“Cat…” Griffin growls. “It’s now or never.”
“I can do it!”
“You don’t have to!” he says. “I’m here. I’m here for you.”
And while I stand there, refusing to give up my sword but indecisive and stupidly torn, no matter what I just said, Mother runs away. She heads up the hill toward the burning house, getting a dozen paces from me before I even move.
Finally, I stalk after her, Thanatos a far too heavy weight in my hand for such a small sword.
She stops and turns, a splash of darkness against the bright-orange blaze. “You never could stand the heat.” Using her telekinetic magic, she picks up a flaming plank and then hurls it at me.
I duck, cursing.How could I have done this? Failed again?
Mother rains down wreckage on us from above. A smoldering board hits me in the shoulder, and I stagger, the bone jarred straight into numbness. Another one sails over my head, and I turn. Griffin dodges it, grimacing and holding his stomach. My heart lurches, and I reach for him, but something crashes down between us, showering us with sparks.
Before she can launch more fiery debris down the hill, Griffin rips the knife from his abdomen and then throws it at Mother. It lands in her shoulder instead of her heart, knocked off course by the telekinetic magic whirling all around her.
Her mouth drops open in shock. So does mine. Her magic crashes to the ground, the green cyclone disappearing and leaving everything abruptly quiet. The wound isn’t fatal, but it did stop her. For now.
And now there’s only Thanatos—and I have the sword.
Griffin beckons to me. “Give me the sword.”
I shake my head, tightening my grip on the hilt.
His eyes flick over the blade. “She’s not your responsibility alone. Her death won’t haunt my conscience.”
Like it’ll haunt mine?
I don’t move, and Griffin takes the weapon from my hand. Even injured, he’s much stronger than I am, and Thanatos slips from my grasp.
I open my mouth but say nothing. I stand there, frozen. Little Bean’s energy stirs, a tiny flutter that feels like a pat, and I wrap my arms around my middle, silent and watching as Griffin prowls forward to do my dirty work for me, one hand armed with my sword and the other trying to hold his blood in.
Something huge suddenly crashes in the forest. I whip my head around to look. Our corralled horses snort sharply at the beat of heavy hooves, and then a monster explodes from the woods.
I take a reflexive step back, my pulse surging hard. It’s the biggest horse I’ve ever seen. The equine fiend races across the meadow, its enormous strides shaking and devouring the ground. It skids to a halt near Mother and then rears, reaching terrifying heights. Its long mane snaps on the fire-hot wind, and its wild red eyes stand out like malevolent flames in a jet-black face. The beast tosses its head, staring straight at me. It looks like it can taste my fear and wants to drink it down.
Griffin turns back to me. “What isthat?”
A creature straight from nightmares. It bares sharp teeth, and visceral fear punches me in the gut.
“One of the Mares of Thrace,” I answer, trying to keep the tremor from my voice. Aetos killed one on the Ice Plains years ago, and my friend wears the gigantic, pure-black pelt as a trophy cloak. Three are left. “They eat humans. Only the most powerful Magoi have ever managed to control them. Only one has ever been killed.”
“Hungry, darling?” Mother speaks to the horse, but she looks at Griffin. Her face twists in triumph. “I wonder if Hoi Polloi tastes like inferior meat.”
I snap out of my shock.Good Gods, if there was ever a time for my lightning to work.I pull hard on the threads of magic inside me and…nothing.Gods damn it!
The mare paws the ground, getting ready to charge. I start to sprint. If that monster wants to eat Griffin, it’ll have to go through me.
A deafening pop and a ground-shaking boom nearly send me crashing to my knees. Ares steps in front of me, his huge, weapon-decked frame a solid barrier between the mare and me. Persephone glides in from the right to protect Griffin, only a curved knife in her belt. She leaves it there.
I swing a wide-eyed gaze back and forth between the two Gods. “Now?” I ask, both irate and incredibly relieved.
Persephone turns to me, asking coolly, “Did you expect us sooner?”
At this point, I’m not sure I expected them at all. “You need to heal Griffin.”
Her eyes move up and down my body, taking me in. “And you, too.”
