I stuck the very tip of my boot in. Just a couple millimeters of the toe. It hissed and sizzled, eating away at the sole.
Shit. I jerked my foot back.
Yeah, she wasn’t kidding about this die if you fall in bit.
Hecate grinned evilly, then turned to the dogs, who’d stuck by her side every second. “Brutus, Judas. You may play.”
The dog’s fiery eyes lit with joy, and they leapt up, skinny limbs flashing, then spun and sped into the water. They barked with joy, splashing around in the sulfurous acid. True hellhounds. They played for a few seconds, then trotted up through the shallows, headed for Hecate’s raft.
They reached it and went immediately for the two ropes that I only now noticed, picking them up in their jaws and tugging.
Oh, crap. They were going to pull her across.
I rushed to my raft and grabbed the long paddle. “We’re starting now?”
“Fine.” Her voice sounded bored, and she clearly thought her victory would be easy.
No way in hell. Even though we were already in hell.
I pushed my raft out onto the shallows, careful not to touch the water. When it was floating, I jumped on carefully, my heart leaping into my throat when the raft wobbled.
Oh, fates. This would be hard.
Gingerly, I put my paddle in the water and pushed myself forward. The raft glided over the stinking surface, which gleamed darkly. The stench made my eyes water, and I stared upward, blinking rapidly.
“Onward!” Hecate’s voice sounded, and the dogs gave a joyful yip.
I turned back, spotting her standing on the raft to my left and looking like a queen, her dogs towing her along with big doggy grins on their faces.
I scowled and turned back, pushing my paddle as hard as I could. There had to be an easier way. Perhaps if I could control the water to push me along?
As if she’d heard my thought, Hecate shouted, “Wave!”
What the heck?
I turned to her, spotting her flourishing her hand at the water. As she’d commanded, a wave formed. It was small, but definitely big enough to tip me into the lake.
My skin chilled. Damn it.
I called on Poseidon’s gift, feeling it swell inside me. I could feel the water as if it were part of myself, and since it was a stinking acidy mess, I shuddered.
There was no time to be grossed out. I used my power to command the water to flatten. My heart thundered as my magic went to work. The wave was nearly to me by the time it smoothed out. My raft rocked gently, and I crouched, bracing myself.
Sweat poured down my spine as the acidy water lapped at the edges of the raft.
Hecate was pulling into the lead now, her dogs dragging her faster than my oar could manage. I commanded the water to push me, but it barely worked. The raft had such a shallow draft that there was no surface for the water to push upon. I tried to create a current, but even that was nearly impossible in a lake.
Determined, I paddled faster, barely managing to keep up with Hecate. We were only a quarter of the way across when another wave came at me, this one bigger.
I called upon Poseidon’s magic, barely managing to flatten the wave in time. My raft rocked, and I nearly went to my knees. All my fight training helped, and I kept paddling.
“So I see that Poseidon gave you his power,” she said.
I didn’t respond. My muscles ached and my eyes burned from the fumes of the water, but I gave it my all.
A wall of thorny vines grew up in front of me, at least five feet high and twenty feet across.
I hissed. “Not fair!”
“Life’s not fair, honey, and this is my race.”
I gritted my teeth. If I had to paddle around the wall, I’d lose any chance at winning. It’d just take too damned long.
No way in hell was I going to lose.
Not to this jerk, and not when so much was at stake. I held the paddle in one hand and dug into my potion bag with the other, then pulled out the familiar triangular-shaped disintegration bomb.
I hurled the thing at the wall, not bothering with careful aim. It was so big I’d hit it no matter what.
The potion bomb smashed into the thorny black vines, and the wall began to disintegrate, falling into the water as dust. I paddled right over it, barely keeping up with Hecate.
She glared at me, dark eyes gleaming.
“That was all me,” I said, referring to my potion genius.
She scowled, then looked at her dogs. “Faster, Brutus and Judas, faster!”
I dug my paddle into the water, giving it my all. Sweat slicked my hands, but I ignored it and gripped the paddle tighter.
Out of the corner of my left eye, I spotted Hecate waving her hand. Her magic swelled, the stench of rotten vegetables growing.
Ah, shit.
Frantically, my gaze passed over the water. What was she sending at me this time?
The water to my right surged. Another freaking wave?
She was a slow learner, if she thought I couldn’t deal with that.
The wave grew.
Then two eyes appeared, peering above the water.
Ah, crap. Not a wave.
My heart jackhammered. The beast’s head was two feet wide at least, with huge fangs and beady yellow eyes. It opened its mouth wider as it zipped toward me. I paddled faster, but I was only seventy percent of the way across, if that.
