Goddess (33 page)

“The veil of Nemesis does not always work on the one already blinded,” Atropos said, poking her finger into Cassandra’s eye.

“Orion!” Helen screamed, and he ran to Cassandra to stop the violent prophecy that was trying to shatter her from the inside out. But the old woman danced away from him in Cassandra’s body.

“You’ll not steal our vessel again, pretty one,” Atropos cackled. She made Cassandra’s hips sway suggestively, taunting Orion. “Poseidon is raising his darkest pets from the bottom of the ocean. The Kraken comes to kill you this time!”

Orion wrapped his arms around Cassandra, and she swooned as the Fates were finally driven away. He picked her up as easily as he would a doll and carried her to a chair so he could sit down and hold her in his lap.

“Kitty?” he said gently, touching her face. She didn’t respond. “C’mon, now, wake up.” He shook her, fear making him angry. “Cassandra!” he commanded, but she didn’t even flinch.

Helen saw something flare inside of Orion, and before he could snatch the emotion away, she recognized it. It was a bright flash of love.

Shouts and screams of panic began to sound from the soldiers on the battlefield. Lucas, Hector, and Castor entered the tent in a rush, their faces stark white and staring.

“What’s going on?” Helen asked, fearing the worst, but the men were still too stunned to speak.

From outside the back part of the tent, on the inland side, Helen heard Andy’s siren voice commanding soldiers to hold the line. A moment later, Andy ducked in under the flap at the back and did a grossed-out dance like her skin was crawling.

“There are
things
coming out of the water!” Andy squealed, just shy of hysterical. “Freaky fish men, and crab women, and—” She broke off and wiggled her fingers, a horrified look on her face. “They’re all
gooey
! I’m half siren. I’ve seen most of the creepy crawlies on the ocean bed, but these things are disgusting!”

Andy’s freak-out woke Jason and he stumbled to the group, his face so drawn it was nearly skeletal. He pointed to Cassandra sprawled across Orion’s lap.

“What happened?” he croaked.

“Prophecy,” Orion answered. “She won’t wake up.”

“What did she say?” Lucas asked.

“That I have to go do something because if I don’t the gods will—and I can’t believe I’m saying this—unleash the Kraken.” Helen still couldn’t grasp it. “Is the Kraken even
Greek
?” she gibbered.

Castor got a hold of himself first, and he rushed to take all their armor down. “Boys!” he said roughly. “Help each other with your armor. Quickly!”

Helen stood stock-still while they all stripped and then began strapping each other into their armor. She could hear her heart beating in her ears. How could she watch all of these people she loved die?

“How would you all like to see Everyland?” she shouted, her voice shaking. Everyone paused, stunned by Helen’s seemingly insane offer.

“Helen?” Lucas said, his voice deadly serious. “Are you thinking of making everyone immortal?”

“No,” she replied. “If I make everyone immortal, and I lose to Zeus, he’ll have no choice but to put you all in Tartarus for eternity. There’s no other way to get rid of a full immortal. I can’t do that to you.” Helen was panting. She couldn’t seem to catch a breath. When next she spoke, her voice was so high it squeaked. “But how would you all like to be
mostly
immortal, like Lucas?”

A deafening sound rumbled through the sky and shook the ground. Collapsing to her knees, Helen felt Lucas throw himself over her, covering her ears. Panicked screams were drowned out by the single unearthly bellow that Helen knew could only mean one thing.

The Kraken was rising.

SEVENTEEN

H
elen felt Lucas pulling her to her feet, and then they ran to the front of the tent with Orion and Hector to look out at the apocalyptic scene that was unfolding in front of them.

The sun and sky were blotted out by a huge dome rising up out of the water. A long, ropelike shape, as wide as a city block, soared up in the air and then came crashing down across the beach, crushing mortals, Scions, and Myrmidons indiscriminately. The Kraken was so enormous that the tip of its tentacle reached all the way from the deep ocean offshore where the head of the giant squid breached the surface, crossed leagues of water, and ended inside Helen’s camp. It was an angry red color, striated with veins as thick as tree trunks, and covered in suckers.

Soldiers hacked at the Kraken’s tentacle as it slid past them, trying to cut it off. In retaliation, the tentacle grabbed one of its assailants, wrapped around him like a snake and squeezed. Lucas pulled Helen back into the tent as the soldier died a gruesome death. Even though she didn’t have to watch, she could still hear him screaming.

