“How does that make me a whore?” I chuckle.
A vibration trembles through the mountain above me and my grin widens as heat so intense it’s nearly suffocating blasts out of the cave ten feet above our heads. Kira sprints out of the cave with a battle cry and the hammer raised high in the air.
“You don’t touch my friends, you nasty bitch,” Kira roars and swings the hammer at the goddess.
I roll to my feet, calling my sword, and ready myself for another attack from the few remaining lizard demons. Raven groans behind me but doesn’t wake fully. Kira swings the hammer, but the goddess disappears in as cloud of floral perfume and pink iridescent glitter.
“Kira, you did it.” I fist-pump the air and turn to the last of the demons.
“We aren’t out of the woods yet,” Kira growls as flames dance in her eyes.
“Go help the others out of the net and protect Raven. I got this.” I square my shoulders and crouch into a fighting stance.
A demon uses my distraction to attack, and I slice my sword through the air, taking its hand off before whirling around and booting it in the gut. My whip sparks with electricity, dimmer than before, but still powerful.
Draven jogs over, a sword in one hand and a granola bar in the other. “Eat this. I’ll distract them.”
He tosses me the granola bar and charges the four demons coming for me. Ripping open the granola bar, I eat it in two big bites, but it barely stifles the emptiness in my stomach.
Draven slashes and dodges but there are too many of them and I crack my whip, slicing the electrified tip into the neck of a demon about to stab him in the back. It bursts into ash, raining down on Draven’s head and back.
“I’ll never get used to that mess.” He frowns. “Thanks.”
“No problem. It’s time to end this shit.” I twirl in a circle, slashing at demons left and right. Every part my electric swordtouches turns to dust until it’s just me and Draven standing back-to-back, chests heaving with exertion.
“That was fun.” Draven chuckles.
“Yeah, nothing like fighting off a deranged goddess and her evil minions for cardio,” I breathe.
I turn around and take stock of my friends. Kira is standing in front of Raven and Greyson with the hammer raised, ready to strike anything that messes with her. Raven is awake and healed from the gash on her side. She looks worse for wear but still Raven. Greyson changed back to his human form, and thank the fates he found some pants.
“You guys all good?” I ask.
“No.” Raven pouts. “I missed all the fun because of that asshole lizard face. I wish I could bring him back so I could kill him again.”
“We have a whole-ass other battle to fight once we get back to the academy, Raven,” I say, shaking my head.
“Yeah, but how are we getting back to the academy?” Draven asks. “No one showed up to retrieve the hammer.”
“Where is Hephaestus? He should have felt it when we succeeded, right?” I ask. “That’s the way it worked with all of the others.”
“Maybe he’s here in the forge like I said before,” Kira says hopefully. “He can help us get back to the academy.”
I glance around at my friends, wondering how to let Kira down gently, when the weight of everything hits me. Something isn’t adding up.
“How did you free them from the net? I thought only Hephaestus could. He’s not here.”
“I don’t know what happened to be honest. It was like instinct took over and I touched the hammer to the net. The hammer kind of absorbed it, I guess?” Kira rubs her forehead.
“Cool. I wish I would have seen that.” I sway on my feet a little and my stomach rumbles again.
“Beth? Are you okay?” Draven puts a hand on my arm.
“I’m good, just running on empty. The granola bar was good, but it wasn’t enough.” I blink several times to stop the world from spinning, but it does nothing to stop my dizziness.
The ground rumbles beneath my feet and a crack splits between them, forcing me to drop and roll to the side. Black smoke and ash rain down on us from the mouth of the volcano.
“We have to move,” I shout over the groaning of the rocks and spewing lava.
