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“The sky,” Paris whispered. He stood at the back of the flat, where sliding glass doors opened to a patio. Knowing the landscape of Oxford, I knew that I was looking toward Castle Mill Stream and a row of brick houses. The silhouettes were purple against the black sky, but in the distance, a strip of yellow, as bright as the sun, pulsed across the horizon.
It grew. As we watched, the narrow light grew wider and wider. Then, like a switch was flipped, it was gone.
But the power coming from the direction of the light made the hairs on my arm lift and my bones hum.
Glancing over to my friends, I caught the moment they felt it, too. Pollux stood taller, clenching his teeth so hard his jaw looked like granite. Paris’s face paled. He dropped his hands to his side and let out a long breath.
“Do the Furies feel like this?” I asked. Orestes was the only one of us to come into contact with other god-made creatures since we’d sealed them away.
The pupils in Orestes’ golden eyes widened, blotting out the color before contracting again to pinpricks. “No. They are nothing like this. This is—”
“The old gods,” Paris ground out, voice strong despite his pale skin and wide blue eyes. “It’s the gods.”
I had my mobile to my ear in seconds.Answer,I willed Achilles.Answer!
“What?” his deep voice came over the line.
“We’re at Pollux’s flat. Do you feel that?” I asked.
There was silence, and then the quick intake of breath. “I’m with Leo. It’ll take me fifteen minutes, half an hour to get there.”
“Something’s escaped,” I said, knowing he’d understand what I said without me actually having to say it. “One of the gods. All of the gods. We might—” We might have to fight. Wewouldhave to fight. Our powers were nothing like they were the moments before we sealed the gods away, and if they’d escaped, then… “We have to find them.” If they didn’t find us first.
“Wait for me,” Achilles demanded, and hung up.
“A hundred thousand years, and we’re suddenly ready to live.” Paris pressed his lips together and straightened his shoulders. He glanced at me. “I’m not letting them take this from me.”
I didn’t want that either, but how in the world was I going to stop them?
Leo
The morning came slowly. So slowly.
I watched the sky turn from black to gray to blue. My sheets lay in a tangled mess on the floor, because I hadn’t had the energy to change them. Instead, I’d taken a shower and crawled under a blanket on my bare mattress.
The hours passed with me tossing and turning, and trying like hell to figure out if I regretted what I’d done, or not.
By the time the sun rose, I’d decided.
I didn’t.
I’d also decided I needed to talk honestly with all of the guys after I had my committee meeting.
Standing in front of the mirror, I took stock of my reflection. My sensitive skin was raw along my neck and shoulders from Achilles’ stubble, and my eyes were puffy from lack of sleep.
I couldn’t stand in front of my colleagues looking like this. They’d assume I was lacking sleep because I was kept up by guilt.
An hour later, I had done the best I could with what I had. Never a wizard with makeup, I’d nevertheless managed to cover the purple circles under my eyes, and add some pink to my cheeks. I’d been careful with my hair, using curl cream and a diffuser so it wouldn’t look like an orange dandelion, and the overall effect…
Well, it wasn’t bad.
Opening my wardrobe door, I stood in front of the full length mirror. I could do this. I could keep my head in the game, speak articulately, and stand up to a bunch of academic bullies.
It wasn’t the first time I’d done it.
My phone sat next to my bed, but there were no missed calls. Not from the people I wanted to call, anyway. Dr. Merton had sent me an email with the details of my meeting, and Dr. St. John another entreating me to have my research and evidence ready.
I shoved my computer and notes into my bag, slung it over my shoulder, and headed to the Ioannou Centre.
