by Amy Braun
Liam moved to her side. “We’ll figure it out,” he promised. “Think of it this way—we’re stuck with them, but we’ll also be there to watch them. Derek’s Pact might be on the fritz, but we’ll be front row for when they try to betray us.”
“Wow,” said Mason, amused. “Way to sell the optimism there, Liam.”
“Hey, man, I’m just being honest.” His looked at all of us. “My point is, we know that now. We can work around it.” He nodded to Selena. “We’ve got an insanely powered Farseer, Zeus’s heir, a wayfare scion who can help us escape”—Corey balked at that—“plus a former member of the Cetea Clan, who Ares is controlling.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You really do need to work on the optimism, ace.”
Liam rolled his gaze in my direction. “My point is that we have more of an advantage than you all seem to think. As soon as we find a way to get those memories out of Derek’s head and combine them with the recording rune he’s wearing, we’ll have proof to give directly to Zeus.”
I looked at the rune. An oval eye with a black pupil in its middle peered back at me. I could activate it any time by running my thumb across it and speaking some Ancient Greek words, and I could shut it off by doing the reverse.
I would have to protect it constantly. Only the Fates knew the challenges we would face next.
“This didn’t work out the way we wanted it to,” Liam added, “but it still worked. As long as we don’t let the Cetea keep any Cronus Shards we find, we’ll be okay.” He grinned and clapped Corey on the shoulder. “You’re going to have to make some gnarly portals, my friend.”
Corey stared at Liam with wide eyes. Mason nudged his elbow gently. “Come on. Let’s go downstairs and see if a conference room is available. I’m not looking forward to meeting up with the Cetea, but at least we’ll get a few more hours at the hotel.” He guided Corey to the door. “Thea? Want to come?”
She shook her head. “No, I… I think I need to shower or… something.”
Without another word, she walked to the bathroom and closed the door behind her. The shower started running a second later.
“She’ll be all right, Mason. Thanks.” Selena’s words offered more surety than her voice did.
He nodded and led Corey out of the room, leaving me with my brother and my roommate.
Liam shuffled over to the sofa and dropped onto it. “Well, at least the worst part of the Pact’s rules are gone.”
I nodded. I wouldn’t have to worry about hurting my friends again, so long as none of them touched the Trident.
Gentle fingers brushed my neck. I started at the touch and turned. Selena drew her fingers back.
“I’m sorry, I just…” She shook her head. “I never would have let you go alone if I’d known what he was going to do. While I was giving you that ten minutes, I tried to use my Sight to See what was going to happen, but it blurred again, and I—”
I was shaking my head. “It’s not your fault, Selena. If it’s anyone’s, it’s mine. I chose to go down there because I knew he would come up here if I didn’t.” I folded my arms across my chest. “I don’t want that. I don’t want him near any of you.”
We fell silent for a long time, only the sound of the shower between us.
“I would say you should just stay away from him for forever,” Liam remarked, then sighed. “But he’s not going to let you do that, is he?”
I glanced at my brother. He was picking at the knee of his jeans, his body relaxed but his eyes conflicted and sad.
“No,” I admitted. “But the next time I see him, I’m going to remember your speech, ace.”
Liam rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t that great,” he muttered.
I just smiled at him. “It was enough.”
Five hours later, we were in the hotel conference room.
It was a simple place, little more than white walls, a large oak desk, leather office chairs, and a large spread of small sandwiches, fruit and vegetables, cookies, water, and juices.
Not that anyone was eating. We all probably assumed that if anyone moved, it would be to kill the person across from them.
Since they’d been following Thea, the Cetea knew where we’d been staying. But they didn’t want to cause a scene any more than we did. So when we got the call from the front desk saying a group of people had arrived to meet us, we agreed that the conference room was the best place to talk. They wouldn’t know what room we were staying in, and we wouldn’t be disturbed.
“It’s just an hour,” I’d heard Selena whisper to Thea when we’d made our way down. “You’re not one of them anymore.”
Thea had nodded but said nothing.
The six of us faced down the six of them. Kallis Faidon sat at the head of the table, directly opposite Thea. He’d changed into a sleek navy-blue suit with a black tie. A gold lapel pin shone on his breast pocket, the twisting body of a serpentine fish whose mouth was filled with hook-like teeth.
A man with the heart of a monster.
On either side of Kallis were his children, I assumed. It wasn’t hard to piece together since they were twins who looked just like him. Catalina and Alexi Faidon, heirs to the Cetea Clan’s empire.
Catalina appeared to be in her mid-twenties, close to my age. She stood to Kallis’s left. Her crimson hair was pulled into a smooth ponytail that stretched down her back. She was dressed in a crisp black suit and wore little makeup. She wasn’t traditionally beautiful like Selena or Thea, but with her sharp-edged features, her cold blue eyes, and a dusting of freckles across her face, she was certainly striking.
To the right of Kallis was Alexi, a man whose size rivaled mine. His thick muscles strained against his black suit. His hair was cropped close to his skull, and his jaw was set so hard it looked like he was chewing granite. His dark-blue gaze was fixed on Thea, and I did not like the cold fury in his eyes.
