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“Your phone.” Lady Elliot gestured to my bag. For all my preparation. I hadn’t silenced my cell. My hands trembled as I moved to silence it, but a name appeared on the screen.General Achilles.
For the first time all morning, I wanted to smile. How had he programmed himself into my phone?
Achilles:Where are you?
I ignored the murmurs from the table and held up one finger in order to type a response.Ioannou Centre. Second floor. Conference room B.
Three bubbles appeared, and he messaged,Be right there.
I didn’t have time to reply.
“Leonora, are you listening to me?” Diana asked.
I nodded, but I was distracted. “I am.”
“Do you understand your position is tenuous at best?” Dr. Merton asked.
“You’d be gone if it was up to me,” Lord Elliot muttered, and Diana smiled, only for a second, before her face changed.
I’d seen this look before, angry, dark like a storm cloud, dark brows drawn low over her ice blue eyes.
There was a rap on the door, and raised voices outside. One female, high and angry, another low, measured, and even.
The door swung open, and there he was. His hair was a mess, windblown and wild, and his hazel eyes seemed lighter than normal, almost gold. And he wasn’t alone. Part of me was horrified at all five of these guys coming to what amounted to a meeting, but the other part was grateful.
So grateful.
They didn’t look at me, though. It was like I wasn’t standing here at all. As one, they looked past me, to Diana.
She stood, rising from the chair the way a swan would stretch its long graceful neck, unfurling herself. There was a noise like a door closing against the noise of a summer day. Quiet—all at once.
And everything stopped. The ticking clock. Lady Elliot’s nasal breathing, and Lord Elliot’s bellowing. Dr. Merton was frozen in place, eyes unblinking, turned toward Diana.
“I know you.” It was Paris who spoke. He pushed past Hector, who had put out a hand to stop him. His gaze raked Diana from her head to her toes. “Iknowyou.”
What was happening?
“How do I know you?” Paris asked. It was then they seemed to notice the other people in the room, the frozen expressions on their faces, and the way time had‚ literally, stood still.
“We met long ago, Prince Paris,” she replied. And like water rippling over a surface, the person I had known for years melted away.
It was Diana, butmore. I couldn’t even describe her as a younger version of herself, because this Diana shone from within, and was so lovely it hurt to even look at her.
“A goddess,” I whispered, because what else could she be?
She clicked her tongue, shaking her head as she walked around the table, her movements as smooth as a snake’s. “You are a smart girl, Leonora, and have almost redeemed yourself.Almost.”
I had no idea what she was talking about, and opened my mouth to reply, but Hector spoke over me. “Which one are you?” he asked.
“Don’t you recognize me?” She cocked her head to the side, blinking cold, blue eyes. Her hair was so dark a black that it shone like obsidian. “I suppose not. It has been so long, and we only gazed upon each other for an instant. I, however, had been watching you since the moment you took air.”
“Artemis?” Paris asked, and she shook her head. Her image rippled again, and she stood before us, a golden helmet on her head, clad head to toe in gold armor engraved with images of owls. On her wrists she wore bracers that wound around her like thick snakes. She seemed to grow even larger, as tall as Achilles, while behind her extended huge, black wings.
“Athena. Warrior goddess.” The owl was a symbol of her wisdom, and her form, clad in armor and winged, was common among the artifacts I’d studied. “You are a counterpoint to your brother, Ares, who is known for violence and slaughter. Instead, you bring strategy and discipline to battle.”
Her smile was cold and fierce, and I took a step back, tripping into my chair. In an instant, Pollux and Achilles were beside me, hauling me over the chair and behind them.
“You know who I am, and yet, you don’t bow.” She frowned, her fingers clenching and releasing. “Once upon a time, Leonora, you bowed and scraped and worshipped at my feet.”
