Chapter 18 #2
“Probably us. I’m sure queen bitchface sent him here finding out what happened somehow. She has eyes everywhere.” I glance back at the sky again.
Could she have birds following us even now? It’s possible. Anything is possible.
“Apollo could have told her. His part of the plan isn’t over as he said, I’m sure,” Adrian says. “That’s why he disappeared with Olly.”
Kira whimpers and turns her head away from the rest of us so we don’t see her emotions. I want to hug her and tell her we’ll find him, but she’s in the fourth seat back in the huge SUV.
“You had that massive vision about everything and you didn’t see where Olly is?” I ask Adrian.
“I did see,” he whispers. “I just can’t tell you what I saw. I’m sorry. It will put him and someone else in danger.”
“Who?” I ask, already knowing he won’t tell me.
“An innocent who shouldn’t even be a part of this world yet.” Adrian stares at me with an intensity like he’s trying to force me to put the pieces together on my own.
“No,” I whisper. “Don’t fucking tell us. We can’t risk her.”
“Who?” Raven asks.
“Oklahoma City Zoo,” I say.
“Oh yeah. We met her when we went after the shield. Don’t risk her. She’s too precious.” Raven crosses her arms over her chest.
“Can we please focus on the giant in front of us?” Jayden’s voice is strangled.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“He’s doing something and I’m not sure if it’s threatening or not.” Jayden’s grip tightens on the steering wheel.
“Is that a rock or a weapon?” Raven asks.
“A rock is a weapon,” I yell.
“He just threw it. Fuck.” Jayden swerves. The tires screech as we dodge the huge boulder Argus threw at us.
“What are we going to do?” I ask as the scent of burning rubber hits my nose.
“We need to back off and leave the SUV somewhere out of the line of fire. We’re fucked if we lose this vehicle,” Raven says.
“Where can we stash it? We’re in an open field.” I grip the lightning bolt charm but don’t call my whip to me yet.
We need to regroup and think of a plan. This monster is intelligent, unlike most of the monsters we’ve faced in the past. He also has one hundred eyes and will anticipate any attack.
Jayden throws the SUV into reverse. “Duck down so I can see out the back window.”
“I thought we decided to never do this again.” I hold on with everything I have to the back of my seat as we speed the wrong way down the street.
“Baby, I need you to keep eyes on Argos. Turn back around,” Jayden commands.
It takes all my willpower to unlock my fingers from the leather headrest and turn back to the giant staring at us in confusion. He bends over, picking up another boulder that appears so small in his huge hand.
“He has another boulder, Jayden.” I lean forward in my seat.
I get a glimpse of the giant’s arm which is also covered in eyes. It’s deeply unsettling. They don’t even blink all at the same time, probably so he can always be watching.
“We need a place to hide like right now,” I warn.
“Everyone, hold on,” Jayden shouts.
I grab on to the dashboard as Jayden backs the SUV through a wooden fence that separates the road from the abandoned farmland. There’s a grove of peach trees about a hundred yards behind us. A gravel path leads into the orchard and Jayden swerves to reach it and reverses into the trees.
“Are there dryads in this grove?” Raven grumbles.
“Probably but we have bigger problems than your beef with tree spirits.” I roll my eyes. “Is there any information we have on how far this crazy giant can throw a boulder?”
“No, why?” Draven says.
“Because he just launched a big motherfucker at us.” I brace for impact.
“Fuck,” Jayden slams his foot down on the gas and we shoot farther between the peach trees.
“I think we’re safe to get out and see if we can sneak up on him somehow. Draven, any ideas?” I ask.
“Give me a second.” Draven furrows his brow.
“Why did you ask Draven?” Raven asks.
“His father is the god of mischief and thieves. If anyone can come up with a way to trick a one-hundred-eyed giant, then it’s Hermes.” I shrug.
“But in history, he couldn’t, so why would Draven be able to now?” Raven asks.
“Rude,” Draven says.
“But not untrue,” Kira says, poking him in the ribs.
“No, darling, not untrue. I just need to focus. I’m not gods touched like the rest of you.”
“We need to get out of the SUV. We’re sitting ducks. We need to regroup and figure this out.” I push open my door.
“Stop doing that,” Jayden growls.
“Deal with it, baby. We need to hurry and figure this out.” I hop out of the SUV and shut the door behind me.
We make our way between the trees, down the gravel path, back to the edge of the grove, and I peek out as a furious bellow so loud it rattles in my brain meets my ears.
“Uh-oh, someone is not happy we got away. What do we do, B?” Raven crouches next to me.
“I don’t know,” I say in defeat. “What can we do?”
“We have to fight. He tried to take us out. He’s an agent of queen bitchface and if left unchecked, he could out us to the humans.” Raven’s gaze meets mine.
“Well, obviously, we have to fight.” I shake my head.
“How do we do this?” Jayden asks.
“As much as I hate to say this, we need to split up and hit him from each side,” I say.
“I agree.” Raven stands. “He can’t attack us all at the same time even if he can see us all because he has so many eyes.”
“No, he can only attack one group at a time. So while he’s attacking one group, the others attack to distract. He won’t know who to go after and it will confuse the hell out of him. Something Hermes didn’t have the advantage of when he killed him.”
“All right, so who do the groups consist of?” Jayden asks.
He wraps his arm around me possessively. He needs help with his subtlety if he thinks I didn’t catch the hint. I have already decided that he, Raven, and I will mount the attack while the others distract.
I narrow my gaze on him. “Me, you, and Raven will attack, and Greyson, Thad, and Adrian will distract from the left while the others go after his back,” I say.
Raven nods in approval. “That makes sense. The strongest on the offense while the others have our backs.”
“Exactly,” I say, pointing at her with my index and middle finger.
We split up into teams and each move in different directions toward our intended target. I stare after my friends for a moment, praying that no one gets hurt. We are in the front of the danger but it will kill me if anything happens to one of them.