Chapter 29
Lyssa
Epizon appears from around the other side of the huge boulder we followed the girl and her quarry to. “There’s no other way out that I can see, captain,” he reports.
I put my hands on my hips and take a deep breath. “Gods, I hope she’s killed him.”
I feel an unexpected pang of regret that if she has, it wasn’t me who ended his life. But the reality of that is faint, and there can be no greater outcome of these immortality Trials than one of them killing Hercules for us.
“We are assuming that the beautiful redhead is the Nemean Lion? She’s a shape-shifter?” asks Alexios.
“You think a human girl could drag the strongest man in the world through a fucking forest?” I lace my voice with sarcasm, and he gives me a smile.
“You could.”
“We still don’t know if we’re being broadcast,” Epizon rumbles. “You two need to stop fighting.”
I have an idea, and reach out mentally to Len. “Len, are the gods showing the Trial on the flame dish?”
A beat later, he replies, “No. That annoyingly chirpy commentator said we’ll see the highlights after.”
“Huh.”
I tell Epizon and Alexios what he said.
“Makes sense, or every crew would leave one person on their ship to spy on everyone else,” says Alexios.
He’s right, but I have no intention of agreeing with him out loud.
“Any ideas on how we kill this lion, captain?” asks Epizon.
“If she’s killed Hercules, I’ll do no such thing,” I mutter. “I’ll buy her a drink.”
“She’s a flesh-eating monster that we need to kill to win immortality. We should probably come up with at least a couple of options.”
I glare at Alexios, but don’t answer.
Thoughts do begin to tumble through my mind, though.
If Hercules really is dead already, should we continue in the competition?
Every time I’ve tried to imagine an eternal life, pain blooms in my forehead, and my thoughts get muddy.
It’s too much. I can’t comprehend it, can’t even begin to work it out. And I’m not about to try again in a stinking, humid forest.
I’m here to stop Hercules. And if, by some miracle, that’s already happened, then I can work out what to do next, with Epizon and Len. Maybe Lucas. Alexios can go fuck himself.
The sky above us darkens, and I look up, instinctively fearing harpies. But the cause of the sudden block in light shining through the forest canopy is the enormous hull of a Zephyr-class ship.
“Shit.”
The ship hovers for a few moments more, then soars away, letting the light stream back into the forest.
“They must have just been dropping off,” mutters Epizon.
“How did they find the lair?” I ask.
“Same way we did, I imagine. Asking people,” he answers.
“And this is why you need me and my money,” whispers Alexios. “If your longboat was repaired, we could have done that, and saved hours walking through this highly unpleasant forest.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Thank you for the pointless reminder. You didn’t have a longboat, or give us time to pay to have ours fixed before you—”
“Stop,” says Epizon, and I clamp my mouth shut.
I was less than a second from saying poisoned me.
If we get off Cancer alive, I will watch these highlights and find out if we can be heard. And if we can, I’m going to have to improve my acting.
I settle for averting my gaze from the infuriating idiot, and imagining punching him instead.
“Captain, what do you want to do when the giants get here? Do we fight?” Epizon asks, and I’m grateful for the subject change.
“No, not if we can help it. The goal is to stop Hercules, and they are formidable opponents on their own. They could be useful allies. Especially if Theseus is not serious about this.”
“They are competing for immortality. They’re going to fight you if they think you’re in their way,” says Alexios.
“Us,” I say with a sarcastic smile. “I think you’ll find that they’re going to fight us now.”
He tilts his head in a touché gesture, a small smile on his lips. “Indeed, my love.”
I breathe in hard through my nose. “Can you fight yet?”
He’s silent a beat, I assume communicating with Bassari. “No. Not really.”
A grunt of annoyance escapes me. “Why me? Why have I been—”
“Lucky enough to meet the love of your life, then watch him come back from the brink of death?” His eyes aren’t smiling with his mouth, and I wonder if I’ve actually been able to piss him off at last.
“If the giants’ Zephyr is here, then we’ve definitely lost our time advantage,” Epizon rumbles. “It’s the slowest ship in the competition.”
“Without a plan to pierce impervious skin, it doesn’t matter,” Alexios says. “If she’s killed Hercules, then she can kill us too, and likely as many giants as she likes.” He looks over at the cave entrance.
I suspect we’re all thinking the same thing, but nobody gives it voice.
It is entirely possible that Hercules has killed her down there.
He is, after all, the strongest man in the world. If anyone is going to beat a lion in close combat, it’s him.
The trees opposite the cave entrance begin to shake, and I whip around.
One by one, three giants step into the forest clearing.