by Amy Braun
I had done many radical things since becoming an heir. But for the first time, I felt like one. I felt like I could conquer the Olympians. Stand against them and win. I had no fear, no sight for anything but the enemies standing in front of me.
Ares laughed wildly in the background. Artemis scowled at me, her eyes darting from left to right as she slung her bow over her back and called more magic into her. Zeus had been watching the entire time, but now he seemed appeared uneasy.
These gods kidnapped my brother and my friends. They set the Furies on me. They accused me of murdering their own. They oppressed people, used them, and butchered them for no reason.
They had never shown mortals kindness without demanding something in return. And as fire and aether spun around me in a whirlwind, I was not inclined to show any kindness to them.
Seventy shadowfires formed at my call, and I gladly unleashed them.
The shadowfires exploded outward, bolting past me in a crush of heat and smoke, burning through the air and raising weapons made of fire. They swarmed Ares, who laughed when the flames rolled over his body. Artemis bunched her legs and pushed herself higher into the air. The remaining soldiers rushed Zeus.
He didn’t move as they collided with him. Then his Thunderbolt glowed brightly in his hand and exploded outward. The entire alley erupted in shocking white light. The air condensed and tightened in my lungs. My hair stood on its end and snaps of energy hopped between the plates of my armor.
I pushed the remaining energy I’d summoned in front of me. A wall of flame and aether swept in front of me, threading together and blocking the slam of Zeus’ lightning. Sparks whipped around the edges, snapping against my armor. Sharp bolts jabbed into my body, making my fingers twitch, but I held on. I pushed back, shoving my hand out, pouring more energy into the blast, giving it everything, forcing it back…
It moved.
I hadn’t expected it to, but my wall grew, smothering Zeus’ lightning and crawling across the walls. The wall heated glass, cracked stone, and rose over the bodies. Those I would not harm. They were fuel, motivation to hold my ground.
Eventually, my wall of aether and fire stretched so tall and wide that I could no longer see any of the gods. My insides strained, my magic pressed to the limit, but I had force them back––
A jolt of lightning struck through the wall, punching through it with speed and ease. It slammed into my chest, stuttering my heart.
I blacked out, and when I opened my eyes again, I was on the ground with Zeus’ magic binding me. The Rage had dissipated. I felt everything, but even my broken hand was lost in the electrifying pain that seared through my body. Every nerve turned into a nail, and Zeus’ lightning was the hammer. A scream tore out of me as the lightning crushed and stabbed me. I tried to roll on my side so I wouldn’t break my head open on the pavement, but I couldn’t escape the pain.
Heavy boots stomped toward me. Fingers closed around my throat and hauled me to my feet. I had no energy to fight back. Ares looked me over, holding me like I was a bundle of rags.
“Impressive,” he remarked. “But is that truly all you have?”
“Enough talk,” barked Artemis. She stormed over, nocking a moonlight arrow in her silver bow. “I will take revenge for my brother’s death.”
She raised the knife over my face.
“Stop.”
Artemis froze at the sound of Zeus’s voice. The god stepped forward, his suit somehow still white and pristine despite the blood, dust, and ash coating the street. “Do not kill him yet.”
“Why?” demanded Artemis. “This is the moment we have been waiting for.”
“I have questions. He knows things about Athena.” Zeus’ glowing eyes met mine. “If he values his life, he will tell me.”
“Is that why you have not summoned the Furies here? Because you think she will return to us?”
The King’s eyes narrowed. “Be careful of your next words, girl—”
“No!” Artemis screamed. Her rage was so intense, that it seeped into the concrete with enough force to crack it. The hunter goddess’s aura pulsed outward, beating like a drum. “You will not deny me this!”
She whirled around, raising her bow and firing—
An explosion of flame burst in front of me, swallowing the arrow while the light and heat blinding me and searing my face. The fire launched toward Ares, slamming against his cheek and forcing him to drop me. I landed hard and glanced to backward, listening to Ares scream at the fire burning his face.
Another goddess had arrived.
A steel breastplate covered her torso. A leather gladiator skirt and sandals covered her waist and legs. Atop her head was a steel pike helmet with a face guard that protected her cheeks and hooded her eyes. She bore a large shield with a blue owl in flight painted on the surface. In her other hand was a sturdy sword.
Athena was not here to play around.
Artemis shook with rage. “Traitor.”
Persephone, donned in her silk robes, pressed healing hands to my body. I hadn’t known she was here, either. Gods, everything hurt.
I looked around her. “Where’s Selena?”
Persephone didn’t answer me. The dread in my stomach only got worse.
“Daughter,” Zeus acknowledged, breaking my attention.
“Father,” returned Athena.
“Why have you come?”
“Two reasons.” She nodded to me. “First, I have bestowed my blessings on him. He is a scion under my protection.”
“He is my heir––” growled Ares.
“Second,” Athena interjected, not even giving her brother a second glance. She looked at the dead and dying. “Because you have stepped too far.”
“There are not lines for us, Daughter,” Zeus proclaimed. “This is about the balance of power. Mortals must remember their place in the universe, Athena. They have been allotted too much freedom, and they have squandered it. We are dying, and if we die, we shall not be born again. I am not willing to risk that.”
