But she was worried more about what the dream meant for her prophecy. Did Persephone, not Hades, have something to do with Varney attacking them at the Chateau? Who did Persephone want dead if not her, and why that insane Ker, Nicolai? Why was Persephone after Dropper, too? Did she want this Most Beautiful object as well and knew he was the key to finding it? Did…Chloe sighed to herself. There were just so many questions that needed answers, where to begin?
While the demigods discussed this new revelation, she went upstairs, washed the paint away, and dressed warmly––a maroon Marc Jacobs sweater, skinny jeans, and sheepskin UGG snow boots she had found in a walk-in closet full of designer clothes––and then joined the others downstairs at the table. The painting was long gone by this time, thank the gods, and breakfast was being eaten. Dropper was reading a book to Bill and sharing his bacon with him at the same time. Swindle and Ace were speaking to each other in whispers over stacks of waffles. She sat by Strafford and though there was so much to be said, they didn't talk.
He didn't interrogate her about her undiscovered painting talent.
She didn't question it either. It creeped her out.
He didn't ask her anything more about the Minotaur, though she could tell he wanted to push the subject.
She didn't inquire as to why he seemed so affected by it. He was shivering he was so mad. Strafford Law didn't shiver.
It was hard leaving the cabin. Chloe was perfectly content to stay there forever, but knew she couldn't hide there and fulfill a prophecy too. If they were going to find the Most Beautiful and figure out the mystery behind Dropper's fall from the sky, they had to move. Besides, she didn't want to make it too easy for the people hunting them.
The daytime had brought on an even drearier cold than the night before. The wind whipped through the trees faster than hummingbirds in flight, and even Chloe's trendy new coat couldn't keep the wind from biting through. They had each packed a warm outfit and a coat for the journey, but had also brought along t-shirts and warm weather clothes. They had no idea when the weather would change again and wanted to be prepared for whatever.
The snow remained and the icy winds pursued them. They walked for hours in the semi-blizzard whipping through Spritewood, only breaking once for a quick meal underneath the shelter of a horn rock that protruded out of the ground creating a sort of awning over them. But with frost bite threatening, lunch didn’t last long.
As the sixth hour of hiking came to a close, the weather calmed down and so did Strafford. It stopped snowing and the wind ceased its constant whipping. It was still cold as Christmas, but it was more manageable. Strafford walked with his arm around her, not that she minded, and at one point she looked up at him and spotted a necklace hanging from around his neck––a gold locket she’d never noticed before now. Before she could get a good look at it, he saw her staring and stuffed it into the collar of his shirt.
During a break, she found him sitting against a tree with the locket open, gazing down at the picture of a pretty blonde girl with blue eyes and a charming smile that made Chloe instantly hate her.
“Who is she?” She asked, knowing she sounded jealous and despising herself for it.
Strafford snapped the locket shut and got to his feet. “Nobody.” Looping the necklace over his head, he stepped around her and headed back over to the others. She hated admitting it to herself, but she’d seen the way he’d been looking at that girl and knew, without a doubt, that he loved her. A lot. Refusing to pity herself, she held her head high and was at the head of the pack when they started hiking again, rather than in the back, sucking down sobs.
Several hours later, they found themselves standing outside of another cabin with a sign in front of it that read: Yellowstone National Park Ranger Services. They kept hidden among the trees that surrounded the clearing even though the place was deserted except for a couple of park ranger pickup trucks and an old sedan. Chloe frowned, confused. Yellowstone National Park was in…
"We must've somehow crossed back over into the mortal world," Swindle said, looking around, "We're on Earth." She could tell it frustrated him that he couldn't explain why and she knew his brain was churning trying to figure out when it had happened.
"Sometimes I swear the Fates have it out for me," Strafford grumbled, but quickly took charge of their change in circumstances. "Swindle, get those trucks runnin'," He ordered. "Ace, go inside and distract those rangers." He paused. "Dropper. Use those bloody twinklin' eyes for somethin' other than starin' down Red. Alert us if someone else shows up." Dropper smirked and bowed his head. Everyone departed to complete their tasks. That left Chloe and Strafford alone with Bill in a tree nearby.
