“No, it’s not but we can’t go in their fire blazing, Kira. Remember what Pan said about traps. We have to be smart about this.” I race in front of her, putting my hands out, but her wolf is close to the surface, her eyes blazing with flames.
“Move,” Kira snarls. “I won’t let them do this.”
“Greyson, I need your help for this. Her wolf is in control,” I say as calm as I can manage even as my hands tremble facing off with the fire beast who deep down is my friend.
“Kira, you need to pull her back. I know you’re angry, but this is just wasting time. Beth is right. It’s suicide going in without a plan of attack or even knowing what we’re up against here.” Greyson bends forward, locking gazes with her. “Stand down, wolf.”
“No,” she snarls.
Flames light in her palms as she squares up to Greyson. She glances over his shoulder at me and sneers. My friend most definitely isn’t in the driver’s seat right now and this is going to be a huge problem when defeating whichever Olympian is waiting to trap us.
“You’re going to jeopardize everything if you let your temper rule you.” Raven pulls a sword from the ether.
“Raven, you can’t seriously be thinking of fighting her like this,” I whisper shout at her.
“If she attacks any of us, especially Greyson, she will leave me no choice. I don’t want to fight you, wolf, but if you attack us or refuse to stand down and give us Kira back, I will have no choice.”
“The girl agrees with me. We need to move now before the volcanoes erupt and destroy everything in their paths. If we walk into a trap, I will slaughter them all,” she snarls.
“You may be strong but on your own, you’re no match for an Olympian god or goddess. And make no mistake, if you run off without us, that’s what you will be, on your own.” I plant my hands on my hips.
“Fine.” She deflates and her eyes slowly return to their normal color.
The fire drains from her palms, and she slumps into Draven’s waiting arms. “It’s okay, baby. You’re doing the right thing. This will give us our best chance at getting the hammer. Together.”
“I guess, but we have to hurry. What did you see, Beth? Was there any lava spewing out of the top or just smoke?” Kira turns to me.
“Thick black smoke and the air up above the trees is a dry heat that shouldn’t exist here. Animals fled west in droves where I could see through the trees. I’m guessing we have a few hours at most.” I step over a fallen branch, picking through the underbrush as I move toward the volcano at a much slower pace than before.
“You’re probably right. The only thing I can scent is sulfur, which is a dead giveaway to an active volcano, but if lava isn’t spraying toward the sky yet, we still have a short while to get the hammer and get out of here.” Kira jogs to my side. “I’m sorry I lost my temper. It’s not like me and I’m starting to wonder if having a wolf is all it was cracked up to be.”
“I’m guessing it’s gonna be an adjustment for sure.” I bump her shoulder with mine.
“Yeah, I can almost see why most shifters I’ve met are assholes.” She chuckles.
“Hey.” Greyson nudges her. “I’m a delight.”
“Seriously, Greyson? The first night you met Raven, you all but peed on her leg.” I laugh. “And she blew you off at first.”
“You did?” Kira asks.
“I had no idea what the crazy shifter was talking about regarding mates,” Raven scoffs. “I didn’t even know shifters or vampires existed. Greyson also hadn’t realized demigods existed. We always kept to ourselves until recently.”
“He lied about vampires to me that night, I’ll have you know.” I point an accusing finger at Greyson. “He said vampiresweren’t real and then revealed they were when we freed Artemis outside New Orleans.”
“You guys were already mind-blown. I didn’t want to add to it and scare my mate away.” Greyson shrugs, unapologetic. “The only vamp you ever met was at that party and he kept his fangs to himself, or I would have cut off his head. He was taunting me and nothing more.”
Kira cocks her head to the side and sniffs the air. “We’re almost there. The sulfur and campfire scent is getting stronger. What’s the plan?”
“We’re going to hang back and see if we can get a count of the monsters we have to face. If I’m correct, the queen will only have a skeleton crew of her most basic monsters here. Probably wraiths and lizard demons. The rest will be taking the academy while she and the rest of the gods fight in Olympus.” I scan the dense canopy of trees.
We need to keep searching for a place downwind to watch them from for a bit before we attack. It’s the best way to proceed. Cautious and with the element of surprise on our side, we can take whatever skeleton crew the queen left behind.
“This is almost insulting,” Raven huffs.
“I know, right? Did she think we would stay at the academy to fight the final battle while sending our friends to do the dirty work of retrieving the hammer? Did she just underestimate me again?” I push back a tree branch in my face.
“I don’t think so. Her ego is just so overinflated that she doesn’t think there is any possible way we can defeat her.” Raven steps around the branches, eyeing them warily.
