I was so, so foolish, and I’d be lucky if we didn’t all pay for it.
Relax, mom would have said. He’s still alone.
Alone? Dad would have replied. Of course he’s alone, Maggie. He’s wearing a cloak of invincibility. He doesn’t need backup.
Which meant this was it. We were going to die, and it was my fault for losing sight of everything in my need to stop feeling so helpless. This was the moment we would have moved, and now we couldn’t, because it had all fallen apart with this one simple precaution our enemy had taken.
But Dr. Berti smiled and set about negotiating terms none of us had ever discussed. The Hercules engaged with her, for all the world like he was taking this seriously. I knew to the depths of my being that neither of them considered this a real negotiation. So what were they playing at?
I stayed frozen in place, racking my brain for some way to get us out of this, fearing the moment the Hercules would make his move. But not daring to interrupt. Not when Berti was at least buying us a little more time. My hand drifted to my weapon, clutching it tightly. I felt that panic creeping back up on me, threatening to take over. A distant part of me recognized the danger of giving in to it—I was armed with a weapon that only had the power to hurt my friends and allies. The rest of me saw nothing but the Hercules, and felt that same helplessness I’d experienced in Tivoli.
In the meantime, Dr. Berti and the Hercules actually reached an agreement and drafted up a paper. I swear, the sheer absurdity of it must have been what saved me. Without that to focus on, I didn’t know if I could keep myself from falling apart.
Committing to her sham, Dr. Berti leaned over to sign the document. And the Hercules pulled out a knife so fast I nearly missed it.
But I didn’t.
No time to think, reacting on instinct, I raised my gun and fired at his unprotected face. Half a second after I’d pulled the trigger, I realized my mistake, horrified by what I’d done.
The Hercules fell back at the hit, still clutching his knife. But the power of the lion skin wasn’t just physical, and it still protected the parts of him that it wasn’t actually covering. I should have guessed that, should have understood the risk I was taking. But the bullet, unable to penetrate the skin of the Nemean lion, ricocheted.
With the very real danger it could hit one of us.
Heart in my throat, I frantically eyed every one of my teammates, waiting for the moment one of them would double over. Waiting on those few seconds it would take for them to react if they'd been hit by that bullet.
It was my anger that had brought us here in the first place, and now I was in danger of physically hurting my own friends—because I let myself forget how utterly senseless it was to hold a lethal weapon when I wasn’t in control of my emotions. Because I overlooked how easy it was to hurt someone in one burst of anger or panic, when the difference between life and death was just one simple pull of a trigger.
A harrowing couple of minutes passed before I realized that none of them were wounded, and a sense of relief washed over me. But that didn’t absolve me. I’d still put them in danger, and it was only luck that had kept them safe.
Not that any of us were safe. Now that the Hercules was actually on the attack, I had no idea how to stop him. And he could still wipe us out if I didn’t come up with something.
Dr. Berti had backed away, but the Hercules’ eyes still locked on her with a feral hostility, as he took a step in her direction. Luca literally slid over the table to put himself between them. The Hercules swatted at him absently, his attention still on Berti. But Luca managed a smooth dodge before landing a punch of his own.
Even I could tell it was like hitting a wall—the Hercules didn’t flinch, didn’t so much as move a centimeter. But he did turn his full attention to Luca. Which was bad, because one good punch from the Hercules and Luca might not be getting back up soon. He couldn’t keep this up. Someone had to find a way to stop the Hercules before that happened.
Berti—wide-eyed and shaking, grasping her cane so tightly her hand turned white—was practically trapped in a corner, with no way out that didn’t take her too close to the Hercules for comfort. Despite her obvious fear, she kept shifting herself away from the Hercules as he moved, ready to take advantage of a chance to get around the fight. Her chances wouldn’t have been good even without her disability. She was stuck and, if Luca couldn’t keep the Hercules distracted, in real trouble.
Between her and Luca, that put two of my people in imminent danger. And I had nothing. No idea how to help them, no way to change anything that was happening in front of me.
