“Have you spoken to Lady Camille?” I get into Pan’s car after I close the front gates behind him. “Tavi?” “They are experiencing a disruption on the borders of their realm. The sisters are doing everything in their power to hold the threat at bay.” He nods, focusing on the long driveway. “Okay.” I tap my foot eager to get to the packhouse. “Okay?” He slows the car to a stop and looks at me. “Iokaste, are you alright? I mean, with all factors considered. I just told you the secure location your child is being held is under attack.” I look him in the eyes. “I’ve never been better. Drive.” We ride to the packhouse in uncomfortable silence. I watch out the window at the village that should have pack members going about their everyday business. There’s no one from landscaping clearing snow from the sidewalks. The pack guards are not on their daily ten-mile run. No wolves are galloping on the treelines, getting exercise in the deep snow. This place should be filled with people who depe
The dark magic inside me flares, pulling and clawing at the edges of my spirit. Now that I’m protected by the power of the throne room, I give it the space it’s yearning for until it is one with my spirit and Lex’s. Heat surges through my body, and for the first time, I’m aware of the crown floating above my head with colored spires glowing brightly. “Do you like our force field?” I pull the shield from my back. The action causes thin quills to grow from the harness and weave themselves around my body until they form a short protective dress made from the lightweight metal feathers of Hedone’s Stymphalian birds. Spaulders made of the Colchian dragon spread over my shoulders. As the body armor tightens to fit me, I roll my shoulders, grab the sword out of the compass rose, and take a defensive stance. A high pitched, maniacal laughter fills the echoing room as if it’s coming from a thousand mouths. Aphrodite steps back and looks around in horror. She pulls her whip from its harness
I release my grip on the shield and catch it by the edge before it hits the floor. Aphrodite is looking down at her marred body, assessing the wounds that are already healing. Arrow said she would heal fast since she’s immortal, but he wasn’t sure how fast since he had never seen her injured before.“One minute, fifteen seconds.” Lex paces in my mind. “Kas, distract her! If she can’t focus on her wounds, she’ll heal slower.”Anything is a weapon. I let James and Marco’s words echo in my mind. I look around and make a split decision. The shield will only hinder me in hand to hand combat if Aphrodite is using her electrified whip. It’s supposed to provide protection. Unfortunately, I need to go on the offensive.“Hey bitch. Catch!” I know she can’t hear me, but it makes me feel better. I throw the shield like a frisbee, hitting her square in the jaw. She grabs her face, holding a giant chunk of skin that is hanging from her cheek. Before she can get her bearings, I run full speed and la
“I can’t bring her back. The Goddess Leticia Latmus wasn’t lying. The only way for Aphrodite to return from the Waiting Room is for her to concede to the Menae.” I scoot back on the bloody floor, trying to catch my breath. “How did you get inside the barrier?” “I concealed myself under my throne.” He holds the tip of the sword closer to my nose. “Now, I said, bring her back or stand against me Iokaste Latmus. I will fight for Aphrodite’s honor.” “Her honor?” I slowly rise with my hands over my head, but I don’t drop my sword. It shakes violently from the weakness spreading throughout my body, but I don’t dare drop it. I stagger my feet under me for balance, but my body sways anyway. Maybe it’s from the loss of blood or maybe it’s because deep in my mind, I know this must be the end, but I feel myself laughing in the face of one of the most violent Gods who has ever existed. “And what do you find so funny, you entitled little brat?” He grits his teeth. Excuse me. Hi, probably not t
Bronx’s POV“Good morning, Mrs. Khan. Good morning, class.” I give the children a brief nod and tentative smile. “How is everyone?” I set the cupcakes and the book on Mrs. Khan’s desk. All the children giggle and squeal when they see me.“Good morning, Alpha!” Mrs. Khan guides them to say in unison when she gets them settled in.“Class, Alpha Bronx is here to help us celebrate Maya and Dre’s birthday.” She stands in front of the class and claps her hands. “He’s taking time out of his busy day to be here. What do we say?”“Thank you, Alpha!” The kids all chip happily. “Mrs. Khan, can my daddy sit next to me to read the dragon book?” Maya raises her hand high in the air. “Pleeeaassseee!!! I wanna help him!”“I’m sure we can arrange for that, Maya.” Mrs. Khan winks at me. “Alpha, if you’d like to grab my chair, we’ll get everyone to the reading circle.”“Sure thing, Mrs. Khan.” I turn and go back to her desk. I notice a board near the front of the room with a banner that says ‘Winter M
“Marco, come on, bro.” I pull his shoulders to get him to look at me. “Come on. It’s Bronx. Talk to me, big guy.”“My name is Marco Sanchez. My wolf’s name is Clash.” Marco looks through me and continues to mumble. “I gotta beautiful wife. Her name is Musu. We got twins. Deago and Inez. There’s a thing here. It looks like a woman, but it ain’t. It’s a monster. She can’t take my memories.”“That’s right, Marco. No one can erase your family. You’re too strong for that.” I run my hand over his face. He’s cold and clammy. When I lift his eyelid, his pupil is completely dilated. Shit. I listen to his heartbeat. It seems strong and steady. Good. “Marco, I need you to listen to me. Your kids are here, bro. They’re scared and they need their dad. They need you, but I need you to snap out of it. We can’t let them see you like this. That won’t be good for anyone.”Marco leans his head on the wall and continues to babble under his breath. “He needs medical treatment.” Saint paces. “Yeah. That’
“Marco, I need your help.” I send him a mindlink. “Once we have the kids settled, you can get back to your pups.”“What’s up, Alpha?” He comes over and squats next to me.“We need to get the kids organized and as quiet as possible.” I lower my eyes and concentrate. “Uh, let’s see. Kids wearing a shirt under their uniform sweaters need to take the sweaters off. Figure out how many babies are here. Get them all wrapped in sweaters to keep them warm. Assign the oldest kids to take care of babies. Oldest gets the youngest until you pair everyone up. If there is an odd number, Andy is with you.”“Okay. We can do that.” He stands up to complete the assignment.“Marco, we need them to be quiet. The door opens inward. If anything in that hallway hears them, we’re sitting ducks. Tell them there’s a damn reward for the quietest or some shit.”“Got it, Alpha.” He claps my shoulder. “You help Sondi.”I watch him walk away, clapping quietly to get the children’s attention, then turn back to Sondi.
