Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Jayden’s shadows wrap around me, yanking me out of the way as a boulder flies right where I was just standing. “Thanks, baby.”
“Careful, my love. That was too close,” Jayden says.
“What’s the plan?” Raven asks.
“Hermes killed him with a stone, right? You think that’s why he’s throwing boulders at us?” I ask.
“I think that’s probably the only thing he has available to him and he’s trying to do as much damage as possible from a distance,” Jayden says.
“Okay, so we take out his weapon of choice by getting close.” Raven pulls out her twin blades.
“Time to practice transporting rapidly?” I ask. “If we can transport in and out of his guard, we could confuse him enough to give us the upper hand.”
“I can shadow travel pretty quickly in and out.” Jayden pulls his own blade.
“Aim for the eyes. If we take enough of them out, we may be able to stop him.”
I close my eyes and concentrate on transporting right to the giant’s feet. The world spins around me momentarily before I land on solid ground. I blink my eyes open and gasp as a gray eye stares at me from Argus’ knee.
“Yeah, because that’s not creepy as fuck.” Calling my sword, I lash out at the eye.
Argus roars in pain and I concentrate before winking back to our spot in the field.
I stare as Raven blinks around the giant in a circle, slashing at all his eyes that are within reach of her sword.
Movement behind her catches my attention and I glance over to find Adrian nocking arrow after arrow at the giant.
Argus shakes his head and swats at the arrows, knocking them away from his body.
“Raven, shield,” I scream.
Her red body armor covers her in an instant and an arrow bounces off her head, harmless. Thank the gods.
“You ready to get back out there, love?” Jayden wraps an arm around me and covers us in shadow.
“Thanks, baby, but you know I can transport now.” I pull my whip from my lightning bolt charm.
The whip unfurls in my hand. I press a quick hot kiss to Jayden’s lips and transport myself closer to the giant. A meaty hand swats at me, but I roll away a second before he gets there. Jumping back to my feet, I crack the whip and aim for the giant’s midsection.
He’s at least ten feet tall so I can’t reach much higher than that with my whip. If we can keep his hands busy trying to swat at us though, we may be able to distract him enough that Adrian can shoot the eyes on his head.
“Adrian, hold fire until I tell you, yeah?” I shout.
“Sure thing,” he says. He doesn’t appear confused by my request at all.
Has he seen this and was just waiting for me to come to this conclusion? It wouldn’t surprise me at all. There may have even been a version where I didn’t come up with this answer to our problem. What happened in that version? Did we all die?
“Raven, help me keep his hands busy,” I call to her.
She glances between me, the giant, and Adrian and her eyes widen comically. “You’re a genius, B.”
Shadows wrap around me and yank me back against a hard chest. The ground rumbles and I stumble but Jayden is there to catch me. The giant’s fisted hand sinks into the field, leaving a crater in his wake.
“Pay attention, love,” Jayden growls in my ear. “I’ll be seriously pissed if I have to drag you out of the underworld.”
“Same to you.” I press a kiss to his nose, then spin out of the cradle of his arms.
I transport to the giant’s feet and stab him in the foot with my sword. A bellow of anger and pain rattles my bones. A huge hand reaches for me, but I transport out of the way and stab his other foot.
The giant scans the clearing, searching for something, as I transport behind him and swipe at his calf with my sword. The giant stumbles but doesn’t drop like I want him to. His threshold for pain is insane.
“Adrian, be ready. When his hands are busy, take your shot,” I say.
“You got it, Beth,” he says.
“Where are the others?” I ask.
“Gathering anything they can throw at him to distract him.” Adrian points to the tree line of the peach grove.
“Good thinking. No one can reach his damn head.” I stumble and it has nothing to do with the stomping monster.
Jayden is in front of me a second later. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I’m fine.” I hold my hand to my head, my energy wavering.
“Why don’t I believe you?” He grips my arms.
“Jayden, Beth, move,” Raven bellows.
Jayden’s shadows wrap around us and we come out behind the ten-foot giant. Jayden doesn’t release me. My body sways into him.
“You’re tapped out from transporting so much, aren’t you?” he asks and I nod against his chest.
Greyson’s giant wolf darts past us and barrels into Raven’s side, knocking her to the ground. She rolls back to her feet just in time to see Greyson knocked twenty feet in the air with a hit to his side. He yelps as he hits the ground with a deafening crack.
“Greyson,” Raven roars.
“We need to cover them.” I straighten my shoulders.
“You’re tapped out, baby. You can’t fight him right now.” Jayden grips me tighter.
“I can and I will. Greyson is injured. We have to take this thing down and keep him away from Raven.” I pull away from Jayden.
