by A P Mobley
“I guess what I mean is,” she continued, breaking their eye contact, “I couldn’t let them take you after you helped Andy and me like you did. After you helped Spencer.”
“I wish I had done more for Spencer. More for Syrena. Maybe then they’d still be alive . . . Anyway, it was incredibly courageous of you to try and save me. I don’t deserve it—but thank you.”
“You’re—you’re welcome. I just wish it hadn’t put me and my friends in jail cells.”
Karter looked away. She’s going to die because of me.
They fell into silence.
*~*~*~
Andy didn’t know where Violet was taking him, Kali, and Darko.
Sure, he knew they were in Hephaestus City, and he knew if he made one wrong move Darko would pierce his own neck with an arrow. But he didn’t know where they were going, or why Violet was bringing them this way if she planned to cart them to Olympus. Then again, he also didn’t know which direction Olympus was. Maybe this was a stop along the way?
As they passed through the city’s Agora, people stared at Violet and whispered to each other, but Andy couldn’t hear about what exactly, nor did he try to listen. Instead, he prayed Zoey and Diana would reach the group’s pegasi and realize something bad had happened before the demigod could send someone to fetch them like she said she would. Or better yet, that Zoey and Diana would cross paths with Violet and end this madness since Andy and Kali couldn’t.
Soon they reached a tall building surrounded by iron gates. Centaur and satyr astynomia stood guard at all corners. As Violet approached a barred door which must have been the entrance, the astynomia guarding it bowed to her.
“These were allies of the Daughter of Apollo,” Violet said. “But now they are my prisoners. Would you be so kind as to escort them to their cells?”
“Of course,” one satyr said. Within a minute the astynomia had Andy, Kali, and Darko handcuffed.
“Any news on the Son of Zeus?” Violet asked.
A centaur turned to her. “Your companions captured him earlier today. Along with the Daughter of Apollo, the Titan Prometheus, and one of the two mortals of the prophecy.” At this news, Andy’s stomach twisted in knots.
Violet’s expression lit with surprise, then morphed into one of pure satisfaction. “Excellent.”
*~*~*~
For what seemed like hours Zoey and Karter sat in absolute quiet. Zoey was fine with it, though. She didn’t know Karter well enough to have a full-blown conversation with him, and it gave her plenty of time to think about how badly she’d screwed up today.
How could I have been so stupid? she thought, over and over. How could I have thought for one second that I was unstoppable? That we could take on those demigods and rescue Karter?
Okay, calm down. Think. How can I fix this? How can we escape?
As Zoey’s mind reeled with ways she could remedy the situation and get herself and Diana back to Andy, Darko, and Kali, Karter suddenly spoke. “I’m sorry.”
Zoey jerked her head to look at him. “What? Why?”
“We’re going to die, and I’m sorry for that.”
“We’re not going to die. Not if we can get out of here.”
Karter sighed. “No. Even if we get out of here, they know your face now, and I can’t hide anymore. They’ll hunt you down; they’ll hunt me down. And when we get to Olympus, Zeus will kill me first. Then Diana. Then you, and he’ll put the Titan back in his prison—or worse, in Tartarus. And I’m sorry for that.”
“Try to think positively. Maybe we could get out of here and fight those guys off if we found my friends and worked together.” She thought back to what she’d been hearing about all day: the gods’ cruelty. How Zeus didn’t allow demigods to keep their children on Olympus with them if they didn’t have enough divine blood, and how he’d executed Troy and Marina’s mother just for lying to him about their father’s identity. How, when their father finally told them what really happened to their mother, Hephaestus informed Zeus and their father was executed.
Maybe Karter was right about what Zeus would do to him, but it wasn’t productive for Karter to be thinking so negatively. “Besides, isn’t Zeus your father?” she asked. “I can’t imagine he’d wanna kill you first, or that he’d do it himself, no matter how much messed-up stuff he’s done before.”
“Oh, Zeus might be my father, but he’d kill me without hesitation after what I’ve done. He gave me this for much less.” He gestured at the scar on his face as best as he could with his wrists in chains.
