I stare at his hand for a long moment before clasping his forearm in a warrior’s deal. I don’t particularly want to fight him and Theseus at all but it’s better to have them on our side while we take out the rest than be surrounded by enemies on all sides.
“We’re working with them, then?” Theseus whispers.
“For a time. As long as one of the queen’s minions doesn’t get their grubby hands on the plinth, it honestly doesn’t matter which of us wins.” Heracles shrugs.
“I want to win,” Theseus says.
“Look, let’s just focus on the other competitors first, and then we can battle it out for bragging rights. As long as we secure the plinth, the rest is just for fun.” I clap Theseus on his surprisingly solid shoulder.
“Deal,” Heracles says. “May the best heroes win.”
“Oh, we will,” Raven says as cocky as ever.
“Athletes to your chariots,” Apollo bellows.
“Um, which one is our chariot?” I ask.
Apollo appears before me in gleaming white robes and points to a golden chariot with a wink. “Give them hell, little sister.”
“Don’t you mean Hades?” I ask.
“Nah, the human term has a much nicer ring to it, don’t you think?” Apollo asks.
“You’re not wrong.” I chuckle.
“Now, you better get moving. Your companions can be my guests on the platform.” He waves a hand.
“That won’t be necessary, Lord Apollo. We can watch from the sidelines,” Jayden says.
“I must insist. I would hate to see one of you accidentally impaled in the tournament. The platform is safe.” He waves a dismissive hand.
“Go with Apollo, Jayden. Please. I don’t need to be distracted hoping a stray javelin doesn’t hit you guys.” I squeeze his hand.
“Okay.” He kisses me hard. “Knock ’em dead, baby.”
“They’re already dead,” I giggle.
Apollo transports them to the platform where seats materialize for my friends. A barrier shield shimmers into place around them and a sigh escapes me. He really is going to keep them safe from the chaos.
“All right. Let’s do this.” I say, striding to the golden chariot.
“Is that…?” Raven breathes.
I stare at the emblem of the sun on the back of it. This can’t be what I think. Apollo wouldn’t show blatant favoritism by loaning us his chariot. I glance at the god himself. Apollo smirks, nodding. Well, shit. He definitely did. What does this mean?
“He really did loan us the sun chariot,” I say in awe.
“You know this is crazy, right?” Draven asks as he hops in.
Four pure white horses stand at attention at the front of the chariot. This is the real fucking deal. Holy shit.
“Yes, it’s absolutely insane but we have allies and a plinth to secure.” I shrug.
“I’m so ready for this.” Raven has a javelin in one hand and a broad sword in the other.
I step into the carriage on the right, pulling my sword and whip from the ether. We wait for the other competitors to get into position and notice that Theseus and Heracles are on the opposite end from us with four chariots between us. We have them boxed in on both sides. Did Apollo plan this or was this one of his visions?
He and Hades probably planned this, putting those two in the race knowing we would team up. Meddling gods.
