Pegasus and the Fight for Olympus (14 page)

‘They must be searching for the Nirads,’ Agent T suggested.

Cupid shook his head. ‘How can they? The Nirads went in the other direction. These men look like they are heading to—’

Cupid stopped and looked back at Paelen and they said together, ‘The Red Apple!’ He looked back at Agent T. ‘Move faster.’

The car sped towards their hiding spot. When they drove along the road in front of the rest stop, they saw flashing lights from fire trucks, police cruisers and military vehicles crowded into the parking area. The building itself was all but collapsed. Part of the roof was still burning as the firemen struggled to put out the flames. Everywhere they looked, they saw destruction. Nothing of the rest stop remained intact.

‘Emily!’ Paelen cried.

As Agent T started to turn the car into the crowded parking lot, Cupid ordered him not to. ‘Continue down the road.’

‘Cupid, what are you doing?’ Paelen asked.

‘We must not let them see us. Emily and Pegasus are already lost. Why should we surrender ourselves so easily?’

Paelen’s fear turned to fury. ‘Emily is not lost!’ he shouted. ‘We must go back and find them!’

‘Paelen, calm down,’ Cupid ordered. ‘We will. But we must not be seen. This is the time for stealth. For once in your life, trust me. I am older than you and I know what I am doing.’

Paelen was too frightened to know what to do. Steve was wounded, Joel dead and now this. It was beyond anything he’d ever experienced.

The car continued past the Red Apple and further down the road. Cupid instructed Agent T to pull into the empty parking area of a closed petrol station. Paelen gently lowered Steve’s head on to the back seat as he climbed carefully from the car.

‘All right,’ Cupid said. ‘We have two choices. I can fly back to Olympus to get help—’

‘No!’ Paelen cut in as he brutally shoved Cupid. ‘You are not leaving for Olympus, you little coward! Emily and Pegasus are in that wreckage. They need us to get them out before the CRU does.’

The wings under Cupid’s suit jacket fluttered as he righted himself and stepped closer to Paelen. Looming above him, his eyes blazed with fury. ‘I am not a coward!’ he shouted. ‘Are you so incapable of believing that I can care for Emily and Pegasus? That I would abandon them in their time of need? I do care, Paelen. And I am not going to leave them to the mercy of the CRU. I was going to say that I could fly back to Olympus for help, or we both go over there to find Emily ourselves. I was going to suggest we stay and do this ourselves.’

Paelen was shocked into silence by Cupid’s outburst. In all the years he’d known him, he’d never seen him this angry. ‘I am sorry, Cupid. I have been unfair. You are not a coward. You have done everything we have asked you to, even though it hurt you to do so.’ Paelen looked over to Agent T and saw his besotted eyes following Cupid. ‘We could not have made it this far without you. But losing Joel and now seeing the Red Apple and knowing Emily and Pegasus are in there, I am not thinking clearly.’

Cupid calmed. ‘I know I have not always proven myself to you and the others. And yes, perhaps I came here as much to get away from the Nirads as to help Emily. But believe me Paelen, I do want to help. Now, let us ensure Steve is safe, and then we can walk back to the Red Apple and see about Emily and Pegasus.’

They checked on Steve in the back seat. He was still unconscious, but his bleeding had stopped and he was breathing well. When they had made him as comfortable as possible, they started back towards the Red Apple.

The snow was now falling heavily. The thick flakes settled on their hair and shoulders and limited their vision to only a few metres in front of them. Keeping in the dense trees that grew behind the large rest stop, they approached the area.

One of the first things they noticed was Agent O supervising the search. He was walking with two crutches and his legs were covered in thick bandages. Yet despite his wounds and obvious pain, he was well enough to bark orders at the others working in the area – demanding they not stop until they find Emily. ‘They have not found her yet,’ Paelen said gratefully. ‘There is still hope.’

His eyes scanned the whole area. The destruction was all but complete. ‘What happened here?’ he asked in a hushed whisper. ‘Could it have been Emily’s tears again?’

They watched in silent shock as several men emerged from the wreckage. They were struggling to carry a heavy stretcher. A sheet completely covered the body. But as the men moved to put the stretcher on a truck, an arm fell out from under the cover. It was the colour of grey marble.

‘Nirads!’ Cupid hushed. ‘While we were gone, Nirads attacked our hiding place!’

‘How is this possible?’ Paelen asked. ‘The Nirads’ tracks at the CRU facility showed they were moving deeper into the woods. How could they get here before us?’

