Chapter Twenty-Seven
I stare at the bright-blue sky as we speed down the Florida coast. There are no black dots in the sky to indicate there are demon pigeons anywhere. The closer we get to Arcadia, the greater the chance of them attacking us out of nowhere.
“Does Hermes have any powers that affect the natural world?” Greyson leans between the seats.
“Not that I’m aware of, why?” I turn my attention from the sky to Greyson.
“Look, it’s a sandstorm or something.” He points out the windshield.
Sand swirls around like a giant cloud.
“I don’t think that’s a sandstorm,” Jayden says. “You see the horse?”
“Oh my gods. It’s dragging a body. What in Hades?” I lean closer.
“Is it a demented monster horse?” Greyson asks.
“It’s a war horse from Ancient Greece,” Adrian says.
“Who has ties to Hermes and would have done this to another person?” I ask no one in particular.
“Many warlords in those times would have disrespected their enemies by desecrating their bodies in such a way,” Draven says. “But I can only think of one who was tied to Hermes.”
“Why do you look like you’re about to throw up?” I ask.
Dread sinks icy fingers in my gut. Who could that be? I rack my brain for the information but it doesn’t come. Hermes was connected to many heroes and kings in Ancient Greece so who could this be?
“Because I know who is riding that horse and who the body is that he’s dragging across the beach,” Draven says. “It’s not fucking good. At all.”
Jayden tightens his grip on the wheel. “Stop being cryptic like Adrian and tell us what we’re up against here.”
“The man being dragged by the horse is none other than Hector, the prince of Troy.” He widens his eyes.
“No fucking way, that means…” I say.
“The man dragging him is Achilles.” Draven slumps in his seat.
“What in the actual fuck?” Jayden spins around to stare at me. “What does Achilles have to do with Hermes?”
“Hermes was actually on the side of the Greeks in the war. The gods were divided. They warred among themselves over who should win the war. But Hermes was tasked with negotiating for the return of Hector’s body to the people so they could mourn their crown prince,” I say.
Raven bumps her forehead into the back of my headrest. “This is so much worse than indestructible bacon.”
“Agreed,” I huff.
“I’m a little rusty on the Trojan war,” Greyson says. “Who was Achilles?”
“Achilles’ mother was a goddess but when the oracle told her that her son would be a great warrior but would die in battle, she hid him. She took him to the River Styx and submerged himcompletely as an infant to make him basically indestructible. The only spot on his body that wasn’t was the spot on his ankle that she was holding. That was his downfall.”
“He was literally killed by a stray arrow from the worst archer in the Trojan army on accident. That’s why the tendon in the back of your ankle is called the Achilles tendon and your greatest weakness is often described as your Achilles’ heel.” Raven rubs a hand over her face. “We are so screwed.”
“Fuck,” Greyson says with a grunt.
“They called him the stormer of cities and he never lost a battle until he angered the gods by taking Hector’s body and showing such disrespect.” I squirm uncomfortably in my seat.
The monsters are definitely bad, but most of them are stupid and clumsy. They’re easy to defeat. One of the greatest heroes to ever live is blocking our way to Arcadia. He’s not stupid. He was known as a master strategist and warlord. How the fuck do we defeat that?
“This may be our biggest challenge yet.” Jayden sighs.