“Fine, but don’t use magic,” Jayden says.
“We need the others like now,” I yell.
“I’ll get them,” Adrian calls to me.
Dax, Kira, and Draven race up from the tree line but Dax’s eyes widen when he sees Raven hunched over Greyson’s wolf form.
“The fuck happened?” Dax asks.
“He saved your sister’s life. They need cover and we need to take this clunky bastard down,” I say.
“What’s the plan?” he asks with no hesitation.
“We need to keep his hands busy while Adrian shoots at his head.” I tighten my grip on my sword.
“Beth can’t use her magic. She’s nearly tapped out, so we need to use brute force,” Jayden says.
“I’m good at brute force.” Dax grins, pulling an ax from the ether.
“Be careful. He already swiped at Greyson.” I heft my sword and unfurl my whip.
Dax races to the giant’s feet and swings his ax like a madman. Blood sprays on him but when the giant swings for him, Dax sees it coming and rolls between the giant’s legs, dodging easily.
I rush the giant as he reaches for Dax again and crack my whip, slicing through an eye in the palm of his hand. A small crackle of electricity crackles across the giant’s hand and he jerks back with a yelp.
“You want me to spank that pretty ass raw, don’t you,” Jayden whispers in my ear.
“Maybe.” I bat my eyes at him and dodge the giant hand coming at me.
“Don’t do it again, Beth. I mean it. If you use too much, you could die.” Jayden slashes the hand reaching for me.
“I know, okay. It was an accident.” I turn to Adrian. “You ready?”
“On it.” He nocks an arrow and lets it fly.
With the rest of us distracting him, Argus doesn’t see the arrow coming this time. A bellow of agony roars through the din of battle as the arrow meets its mark in one of his eyes but Argus still doesn’t go down.
“Fuck, how do we kill this bastard?” I yell.
“I can try again. Maybe there wasn’t enough force to stick in his brain,” Adrian says.
“Whatever you’re going to do, we need to do it quick,” Draven pants. “I’m flagging.”
Jayden’s shadows pulsate around him. They blast out of him, wrapping around the giant in thick gold chains, but Argus struggles and they snap. Jayden’s breathing comes out in sharp pants.
“This guy is strong, but I think I could hold him for a second while you shoot. We’ll have to time it perfectly,” Jayden says to Adrian.
“Okay, let’s try it.” Adrian nods and pulls his bow.
The giant cocks his head to the side, watching Adrian and Jayden with curiosity before roaring and stomping on the ground with so much force the ground around him cracks and a large fissure cuts through the farmland, heading straight for Raven and Greyson.
“Raven, look out,” I scream.
She turns a tear-streaked face to the fissure and shrugs before turning back to Greyson. No. No. No. This can’t be happening. Greyson can’t be dead. Raven can’t give up.
“Jayden, get them out of there,” I say.
Jayden’s shadows wrap around them, moving them out of the way of the crack in the earth. Greyson is so still. Raven wails as she leans over Greyson’s prone form.
Something dark, deadly, and electric sparks to life inside me and a bellow of raw fury blasts from me.
My hands rise on instinct and black lightning shoots from my hands into the giant as I stalk forward.
I hit him with it again and again. The giant jolts with every blast but doesn’t turn to ash right away.
“Why won’t you just fucking die already.” I hit the monster with more black lightning. “You don’t get to take my friends from me. Do you hear me, you psychotic bitch? I’m coming for you and not for my execution.”
Strong arms wrap around me from behind and I sag into them. Jayden’s whispered words don’t register in my head as he shadow walks us to Raven. I don’t take my stare from the giant on the ground but not turning to dust.
“Someone get a rock and bash his skull in with it,” I say.
I know it’s dark as fuck, but my best friend won’t survive without Greyson. The giant has to die or humans could see him.
“With pleasure.” Dax cracks his knuckles as he stalks to the giant’s head.
I turn to Raven and drop to my knees next to her. “Raven?”
“Don’t.”
“Wait.” Adrian leans forward with his ear to Greyson’s mouth. “He’s breathing but just.”
“Jayden, get my bag, now.”
Jayden shadow walks to the SUV and is back in a second. If we have any hope of saving Greyson, it’s in my bag. I just hope like hell this works. We can’t lose Greyson.
“He’s a shifter, Beth. What if that backfires and is too strong for him to handle?” Jayden asks.
“He’s also been gods touched twice now. You see how big he is after he got that dire’s blood on him.”
“It should work in theory.” Adrian nods.
“The alternative is too heinous to imagine,” Raven whispers.