They said nothing for awhile. By now, Chloe had already ran every scenario as to who the girl was through her head, and she was angry. At the girl, for existing. At herself, for envying her, and at him, for not wearing a locket that opened to reveal her face. Needless to say, she was a mess.
"It’s not wha’ you think," He said. He was talking to her but watching as Swindle expertly broke into the first truck without having to smash the windows. “She’s not who you think she is.”
“I don’t care who she is.” Was that her voice sounding so bitter? Get a grip, Clever.
“Yes, you do. You haven' said one word to me in hours. Not even a foul one." He finally looked at her and repeated, "It’s not wha’ you think."
"I’m so freaking sure––" She stopped herself, feeling silly for caring. "Never mind."
"It's not never mind.” He paused. “Yes, I’ll admit she means a lot to me. But...so do you.”
She turned to him. “Who is she?”
He looked away. “It doesn’ matter, Red.”
She kind of lost her cool then. "You know what? It doesn’t matter. Why? Because I really don’t care who she is! You don't belong to me and I certainly don't belong to you, and just so we're clear, I don't want to belong to you. Ever."
With that, silence came down on them like an avalanche.
Strafford's cool expression did not change even a bit and that sucked. He simply nodded once, slipped one of his daggers back into its holster, and left her standing in the woods with Bill.
Oh, Clever. You are one stupid girl.
Yup, she had finally lost the rest of her mind. It was such a lie. Such a stupid, stupid lie. And worse, he clearly believed it.
Ugh, she wanted to punch something. Wanted to smash that locket to bits. She wished she’d never even seen the freaking thing. But too late now.
One of the trucks roared to life, but it wasn't until the second one started, a few moments later, that Chloe came out into the clearing. Swindle sped over to meet her.
"I think we need to hurry. It won't be long before someone hears––."
BOOM! A shotgun went off.
*****
XXVIII. Chloe
"Nobody's going anywhere. Alive, that is."
Out of the shadows of the cabin's shaded porch, two women appeared with shotguns pointed directly at them. A moment later, a third woman holding a shotgun to Ace's throat stepped forward. She was wearing a ranger's hat.
She was not a ranger.
Not a good sign.
They were beautiful, dressed in snug-fitting white leather bodysuits and boots with lots of zippers. They had porcelain skin, eyes made out of blue crystals, and lips glossed pink. They looked like Barbie dolls. Barbie dolls with shotguns.
The one distinguishing factor that caught her eye was their hair. It was golden blonde…long as sin…and platted into dozens of tiny braids all over.
"So that's who she was!" Chloe mumbled.
"What?" Swindle said out of partially open lips, his eyes looking towards the woods where Bill had flown to safety, "Who are you talking about?"
"I think I know who––"
BOOM!
"Pay attention, Pythia," said the lady holding the shotgun to Ace's throat, "I'm only going to say things once." The one who had let off the round had already reload
ed.
Strafford stepped forward with Aor.
With one strong hand, Ace's captor cocked her shotgun, readying it. "Take another step and I'll shoot your little brother in the face. You know I will." Ace squirmed, but the barrel of the gun shoved under his chin stilled him.
Strafford seemed cognizant that the woman meant what she said and didn't move another inch. Chloe breathed a sigh of relief.
"Summon away your sword. Now."
Reluctantly, and at his leisure, Strafford did as he was ordered.
The woman smiled without humor. "Wise Prince. Pythia! We have not met." Her shotgun was still threatening to blow a hole through Ace's larynx. "I am Radiance, and these are my sisters, Joy," The woman on her left curtsied, "And Blossom," The other bowed her head. "We are the Graces." And with that, Chloe's thoughts were confirmed.
"You're here for Dropper," She said, feeling a knot form in the pit of her stomach.
"Very good, Pythia," Radiance said, smirking.
"Aye, very good," Strafford snapped, pointing Dropper out, "He's yours. Now release my brother and go!"
