Hephaestus’ Hammer (Halfling Academy #7)

Chapter 1

Islam my fist down on the table in the war room. “What are we going to do? He didn’t actually have his own temples in ancient Greece.”

Jayden rubs a hand down my back. “I don’t know, baby. I doubt Athena will be pleased if we stroll up to her temple in Athens, looking for an item of power that doesn’t belong to her.”

“We’re running out of time. They could attack any day now and we have nothing.” I hang my head. “Of course this wouldn’t be just like all the other times. It would have to be noticeably harder.”

“I don’t know, Beth,” Raven says. “I think getting lost in a different realm was a struggle.”

Kira leans forward. “Hephaestus is kind of a loner, right? Like he sticks to himself and his sacred places. What if they got a hold of one of his forges and put the hammer there instead since he doesn’t have temples?”

“That’s actually pretty brilliant. How many forges does he have? We came across a sort of workshop of his while going to get Ares’ shield.” I tap my fingers on the table.

“Um, well…” Kira slumps in her seat.

“How bad are we talking? There isn’t a whole lot of information on him.”

“His forges are spread across the world in every major volcano.” Kira bites her lip.

“Holy Hades,” Jayden hisses. “There’s got to be at least one that was famous for something, right?”

“You don’t think they took over the one on Mount Olympus, do you?” Raven asks. “How would we even get there?”

“I don’t know. I tend to think she has it somewhere accessible but wouldn’t put it past the queen to make it unattainable.” I shake my head.

“Let’s dig up what we can on his forges just in case. We can figure out what is special about the forges later and pick the most likely place.” Jayden squeezes my shoulder.

“Wait,” Kira says. “Didn’t you guys say you fought Typhon in Tartarus?”

“Yeah, he was in the pit. We almost lost that one.” I nod. “Why?”

“That’s not where he was imprisoned. How did he get to the underworld?” Kira asks.

“We didn’t think to ask him while we were fighting for our lives,” Raven scoffs.

“Easy,” Greyson says. “We shouldn’t be biting each other’s heads off. We’re a team.”

“You don’t know me at all, do you? That wasn’t biting people’s heads off; that was sarcasm, babe.” Raven rolls her eyes.

“Anyway,” Kira drawls. “Typhon was imprisoned in the base of Mount Etna. Hephaestus caged the Titan there himself and then built his most famous forge there.”

“On top of a sadistic Titan’s prison who wants nothing more than to destroy him? Perfect place for your home.” I lean into Jayden.

“It is if you want to keep him contained and keep an eye on him.” Jayden rests his elbow on the table and leans forward. “Where better to keep an eye on him so he can’t escape.”

“But he did escape.” Kira points at him. “Into the underworld. How did he get there? How long has the queen had control of the forge?”

“Shit, you’re right. That has to be the place. Someone helped that bastard escape. Meaning she’s had access to the forge this entire time. That was months ago that we went to the underworld.” I tilt my head back and squeeze my eyes shut.

“Does that mean she has been draining Hephaestus slowly for months?” Raven asks. “We met him, though. He seemed… normal.”

“Yeah,” Greyson says. “He was not what I expected from the god who was tossed from Olympus because he wasn’t beautiful.”

“He wasn’t godlike but still not ugly by human standards.” Raven shrugs.

“The queen is all about appearances and hated that her son wasn’t perfect. Stupid twat,” Kira snarls.

I burst out laughing. “I think Raven is rubbing off on you.”

“Hey, I’m delightful.” Raven flips her hair over her shoulder.

“Yes, you are.” I nod to her. “Okay, so where would Mount Etna be now?”

“It would be in a large volcano probably close to other volcanic activity.” Kira flips through the book.

“Hawaii?” Raven says.

“I don’t want to go back into the ocean again.” I shudder.

Memories assault me of the Island of the Lotus Eaters. No. That was an illusion. It wasn’t real. Jayden must sense the dark turn of my thoughts because his hand rubs soothing circles on my back.

“It wasn’t real, love. It was a test. I’m not leaving you,” he whispers in my ear.

“I know, but just the thought of having to cross that ocean since flying isn’t an option twists me up in knots.” I shiver.

“While Hawaii makes sense, I doubt the forge is there.” Kira turns to Thad.

“Hawaii is my father’s domain. The forge most likely wouldn’t be there even if their powers are similar.” Thad shrugs.

“Thank fuck for that,” I breathe. “No offense, Thad.”

“Trauma is trauma. I don’t blame you for not wanting to go back. If it were me, I wouldn’t want that either.”

“Okay,” Jayden says. “Where else fits the description?”

Adrian pulls the map of the US out and unrolls it on the table.

