by Linsey Hall
Poison.
He was right. I could feel it streaking through me, weakening me with every second.
8
Maximus and I lay on the ground, our faces so close together that I could see the lines of agony cut around his eyes. Tiny thorns protruded from his clothes, the points stuck into his skin.
He should be immune to most injuries—a gift from the god who’d given him his magic. But this poison, whatever it was, seemed to be affecting him, too.
Pain streaked through my body, and my mind began to move slower as I tried to figure a way out of this. The thorns continued to ping against our shield, but our real problem was the poison in our veins.
I needed an antidote.
Shaking, I reached for the little vials in my potion belt. I gripped a general antidote and thrust it at Maximus. “Take this.”
“You first.”
“I’ve got another.” I shoved it into his hand and reached for my belt again to withdraw a second. I had no idea if it would work against this poison, but it was my best shot.
I let go of the shield so it was propped against my back to protect me, then fumbled with the vial. I slugged it back, wincing at the sour taste. Maximus did the same, and I waited, praying.
Finally, some of the wooziness began to retreat from my mind. Strength returned to my limbs, and the tremors ceased.
“It’s working,” Maximus said.
“Thank fates.”
“What is it?”
“General antidote, but an extra strong dose. I have a few like it, meant for different things. Some turn back the effects of poison, others break a strong spell. But since I invented them and haven’t been able to test them in all circumstances, I’m never quite sure if they’ll work when I need them to do something new.”
Maximus grinned and pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “You’re a genius.”
I grinned, then winced at the pain that still sliced through the areas where the thorns stuck into my body. “We need to get these thorns out.”
Maximus began to pluck the thorns out of my arms.
“Work on yourself,” I said.
“You first.”
Oh fates, this guy. I was totally falling for him. Had fallen, really. There was no question about it. Love.
I looked up at him, about to say something, when he grinned.
“Hear that?” he asked.
“What?”
“The thorns have stopped hitting us.”
Oh, thank fates. The coast was clear.
Maybe.
“Did they stop because the bushes ran out of thorns, or because someone stopped them?”
“Good point.” Maximus grabbed his mirror and surged to his feet, protecting himself with the shield as he looked into the mirror and spun in a circle, checking our surroundings. “Coast is clear.”
My shoulders relaxed just slightly. I stood and began to pluck the thorns out of my body. Maximus worked on himself, and soon we were thornless.
“There sure are a lot of booby traps in this forest,” I said.
“It’s odd, all right.” He set off again, heading in the direction we’d been going, following the faint whistling noise that never let up.
We went as quickly as we could with the mirror, roll-stick, and shield, but it wasn’t fast going. By the time I heard the rustling in the woods, I nearly jumped out of my skin.
When I spotted the Centaur behind me, my heart thundered. He was massive, at least eight feet tall with a powerful brown horse’s body and a broad chest. A wound striped over his chest, yellow and green. Infected.
He raised a bow and arrow, sighted it at us.
Since he wasn’t Medusa, I turned and looked at him straight on, holding up my hands. “Wait! We aren’t here to hurt you.”
He scowled, his dark brows crouching low over his eyes. “Then why are you here?”
“We’re hunting Medusa.”
His scowl deepened, and he drew back on the bow.
Well, shit, he didn’t like the sound of that. My mind raced, trying to find something—anything—that would make him lower the bow. I could duck behind my shield, but I didn’t want to start a fight with a guy who could outrun me and kick me in the head with his hooves.
“She can heal your wound,” Maximus said.
I brightened. That was good.
The Centaur scowled. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not. It’s infected.” And he was a smart-seeming guy, so he’d probably tried to treat it. The fact that it was oozing yellow and green stuff made it likely the treatments hadn’t been working. “I’m a potion master. I’m sure I have something to fix that.”
The Centaur scowled again and didn’t lower his bow.
“Please, let me help you,” I said.
He glared at us, clearly considering. Then he nodded. “Fine.”
My shoulders relaxed. Okay. This was good. I could work with this. Just like the mouse that had pulled the thorn out of the lion’s foot, I would help this guy.
Slowly, I approached him. His bow stayed lowered, thank fates. Maximus stuck close to my side, trying to look small and nonthreatening. It was a hilarious fail, but I didn’t tell him so.
I stopped in front of the Centaur, my face nearly level with the wound. “What gave you this?”
“A poisoned blade.”
I nodded, inspecting the cut. “Did the poison smell of anything? Did it have a color?”
“It smelled of anise and was black.”
Okay, so maybe a Morticella Poison. Hopefully. “I think I have something for it.”
He waited in silence as I dug around in my potion belt. Like the antidote we’d just taken, I couldn’t be sure it would work since I wasn’t sure that it actually was infected with the Morticella Poison, but it shouldn’t hurt him.
I handed it over. “You can spread it on your wound.”
For one, I wasn’t keen on touching it. And for another, he didn’t look like the type who wanted to be touched.
The Centaur nodded and took the potion.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Chiron.”
“I’m Rowan, and this is Maximus.”
