Chapter 24 #2
Prometheus bows his head slightly. “That’s precisely why you should have power like that. You won’t abuse it.”
“I’ve been told this on at least one other occasion and that didn’t change my mind.”
“Are we here to chat or to get my plinth?” Pandora stomps her foot.
I chuckle. It’s hard not to watch a millennia old woman stomp like a toddler and not laugh. I mean seriously. It’s an exercise in futility.
“I’m not here to retrieve anything for you. I’m here to make sure that hope doesn’t escape that plinth and I believe these demigods are the right ones to secure it.” Prometheus examines his fingernails.
“What? No.” Something glows beneath Pandora’s skin and I take a step back.
“What the fuck? You’re supposed to be human,” I say.
“Hera gave me a gift since I sided with her in this war. She exposed me to the blood of a god.” Pandora’s grin is wicked. “You think you can handle the magic of the queen of the gods, little girl?”
“You have got to be kidding. Your little glow trick looks like the candles on a five-year-old’s birthday cake,” I scoff.
I pour my electricity into my whip and it swirls with black, blue, and white sparks to make a macabre light show that puts her little glowing hands to shame.
“I bet the queen gave you some minor god lackey’s blood because she’s too selfish to give you anything of herself.”
I’m treading a dangerous line speaking of the queen like this but it’s laughable that Pandora would think that Hera would gift a lowly pawn her blood to succeed where everyone else has failed.
Raven laughs. “Do you really think the queen expects you to succeed? This isn’t the actual plan; it’s the backup, the last-ditch effort in case the poison didn’t work.
News flash. It didn’t but it’s pretty sad to see her grasping at straws this badly.
She must be really worried about that final battle. ”
I flick my whip at Pandora and she jumps back with a screech.
A spark hits her white robes and ignites them but she doesn’t notice until it’s too late.
Her dress sparks with blue black flames and Pandora desperately attempts to put out the flames but spins too hard and slams face-first into a tree.
She falls to the ground in a heap of limbs, unconscious.
“Did that really just happen?” Raven giggles. “She knocked herself out? Damn, I wish we could get the queen’s people to do that more often. It would take way less effort to take them down.”
“Right?” I laugh.
“Well, it seems you have thwarted the queen once again. I’m happy that the plinth is in good hands with you, Bethany.” Prometheus bows his head.
“Wait a second,” Jayden says. “We can’t just let you go. You escaped the underworld.”
“And what was my crime, young son of Hades?” Prometheus raises a brow.
“I was neutral in the titan war. I deserve a millennia in Tartarus for gifting humanity fire? You lot would not exist had I not. I think I have paid my penance but I will see Hades and bend to his mercy should you all explain that I was tricked in Pandora’s scheming. ”
“Jayden.” I grip his arm. “I think that’s fair. He can take her with him to be secured so she can’t work for the queen anymore.”
“Okay, take Pandora and the two of you go to the underworld to face my father’s judgment. We have a world to save.” Jayden shakes his head.
“You are better demigods than I have ever encountered.” Prometheus bows his head.
He saunters over to the unconscious Pandora and scoops her up in his arms before bowing to us and transporting away.
“Well, I did not have that on my bingo card for this mission,” I say with a sigh.
“What did you have on this nonexistent bingo card, love?” Jayden kisses my temple.
“I don’t know but not anything we’ve faced so far. Except maybe Argus but I didn’t count on him being…” I sigh.
“Strong enough on his own that he almost defeated us?” Jayden asks as he grabs my hand and leads me to the SUV.
“Right, that. I’m also scared. We don’t have the elixir anymore. I fucking dropped it like an idiot.”
“You mean this?” Adrian asks, holding up a vial of red liquid.
“Where? What?” I gasp, taking the bottle from him.
“My father must have seen it. He slipped it to me just after your vial shattered.” Adrian shrugs. “I guess he really is on our side even though he pretends otherwise because he has to.”
I cup the precious bottle between my hands and send a prayer of thanks to Apollo for his foresight. If he hadn’t gotten this before the games, I would never forgive myself for dropping that bottle and dooming everyone.
“Also, I want you to know that if you ever call yourself an idiot for dropping something while paralyzed from poison, you will not like the punishment, love. That was not your fault. You were literally dying.” Jayden snarls.
“He’s right. No one would have blamed you, well except maybe you.” Raven shrugs.
That one mistake letting that asshole too close to me with his tiny blade could have doomed us all, though we may still be doomed because I have a feeling Hera isn’t through with us yet and each battle will be more deadly than the last.