Behind the Faidons were three other goons, two hulking men and a lithe woman. All of them were dressed cleanly, professionally, and looked more like businesspeople sharing the same closet than a highly efficient mob.
Thea stared at each one of her former friends. Her fingers were plastered on the table and her shoulders were tight. The rest of us were seated as close to her as we could be, with Selena and Liam right next to her, and me at the far right closest to Alexi. Physically, he was the biggest threat, but I had no idea what the other Cetea were capable of. We’d been seated for at least five minutes, waiting for someone to speak.
Finally, Kallis broke the silence.
“You look good, Thea.” His eyes skipped over her. “Healthy. But your clothes seem a little cheap.”
“Cut the bullshit, Kallis,” she snapped. “We got stuck together by the gods, and I don’t want to talk about anything but the mission at hand.”
Catalina’s eyes flashed with anger, and the Cetea behind them scowled and bared their teeth, but Kallis just smiled.
“You kept your spirit. I’m glad. I know Alexi has missed it.”
I flicked my eyes to the towering Faidon. His face was empty of emotion, but he reminded me of a coiled rattler ready to strike. His stare was unnerving, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see it was making Liam uncomfortable as well.
Thea didn’t even look at Alexi.
I moved my fingers to the right of my forearm, where the rune was hidden––
“Oh, I would wash that Third Eye enchantment from your arm, Mr. Areios. It would be a very, very poor decision on your part to record anything that is going to happen over the next few days.” Kallis smiled wickedly. “I know a few gods who would make you pay quite dearly for it.”
I kept my jaw from dropping, but only barely. The entire room looked at me, knowing that nothing in this room would properly erase permanent marker from my skin.
“Fine,” I growled.
I held out my arm to Liam and looked at him. “Sorry, ace.”
I meant it. He didn’t want to do this. But he didn’t hesitate longer than a moment.
/> Liam swept a hand across the rune, flames washing over my skin. I bit back a hiss of pain at the smell of burning flesh. The blast was quick and hot, and it charred the rune from my skin. As soon as the enchantment was gone, I pressed my fingers to the wounded arm and healed it.
Fury boiled within me when I looked at Kallis again. He and his posse were smiling.
“Excellent. Now we can proceed. I believe, Thea, you were about to say something?”
Thea was lost for words. Her eyes had strayed to Liam’s stormy expression. Concern filled her gaze, but she quickly cleared her throat, and the meeting carried on.
“Selena’s been able to See where one of the Cronus Shards might be. She Saw the Eye of Cronus before we came down here. It’s likely on Santa Rosa Island.”
“Ah, yes,” drawled Kallis, looking from Thea to Selena. “The Farseer and heir of Athena. We’ve heard much about you.”
“From Ares?” she challenged.
Kallis’s grin unfolded like a knife. “Assuming doesn’t become you, my dear.”
“Don’t presume to know me,” she snapped back, “and don’t think I’m not going to know every move you make before you make it.” Her eyes narrowed to slits. “And don’t call me dear.”
He chuckled. “But of course. You know and See all. Except when you don’t. Except when you’re tricked or your Sight simply fails you, which happens more often than not, doesn’t it?”
Selena scowled and looked ready to leap across the table.
“The last two Weapons we found were heavily protected,” I said, eager to move the conversation along. “We have to assume the Eye of Cronus will be protected just as well.”
“How do you know that’s even what you Saw?” challenged Catalina. “What does it look like?”
Selena’s eyes cut to the red-haired woman. I could all but see the hesitation knotting her shoulders. After a long, slow blink, she told us.
“It’s a piece of the universe,” Selena explained. “It’s a black sphere of space, stars, galaxies, and endless possibilities. The Eye can See parallel realities and other dimensions. They’re all similar to ours, but with slight differences. That’s how Seers interpret the future. We can See a host of other possibilities, but they’re all shadowed. Our brightest vision is the one we know as truth.”
We all stared at her. “How do you know the Eye can do this?” Mason asked.
Selena flicked her eyes to his. “I… it’s instinct, I suppose.”
Meaning she didn’t know. It was a piece of her locked behind the hex.
“So, we know to look out for Cassandra’s traps,” Liam added to fill the silence. “We just need to figure out what they are and how to avoid them.”
“Shouldn’t you be in school?” growled Alexi.
“Ares paid for my schooling,” quipped Liam. “Aced all my standard subjects, as well as my Warrior training. I even took an elective in Bully Beatdown 101.” His eyes narrowed. “I’d love to show you how I passed that one.”
Alexi’s lip curled, and I thought he was going to be the one to start the fight. Kallis seemed to know his son well, though, and raised his hand to stop the mobster from charging.
“He’s not worth it, son.”
Liam grinned menacingly, as if that truth were up for debate.
Liam didn’t take his eyes off Alexi.
Rather than respond, I said, “My brother isn’t wrong. Thea is the heir of Poseidon, and the only people who can handle the Trinity Weapons without being harmed are heirs.”
“Or gods,” Mason grumbled.
Kallis looked at him, then glanced at his gloves. “One could argue that even heirs can’t handle the Trinity properly.”