“Aphrodite, let them go.” I growl at the screen. “This is your last warning.”Aphrodite throws her head back and laughs. The sound pierces my ears like nails on a chalkboard. “You’re in no position to give me warnings, Demigod.” She snarls at the screen.There is a flicker and glitch in the feed that makes her pause. Her face darkens at the interruption. She looks beyond the screen then back into the camera, making hand motions I have seen Delilah, Leticia, and Kas use in the past. She’s using magic. Just like Kas said, she must be bad at it.“She’s using magic.” I mutter under my breath. My mind tries to connect with why it’s important, but the screaming coming from Ashley’s cell is distracting me.The feed stabilizes, and Aphrodite regains her composure. “I have control here. Iokaste and I had a deal, and she broke her promise. Now, I will destroy ALL aspects of her life and you will be participants. I’ve already sent a fun surprise to one cell. Don’t worry. There are two more surp
TWO YEARS LATER “There’s no way this is it, Lex.” I stare at the ancient temple. “This is what we’ve been looking for, for almost two years, and it’s abandoned. Leticia must have had the wrong coordinates.” “Well, Zeus doesn’t like people looking for them.” She huffs at me. “If you want their help, have faith and believe that you’ll find them. I recommend closing your eyes and fixing your damned mindset, Kas. That’s the only way we are going to get home.” Leticia was released from the Waiting Room about six months after she and Aphrodite were sent there. After a while, she realized she didn’t need to use dark magic against the Goddess of Love. When her thirty days were up, she got to leave, but Aphrodite is still trapped there. The Menae have tried to counsel her on what she needs to do to escape, but she refuses to comply. We used Leticia’s informants and connections to find out where The Fates reside in hopes of helping change Bianca Beryl’s thread. It’s an outside chance, but M
“Hey Little Sister, I got a little somethin’ for ya.” Milo’s hand pushes past the door of my office with a plate containing an omelet, sausage, toast, and a pastry. “Can I come in?” “Of course you can.” I lean back in my seat and smile, secretly grateful for the interruption. “Mrs. Miller is worried that you’re not eating enough.” He sets the plate and silverware rolled in a napkin on my desk followed by a cup of coffee. “Are you doing okay?” “I won’t lie to you, Milo, so…” I press my lips together and look around the office. “No, I’m not okay. It’s been almost three weeks and still no word from Bronx. I have no clue when he’ll be back and there’s literally nothing I can do about it. Maya and Dre keep asking about him. The last time they saw him he was fighting the Minotaur, then he disappeared into a portal wearing his boxers and your tac vest. I can tell Tavi misses him, too. I’ve been letting her sleep with one of his shirts, so at least she has his scent with her, but… do you k
“Kas, pacing a hole in the floor won’t help.” Lex jumps in front of me, blocking my way. “You heard Mother. We need to be patient. Why don’t you sit down and eat something?”“Is food all you think about, Lex?” I drop my shoulders and try to step around her, but she side steps, to stay in front of me. “It’s been hours. What if Zeus put Bronx in Tartarus or something?”“Kas, I love you, but you’re driving me nuts.” She pulls on the edge of my nightgown to the small table. “No news is good news. Now sit. Eat.”The table has a delicious spread of breakfast foods and pastries. None of it looks like it will take the knot out of my stomach. I settle for a cup of tea with a pleasant Jasmine aroma and look out the window. The enormous white horses buck and play in the field with no cares in the world. My mind wanders. I wonder what is happening to our pack right now. Who is watching our children? Does Lady Camille still have Tavi in the coven’s realm, or was she able to bring her home? Are Co
Kas’s POVThe scent of honeysuckle pulls at the edges of my mind. It reminds me of my mother. I open my eyes. Where I could be. It’s an airy room, but there are no defined walls. I see low backed, ornately decorated chairs surrounding a small table with a teapot and fine china cups. There is a wide window on my left. The window is open, letting the honeysuckle scent in on a gentle breeze. Outside, there is a meadow with a few olive trees and large white horses grazing. Coffee and dark chocolate overtake the honeysuckle, making me smile. I roll on my side in the silky white sheets. Bronx is sitting on the floor with his back against the bed. He is pinching the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed. A lit cigarette rests between his fingers. I watch a fine stream of smoke rise from the tip. It leaves the burnt tobacco aroma I thought he left behind years ago.“Please don’t be mad, Baby. I just needed this one.” He whispers without looking at me before he takes a long drag from the ci