He nodded. As he spread the potion on the wound, I figured that we should probably try to get some info out of this guy.
“Why are there so many booby traps in this forest?” I asked.
“To protect Medusa.”
My brows jumped. “To protect her?”
Chiron looked at me like I was an idiot. “And to protect you.”
“I don’t see how dangling upside down from a snare protects me.”
“You are approaching Medusa’s lair. As you get closer, the traps become more dangerous. The point is to drive you off before you see her.”
Suddenly, I understood. “Oh, so someone put them up to protect people from her.”
“No.” Disgust echoed in his voice. “I already told you, they are to protect her. You are protected as an afterthought. She doesn’t want to be hunted, and she also doesn’t want to turn anyone to stone.”
“She doesn’t?” Maximus asked.
“No.” Sadness entered the Centaur’s eyes. “I assume you were told the version of the myth where Medusa was born as a Gorgon and thrives on turning men to stone?”
Maximus nodded. So did I. There were several different versions of various myths, but that was the one I’d always heard about Medusa.
“Well, it’s not true.” Chiron shrugged. “It was the gods who turned her, through no fault of her own.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“She was once a beautiful maiden. Blue eyes and golden hair. So fair that Poseidon himself became enamored of her. But she didn’t want him. She didn’t want anyone, for she had sworn herself to virtue in Athena’s temple.”
Athena was the virgin goddess, something I couldn’t relate to myself, but hey, to each their own.
“What happened to her?” I asked as dread uncoiled in my stomach. One of my
least favorite things about the Greek gods was how the male ones tended to fall into lust with women and then go after them, often without their consent.
“What usually happens.” Disgust echoed in Chiron’s voice. “Poseidon cornered her and raped her in Athena’s temple. Athena was so enraged at Medusa that she turned her into the snake-haired Gorgon that she is today.”
Horror welled within me. “What? Why didn’t she go after Poseidon? Clearly he is the one in the wrong.”
“The gods hold archaic beliefs.” Chiron shook his head. “It’s not the first instance of them being bastards, and it won’t be the last.”
He was right. The stories were full of the gods being awful—both the men and the women.
Poor Medusa.
What the hell was I supposed to do?
I looked at Maximus, torn. His brow was creased and his eyes shadowed.
“So now you see why I did not want you to hunt Medusa. She doesn’t deserve it.”
Damn, this sucked. “That’s why she hides out in this forest. Of course.”
I really wanted to turn into a dragon, damn it. But I wasn’t going to kill some innocent woman to get there. True, she’d killed a lot of people. But she hadn’t wanted to. And how awful to not be able to look upon someone without murdering them.
I scowled. “Shit.”
“Why must you kill her?” Chiron asked. “Just turn back. Whatever the reason, it cannot be that compelling.”
His words filled me with dread. This wasn’t just about turning into a dragon because it was fun. It was about transforming into my final form—dragon or not—so I could take down the Titans and save the world. “But it can be that bad. It is.”
Chiron gave me a skeptical look, and so I explained, telling him the whole story of the Titans and the chaos that could fill the world and destroy it.
Chiron’s face paled and set in harsh lines. “The Titans.”
“Do you hate them as well?” Maximus asked.
Chiron nodded sharply. “Pure evil, and determined to spread more of it.” Sadness creased his features. “And the dragons say you must bring them Medusa’s head to complete your transformation.”
Tears pricked my eyes. I hadn’t even met Medusa yet, but I knew I couldn’t kill her. “I’m supposed to.”
Was that the point of this challenge? They were going to make me do something truly terrible to prove I was strong enough to defeat the Titans? I had to kill an innocent to be worthy of those powers?
I hated that idea.
Despised it.
“Maybe the dragons don’t know about Medusa’s true nature,” I said.
“They know,” Chiron said.
“I can’t do it. I won’t.“ I shook my head fiercely, reaching into my pocket and gripping the white dragon claw that they’d given me. “There must be another way.”
“You may not complete your final transformation,” Chiron said. “The dragons do not go back on their word. They want what they want.”
I scowled, my heart thundering. Medusa was innocent. I couldn’t believe I had to kill her. I wouldn’t.
Maximus’s dire expression was softening into a smile.
“Why are you smiling?”
“They said heads.” His gazed drilled into mine. “The dragons said that you must bring Medusa’s heads.”
“Plural?” Chiron asked.
“Yes.” Maximus nodded. “I thought it was strange at the time, but perhaps it is a clue.”
Hope flared in my chest.
Chiron grinned. “Ah, those dragons.”
“What?” I asked.
“The challenge is so perfect. So dragon-like.”
“What do you mean?”
“It tests your heart and your brain. Your empathy and your cleverness.”
“Maybe they don’t want me to kill Medusa?” Tension drained from my limbs as I clung to that idea. There was no way in Hades I’d kill her, and this could be my out.
I could still succeed.
“You just have to bring the heads,” Maximus said.
“I don’t think she’ll let you cut her snakes’ heads off,” Chiron said.
