“Take cover!” shouted Jason.
The crew dived below the benches, and Telamon threw himself on top of Peleus as a slew of metal thudded into the wood. One sliced through the fabric of Danae’s dress, grazing her thigh. Up close she could see it wasn’t a knife at all, but a feather, cast in bronze and razor sharp.
The weight of dread heavy in her chest, she eased her head out from under the bench and looked up.
A flock of birds was circling the ship. They were large as vultures with feathers of bronze that dazzled in the sunlight. Danae hurriedly squeezed herself back under the bench as the birds flicked their wings and another round of deadly feathers rained down.
“Shit!” Jason was cowering under the adjacent bench. “Why in Tartarus is this happening?”
“It’s the Stymphalian birds,” called Telamon as he dragged Peleus to cover.
“Thewhat?”
“We faced them on one of Heracles’s labors for Eurystheus—argh!” Telamon cried out as a feather sliced his arm.
“How did you defeat them?” Jason shouted.
“We didn’t,” called back Atalanta. “We ran away.”
“They answer to Ares,” said Telamon as he tried to pull his brother further under the bench. “Gods know why they’re here.”
“That brute led them to us!” shouted Pollux. “He’s going to be the death of us all.”
Danae’s mind was racing. As she desperately tried to formulate a plan, her father’s words rang through her thoughts, “All seas are the same beast.” She had always been a child of the ocean. She’d grown up swimming in its tides and diving in its swells. The Black Sea was no different.
Now it will answer to you,said the voice.
She summoned the energy of her life-threads and stepped out from under the bench. Someone tried to grab her leg. Jason was shouting at her to take cover. But she ignored him and thrust out her arms. A glowing tangle of life-threads shot out from each palm into the sea on either side of the ship. She tilted her head back and set her gaze on the swarm of bronze birds circling above. Then she gathered the threads in her fists like a pair of ropes and whipped them into the sky.
Two torrents of water arced over her head and smashed in a crescendo of foam and feathers above theArgo. The ship dipped violently, and for a moment there was stillness, the birds suspended in a clear archway of ocean. Then the water crashed back into the sea and broken metallic bodies clanged down onto the deck.
Danae staggered but did not fall. She licked the salt from her lips and smiled.
“What the fuck was that?” Atalanta stared at Danae, face taut with shock.
Everyone was staring at her.
The Argonauts emerged from their benches and backed away. Some reached for their weapons. Most looked at her with a fusion of fear and anger.
Jason alone did not move. He was gazing at her in amazement. “What are you?”
“She’s a kakodaimon!” said Castor. The crew tensed.
It was happening again. She could see her mother’s terror-stricken eyes in their sea-worn faces. She had saved them, but at what cost? This time, she could not hide behind the gods.
“She’s no evil spirit.”
Heracles heaved himself over the side of the ship. He stepped over the broken birds and came to stand beside her.
She was met with a beaming smile. “Which god is it?”
Danae was utterly confused.
He put a hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to pretend anymore. I suspected since the mountain village, but I could tell you wanted to hide it.” His blue eyes sparkled. “I had no idea you were this powerful.”
“I say we kill her!” growled Castor.
“Say that again and I will end you.” Heracles turned to Jason. “Daeira is no daimon. She is a demigod.”