Think, I told myself. Willing myself to come up with a solution, to do something that could save everyone.
But the original Hercules had choked the Nemean lion to death, utilizing his inhuman strength to bypass the skin’s magical protection. And none of us could replicate something like that. We weren’t strong enough to hurt him.
I was out of ideas, and I was very much afraid that we were out of time.
THE HERCULES MOVED in on Luca, who’d backed up a bit, and swung at him with his bare fist. Luca ducked in time for the hit to meet the wall behind him with a crushing force. Berti took the moment to shuffle forward, but the scrape of her cane against the floor had the Hercules turning around to face her, putting his back to Luca. He stepped towards her like he had all the time in the world, a knife still clutched in one hand—not that he even needed it. The expression on my mentor’s face told me she knew there was no escape.
Carter had a gun trained on the Hercules, but any move he made would be as dangerous for us as for our enemy. Tony was frozen on the spot. And Hayley held a pistol half-raised, trembling so hard I doubted she could use it even if she had the chance. None of us were in a position to help Berti, and I didn’t know what to do.
Just then, Luca launched himself at the Hercules, throwing his weight against the man’s back in an attempt to unbalance him. The Hercules rocked, but kept his feet—and spun with his knife out to strike. It was close. Too close. I nearly stopped breathing as the Hercules’ blade passed inches from Luca’s face.
This couldn’t go on. I had to find a way to stop this. What could possibly be strong enough if we hit the Hercules with it?
My eyes darted around the room, taking in the desk, the chairs, the door. None of that was useful. What about outside? Outside, there was a flying horse, and...the pick-up. That would do it. We couldn’t penetrate the lion skin, but we could crush him inside of it.
I turned to Tony and rummaged in his coat pockets for the keys. He wasn’t much help, flailing in surprise, but I finally got the keys and ran outside, straight for the vehicle. I opened the door, leaped into the driver’s seat—and realized only then that the Hercules was indoors and the car was outdoors, which made hitting him with it kind of unworkable.
I paused in indecision, long enough for Hayley to catch up, jumping into the back of the pick-up. That was probably the worst place for her to be when I was planning on crashing the damn car, but I didn’t have time to do much more than yell for her to get out. Through the rearview mirror, I watched her ignore me, continuing to ruffle through her bag. Meanwhile, who knew what was happening to Luca or Berti?
The sudden sound of shattering glass made me jump in my seat. I frantically looked for a source, for some explanation of what had happened. A few seconds passed before movement drew my attention towards a widow that I could just barely see from this angle. A leg covered in Dr. Berti’s pantsuit emerged from it, and I breathed a sigh of relief. She’d found a way to escape after all.
Falling over in her haste to get out, my mentor emerged disheveled—hair wild, clothes torn and dotted with bloodstains. She must have cut herself on the glass. Her eyes darted around in a quick survey of the area. Staying on all fours, she started scurrying towards the pick-up. Hayley paused what she was doing just long enough to help Berti climb in with her.
With my mentor out of immediate danger, it was as good a time
as ever to try to get the Hercules somewhere I could hit him. I turned on the ignition, then shouted, “Hayley!”
She met my eyes through the mirror. I knew that expression. It was her ‘I’m doing something very important so get on with it already’ look. Given the emergency, I would’ve preferred more compliance, but at least she was listening.
“I need you to get everyone to come outside,” I told her. If Luca saw everyone filing out, he’d try to retreat from the fight. He had to know he wasn’t going to win. “Dr. Berti, either brace yourself or get back out of the car.”
That should have been enough for both of them to figure out what I was planning, and sure enough, Berti unceremoniously lowered herself out the back. I felt a bit bad kicking her out after she’d finally reached a semblance of safety—my own recent freakouts over the same exact thing meant I knew how it felt—but she didn’t even hesitate. And I remembered that she’d been a field person long before me, in an age before we’d even understood what we were dealing with. Back when our lack of knowledge had made researching legimals that much more dangerous.