Energy crackled behind his every word. He truly believed the path he stood on was the right one.
“I know you have the Mind of Cronus. Return it to me. Help us reform the world to what it was. You cannot deny that you miss what you used to be.”
Athena fell silent, her expression unreadable.
What must it have been like, to have so much power, to control and gain anything you wanted, only to have it stripped away?
Persephone scooped her arms underneath mine and helped me to my feet. Artemis’ eyes were daggers as she watched me.
“I cannot give you the Timeweaver, Father,” Athena said sadly. “It has been used.”
I turned out of Persephone’s grip and looked at her, my heart twisting at the look on her face. “What happened?” I lowered my voice as low as I dared. “Where’s Selena?”
Zeus’ eyes flashed angry white. “You dare––”
“It was no less than you intended to do.”
His eyes narrowed. “You accuse––”
Movement caught my eye, and there was Artemis, pulling back her bowstring. Four silver arrows formed out of thin air, pressed against the string, and shot toward me.
I flung Ki̱demónas and commanded the spear to block the arrows. The bolts swerved out of the spear’s path.
Heat flooded the air. Athena whipped her head to the side as a fireball the size of a tree tore across the street. Athena raised her shield and bent her knees to brace for the hit. The impact still rocked her off her feet and slammed her into the wall to the left. Ares raised his hands and pressed on the attack, a manic smile covering his face. Even with embers glowing within his face, crawling between his jaw and the top of his cheekbone, he welcomed the chance to fight his hated sister.
Persephone yanked me back again. She shoved her palm outward. Aether pushed from her skin and coiled around the arrows, crushing them to splinters. The smoke spread into a thick black wall, blocking every arrow that followed. Artemis roared ev
ery time she missed a killing blow.
Thick tendrils of icy aether wrapped around me. There was a tilt in my stomach, the sensation I usually got before being teleported.
Artemis’ eyes widened and she nocked an arrow––
A thick tendril of aether smacked into her and launched her away. I recalled Ki̱demónas and flicked my wrist. The spear contracted to a two foot-length, and I tucked it onto the sheath on my back.
“Athena!” Persephone called.
The goddess did not seem to hear her, too intent on fighting Ares. The smell of singed hair and scorched flesh filled the air. Ash flitted above the rolling tongues of flame.
Behind them, Zeus readied a ball of lightning. His hair and eyes gleamed white with electricity and power, and he arched his hand back––
Athena lowered one hand and grabbed her shield. She swung it through the flames, and I watched with delight as the edge of the shield cracked into Ares’s face. Right on the burned edge. His head rocked back, a furious roar escaping him––
Zeus’ lightning exploded from his hands. Athena whirled around and swept up her palms. Fire tore out of her and smashed into the lightning. The white light snapped and cracked against the edges of her fire, eating it away. Athena scurried back until she was enveloped in Persephone’s aether tendrils.
The shadows closed tighter, encasing only myself and Athena in darkness, leaving Liam and Thea with the gods. Panic filled me, and I raced for them––
Artemis screamed, a sound of rage so visceral that I felt it in my bones. She leaped as the aether was closing––
But we were not fast enough.
She entered it with us as we vanished from the street.
We tumbled and rolled through the chaotic blankets of Persephone’s teleportation. Whiplashes of color filled my vision. My body tumbled and spiraled in chaos––
The shadows fell away, and we were back in the main nave of Persephone’s cathedral.
With an extra, vengeful passenger.
Artemis leaped at me. Her knee slammed to my chest and knocked me into a pew. She crouched over me, a silver bolt coming down at my eye––
A black dagger snapped under Artemis’s chin and pressed to her throat.
“You will not harm my son, Artemis.”
There was no compromise in Persephone’s voice.
“Why?” Artemis demanded. “Did you all hate him so much?”
Hearing the tremor in her voice, the rage and pain… Even though she burned for my death, I understood it.
“We did not hate him, Artemis,” Athena said gently, approaching her sister’s back. “But your hatred is misdirected. Derek did not kill Apollo.”
Artemis scoffed, her silver eyes boring into my skull. “You would say anything to save him. You all care for him. I do not believe you. I will not.”
Heedless of the knife at her throat, Artemis pressed the bolt forward––
Athena snapped her arms around Artemis’s torso and dragged her off onto the ground. The bolt clipped upward, slicing a thin line across my eyebrow and forehead. The hunter goddess screamed as Athena grappled her into the floor. She closed her hand on her sister’s forehead. In seconds, the goddess was unconscious.
We stood there, breathing hard and staring at our new, unwanted guest.
I turned to Athena, fighting the adrenaline, fear, and anger burning in my veins. “Where is Selena?”
A shudder rocked through Athena. “Your actions caused this. You.” She looked at me, eyes burning blue and words filled with venom. “If you had simply listened to me, if you had not reacted impulsively, none of this would have happened.”
The goddess stormed toward me, grasping my arm and dragging me down the hall. Even though I stood taller and broader, she pulled me around like a toy. Not even Persephone stopped her. “Let me show you what you have wrought on all of us.”