“Etna was on an island to the west of Greece close to where Hephaestus was said to have fallen from Olympus. The only islands to the west fall into Poseidon’s domain, so we can rule that out, but it will still be on the west side of the country. ”

Kira leans over the map. “There are more than a few volcanoes in the west, but only one I can think of that has these exact conditions. Elkhorn Mountain in Montana. It’s close to Yellowstone volcanic plains. It could be the site of the forge.”

“That’s pretty perfect,” I say. “We can travel through Arizona and Colorado to gather our shifter allies.”

Raven turns to Greyson. “Do you think they will still be willing to help considering the mess they’re in?”

“They’ll help. Grant has been in touch through Orpheus. Things are escalating for them, but they aren’t on the brink of war yet. We have time.”

“Except our problems rolled over to them,” I point out. “It’s our fault they’re so close to war in the first place.”

“Hey, B? Shut up.” Raven narrows her eyes. “How many times have we helped Tristan out of a mess?”

“Not counting the ones we got him into in the first place?” I ask.

“The entire world was going to shit each time. We saved them all over and over again. The wolves are the only ones who know a small portion of the things we sacrificed for the world. They will help us or I will put a boot up their asses.” Raven crosses her arms.

“She’s right, Beth. The wolves will help their allies in a time of need and we’re going to need all the help we can get,” Greyson says.

“Elkhorn looks correct,” Adrian says. “I think we are on the right track with that.”

“Now that we have that settled, we should have a couple days to evaluate the other students and make a plan for the probability of the queen attacking us here at the academy.” I stand ready to take off for the training grounds.

Adrian stands but his eyes roll back in his head and he slumps. Thad is there in an instant, safely lowering him to the ground.

“Shit, what is it now?” I mumble to myself.

Kira hands Thad a tongue depressor so we can keep him from hurting himself. It’s all methodical and calm. This has been happening daily to the point no one leaves him alone anymore in case it happens when we least expect it.

“You think it’s Apollo giving him more information or an actual vision?” Raven asks.

“I don’t know. Either way it’s nothing good.” I shake my head.

“It never is,” Raven says.

I crouch next to Adrian, but he continues thrashing on the ground. “How many is this since we’ve been back?”

“Too many. This can’t be good for his human brain.”

“I don’t think Apollo would allow something to happen to the most powerful oracle born in a generation.” Jayden pats my shoulder.

“I don’t know, little Annie is a pretty powerful seer as well.” I press my hand to Adrian’s shoulder to try to stop him from hurting himself, but he thrashes harder.

“This seems worse than normal.” Kira bites her lip.

“It has gone on longer than it typically does.” I nod. “Even the first time when they basically downloaded all the possible futures into his head it wasn’t this long.”

“It wasn’t but the healer said that we just have to let him ride them out.” Raven shrugs.

“It really should have stopped by now.” I move my hand to touch his forehead, but a new voice stops me.

“Don’t touch him. You can’t see what he does.” Apollo grabs my hand. “Especially not on the head.”

“What are you doing here, Apollo?” I ask. “I thought you were in Adrian’s head right now.”

“No, that’s something else. I suspect the fates are having a chat with him.” Apollo waves a hand.

“Hopefully Aggie doesn’t have her stick.” Jayden rubs the back of his head.

“She never attacked Adrian.” Raven chuckles. “Just you, Greyson and Draven but mostly just you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Jayden waves her off.

“So, were you just here to warn me not to touch him, Apollo?” I ask.

“No, I need to know what they told him as much as you do.” Apollo runs his hand down his face. “When Rebecca was removed from the academy, they sent people to ‘secure’ Annie. I have had Olly searching for her the whole time, but he hasn’t found anything yet.”

“Annie is missing?” I gasp. “I thought you sent Olly to protect them.”

“Olly?” Kira asks. “Is he okay?”

“I did but she was moved before that.” Apollo shakes his head.

“You’re the god of prophecy, shouldn’t you know where she is?” I demand.

“The fates hide things about people I care about, especially my children when they have certain roles to play.” He clenches his jaw.

“That’s why you don’t know what Adrian is seeing right now.” I sit back on my heels. “That’s unfortunate.”

“It’s a pain in the ass,” Apollo grumbles.

Adrian’s thrashing eases and he groans, blinking his eyes to their normal brown. “What happened?”

“What do you mean? You don’t remember the vision?” I ask.

“Oh no, I won’t forget that shit show anytime soon. Why is my dad here and you all look like someone died? You don’t even know my news yet.” Adrian sits up and shakes his head.

“Did you see anything about Annie and Olly?” Apollo asks.

“What? They’re safe, right? Why would I see anything about them?” Adrian asks.

“They’re not. The queen has Annie somewhere. Olly is searching for her.” My shoulders slump. “And you’re about to tell us more bad news.”