No way I could outrun this beast. And when it caught me, it’d knock me into the acid water.
Fear iced my spine. What the hell was I going to do?
Chapter Eleven
The sea monster swam faster, speeding toward me through the water. It was nearly to me, so close that I could see the glimmer of its dark green scales.
It opened its mouth wide and raised its head out of the water.
Crap!
I stopped paddling and faced the creature. It
was only a few feet away, so I swung my paddle and smashed it in the face.
The creature fell back into the water, hissing, but it recovered quickly. It surged toward me again, fangs glinting. I poked it with my paddle, but it was too quick this time. The monster thrashed, jaws snapping at my paddle.
The wood splintered, and the beast chomped down, snapping it in half.
Crap!
“Oh, that’s too bad!” Hecate said.
The sea monster chomped on the wood, eyeing my raft hungrily. It was coming for it next. Coming for me.
I nearly called a sword from the ether, but that would be too risky. I could barely move on the raft without upsetting it.
As if understanding what I needed, Zeus’s lightning magic crackled within my veins. It lit me up like electricity.
But no, that wouldn’t work. So far, I’d only been able to turn myself into a human lightning bolt. It worked well on land when I could wrap my arms around my prey. But I wasn’t about to jump on that sea monster. If the acid water didn’t get me, the electric shock in the water would.
No, I needed to be able to shoot a lightning bolt.
Bree had helped me in one training session, and while I hadn’t mastered it, desperation was a damned powerful motivator.
The electricity sizzled within me, sparking along my skin and through my muscles. I focused on it, trying to draw it toward my center. I was in control here, not the god’s magic.
The sea monster was finishing its wooden snack, and I was running out of time. I gathered up the magic that snapped within me, forcing it into a ball in my chest. My heart felt like it might explode.
I sucked in a deep breath and envisioned hurling my magic outward.
The sea monster charged again, only a dozen feet away.
I threw my magic at it, sending a lightning bolt straight from my chest and into the monster’s face. The creature lit up like the Fourth of July, electricity frying its circuits.
The current traveled through the water, and Hecate’s dogs gave a joyful yelp. There was no other word for the sound, and I shouldn’t be surprised, given their love of the acid water.
As the sea monster sank beneath the surface, I looked over at the dogs, who were now swimming faster than ever. They’d used the electricity as fuel, and they were smoking my butt.
Damn it.
No way I could beat them. Especially not without an oar.
Hecate grinned and waved at me, now twenty feet ahead of me. She was only about fifty feet from the shore, and if she kept going at that rate, I didn’t have a chance.
I stared down at the broken oar in my hand. Even if Maximus could conjure me a new one all the way out here in the middle of the lake, I wouldn’t be able to paddle fast enough to catch her.
Think. Think.
The dogs. They were my only option. To win, she had to stop moving forward, and I had to start moving—fast.
If I could get inside Cerberus’s mind, I could do the same with her dogs. Two dogs wouldn’t be easy, but I didn’t have a choice.
I sucked in a deep breath and closed my eyes, focusing on the hounds. I could feel them, almost like I had radar inside my body and they were popping up, just ahead and to the left.
I called upon the gift that Artemis had given me, imagining my consciousness melding with the hound closest to me. I envisioned what it would be like to be him, and after a moment, my consciousness seemed to leave my body and join the dog’s.
Boy, was he happy.
He loved this game. The acid pond was his favorite, so this was basically Christmas.
Okay, weirdo. You do you.
Except, wouldn’t it be better if you were pulling the other raft? I asked him inside our minds.
He stopped abruptly, clearly confused.
Yep, I’m in your head. You’re such a good boy. The best boy. Go push that other raft. It doesn’t have ropes, but you can push it with your nose. It’ll be so much fun.
He huffed a bit.
Come on, fella. You’ll love it.
He huffed again, but finally dropped the rope clamped between his jaws.
Jackpot.
“What the hell?” Hecate’s voice sounded, but the dog was already paddling away.
The dog and I were about twenty feet away. He was nearly to the raft and was so excited to get there that I felt confident enough to allow my consciousness to leave him. He’d keep going.
I allowed my consciousness to leave his and to join with the other dog’s, and man, was this one confused. He kept looking between the shore and his buddy, who was paddling away toward my raft. My body stood stock-still on the raft in a state of stasis.
I’d better hurry, before Hecate figured out what was going on. It was dangerous to be out of my body like this. She could send something at me that I wasn’t prepared to fight.
Good boy, I said to the dog from within his mind.