“No, she probably won’t.” There was no way she wanted snakes for hair, but even if she didn’t like the snakes themselves, it would hurt if I chopped all their heads off. I was going to have to figure something out.
“Your goal is important,” Chiron said. “But the path beyond here is nearly impossible. No one has made it in millennia. Not since her guardian appeared.”
“Guardian?” Maximus asked.
“The spider who devours souls.” True fear echoed in his voice.
Ah, shit, that sounded bad. Especially the way he’d said it.
“The beast will surely end your life,” Chiron said.
“I can’t turn back.”
Maximus nodded.
Chiron shrugged. “I’ve told you what I can. I’m confident you won’t kill Medusa—probably because you will die before you reach her. But if not, best of luck to you. I hope you are not wrong.”
“Me too.”
“If you meet the Titans on the field of battle, call for me.” He reached into a pouch at his side and withdrew a small silver stone. “Speak into this, and I will hear you. I’d like to join your battle, as would my brothers.”
Hey, that was awesome. I took the silver rock and clutched it in my hand.
With that, he turned and cantered away, moving swiftly through the forest.
I looked at Maximus. “Well, shit.”
“I agree that we cannot kill Medusa, even if the dragons wish it. My theory about the heads may be false, but I couldn’t condone killing her, given what we know now.”
“Good. Thank you.” It helped to have him on my side. And I wasn’t surprised he agreed with me. No way I could love someone who thought that killing Medusa was the right thing to do.
“Let’s keep moving.” Maximus raised his mirror. “We may need time to convince her we don’t mean her harm.”
“And time to fight whatever monster guards her.” Chiron’s lack of details made it even scarier.
We continued through the forest, moving as quickly as we could with our safety equipment slowing us down. We had to look ridiculous, but no way I was letting down my guard.
The faint whistle called us forward, and magic began to prickle against my skin as we cut deeper through the forest. Leaves appeared on the trees, casting more shade on the ground as they blocked the sun.
The farther we walked, the harder my heart pounded. What was this monster?
When the first bit of sticky white string struck me, I jumped. It twisted around my chest, binding my arms to my sides. Within seconds, a hundred more strands had wrapped themselves around me.
Panic iced my veins and made my head buzz with dull noise.
I thrashed, looking at Maximus, who was also bound tightly. We were trapped within a spider’s webbing, which wound around both of us so tightly and thickly that we looked like flies waiting to be eaten.
I struggled, sweating and thrashing, but I couldn’t break free. Maximus strained at the bonds, his face turning red and the veins popping out on his neck.
“I can’t get out.” His voice was rough.
He was strong enough to break through almost anything, but he couldn’t get through this?
“Try harder.” Panic made my voice high.
He fought the bindings, turning even redder, but nothing happened. “I can’t break it.”
He sounded almost bewildered. Maximus had never met something he couldn’t muscle his way out of.
Shit, shit, shit.
I couldn’t reach my potions—they were well trapped in my bag, squished against my body.
I almost screamed for Romeo and the Menacing Menagerie, but we couldn’t bring them here. I’d only ever been able to send Romeo a wordless SOS for help, never been able to actually speak to him if he wasn’t right next to me. If I couldn’t explain the situation they were walking into,
they’d get trapped just as quickly. I’d be inviting them to their deaths. No way I could do that.
I could explain the problem to my sisters over my comms charm, but I couldn’t reach it to ignite the magic.
A hissing noise sounded from above, and my stomach dropped to my feet.
I looked up, spotting the many-eyed stare of an enormous black spider. The creature’s long fangs dripped with venom. Hunger glinted in its eyes, and my skin chilled.
The spider that devours souls.
Oh, fates. Chiron had warned us.
The spider descended quickly, and my heart beat so strongly that I nearly passed out.
I looked at Maximus, who was as tightly bound as ever. If he couldn’t get out of here, we were screwed.
The spider was only ten feet above us now. There was no cavalry, no way to break free, and no hope.
We’re dead.
I did the only thing I could think of.
I looked at Maximus and blurted, “I love you.”
His startled gaze jerked up to mine.
“I couldn’t die without telling you that.” In a normal circumstance, I might have blushed. Being about to die definitely removed any embarrassment, however.
Before he could speak, the spider hissed and landed in front of us.
9
The spider’s eyes darted between the two of us.
I cringed as I looked at it, so scared that I could barely breathe.
“Do you love her?” the spider hissed.
I blinked at it.
What the hell?
At that moment, an image of a woman’s face flashed over the spider’s head. I squinted at the creature. The apparition had disappeared, but the spider had definitely spoken.
Even now, interest gleamed in its eyes. I couldn’t say which answer the spider expected or wanted, but it was curious.
It took everything I had to look from the spider to Maximus, but even in the face of death, I wanted to hear his words.
His gaze met mine. “Yes.” He jerked a bit, clearly trying to shrug and failing because of the spider’s tight bindings. “Once I met you, it was really only a matter of time.”
Warmth glowed through me. Not enough to douse the terror that was about to make me wet myself, but it made it a bit easier to think.