Zoey’s breath caught in her throat. Zeus had given Karter that awful scar? “What did you do? What happened?”
Karter hung his head. “Several years ago, Spencer and Syrena tried to leave New Mount Olympus without permission. I told my father if he could just refrain from punishing them, I’d make sure it never happened again. He asked me then if I took responsibility for their crimes. I didn’t want them to suffer, so I said yes. He said since I took responsibility for them, and because I disrespected his ruling, I would suffer their punishment, but that it would be increased tenfold. My punishment was a lightning bolt to the face. My eyes turned from brown to the color of the bolt he used, and I was left with this scar. After that, I was considered a disappointment to everyone on New Mount Olympus. I had to work for years to get my father’s trust back. And now, because I tried to save Spencer in Hades, my father is going to kill me, and I’ll be known forever as a disgrace.”
Zoey studied Karter. She gazed at the lines of his face, of his scar, and at his odd golden irises that shone bright even in the dark. At one time she’d thought these things tarnished what could have been a handsome face, but now she wasn’t so sure.
“I understand what it’s like to be a ‘disgrace,’” she said, reminded of the way her classmates used to treat her after Jet told everyone what she’d done to pay her apartment rent. “I was, too. Back in my own time. I also . . . I understand what it’s like for a parent to hurt you. My mother—she used to hit me or yell at me almost every day, for who knows what reason. Maybe she thought I disrespected her, and maybe I did. Regardless, no kid should ever have to be scared of their parents.”
“You know, I was never scared of my mother. She was wonderful—at least, in the time I was able to spend with her. I’m sorry yours hurt you.”
“And I wasn’t scared of my father. He was amazing, until I never saw him again. I’m sorry yours scarred you.”
In that moment, Karter held an expression Zoey had never seen on him before. It was soft, tender.
Zoey cleared her throat. “So whaddya say? Do you wanna come up with a plan to escape this place together, get Diana and Prometheus, and join our group? Someone as powerful as you could be a huge help to us on our quest.”
Before Karter could reply, the cell’s iron door was pulled open. In the doorway stood Layla and Xander. Karter frowned at them. “Come to gloat?”
Xander shot Karter a glare, then stomped into the cell. “Oh no, something much less exciting. I’ve come to get the mortal while Layla has a word with you.” Xander snatched Zoey by the arm and yanked her to her feet. It hurt, but Zoey hardly noticed the pain—she was more concerned with what Xander had just said. What did Layla need to talk to Karter about?
“Why do you need to speak to me alone?” Karter asked. “Why are you afraid of her hearing what you have to say?”
Layla put her hands on her hips. “We’re not at all. We’re just following orders.”
As Xander pulled Zoey into the hall, she glanced over her shoulder at Karter and, for a few moments, they locked eyes.
Layla closed the cell door.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
DECISION
“What do you want from me?” Karter asked Layla, glaring at her.
“I don’t want anything from you,” Layla replied, examining her nails. “Zeus wants me to tell you something
.”
“Which is?”
“After Xander and I captured you and your little friends, Xander requested to speak with Zeus.” Karter nodded. Xander had two major powers as a Son of Hermes, Messenger of the Gods: the first being his exceptional speed, the second being his ability to contact the gods any time he wished, no matter where he was. He’d wave a hand and say the god or goddess’s name, then he would appear before him or her, and they would appear in front of him, both far away from each other but solidified as if in the flesh. Hermes had the same power, except he could also physically transport himself to any of the gods as he wished.
“We told him everything,” Layla said. “We were sure he’d be furious that you’d run away from us, that you’d tried to escape your punishment again. But instead, he seemed happy. He said all was unfolding according to plan.”
“According to plan?”
“Yes. He informed us he never really planned to execute you, at least not for this screwup. A few months ago, he had a vision of your future. He said the vision is your true destiny and that he would be an idiot to try and sway it.”
“Wait, what? My destiny? What did he see, and why did he wait so long to tell me this?”