Cupid shrugged. ‘They could not. But if it was not the same Nirads as at the facility—’

‘Then there are more here in this world,’ Paelen finished.

As they concentrated on the wreckage, Paelen, Cupid and Agent T crept closer to see any signs of Emily or Pegasus. There were CRU agents and military personnel pouring all over the area and searching through the wreckage. But there were no traces of their missing friends.

A short while later another stretcher was carried out of the smouldering debris. Paelen and Cupid could tell by the size that it was another Nirad body. But it was different. The lump under the sheet ended at the waist. Moments later, a third stretcher emerged, with an equally strange shape. The men carrying it slipped in the snow and fell. When they hit the ground, the body fell off the stretcher, revealing only a heavy set of legs and lower torso.

Paelen pointed. ‘Look at the cut edge. It has been burned.’

‘Emily can kill Nirads,’ Cupid mused. ‘It is no wonder they came after her. If they knew she and Pegasus could kill them, they would have to get them first before they could complete their attack on Olympus.’

‘Or here,’ Paelen added. As he scanned the debris, he shook his head. ‘We have seen Nirads pulled out of there, but where are the others?’

‘Maybe he can tell us?’ Agent T offered helpfully as he pointed at yet another stretcher being pulled from the debris. Unlike the others, the occupant was not fully covered by a sheet. He was wrapped in a blanket. His face was badly burned, but he was alive and moaning loudly.

‘Earl!’ Paelen said. ‘We must get to him. He can tell us what happened here.’

They watched Earl being loaded into an ambulance. Cupid turned to Agent T. ‘Where will they take him?’

Agent T smiled radiantly, grateful to contribute. ‘They can’t take him back to the facility, not with what the Nirads did to it. If it were me, I would secure a hospital and take him there.’

Paelen realized if the CRU managed to take Earl away, they would never learn what happened to Emily or Pegasus. He looked at Cupid. ‘We must stop them.’

‘How?’ Cupid asked. ‘This whole area is covered with agents. We will be captured before we get anywhere near him.’

‘If it pleases you, I can do it,’ Agent T offered. ‘They know me and will not suspect that I’m doing it for you. I could capture the ambulance and we could get away from here.’

Paelen looked at Cupid. ‘We have no choice. If he wants to do it, let him try.’

Cupid turned to their prisoner. ‘Yes, it would please me very much if you could do this. Go secure the vehicle. When you have it, take it to where we left the car. Paelen and I will join you there.’

Agent T’s face beamed as he stood, anxious to carry out Cupid’s wishes. ‘I will do everything for you, Cupid.’

Cupid cringed as the agent showed his undying devotion. From their hiding place they watched Agent T’s demeanour change. He straightened his back and walked with the arrogance they were used to seeing. His voice was loud and commanding as he approached the group of agents standing beside the ambulance containing Earl.

They could hear him demanding a full report. Both Paelen and Cupid breathed a sigh of relief when they heard the others report that there were no traces of the girl or horse in the wreckage. Just the Nirad bodies, two dead CRU agents and the one surviving man.

Agent T ordered them back to work in the debris. Alone with the ambulance, he secured the rear doors and stormed up front to the driver’s side and climbed in. Moments later, the ambulance burst to life. Agent T put it in gear and started to drive away from the area.

‘We must go,’ Cupid said as he rose and caught Paelen by the sleeve. ‘We do not want Agent T waiting there for us long. He may try to come back to look for me.’

The ambulance was waiting for them beside the black car as they left the cover of the trees. Agent T was standing at the rear doors bouncing with excitement.

‘I told you I could do it!’ He sounded like a hopeful child looking for praise. ‘Did I do good?’

‘Yes,’ Cupid said. ‘You did very good.’

They opened the ambulance doors and were immediately struck by the smell of smoke rising from Earl. His face was raw with burns and he was moaning softly.

‘Earl,’ Paelen said gently as he climbed in and approached the side of the stretcher, ‘it is us, Paelen and Cupid. Can you hear me?’

Earl’s eyes fluttered open and he turned his face to Paelen. ‘Thank God it’s you,’ he said weakly.

‘What happened?’

‘Monsters came. Them big four-armed, Nirad things. They attacked us.’

‘Are Emily and Pegasus still in the rubble?’ Cupid asked.

Earl shook his head slightly and moaned at the movement. ‘No,’ he choked. ‘I saw ’em take ’em away right after the ceilin’ came down.’