LIAM
A SLOW, ROCKING motion woke me. I sat up, stared into a dark room, rested but confused. I squinted, noting the shadows and spotting couches, tables, a mini fridge and makeshift bar, coolers and bottled water, and… diving gear?
“It was the only thing I could think of.”
I jolted a bit when I heard Thea’s voice so close to me. I turned on the couch, finding her sitting next to me. Her hair had tumbled from its not and her shoulders hunched forward. She looked exhausted.
“Where are we?”
“One of my boats near the dock. We’re back in Santa Monica. Away from the Olympians for now. I warded the boat, but… I don’t think it will hide us for long. My magic is still adapting to the Shift.”
My mind, fogged by the sleep spell, struggled to unwind.
“Is Derek here?”
Thea shook her head. “He… he was fighting the Olympians. Buying us time.”
I leaned forward and pressed my head into my palms. Of course, he was. Of course. I wanted to get away. But I also wanted to go with him. He wouldn’t have left me. Something would have stopped him. I knew that, and his safety was all I cared about.
But seeing him against after so long, I felt just how keenly I missed him. It had only been a few months, but I’d never been apart from him. It was a strange feeling, as if my heart had been loosened from its strings and didn’t quite fit in my chest anymore. I wasn’t sure I liked it. After being so close to someone for so long, needing them because they raised you and kept you safe, literally and figuratively fought your monsters when you couldn’t… it was hard to get away from that mindset.
In any other circumstance, I should have welcomed that freedom.
But this wasn’t any circumstance. Gods wanted my brother dead. Furies were sent to kill him. He might have murdered two gods. I didn’t know how to help him. Didn’t know what to do in the face of all this.
I wanted to be at his side again. Not just because he was my brother, but because I had control of my actions around him. I knew what I needed to do.
Now… I didn’t. Or maybe I did, and every choice just felt wrong.
Fabric rustled, and Thea shifted to sit on the couch next to me, breaking my troubled thoughts. Her leg and shoulder pressed against mine. I wanted to lean my head against her shoulder and pillow my face against her hair. Lose myself in the exciting feeling of being so close to a girl I cared so deeply for.
But this was the wrong time for that. For now, I was just damn glad to have a friend.
“I stayed back just long enough to see Athena and Persephone arrive,” Thea told me. “They’ll keep Derek safe.”
I nodded with relief, then paused. “Where are Mason and Corey?”
Thea shook her head. “I’ve tried to reach them, but they aren’t answering.”
“We need to find them.” A pulse suddenly hummed along my belt. Oh. Right. “I need to get rid of this fucking Knife.”
She hesitated. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea right now.”
“I fought my brother, Thea. Tried to kill him. I don’t want to fucking touch this thing.”
“I understand that. But nothing is going the way it’s supposed to, Liam. We don’t have many cards on our side. We need all we can get.”
Laughing bitterly, I turned to her. “You actually trust me with this thing after what I just did?”
Her aquamarine eyes glowed in the shadows. “More than anyone else.”
It was impossible to ignore her sincerity. Or how it eased the pressure in my chest. My eyes suddenly flashed to her lips and I looked away. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, drawing her knees to her chest and resting her chin on them. “It was just… intense. I didn’t know what was going to happen. And when it came down to it, I got spooked. He reacted out of anger and grief. I pitied him a little bit. Even after everything he did, I…” she pressed herself into a smaller ball. “Does that make me a bad person?”
I shook my head and shifted across the bed to press my side into hers. I curled one arm around her back, pressing my fingers to her arm and rubbing gently. “Tota
lly the opposite. It makes you someone who cares too much. And I’m glad for it.”
Thea smiled and pressed her forehead against mine.
We stayed that way for a minute, breathing slowly, taking this quick second to calm down. I would stay here forever if I could, on this quiet boat in a dock, far away from gods and chaos and compulsive weapons.
But my brother was out there. Hunted by Furies.
Furies.
Gods. How could anyone fight those things?
The truth settled into my heart like a cold weight. “They’re going to kill him.” My voice sounded small. Weak. “The Furies… I don’t know how to stop them. And they never fail.”
Thea turned, unfolding herself and facing me. Her cool hands cupped my face and lifted my head. I wished I could be as strong as her. Even with the distant sadness in her eyes, she looked powerful.
“There will be a way,” she assured me, as if she knew what it was. “We can find it. But we should make a stop to check in with Mason and Corey. Their magic and insight can help us, and I want to make sure they’re okay.” Concern filled her eyes. They looked brighter than normal—almost glowing even in this dim light.
Another sign of a goddess forming before my eyes.
I nodded, drawing my head away from her hands. “Plans, yeah. Plans are good. Plans will keep us focused.”
I stood up and moved through the boat lounge, glad to move again and have my own body under my control. Fighting Derek, feeling my will fail under a god’s command, jerked around like a puppet on strings… I never wanted to experience that again.
I couldn’t do that again.
Thea stood up and walked behind me. “He knows it wasn’t you.”
“You saw what happened?”
“Pieces. I was in and out of consciousness. But I know Derek, and I know you. He isn’t going to blame you for this, so you shouldn’t blame yourself.”