"Strafford!" Chloe couldn't help exclaiming. True, they had Ace hostage, but it seemed a very bad idea to hand over Dropper without even a fight. Even to save their own lives. He was the key to the prophecy.
Remember, unfulfilled prophecies never die, dear, said Madame Cee, They only resurface later in life.
Great. That's just what she wanted. To do this all over again at a later date TBD.
"Ah, it seems Pythia has other plans for the fallen star, Your Highness," Radiance said with a smug smile.
"Forget abou' him, Red!"
"No!" She stepped forward, then took several more until she was standing beside him and only steps away from Dropper. "We can't let them take him!"
Dropper moved to grab her hand. "Please do not hand me over to them."
"We're not, are we, Strafford? Because he's on our side. He's helping us!"
"He's not helpin' us anymore!" Strafford glared. "He's gonna get us killed!"
"Probably true," Radiance said smugly.
"He should go, Red."
"No."
"Has anyone noticed this shotgun at my skull?" Ace snapped. "Get on with the bloody deliberations already!"
Chloe looked at Swindle for support.
"You know we shouldn't turn him over, Straff," Swindle came to her rescue. “You said it yourself, the prophecy isn’t fulfilled yet.”
"Am I the only one here tha’ doesn’ want to see Ace die for this wanker?" He gestured at Dropper.
"You know you’re not. I’m just saying, let’s not be rash. Maybe we should challenge them to duel or something," Swindle peeped around them at Ace. "The Graces never turn down a––"
"We'll duel you!" Chloe shouted out before her mouth could catch up to her good sense. "And if we win, you three will have to leave us alone forever!"
"Are you mad?" Strafford hissed.
"Is that a serious question? Yes!"
He groaned again. "Once we make a challenge to duel, we can't go back on it, wan. It's against our honor and I'm already on E."
"I made the challenge, so chill."
"You wanna fight the Graces? Over my bloodied, beaten dead body. We're the guardians, so tha' means we fight. So thanks for this lovely opportunity."
Crap.
"Challenge issued and accepted," Radiance said loudly, clearly loving the idea, "And if we win, what is our reward?"
Chloe swallowed, feeling pathetic. She knew they would only accept one thing. "You can have Dropper."
Dropper looked defeated, but only for a moment. "But Chloe goes free. Do not harm her and I will go with you willingly."
"Oh, we had no plans of killing the girl," Radiance said. "Because if we win, she'll be joining you. She will be an unexpected gift to our goddess. She could utilize the Oracle's services."
"No," Strafford spoke up, "Tha' is not part of the––"
"Deal," Chloe said without thinking, "but Ace fights. It's only fair."
Radiance thought for a moment, then pushed Ace to the cold, hard ground that had been cleared of snow. "What's a little more blood on my hands?"
Ace scrambled to his feet, glaring. "It'll be your own, Grace. Believe it."
Radiance laughed. "Ladies! They want death! Let's give it to them!"
"No guns!" Swindle said.
Radiance agreed. "No guns," and tossed hers aside. Her sisters followed suit and smiled like flying bullets were the last thing any of them should be worried about.
"What's the plan jukkas?" Swindle said.
"I have no plan," Chloe said. "I have a really big mouth, but no plan. Sorry guys."
"Fight to kill, wha' other plan could there be?" Ace said, twirling a drumstick and getting a long, black sword. She guessed not all of his drumsticks were daggers like she had thought.
"Here, Red," Strafford handed her his bronze dagger, "We'll try to defeat them before they get to you, but if we don't––"
"I understand," She said, softly, plainly realizing what she had just gotten them into. She could tell that Strafford was trying not to accuse her of being stupid out loud, but it was all over his face.
"I can help in the fight," Dropper said, unlatching his sword.
"The hell you will," Strafford snapped. "It'd be best if you jus' stayed out of our way and let the real warriors fight the battle."
Dropper's jaw clenched. "But I can help you win."