I hand the bottle to Adrian with a nod. “Do it. Three drops only.”
I wrap an arm around Raven and pull her into my side as we watch Adrian carefully drop three small red drops in the wolf’s parted lips.
The thudding of the rock hitting Argus’ head is rhythmic and almost soothing. That’s disturbing but I’m not unpacking that whole mess right now.
“Now, we wait,” Adrian says.
Jayden sits on my other side and grips my hand as we obsessively watch the wolf for long minutes.
“Why is it taking so long?” Raven sniffles.
“I don’t know. Did you see exactly where he was hurt?” I ask gently.
“No, the idiot shoved me out of the way.” She glares at the still form. “Why the fuck would you shove me out of the way?”
Raven breaks down in heaving sobs and I release Jayden’s hand to hug my friend through her tears. We can’t lose him like this. We can’t. The elixir has to work. What am I even fighting for if I lose my friends in the process?
They’re getting injured and possibly dying because of me. Because I was born and that made Hera go insane. She will end the madness and all their suffering if I just give in to her.
A whimper sounds like a gunshot in the stillness and I glance down, finding intelligent eyes staring back—not at me, but the woman in my arms.
“Raven, look,” I whisper.
A whine escapes the wolf and Raven turns so fast she practically gives me whiplash.
“Greyson, oh my gods. You scared the shit out of me.” She buries her face in his fur.
Jayden stands and reaches for my hand to help me off the ground. I take it, then dust myself off, turning to the others to give Raven privacy.
“That was too close for comfort.” I lean into Jayden’s side.
“I got his clothes so he can shift back.” Thad hands them to Adrian.
“Thanks. We probably need to give them a few minutes. I’ve never seen Raven like that before.” I glance at my friend still clutching Greyson’s fur.
“No, I have never seen her like that either,” Dax whispers.
He’s covered in blood and ash but thankfully the giant didn’t have ichor in his veins like others we’ve encountered.
“I figured the only way to kill him was to hit him with a rock,” I say. “That’s what Hermes did.”
“What happened to the cow?” Jayden asks.
Kira shrugs. “I untied her and she ran off. I didn’t think it was worth trying to follow her.”
“That is what happened in the myth too—lo took off. Probably tired of my father’s games.” I shake my head.
“Is she going to be okay?” Kira asks, nodding to Raven.
“Yeah, Greyson’s going to be okay so she should be too.” I glance over at them.
Raven is still hugging the wolf. Adrian is leaning over her, rubbing her back and whispering something to her. He hands her Greyson’s clothes and she finally sits up. Greyson’s wolf leans forward and licks her cheeks where she’s been crying and whimpers.
“She might have nightmares for a while. He rushed in to save her from getting hit and got launched himself. Bones cracked. It was terrifying,” I whisper and glance at Jayden.
He wraps an arm around me. “We had a few close calls. It doesn’t get easier.”
“Nope,” I say, glancing away from the others.
The queen’s deal weighs heavy on my mind, but I don’t dare speak about it out loud. I will get shot down hard again. Jayden wasn’t joking earlier when he said he’d drag me out of the underworld. Hades would most likely let him. Cheer him on more like.
Don’t even think about it, baby, he says into my mind.
Think about what? I’m not thinking about anything.
Liar. Just wait until we’re alone. I’ll show you exactly why making that deal with Hera is the wrong choice.
“Did you know that your faces scrunch in concentration when you talk to each other like that?” Kira says, giggling.
“They do not,” I say, glad for the distraction.
“Raven, babe. I’m okay.” Greyson’s voice startles me.
“Thank the gods.” I turn to them.
Raven clings to Greyson’s shirt, her face buried in his chest. Soft sobs escape her as he wraps his arms around her. My stomach drops to my toes for my friend. I know that pain and fear. It’s unbearable.
“What were you thinking? I’m a fucking daughter of Ares. Idiot.” She shoves him but doesn’t let go.
“I was thinking my mate was about to get smashed by a giant and I had to stop it.” He tightens his arms around her.
“Don’t ever do that again,” she growls.
“You know I can’t promise that, no more than you can say that you won’t risk your life for me. We aren’t built that way, babe.” He leans his chin on the top of her head.
I glance away from the intimate moment. “Let’s head back to the SUV and give them a few minutes.”
“That sounds like a great idea.” Jayden grabs my hand.
“We’ll be at the SUV. Take your time.” I glance at Greyson.
Greyson nods his thanks to me as Jayden pulls me through the field, away from my traumatized friend. Poor Raven. I wouldn’t wish that pain and fear on anyone. Sadly, it’s only going to get worse from here. When the actual battle starts, none of us will be safe.