“He was waiting for the right time to tell you, and apparently this was it. As far as what he saw, he explained that first he witnessed Xander, Violet, and I capture you and the Daughter of Apollo. Then he saw you realize the mistakes you’ve made and swear your loyalty to the gods once again—he already knew you’d betray the gods in Hades before he sent you to capture Diana.
“Anyway, in the vision you brought Diana to Olympus—to her execution—but instead of Zeus killing her, as he did Syrena, you were the one to kill her. You made green lightning, something everyone knows you’ve never accomplished, and you struck the Daughter of Apollo with it. Without any hope of help left, without any direction, the mortals from the Before Time lost the war. Peace was brought to New Mount Olympus and the rest of the world. And last, because of your heroic deeds, Zeus saw you live forever, a god among the rest, seated on your own throne in the palace for eternity.”
Karter’s heart skipped. Your destined greatness awaits, Asteria had said. Was this what she meant? Was this the “greatness” he was bound to achieve? He’d kill Diana, which would inevitably end the upcoming war on the gods, and he’d become an immortal? Very few demigods had completed such incredible feats that Zeus rewarded them with their own godship, his brother Heracles being one of them. Yes, Karter was powerful, but it was hard to believe he’d be able to create and control green lightning and stand equal among the gods.
“Even if Diana dies, the war won’t be over,” Karter said. “Those mortals will never give up. They’re strong and persistent, regardless of the fact they have no powers. They’ll find a way to keep fighting. I witnessed it myself in Hades.”
Layla laughed. “No matter what you believe, that’s not what Zeus saw in his vision. Besides, we have them and the rest of their friends in custody. Violet caught the boy earlier, along with another girl and a satyr. How can they keep fighting if they and all their allies are executed alongside Diana?”
“Are you telling me I’m meant to kill the rest of them, too?” Karter asked, his stomach churning.
“No, Zeus wants them for himself. However, we do need your help to transport them to New Mount Olympus. Zeus has appointed a few of the Cyclopes from the Hephaestus City Forges to make us cages and carry them, but we’ll still need you to help guard them as we travel. When we reach home, a public execution will be scheduled, you’ll stand by your father’s side and help him carry it out, and then you’ll be made a god.”
“How can I trust you’re telling the truth?”
She bent down next to him, pulled a key from her robes, and unlocked each of his chains, one by one. “Why else would I let you go? You’re meant to end the war. You’re meant to bring peace to the world, and one day, you’re meant to be made a god.”
*~*~*~
Andy wasn’t sure how long he’d been chained up in the prison cell.
He’d been separated from Darko and Kali, as the cells were too small to hold all three of them. Violet had locked those two up somewhere else, then taken Andy away and done the same to him. Since then, he’d been able to do nothing but worry about what was going to happen to them next.
We’re all captured, he thought. And Darko is under that sick love spell. What are we going to do?
As if in reply to his thoughts, the cell door opened, and a girl covered in bruises and cuts was thrown inside, blood smeared on her face like streaks of red paint.
“Zoey!” Andy cried. He went to reach for her, to throw his arms around her and bury his hands in her curls and never let her go, but his chains held him back. The door closed behind her, then locked.
Zoey climbed to her knees and looked to him with fear in her eyes. “Andy? W-what’s happening? How’d you get in here?”
“A psycho Daughter of Aphrodite found us while we were waiting for you guys to come back. She put Darko under this crazy love spell and then used him to threaten us. We had to follow her back or else she was going to make Darko kill himself. How did you get here?”
“We’d just left the forges. Karter was—was in the city. I don’t know how or why. But two demigods—Layla, a Daughter of Ares, and Xander, a Son of Hermes—were going to capture Karter and take him to Olympus. I knew that would mean certain death for him, and after what happened in Hades, I couldn’t stand by and let that happen. We tried to save him, but we couldn’t, and they captured us all.”
Andy gulped. “What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know,” Zoey said, her voice cracking as if she was about to cry. “This is all my fault.”