Mason had the best cool of all of us. He smiled at Kallis as if they were the best of friends. “Maybe a human can’t. But the gods are quite capable of handling their godly trinkets.” Mason cocked his head and sent out a quick snap of his static-laced storm magic. “I heard a rumor that you were pals with Ares. Did he help you get the Trident?”
Kallis’s eyes darted to me. He’d been there when Ares had hexed me. He knew I wasn’t supposed to be able to speak about the meeting. He was wondering how Mason had found out.
I just sat there and smiled.
“No. That was hard work and luck.”
Kallis carried on before I could call bullshit. “Regardless of what you think,” he snapped, “none of us has a choice when a god has decreed our actions. And reluctant as I am to work with traitors, I would assume it’s better than dying.”
Corey sputtered. “What do you mean? We’re not going to die…”
He trailed off when Kallis raised his cold eyes to him. “Think of every traitor you’ve ever known who stood against the gods, boy. How many of them are still alive?”
Corey didn’t need the answer to that question. None of us did. The Olympians were famed for taking brutal, bloody vengeance on their enemies and mortals they believed defied them.
Kallis looked at Selena again. “So, you believe the Eye of Cronus is on Santa Rosa Island?”
She nodded slowly. “I told Thea what I Saw when we were upstairs, and we found it on a map. I’ll know precisely where the Shard is when I get to the island.”
“Good. Thea, I’m assuming you have a small yacht and equipment for us to use for this excursion?”
“You can’t bring your own?” she bit out.
Kallis gave her a sinister grin. “I’d rather have your equipment get damaged than mine.”
Thea scowled. “Fine. Come by my shop tomorrow morning. I’ll have everything ready, and we’ll set out by nine. Happy?”
Kallis chuckled at her biting response. “Not yet. But I will be.”
THE CETEA CLAN was far more punctual than I’d hoped.
We rested as much as we could—or at least the others did, since my rest ended in a nightmare of fire, blood, and steel before the woman with gold-and-brown hair whispered in my ear—then left the hotel early and returned to Thea’s boat shop to prepare the yacht.
It was a small and comfy boat, a few years old, and Thea was proud of it. She used it to take out small sea tours and private excursions.
When Thea saw Faidon, his twins, and his cronies arrive at her dock before nine in the morning, she was not pleased.
“It’s the Union, Kallis,” she growled. “Shouldn’t you be out there extorting someone?”
“And give you a chance to run away from us again?” Kallis grinned cruelly. “I don’t think so.”
It was only eight-thirty. We were carrying heavy containers of supplies and equipment, and we were already poised for a fight.
Liam glanced at me and frowned.
He had indeed, and if I thought pranks and petty torments would drive the Cetea Clan away, I would be challenging Liam about who could throw harder and faster. But they weren’t going to change their minds just because we wanted them to. We were stuck with them until the Shard was found.
And from the way Kallis, Alexi, and Catalina swaggered onto Thea’s boat, I knew it was going to feel like a long time.
Catalina slid her fingers along the edge of the yacht. “Nice choice, Thee.” Her eyes glimmered with cruelty. “Must’ve been a steal.”
Thea didn’t rise to the taunt. “Nope. I paid full price for it. And cut the jokes, Cat. You never were funny.”
Catalina’s eyes hardened, but her smile was all malice.
The Cetea followed us onto the yacht. The cronies—whose names I learned were Tobin, Ross, and Olivia—dutifully searched the boat. Apparently, they didn’t trust us n
ot to plant some kind of hex or trap on the yacht specifically for them.
I couldn’t say I blamed them and only wished we were so sadistic.
With wary eyes and bitter hearts, we settled into the boat and let Thea take us out.
After about twenty minutes, I slipped out of the main cabin and onto the prow. I was hesitant to leave any of my friends alone with the Cetea, especially Thea, but I let myself slip away for a moment.
I took in the cool dawn air, the smell of the ocean, the sound of waves lapping against the boat, the sunlight glimmering off the water’s surface, the wind pressing against my face.
It was beautiful out here.
I watched the waves roll past us and felt the warmth of the sun on my face.
When Liam didn’t reply, I glanced over my shoulder. He watched me through the glass, his eyes filled with more hope than I’d seen in a while.
Which only steeled my conviction.
Liam smiled, and it was worth the promise just to see that look. I knew he wouldn’t hold to that hope too tightly—and neither would I—but it was something to reach for. Another reason to fight harder. A reason to keep the Cetea from doing whatever they planned on doing.
A reason to keep Ares from controlling me more than he already did.
We lapsed into silence, and I watched the sun spill over the horizon, casting the ocean in a sweeping length of red, orange, pink, and gold. It was a stunning sight and gave my heart a sense of peace I hadn’t known I’d needed.
My peace was disrupted when Corey suddenly zipped onto the prow next to me. I jumped and cursed.
“Gods above and—”
“Look!”
I followed his pointing finger over the side of the boat. Dark water rushed past us, broken only by currents and waves, but as more daylight was cast upon the ocean’s surface, I was able to see a shadowy form rising from the depths.