A loud bang interrupted.
“Sirius!” Perseus shouted through the door. “It is time!”
My heart dropped into my stomach. Sirius shifted sideways, motioning toward the window. His body seemed to vibrate—with fear or excitement, I couldn’t tell. But I knew if Andromeda walked through that door, and if he was here and I was gone…she’d suspect he’d helped me.
I took two steps toward the window. “What will she do to you?”
“Nothing I can’t handle, though I might not be the same if we ever meet again. She doesn’t have me on a tight leash right now. She will after this,” he said with a smile that did not reach his eyes. “I’ll hold her off as long as I can. Leave the city—youcanleave, just as I’m sure you suspected. Find your mate. Oh, and keep these gemstones safe. They’re what she’s been looking for.”
His eyes flicked to the Mortal Blade, then passed me another stone that matched the first. They both looked like the ones I’d used on Caedmon, brimming with an energy that made my bones ache.
More questions filled my mind, but there was no time to ask them. I took a steadying breath, spread my wings, and leapt out the open window. Wind blasted my face as I soared down the side of the tower, then pushed off the stone to spin over the bleached roofs toward the city wall in the distance.
Several cries of alarms followed close behind. Guards in the castle courtyard had spotted my escape. They’d head straight to the gods to warn them. I cast a quick glance over my shoulder at the rapidly vanishing castle. Sirius stood in the window, watching me with a smile.
I shook my head and turned my attention back to my escape. Nothing he’d said made sense, and yet I could not shake the feeling that none of it was a lie, a trick, or a game. And even if it was, the time for waiting was gone. I had to leave this place while I had the chance.
Soaring toward the gates, I spotted the field of shadowfiends pacing in the whisper-thin mists. Would they attempt to give chase once I flew past them? I pushed higher into the sky. I’d have to avoid catching their attention, lest risk leading them to Dubnos.
A body slammed into me.
My breath exploded from my lungs as my wings twisted beneath me. I fell, the wind snatching at my hair and face. The world was a tunnel of feathers and fear. A flash of crimson shot by my head. One of the gods had reached me.
Gritting my teeth, I tried to angle myself to the left and spread my wings. Callisto hurtled into me once more. I spotted her cruel face and twisted expression only a second before she hit me. Pain lanced through my stomach. I curled in on myself, trying to find my breath.
The ground rose to meet me. My body hit the street hard.
Dirt misted around me as I coughed around the pain, wearily blinking the stars from my eyes. Everything hurt. My bones felt as if they’d been ground into dust, and my ears rang from the impact. But…but I was alive. I shouldn’t have survived that.
Callisto landed lightly before me and raised her hands by her sides. Her crimson eyes flashed with rage as she stalked toward me. “You finally tried to flee.”
I coughed and pushed up from the ground. The ringing still filled my head, but I wouldn’t let her see weakness. I pulled the blade from my leather strap and bent my knees into a defensive stance Kalen had taught me. I’d been practicing in my quarters for days.
She looked at the blade, then scoffed. “You think you can wield a dagger against me? I am a god.”
“So am I.” I smiled around my fear.
Shaking her head with a laugh, she started moving closer. “The little scrap of power you inherited from Andromeda is nothing. It is so watered down by centuries of mortals that it’s laughable she wanted you to join us. She should have killed you the moment she set eyes on you. All it would take is a flick of my wrist to crush you into dust.”
“It sounds like you’re stalling,” I said. “Afraid to test your theory?”
Callisto laughed, but didn’t move toward me. “I almost feel sorry for you. Andromeda would have gifted you with immortality if you’d only followed her commands. But you are a mortal, ahuman. I shouldn’t be surprised you’d choose destruction and betrayal over eternal life with us.”
I’d only meant it as a jab before, but I was beginning to think I’d been right. Callisto kept talking instead of fighting. Shewasstalling.
I moved toward her with my dagger raised. Her eyes darted to the weapon before she whistled. From the shadows of a nearby abandoned building, two shadowfiends crept into the street. My heart sprang into action, and inwardly I recoiled. I’d faced these beasts half a dozen times now, but it never got any easier, especially now that I remembered everything that had happened to me when I was young.
That and the fact I desperately needed a sword.
Callisto had one strapped to her back, but she’d yet to arm herself with it. It seemed she wanted her beasts to do her dirty work for her.
“Don’t want to fight me yourself?” I asked, edging even closer. The beasts were behind her, moving slowly. I still had time to reach her before they rushed me. I needed to get my hands on that sword.
As if reading my thoughts, Callisto reached behind her and drew her weapon from its scabbard. The steel was long and gleaming, the setting sun glinting along the blade. Symbols decorated the length of it—the same symbols I’d seen on the rocks at the Ivory Cliff Falls. That seemed important, but I didn’t have time to think it through. Callisto suddenly launched toward me.
She moved with lethal speed and grace, like she was going through the motions of a familiar dance. I was almost too slow to see the aim of it. She swung the blade at my head. I dropped as fast as I could and flattened myself against the ground.
I rolled to the left and sprung back to my feet. Callisto was already moving toward me. With a wicked smile, she lifted her sword above her and brought it down. The sharp edge was coming straight for my head.