Paelen cursed. Then he asked hesitantly, ‘Was Emily alive?’

Earl took an unsteady breath. He shook his head. ‘No. Not at first. When the burnin’ roof came down she was buried in the worst of it. This big orange Nirad dug her out. It started to howl like crazy when it pulled her free, like it was grievin’ or somethin’. I tell ya, Emily was nothin’ but a little rag doll in its big arms, all burned up and broken. There was no mistakin’, she was dead. But then she started to glow – you know, just like when I shot her. Right there in the Nirad’s arms. After a few minutes, she moved. Then the others found Pegasus and got him movin’. They left me for dead.’

Paelen looked at Cupid. ‘An orange Nirad? We’ve only seen grey ones.’ He looked at Earl. ‘This orange Nirad, was it their leader?’

Earl coughed and winced in pain. ‘Ain’t certain. When they first got here there was this big wild boar with wings—’

‘A boar with wings? Are you certain?’ Paelen asked.

When Earl nodded, Cupid cursed. ‘It is Chrysaor! What is he doing here?’

‘It cannot be,’ Paelen said. ‘He would not betray us. Not to the Nirads.’ He concentrated on Earl. ‘Were the boar’s wings as brown as the rest of him? Did they hang over his rump?’

Earl nodded. ‘That’s him all right. Whatever he is, Pegasus didn’t like him one bit. They started fightin’ with all the fury they got. I couldn’t see much coz this big Nirad caught hold of me. He darn near broke all my bones and squeezed the life outta me. Emily tried to help, but she lost control of the flames. Then the roof came down.’ Earl started to cough. When the fit ended, he asked, ‘You know that boar?’

‘Chrysaor is Pegasus’s twin brother,’ Paelen muttered, deep in thought.

Earl’s burned eyelids shot open. ‘Pegasus has a twin what’s a boar?’

Paelen nodded. ‘They have been fighting most of their lives. Now it appears that Chrysaor has sided with the Nirads against Olympus.’

‘But what does he want with Emily?’ Cupid mused aloud.

Paelen shrugged. ‘I do not know for certain, but it frightens me. Emily is the source of all our powers. Whoever possesses her could control Olympus.’

Earl started to cough again.

‘You need help,’ Paelen said. ‘So does Steve.’

Agent T finally spoke. ‘If you don’t want to be captured, you can’t take either of them to the hospital. Once they realize Earl is gone, they will search the hospitals first.’

‘What can we do?’ Paelen asked.

‘Leave me,’ Earl said weakly. ‘Just go after Emily and Pegasus.’

‘You will die if we leave you,’ Cupid said. ‘Normally, as you are human, I would not care. But Emily does. So leaving you and her father is not an option.’

They moved Steve into the ambulance beside Earl. Agent T proved invaluable with his first aid skills. With the ambulance supplies, he was able to treat the men. Earl remained conscious long enough to offer a safe place for them to hide. He and some buddies had a hunting cabin up in the mountain.

Agent T disabled the tracker device in the ambulance, ensuring that they wouldn’t be followed and drove the ambulance up into the mountains. Just as Earl had promised, they found the small hunting cabin nestled deep in the trees. It was covered in undisturbed snow and offered them seclusion and protection from the CRU down in Tuxedo.

Once they transferred Steve and Earl into the safety of the cabin, Cupid and Paelen built a roaring fire to warm the place. Earl was still on the stretcher, moaning softly.

‘How is he?’ Cupid asked.

Agent T grinned up at him before saying, ‘Not good. He needs a doctor. So does Jacobs over there on the sofa. Though the bullet went right through him, I don’t know what damage it’s done. He may be bleeding internally.’

‘If he needs a doctor, he shall have it,’ Paelen said confidently. Then he frowned. ‘What is a doctor and where do we find one?’

Earl managed to tell them he knew of a doctor they could trust. He gave Agent T the telephone number before fading back into unconsciousness.

Paelen straightened and looked around the small cabin at the two wounded men. He’d never felt so helpless in all his life. He was in a strange, unfriendly world with no idea how anything worked. One of his best friends was dead, the other missing. There were CRU agents hunting them once again and everything was going wrong.

He looked at Cupid. The winged Olympian didn’t show any of the fear or insecurities he now felt. He was calm and in control as he took notes from Agent T on how to contact the doctor. Despite everything he’d ever felt towards Cupid, Paelen had a newfound respect for him.