When I don’t go for an immediate attack, Ares gives me a stupid smile and rolls his shoulders. “Ready to submit, Child of Perses?” “Yeah, I don’t go down that easily, you stupid fuck.” I give him a dry laugh and swing the sword around, letting its weight settle into my hand. I don’t care how desperate things may seem. He won’t get the reaction he wants out of me. I’ll go down fighting.This time Ares half runs, half hobbles at me. I roll to the side to protect my injured shoulder, but he lunges and grabs me by the armpit, digging his thumb deep into the open wound and squeezes hard.I use a jiu jitsu throw Kas has successfully used on me by planting my foot and throwing him over my hip. His ass hits the ground, shaking the throne room. Glass shards shower us from the ceiling, slicing into my skin.Ignore the pain. Ignore the pain.I let my body weight drop into a roll, giving us enough momentum for me to land on top of him. It’s a short-lived achievement. He throws his elbow out and
Ares is standing between me and Kas. I listen long enough to make sure her heart is still beating while I assess the room. Not that it matters. I’m going to destroy him, whether she’s breathing or not. His mouth is full of blood, and the inside of his knee is deeply bruised. I don’t know what Kas did to his mouth or how she could reach that high, but she was trying to take his leg out. He doesn’t seem in a hurry to come to me, so he must be in pain. That’s my girl.“Bingo.” Saint hisses at the realization that our target is already injured. He pushes forward, heightening all my senses. “Are you ready to break a kneecap?”“Give me a second.” I continue looking around. “He’s got at least seventy pounds on us. He’s definitely injured or he would have already attacked first, but I still need to check the room.”The Menae’s barrier is still in place - Ares can’t escape. Broken marble - potential weapons. A section of Aphrodite’s whip - another potential weapon. Puddles of dark blood - sli
The beast’s roar pierces my ears. My muscles strain to keep the door closed while it pushes from the outside. Saint extends his claws from my toes to dig into the floor still slippery with Sondi’s blood. “Saint, I need all your strength.” I grit my teeth and brace myself as the Minotaur slams its body weight against the door.“YOU ALREADY HAVE IT!” He growls. “You think I want that thing getting in here?!”The growling and howls from the other two cells remind me I’m not just fighting for my life and the lives of our packs pups. I’m fighting for our whole pack. “HOLD THE LINE!” I scream out loud. No one answers, but I don’t need them to. I just need them to know that I’m still with them.“Bronx, we’re through the portal.” Milo finally comes through. “We’re on the way.”“We’re under attack!” I pull my head back as the Minotaur tries to push his horns through the cell door. “The entire pack is here. MOVE!”“Get some kids to pull their trackers off.” Reggie sounds out of breath. “It wi
“Aphrodite, let them go.” I growl at the screen. “This is your last warning.”Aphrodite throws her head back and laughs. The sound pierces my ears like nails on a chalkboard. “You’re in no position to give me warnings, Demigod.” She snarls at the screen.There is a flicker and glitch in the feed that makes her pause. Her face darkens at the interruption. She looks beyond the screen then back into the camera, making hand motions I have seen Delilah, Leticia, and Kas use in the past. She’s using magic. Just like Kas said, she must be bad at it.“She’s using magic.” I mutter under my breath. My mind tries to connect with why it’s important, but the screaming coming from Ashley’s cell is distracting me.The feed stabilizes, and Aphrodite regains her composure. “I have control here. Iokaste and I had a deal, and she broke her promise. Now, I will destroy ALL aspects of her life and you will be participants. I’ve already sent a fun surprise to one cell. Don’t worry. There are two more surp
“Marco, I need your help.” I send him a mindlink. “Once we have the kids settled, you can get back to your pups.”“What’s up, Alpha?” He comes over and squats next to me.“We need to get the kids organized and as quiet as possible.” I lower my eyes and concentrate. “Uh, let’s see. Kids wearing a shirt under their uniform sweaters need to take the sweaters off. Figure out how many babies are here. Get them all wrapped in sweaters to keep them warm. Assign the oldest kids to take care of babies. Oldest gets the youngest until you pair everyone up. If there is an odd number, Andy is with you.”“Okay. We can do that.” He stands up to complete the assignment.“Marco, we need them to be quiet. The door opens inward. If anything in that hallway hears them, we’re sitting ducks. Tell them there’s a damn reward for the quietest or some shit.”“Got it, Alpha.” He claps my shoulder. “You help Sondi.”I watch him walk away, clapping quietly to get the children’s attention, then turn back to Sondi.