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“You wanted to talk,” I said, this time addressing Zeus. “Then talk.”
Behind me, the others stirred, gathering and whispering among themselves. Whatever these two gods had in store – two of the most powerful of their pantheon, let’s not forget – I just hoped that my friends had something worthy to counter with. Or to protect me, at the very least.
“Very well,” he said. Zeus lifted a finger, pointing at me directly in the face. I did my best not to flinch, knowing what I did of him. That finger could very well zap my face right off. My poor, handsome face. “Dustin Graves. Do you deny that you were recently in contact with a member of the Great Beasts?”
I shook my head, exasperated. “Look. You already know that I spoke to Scylla the other day, and I already explained to your brother here that – ”
“Dustin Graves,” Zeus boomed, his voice echoing across the hilltop. “Do you deny that you met with Belphegor, demon prince of sloth, and conspired to bring harm upon my brother, Poseidon?”
I threw my hands up. “That was a misunderstanding. It was just supposed to be us and
Belphegor. Poseidon showing up was a whole different sort of mess, it – ”
“That proves it,” Poseidon said, standing taller, glowering at me accusingly. “What other evidence do we need, brother? This puny mortal thinks to conspire with the darkest forces of this world – not only of this world, but of this universe as well. The Old Ones. It’s well known that he is steered by their power, this so-called Dark Room that dwells in his heart.”
“That is enough for me,” Zeus said. “Dustin Graves. For the crime of consorting with the darkest powers on this known earth, I sentence you to die.”
He pointed one thick finger at my chest, a little white spark tumbling from the end of it. I called on the Dark Room, prepared to escape, furious that I had to run for my life yet again. A sheet of lightning lanced from Zeus’s finger –
But a silver streak blurred just in front of me. Sterling was fast, but I never knew he could be faster than even a shard of divine lightning. A blinding flash burst only inches away from us: Zeus’s bolt, colliding with the ornate katana Sterling brandished in both hands.
“Impossible,” Zeus snarled.
“Clearly not,” Sterling called out, his sword hissing and issuing sparks as it absorbed the last of Zeus’s lightning. “If you want to get to Dustin, you’ll have to go through me, first.” Then he nudged his head over his shoulder, indicating the rest of Team Borica. “You’ll have to go through all of us.”
Poseidon hoisted up his trident, baring his teeth. “You dare defy the gods, undead wretch?”
“Justice will be dealt, brother,” Zeus shouted. “One way or another.”
“Enough about justice,” I cried out, pushing past Sterling. “Enough of this wild goddamn goose chase.”
“Dust,” Sterling hissed. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“This doesn’t end unless they see,” I said. “This doesn’t end unless they understand. For so long now my friends and I have worked to stop the scourge of the Eldest, and now their priestess threatens the very fabric of existence itself. She could wipe out the universe, but you gods are more concerned with who’s working with what. With politics, allegiances, all this shit that isn’t going to matter when the Old Ones show up and destroy us all.”
“Dust,” Sterling hissed again, his tone thick with warning.
“This one bleats like a soft little sheep, brother,” Poseidon said.
“Indeed, it does,” Zeus replied. “I wonder how many more charges of lightning that little sword of theirs can contain.”
That little sword, he said, which meant he didn’t recognize that it was a gift to Sterling from Susanoo. I didn’t want any more gods getting involved, so that was good. The last thing I wanted was Izanami rocking up on us to pull off another crazy act of betrayal. Death gods were never any fun. And that was when I remembered. Zeus and Poseidon had another brother, didn’t they? Hades? Shit. I finally acknowledged the little voice in the back of my head: tread lightly. Be careful.
I did the voice one better. I tried to be pragmatic. I flung my hand up at the sky, pointing.
Zeus followed the tip of my finger, then guffawed. “Well, little sheep? Is this gesture of yours meant to terrify us? What demon magic are you calling down from the sky?”
“No,” I said, my voice even and still, the rage whittled out of it. “Look at the stars. Look how red they are, all thirteen of them.”
And so they did, and when Poseidon’s face fell, when Zeus knitted his eyebrows in a mix of confusion and fury, I knew I had them.
“What sorcery is this?” Zeus muttered.
“No sorcery,” I said. “The priestess of the Old Ones is a powerful witch. She’s split herself into thirteen pieces. One of those pieces attacked a nearby village tonight, burned people to death. They were cremated in their own homes. They were sacrifices. That was when the first red star appeared in the sky.” I looked up, following my own finger, my heart thumping as I saw the crimson stars. “What about the other twelve? Who else has died tonight?”
Zeus looked at me, his face a storm, then back up at the stars once more.
“Something big is coming,” I said. “And we have to work together to stop it. Demon princes, the Great Beasts, humanity, Olympus – none of it matters if the Old Ones return to consume us all.”
