Chapter 27 #2
“Not yet, Beth.” He peeks over the hood of the SUV.
“We’re losing. There has to be something we can do to stop him. He keeps blocking my sword and my whip, and Jayden is just evading and wearing himself out at this point.”
“What if the three of us all rushed him at the same time?” Raven chews her lip.
Greyson’s shoulders ripple as if trying to control his change. “If I shift into my wolf, I’ll be a lower center of gravity he won’t be ready for. It could throw him off, especially if we all charge in together.”
“Are you sure?” I ask him. “You’re kind of a super shifter now and you got dosed again. Do you have control?”
“I can handle it.” Greyson nods.
“It’s the best plan we got, B.” Raven tightens her grip on her twin blades.
“Okay, but if you feel out of control, pull back. I don’t know that we can get you and Jayden both back from the brink.” I bounce on the balls of my feet, ready to charge.
Greyson jogs behind the SUV, followed by the sound of cracking and snapping bones. Moments later a huge black wolf lunges over the SUV and lands with a soft thud next to us.
“Show off.” I giggle.
The wolf snorts but crouches low to the ground, ready to pounce as soon as we do. A glance at Jayden alerts me to his increasing frustration. He can’t keep control much longer and his movements are slower.
Jayden spins, catching one of Achilles’ swords with his obsidian blade and raises his shield in time to shove the other sword back.
“Now,” I whisper shout.
Greyson takes off at a speed I didn’t know he was capable of, a blur of dark fur and flashing canines as Raven and I race forward, weapons drawn. Greyson’s wolf leaps as Achilles takes another swipe at Jayden, but he sees it coming and swings the second blade, colliding with Greyson’s side.
I flinch as a yelp of pain crashes over the clash of steel on steel. Greyson lands feet away on the sand, unmoving, blood trickling from the wound in his side.
“Raven,” I shout but it’s too late.
She shouts a battle cry and lunges with both swords raised toward Achilles. I teleport behind and lash my whip at his ankle but he sidesteps, turning away from the other two threats to face me.
I stumble sideways, the use of magic leaving me weaker than it should have. We are all flagging. If we don’t do something soon, we are going to fail and Achilles will kill us all.
“Raven, Jayden, split,” Adrian calls from behind the SUV and they dive to each side of the battle.
Achilles turns his head but I flick my whip, crackling with magic, and hit him in the chest. He roars with pain at the same time Adrian lets loose an arrow that zings through the air, hitting Achilles in his Achilles tendon.
The dead demigod roars as the body crumbles to dust and just his spirit is left on this plane.
Jayden wraps an arm around me, his breathing coming in shallow pants as he says, “Go back to the underworld, you disgusting excuse for a demigod. I hope my father punishes you for eternity for this.”
“You think because you’ve beat me, you’ve won? This is only just the beginning. What the queen wants, she gets, and she will rule this realm, but you won’t be around to see it.” Achilles’ spirit disappears in a cloud of black shadows.
“This is hardly the beginning,” I grumble. “We have been fighting for months, saving everyone for months. This has to be close to the end. I’m not sure how much more I can take.”
A whimper breaks me from my whining and I spin to Greyson. Adrian is kneeling next to the giant wolf, his hands hovering over the wound at his chest.
“It’s not deep. It should heal fine on its own. Shifters have extraordinary healing so if he shifts back, it should be healed by the time he’s in human form,” Adrian says, standing up.
“How do you know all that?” I ask.
“I did as much research as I could when I realized he was important to our survival.” Adrian shrugs.
“What about Dax?” I turn to the group huddled around the big warrior.
“I’m fine. It’s already healing,” Dax says.
I blow out a breath my shoulders slumping with relief that none of my friends are close to death. That was too close of a call for me. The queen is upping the stakes with every move. Making us fight against a demigod who was basically indestructible crosses so many lines.
“Let’s get Greyson some clothes and privacy to shift back to human and we can regroup. I need food.” My stomach growls loudly when I mention food and I roll my eyes at myself.
“There are some bags of snacks and things in the back of the SUV. Protein drinks as well, since snacks aren’t the greatest source of fuel,” Kira says.
“When did you do all that?” I ask.
“The last time we stopped to rest. A couple of us knew there probably wouldn’t be any restaurants or food we could trust on the rest of this journey so we went shopping.” She shrugs.
“You guys are the best. I can’t thank you enough.” I rummage through a bag, pulling out a sealed protein drink and a bag of beef jerky.
It won’t sustain me by any means, but it will take the edge off the hunger and refuel some of my magic. “We need to get somewhere relatively safe and regroup. We’re almost to Arcadia and once we’re there, not even the skies above our heads will be safe from the dangers we’re facing.”