“No, it’s not,” Andy replied. “We can still figure this out. We just have to work together. That Daughter of Aphrodite said something about taking us to Olympus. If that’s the case, they can’t keep us in here for—”
Pain unlike anything he’d felt before interrupted all other thoughts, all other words, arcing up his back like lightning. He screamed, his throat ripping raw. His vision faded between red and black. What was happening to his body? Was he splitting in two?
A hand cupped his cheek, and Zoey begged him to tell her what was wrong, begged him to be okay. Her voice was barely audible over his shrieks, but as the pain consumed him, it became his only solace in an ocean of agony.
Finally, the electrifying sensations faded into a dull, throbbing ache. Andy’s breaths were shallow. Sweat seeped from his pores.
Zoey sat just inches from him, cupping his cheek with her hand. “Andy, what’s going on? What was that?”
“My—my back,” he said between breaths. “It’s . . .” He paused for a moment. A new feeling plagued him; what felt like warm, sticky liquid trickled down his spine. His pulse quickened. He couldn’t be bleeding, could he?
“What’s wrong?”
“I— I— Zoey, look down the back of my shirt.”
“What? Why?”
“Please just do it. Something—something is wrong.”
She pulled her hand away and stood, lifted the back of his shirt, then peeked down it and gasped.
“What is it?” Andy asked.
“It—it looks like you have wings. Small, bloody wings.”
“What in the hell do you mean I have wings?”
Zoey kneeled in front of him, her blue eyes wide. “F-feathered wings. Like a bird’s. Except yours are tiny in comparison to your body—like, they’re maybe the length of a pencil, and they’re covered in blood. Did they rip through the skin, or . . .?”
“You’re not serious.”
“I am. Andy, do you think—”
The cell door creaked open, and in the doorway stood Violet, a young woman with curly burgundy hair Andy assumed was Layla, and a young man with a crooked and sinister smile
who must be Xander.
Violet strolled toward Zoey. The demigod’s opalescent eyes flashed with malice, her hips swaying with every step. The demigod leaned down and grabbed Zoey’s chin, then lifted her head so Zoey and Violet were at eye level.
Andy remembered the way Darko had fallen in love with Violet upon seeing her and was forced under the demigod’s control; how, because he was in love with no one else, he’d fallen in love with Violet just by looking into her eyes.
Andy clenched his teeth. “Leave her alone.”
Violet dug her nails into Zoey’s face, drawing the girl closer and batting her eyelashes. Zoey stared fearfully at the demigod. “Is she the reason you didn’t fall for me, little boy? Why you were able to evade my love spell?”
Andy opened and closed his mouth, refusing to answer the question.
Violet released Zoey and walked back to the other demigods. Zoey gave Andy a wide-eyed glance. “Oh, you’re in luck. She must feel the same. Otherwise, she’d have fallen desperately for me and wouldn’t have turned away like that. Unless . . .” She giggled. “Unless she cares for someone else. That’s always awful. For the one whose feelings go unrequited, anyway. Luckily I’ve never had to experience heartbreak. I’m always the one breaking hearts.”
The girl who must be Layla rolled her eyes. “Quit taunting them and talking about yourself. We have a job to do.” She stomped into the cell and unlocked Andy’s chains, only to bind his hands behind his back using her own. Her grip was like stone, and he wondered if one of her powers was super-strength. She pushed him out of the cell and into the hallway.
“I like it when you talk about yourself,” the boy who had to be Xander said to Violet, smirking as he looked her up and down. Violet blew him a kiss, then cocked her head at Zoey. Xander sauntered into the cell, grabbed Zoey, and hoisted her to her feet.
The demigods shoved Andy and Zoey through a dimly lit metallic corridor lined with astynomia and the doors of other cells, until finally they reached the end of the hall, where the tallest door of all awaited them: the one through which they’d entered the jail or prison or whatever the hell the place was called earlier that day. Violet unlocked the door. She threw it open and allowed Layla and Xander to lead Andy and Zoey into the building’s courtyard. Massive iron gates circled the enclosure, blocking it off from the rest of Hephaestus City and keeping its prisoners from escaping, the moon a sliver of silver in a star-dotted navy sky.