Most days, Berti’s past didn’t seem real to me, given how I hadn’t been there for any of it. But today was the first time I saw that person peeking through past the woman she was now.
Hayley grabbed her bag and hopped out, tossing me a nod to signal that she understood. Seconds after she reentered the building, everyone began filing out. Hayley, Tony, Carter. I held my breath waiting for Luca, hoping he’d be able to snag an opportunity to disengage. Hoping he’d dodged every hit the Hercules had tossed at him since I’d ran outside, and wasn’t lying unconscious in that room.
Then there he was, clearing the doorway, alive and well. Moving with a speed that was impressive—until he stopped dead. His eyes passed over the rest of our team, standing spread out over the area, with disbelief. It was only then that I realized where his mind must have gone. He’d expected this to be a tactical retreat, with all of us piling into the getaway vehicle, so we could flee for our lives. He’d failed to take into consideration that Hayley, Berti, and I were scientists—creative problem solvers who never knew when to stop banging our heads against that wall.
The Hercules came out last, the lion skin cloak trailing behind him on the ground. He slowly turned his head in search of someone, probably Berti. I could practically see Luca steel himself, shifting to face the Hercules again. Dismayed, I willed him to understand what we were going for, to get out of the way, knowing it was hopeless. Thankfully, Carter dove in and yanked Luca back.
Giving me a short window of opportunity. I floored the pedal, aiming the car straight for the Hercules. Praying this would work.
He didn’t even try to get out of the way. He just stood there, staring at the approaching vehicle in surprise. The impact jolted me hard against the airbag, but it also slammed the Hercules up against the wall, pinning him to it. Pieces of the lion skin cloak stuck out from the front of the car, not even covering the Hercules himself, and yet still somehow offering him protection. But hopefully not from impacts.
Our eyes met through the windshield, and an uncertainty I hadn’t felt in a while began to creep up on me. What was I doing? Why were we here? Did I really just try to kill a man by running him over?
And then the Hercules smiled, mirth lighting up his face, an alarming bit of malice mixed into the expression.
My hands went immediately to my seat belt, releasing it. The Hercules was happy about something? Cue instant panic.
With a leisurely, powerful move, he pounded his fist into the hood of the car, denting it. His other hand swung a second later, creating another dent. Muscles bulging and teeth gritted, he pushed. The strength of it budged the pick-up just enough where I could feel it start to move, from the inside.
I scrambled to get out, thrusting the door open, nearly hitting Hayley with it—as she suddenly appeared in front of me, heading towards the Hercules. What the hell was she doing? There was a white bottle in her hands, and it took me a moment to recognize it as the bleach she’d packed.
Hayley rounded the car door, standing just beyond the Hercules’ reach. He was still pinned, still trying to free himself, but that wouldn’t last long. And she’d be right there when he succeeded.
The tail of the lion skin peeked out from under the car, and that was what Hayley aimed for, thrusting the bottle towards it. That was...actually clever. Maybe damaging the garment itself would disrupt the magic of the cloak. But it was also a gamble, because we had no idea whether it would work.
A bit of bleach surged out of the container, splashing on the ground, just short of the Hercules’ cloak. Because of course, containers for chemicals like that were designed to prevent splashing. Hayley readjusted her grip on the bottle and took a step closer, this time soaking that bit of lion skin.
But, I noted nervously, she’d also put herself perilously close to the Hercules himself. He took the opportunity to backhand her. Her body went flying into the wall, bouncing off it with a thud that terrified me, before crumpling towards the ground. The bottle of bleach shot out of her hands, splattering across the Hercules. The next few seconds brought me increasingly closer to panic, because Hayley wasn’t moving. And I could see blood.
No, no, no, she had to be alright.
I shifted closer to her, internally debating whether it was more dangerous to move her when I didn’t know how she was injured, or to leave her next to a soon-to-be free Hercules. Her hand moved slightly, and for a moment I wondered if I’d imagined it—until she lifted her head, moving to drag herself away from the scene. I ran in to help, and suddenly Carter was beside me. Between the three of us, we scurried away from the legend.