He perked up, and I could somehow sense—or feel—our tail wagging. He, too, liked to swim. But he really liked being called a good boy.
Hecate might be a bitch, but she was nice to her dogs. These guys seemed really happy.
“What the hell is going on?” she screeched.
Crap. I needed to pick up the pace.
Good boy, wouldn’t it be fun to pull the other raft?
I could almost hear the dog shout Yeah!
I would have bet one million dollars that this dog was literally the worst guard dog in the history of time. If someone was nice to him, he loved them.
The dog dropped the rope and paddled off after his friend, making quick work of cutting through the acid water.
“Brutus! Judas! Get back here!” she shouted.
I rejoined my body just as the first dog reached the raft and began to push. The other joined shortly after. Hecate was scowling at me, her face so fierce that I thought she’d tear my head off if she could manage it.
“What have you done to my dogs?” she screeched.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I grinned at her as we passed, the dogs pushing my raft quickly.
She had no paddle, so she was just standing there, staring. Her fists tightened, and I could all but feel the impotent rage. “You better not hurt them!”
Clearly, she wanted to smite me. Or command her dogs. But she was afraid to mess with whatever spell I’d cast. I didn’t tell her it wasn’t a spell, just a bit of suggestion made to two sweet but dumb dogs.
“Arghgh!” She conjured a paddle and began to row. “If you hurt them, I will tear you limb from limb and devour your entrails!”
I looked back at her. “I’m not going to hurt them!” I grinned. “But they do like me more.”
Her face turned so red that I thought her head might pop right off her neck. Oh, fates. I probably shouldn’t have said that.
My raft touched the other side of the lake and stopped abruptly. I stumbled slightly, then leapt off.
The dogs turned around and swam back to Hecate, who was nearly to the shore. They grabbed the ropes at the front of her boat and pulled her toward the shore, finishing their original job.
She jumped off and shot me one evil look, then bent and stared into her dogs’ eyes. “Are you guys okay?”
Their tongues lolled out and they grinned, panting.
She stared hard at them. “You seem normal.”
“They’re fine. I just asked them for help.”
She straightened and gave me a death glare. It would have withered a weaker person.
Maximus joined me, having walked around the edge of the lake while I was competing. “It looks like Rowan won.”
Hecate hissed. “Fine. Come.”
She stalked off, and I looked at Maximus. “She is pissed.”
He grinned, then pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “You did great.”
“Thanks.” I smiled, then turned and followed Hecate. She stalked off like she was going to kick some rowdy kids off her lawn.
Maximus and I followed her away from the
lake, heading toward a darkened archway. Unlike the previous archways, this one was filled with a thick black smoke. The dogs bounded through, and Hecate followed at a more sedate pace, sailing through like a queen, leaving just a wisp of smoke behind her.
I looked up at Maximus. “She’s a piece of work, eh?”
He nodded. “That’s the truth.”
I held my breath as we passed through the smoky arch, and it burned my eyes enough that I closed them. A few seconds later, I opened them and gasped.
I was in a library. And a graveyard.
What the heck?
I blinked, looking around with astonishment.
It was a massive round room, and with the exception of the space just in front of me, the entire perimeter was covered in loose black dirt and gravestones. Right ahead of me, at the far end of the room, a massive fireplace crackled with emerald fire. Tall bookshelves towered on either side, stuffed full of green- and purple-bound books. The chandelier hanging from the ceiling flickered with purple flame. Large green leather chairs were scattered through the space, and Hecate stalked toward one, then collapsed into it in a dramatic fashion.
She sighed heavily as she stared at us with bored eyes. The dogs bounded toward her, stopping briefly for a quick pet, before running right into the emerald flames in the massive fireplace.
“Well?” she said. “Can I offer you a drink? A snack, perhaps?”
I’d never heard anyone sound so annoyed in all my life. “Um, no thanks.”
“Don’t want to eat in the Underworld?”
“Not that it’s not lovely here”—it wasn’t—“but I don’t think I want to stay for eternity.”
She nodded. “I can’t believe that idiot Persephone fell for it when Hades gave her the pomegranate seeds.”
Eating the seeds had been the act that had gotten Persephone stuck here, but I’d thought Hecate was her handmaiden or something.
I resisted huffing out a dry laugh. It was silly of me to expect someone like Hecate to actually be respectful of her boss. Definitely not her style. And I doubted Persephone was a dummy. She probably knew the deal, but found Hecate to be useful.
“Well, what is it that you wanted to know?” Hecate twirled her dark hair around one fingertip, clearly trying to let us know that we were boring her.
