His eyes reflected the fire. His pupils were normal. Breathing slow and steady. Face flushed but not unusually so.
He was a little taller than Annette’s granddaughter, with brown skin and close-cut black hair. He wore dark blue track pants and a T-shirt with a group of LEGO ninjas.
A large blister had formed on the back of his right hand. Another swelled from the side of his neck. They didn’t look like burns, but it was hard to know for sure without a closer examination.
“My name is Jenny Winter. I want to help you.”
A line bisected the blister on his neck. The skin peeled back, and a yellow-ringed eye blinked blearily at me.
I jerked away. My hand moved instinctively to draw the sword I hadn’t carried in decades. For the second time tonight, I felt the rush of Artemis’s power urging me to fight and kill. The first time had been in the garage when Morgan did his prayer ritual. Whatever he’d prayed to, Artemis hadnotliked it.
This was stronger. It wasn’t a matter of good or evil. It was simplywrong, an invasive species that needed to be destroyed before it spread.
I forced my fists to unclench.
The yellow eye had an irregular vertical pupil, like three tiny hourglasses stacked atop each other. The pupil focused on me and contracted until it was just a line of disconnected black dots.
Sage grabbed my arm. His touch seared the skin and muscle. At the same time, my tetradrachm necklace turned to ice.
I wrenched free, instinctively drawing back for a punch that would crack concrete. I caught myself and turned the strike into a poke. My index finger jabbed the extra eye on Sage’s neck. He yelped and jerked back.
I spun him around and pulled him into a bear hug with his arms pinned and his back to my chest. To anyone else, it should look like I was comforting an upset child. “Sage? Are you in there, kiddo?”
I’d dealt with more possession cases than I could count. Sometimes, the victim was fully conscious and along for the ride. Other times, they were completely destroyed, burnt out of the shell to make room for the new occupant.
HE’S TRAPPED.Artemis’s words made me jump.
I felt a flash of resentment at her reaching out uninvited, though I suppose it wasn’t realistic to expect anyone from the Greek pantheon to respect personal boundaries. And if I was honest, I was relieved to hear her voice. “How do I help him?”
KILL THE ONE WHO TRAPPED HIM.She left theDUHunspoken.
“I was hoping for a more immediate solution.”
THREE BEINGS FIGHT TO CONTROL THIS SMALL BODY. SAGE IS TOO YOUNG AND WEAK TO FEND THEM OFF.
Three beings: Sage, Alex, and Ringo.
“Alex, can you hear me in there?” I winced as Sage landed a kick with his heel to the front of my shin. “This isn’t you. The Alex I knew would never hurt innocent children.”
Nothing.
“I’m sorry for whatever happened to drive you to this.” I didn’t know if Alex was listening, but Morgan had been able to find Sage and sense what he was sensing. Logically, Alex should be able to do the same. “Think about what you’re doing to these kids. The Guardians Council used us as their child soldiers. You don’t want to do the same thing to Sage and Morgan and the rest.”
Sage kicked again, then threw back his head and screamed with raw, mindless rage.
The noise drew concerned looks from the closest bystanders. I shifted to a one-handed hold and waved to let them know we were all right. Who knew you could lie with just a wave?
YOU CAN’T END THIS WITH WORDS OR THE POWER OF LOVE, HUNTER.
Divine snark was the worst.
I glanced back at the house. The fire appeared to be dying. “Please don’t make me hunt you, Alex.”
Sage kicked me again.
I removed my necklace with my free hand. While Sage squirmed and kicked and tried to bite me, I dropped the necklace over his head.
Sage gasped. The eye on his neck squeezed shut. That had to be a good sign, right?