Meanwhile, the Hercules stopped his efforts to free himself. He clawed at the part of the cloak covering his upper legs, lifting it away from his body. The bleach must have been irritating his skin—which meant the lion skin wasn’t protecting him from it. If the bleach could soak through the garment and contact the skin underneath, maybe the magic didn’t recognize it as something to protect from. Or maybe the bleach was damaging the magic, which then allowed it to pass through.
Having shoved aside the cloak, the Hercules renewed his struggle against the vehicle, a low growl emitting from his throat. I snapped out of my theorizing with the realization that we really needed to get out of here. He’d be out and on the attack before long. And Hayley might need medical attention. For that matter, I had no idea if the Hercules had hurt Luca while I wasn’t watching, or how bad Berti’s cuts were. They might need medical attention too.
Things hadn’t gone according to plan, and we needed to abort. My attention immediately went back to our getaway vehicle, which I’d already gone through the trouble of crashing, for some senseless reason. After what the Hercules had done to it, was it even still working?
Launching myself back inside the pick-up and hoping that wasn’t a terrible mistake, I tried to put the car in reverse. In my rush, I pushed the pedal a little too hard, and the car jerked backward. The Hercules—not expecting the vehicle’s movement—dropped to the ground. Rising to one knee, he glared in my general direction. Which meant he was mobile and pissed off, still ready to come after us. Whatever amount of bleach he’d had splashed on him had only slowed him down.
In the next breath, he lifted himself to his feet and staggered towards the pick-up, rage in his eyes. Alright, yes, it was definitely time to get out of here.
Leaning out of the car, I yelled, “Everyone in the back!”
The moments while I waited for my team to pile in, with the Hercules closing in, stretched out to infinity. Dr. Berti leaned on both Tony and Luca, as the three of them shuffled their way towards the pick-up. Carter flat-out carried Hayley inside. And all the while, the Hercules strode forward at a speed my injured teammates couldn’t match.
They weren’t going to make it
With an echoing boom, the Hercules reeled, some force pushing him a few steps backwards. Of course. What with the stress of t
he moment, I’d forgotten that we weren’t alone, that there were snipers positioned to back us up. This must have been the first moment they had a shot that didn’t endanger one of us.
But it only delayed him a few seconds, the lion skin still protecting him. Another shot won us another few seconds. And another.
Until finally it was enough for all the stragglers to get into the back of the pick-up. And I got us out of there, as fast I thought was reasonable. In the rearview, I saw the Hercules standing tall in the distance, his cloak still billowing behind him.
Chapter Twenty
I DROVE US STRAIGHT to the hospital.
Carter, Tony, and I—having the least contact with the Hercules—were summarily dismissed. Hayley, Berti, and Luca received more attention, despite Luca’s vigorous protests that he was fine.
The time passed as a blur for me, filled with anxiety and a fierce guilt. I sat in the waiting area, still and quiet, with a sense of disbelief that I’d let it get to this point. What had I been thinking? What if Hayley was seriously hurt because of me? What if Berti’s disability had been exacerbated?
The plan had seemed nowhere near as risky before it actually happened. The Hercules wasn’t supposed to have come prepared. Having firearms should have completely evened the odds. I hadn’t known his House even had the Nemean lion skin.
And we were humans. It shouldn’t have occurred to him he’d need protection from us. And it hadn’t, until the moment I’d killed one of his people.
Why did I have to get involved at all? We’d reached the Aventine safely, the Hercules’ actions were exposed. I could easily have let go of the responsibility at that point.
But I was having nightmares. The man I’d killed weighed on me, the memory of being completely overpowered terrified me. I wanted someone to blame, someone to lash out against. Instead of facing the truth, that this was all about me. I was having trouble dealing with my experiences, and I’d made it everyone else’s problem.
Terrestrial Magic (Jordan Sanders, #1) Page 25