"Our patience is wearing thin, goooddddliiinnngs," Radiance sang, swinging around a sword in her hand. Where it had come from, Chloe didn't know.
"Nobody caaarrreees," Ace sang back, making the Graces laugh.
Swindle whistled and Bill swooped in. He grabbed the bird's talons and Bill morphed into a shield. "Ready when you jukkas are," he said.
"Stay out of our way," Strafford said to Dropper one more time. His tone was so cold his ring practically froze to his lip.
"Please, Dropper," She said, "Please just keep yourself safe. I need you to stay alive."
Dropper kissed her hand. "If they try and hurt you…"
"Everything will be okay. They won't hurt me. Just promise you won't fight, no matter what."
He nodded. "Okay, beautiful Chloe. I promise you this."
She hugged him and kissed his cheek. "Thank you."
Strafford stared at them for a moment, nodded, then tossed his stuff aside. He stretched his neck in preparation, and cracked his knuckles and arched his back, anger radiating off of him. And as Ace and Swindle joined him, she knew she was the cause of it. She quickly let Dropper go, but knew the damage was done. She had said she didn't want him and now she was all over Dropper. However, there was no time to broach the subject of her being a harpy and saying whatever just to hurt him. The Graces were ready to tango, and now, so was he.
"Ready to die?" Radiance asked casually as Strafford stepped forward.
He flashed and held Aor outward. "No. Achin' to kill…"
Radiance laughed and before any of them even knew what was happening, she was on them.
She was quicker than lightning, literally, a bolt from the sky. Her sword clashed with Strafford's and they were all blown backwards from the power of two divine weapons colliding.
"I think I talk too much," She said to herself as Dropper dragged to his feet and pulled her to hers. She rubbed her aching skull as she watched the duel quickly unfold.
Joy had engaged Ace the moment he'd found his footing; Blossom had come down on Swindle from the second he stood. Radiance was a magician with her sword. She deflected all of Strafford's attacks with apparent ease, and at one point, even knocked Aor right out of his hands. She punched him and he went flying back fifteen feet, landing with a back-breaking thud.
With that, Chloe knew she wasn't going to be just some sideline cheerleader.
But who needed her help the most? Not Strafford. He had summoned Aor back to him and was on his feet faster than she would have expected after taking a blow
like Radiance had delivered. She would've been unconscious for days. The Graces were out of control strong and she was apprehensive about joining the fight at all with just a dagger. But she found her fuel knowing that Dropper wasn't in harm's way and her prophecy was all but lost.
Swindle was using his shield to deflect Blossom's pointed attacks. He used swift to escape one, but Blossom was blessed with her own form of swift and moved with him like they were connected at the hip. They were way out of Chloe's league.
Joy confiscated Ace's sword and threw it away. Then she tried to behead him. He ducked around her swinging blade, twirling the necklace he'd gotten from the armory at the Prince's Tower around his finger. Twirling and twirling, ducking and spinning, until the necklace turned into a pair of nunchucks in his hand. Coming out of a spin, he maneuvered himself into an optimum position to bring the chucks cracking across the Grace's face.
It didn't slow her down. It just pissed her off.
Joy recovered and moved right into some impossible stunt, bending all the way back as if she had no spine to avoid another whack to the face, came up, spun and dipped, and kicked Ace's legs from under him, using the hilt of her sword to deliver a painful blow to his chest as he went down.
After adding to the demigod's pain by kicking him in the side, Joy turned to her. She froze. Joy just laughed.
"Let's see what you've been taught, Pythia," She snarled.
They hadn't taught her a freaking thing.
The Grace swung as if swatting a fly and Chloe's dagger rose up to deflect it. She missed and the sword sliced her arm. She hissed and decided right then and there that she would not let that happen again.
Her pain made her alert. She became quick, much quicker than she'd been in the battle with Hades' children and she deflected Joy's next attack. It felt the same as crouching at the starting line of a race track, waiting for the gun, and shooting out of her stance before the other runner's could even contemplate that the race had begun.
Prophecy of the Most Beautiful Page 28
