Carver finally took a deep breath and sat up with a wince,bringing her with him. “My seat bones are already protesting the idea of getting back in the saddle.” He glanced toward the horses. “But the Shard of Olympus awaits. Hopefully,” he added with a touch of his usual cynicism.
Bellanca wasn’t at all ready to start the day and would happily have lazed there until the sun set again. Some part of her desperately wanted to delay launching back into their mission when they’d barely launched into their new life.
“Wait.” She reached for Carver before he could rise, fear suddenly churning inside her. What if things didn’t go as they hoped? What if everything ended before it even began?
He stopped, his brow creasing. “Bel?”
“I’m happy—truly happy—for the first time in my life.” She swallowed hard.
His eyes softened, warmed. He squeezed her hand. “Your words make me proud.”
She inhaled raggedly, her heart clenching. This man…strong, brave, steadfast,hers. Looking at him, all the blazing emotions inside her compressed into one diamond-hard truth. The gods were right. Their connection did make them dangerous. She would protect their future together no matter what. And if Hera tried to destroy it with a flick of her pitiless fingers, Bellanca would burn off her hand.
***
They made good time thanks to the horses, and it was midmorning the next day when they crossed into magical creature territory and started moving up the coast to the north. Even near the shore, the land was heavily wooded, and dryads peeked out at them from behind boulders and trees. The nature sprites eventually stopped hiding and openly followed them along the rough coastal path. Dryads were known more for their curiositythan for aggression and simply trailed behind, their soft and fleeting whispers to each other like a breeze through the branches, ephemeral, indistinct, and a little shiver-inducing when they washed over you from behind.
Bellanca shifted uncomfortably with so many eyes on her back. After nearly two days in the saddle, her legs and bottom ached less from the shock of riding again, and other, deeper concerns had overtaken her thoughts. Where were the vicious centaurs that had chased them off the only other time they’d journeyed this far to the north? And what about other magical creatures? She’d heard that basilisks and empousai roamed this area, and the last thing she wanted was an encounter with deadly serpents or vampiric beauties trying to devour them whole.
Vigilant, she kept her eyes on the woods. The sea wasn’t safe, either. An unrelenting tension gripped her chest, and she inhaled tightly, trying to loosen the pressure. Arete’s ears twitched. Athena had hidden the Shard of Olympus in a place where Atlantians definitely wouldn’t stumble upon it by accident, but she’d made it hugely perilous for them to find, too. And the dire possibilities didn’t stop with dangerous magical creatures—who considered thistheirland. What about the automaton harpies? The missing children?Hera?Her every thought went from bad to worse.
“I cannotwaitto get this over with,” she muttered under her breath.
Carver glanced at her, his lips quirking. “I hope you’re not referring to anything to do with me.”
She didn’t have a laugh in her right now and made a face instead. “Hera knows where the shard is but can’t get it because of Athena’s spell, and neither can Eryx. She wants me to wield it in her name. Why me? Because I’m Thalyrian and can retrieve it? She would’ve given it to Eryx years ago if she’d known where it was.”
“Maybe she wanted him when he was the only choice to end Punishment in her name. No matter how terribly she’s been neglecting her duty—no,betrayingit—she’s still the patron goddess of women and their welfare. She must know what’s better for the island. Now that you’re here, I think she wantsyou—but only on her terms.”
“She’ll have better luck with Eryx,” Bellanca ground out.
“Because he’s already in place?”
“Because he’s a greedy puppet. Promise him magic, and he’ll dance to any tune.”
“But why doesn’t Hera want the shard for herself?” Carver asked. “Wouldn’t that be easier? Just use its magic to win the war?”
“Maybe it wouldn’t give her the power she needs.”
He slanted her a questioning look. “How so?”
“She’s already extremely powerful. She can control thoughts, conjure animals, shape-shift, alter the weather,fly.” She’d seen that herself. “She’s immortal, eternally young, physically strong. What else could she possibly need except the undying love and loyalty of an entire chunk of the Olympian world?”
Carver’s mouth pursed. “So it’s not a weapon she needs. It’s something more powerful, something driven by human emotion.”
“Emotion—yes.” The path narrowed, and the horses funneled into the tight space between two bulging thickets, Arete taking the lead. It opened again, and Carver and Zeph sped up, returning to her side. “There’s nothing more powerful. Emotion determines everything we do, good or bad. It can drive a person to great heights or great depths.” She lifted a hand and let her sun-flare magic heat the air between them. “Attachment, loyalty,devotioncreated this. Just imagine what new heights—or depths—Hera could reach if she suddenly monopolizes the fervent worship across all of Atlantis.”
Carver let out a low whistle, shaking his head. “Enough to overpower Zeus and take his throne.”
“Enough maybe even to exile him. He could end up in his own horrible prison with the souls he’s tormented in Tartarus for eons.”
Carver visibly shuddered, and Zeph tossed his head, as attuned as ever to his rider and friend.
Bellanca touched the amulet around her neck, her finger slipping into the empty oblong spot in the middle. As much as some things were starting to make sense, others didn’t, and every breakthrough just led to more questions. “But why can’t Hera just give magic back to Atlantis herself, or use the shard to do it? Why does she need me to end Punishment? Or Eryx?” She grimaced, his name like rotten fruit on her lips.
“Other gods can’t undo a god’s work. We already saw that when Hera cursed Cat and Persephone couldn’t reverse it. None of the Olympians could. It’s why we had to searchoutsideof Olympian magic.”
“But the shard is Olympian magic.”