Helen turned to see stunned and horrified looks on every face. They had no idea how to tackle something this enormous. She glanced at Claire’s and Cassandra’s unconscious forms. Turning back to everyone else, she saw consensus building.

“Who’s with me?” Helen asked.

Hector looked at Andy, his emotions naked in a way they never were with anyone else. “Only if you come, too,” he said.

“Okay,” she whispered, and reached for his hand. He took it and pulled her against his side, nodding at Helen to let her know they were in.

“What about Claire?” Jason asked anxiously.

“Take her,” Helen said. “Orion. Take Cassandra.” Orion narrowed his eyes in question. He glanced down to Helen’s heart, reading it, and a troubled look creased his brow. “Trust me,” she told him.

“Castor?” Helen asked, turning to him.

“I’m sorry, Helen. I’ve dreamed of Atlantis my whole life. But I can’t go with you,” Castor said sadly. “Not without Noel.”

“Dad,” Lucas began to argue, but Castor held up a hand to stop him.

“I’ve lived long enough to know I don’t want to live much past the time allotted to me, anyway,” he said shaking his head firmly. “That doesn’t mean I’m out of the fight. I’m still on your side, Helen.”

“If you’re not coming with us you can’t fight,” Lucas insisted. “It’s too dangerous.”

“No it isn’t,” Helen said as a thought occurred to her. She unclasped the heart necklace she’d worn since she was a baby, and gave it to Castor. “I don’t know if you’re capable of using this or not.”

Castor nodded and drew his dagger. “It may be a relic only daughters of the House of Atreus can use,” he said knowingly. He handed his dagger to Helen and bared his forearm for her, meeting her eyes without a hint of fear. With no time to waste, Helen drew the blade swiftly across his skin. It didn’t cut him.

“Just don’t let the Kraken get a hold of you,” Helen said, relieved she hadn’t injured him. “The cestus will only protect you from weapons, not forces of nature.”

“I’ll remember that,” Castor said, fastening the clasp behind his neck. Once Castor was wearing it, the heart shape altered, but he quickly tucked it under his armor before anyone could see what form it took.

“Thank you,” Castor said, hugging Helen tightly before letting her go. “Now hurry.”

“Everyone join hands,” Helen said. Orion picked up Cassandra as Jason lifted Claire.

All the people they
weren’t
bringing with them flashed through Helen’s head—her dad, Kate, Ariadne, and yes, even Matt. There were so many people she had to leave behind in order to do this that she could barely bring herself to leave. But she knew she had to, or all of them would die this day.

“Back in a sec,” she promised.

Helen heard the Kraken make that terrible sound again, and then it was gone.

The only sound was of the wind in the wildflowers. The sun was high and warm, and the mountains that rimmed the valley to the northwest were capped with snow. To the east, the eclectic skyline of Everycity gleamed, part glass-and-steel modern, and part ancient stone citadel. To the south, the smell of the ocean beckoned.

“Beautiful,” Andy breathed in awe as an iridescent butterfly tumbled past, just inches from her face.

“Definitely,” Hector mumbled, staring at Andy and not the butterfly.

Cassandra’s eyes opened sleepily, and she cuddled like a kitten in Orion’s arms, smiling up at him. Orion watched Cassandra, and that same troubled look crossed his face again. Helen could see his heart vacillating between tenderness and fear.

“Do you remember that conversation we had about
more
on the beach that night?” Helen said to Orion. He nodded. Helen gestured to Cassandra with her chin. “Trust me, she does,” she told him.

As Orion puzzled over this, Claire inhaled sharply as she gained consciousness, flailed, and accidentally smacked Jason across the face.

“Thanks,” Jason said sarcastically as he put her down.

“Sorry!” Claire sheepishly patted the spot on his jaw where she’d clocked him. Her tone dropped, but she kept her hand on his cheek. “Do you forgive me?” she whispered, her meaning broadening past the accidental slap. Jason nodded and pulled her into a hug.

“Where are we?” Cassandra asked groggily as Orion placed her on her feet.

“Everyland,” Lucas replied, smiling at Helen in a way that made her tingle. “Helen’s world.”

Lucas bent down and picked a single, white wildflower from the field, pulled his wallet from his back pocket, and folded it safely inside. He looked up at Helen and smiled, melting her.

Their injuries were healed, and they were all refreshed. All of their senses were heightened, like a dull film had been washed away, making the world around them brighter. Every sensation, from the cool wind on their cheeks to the warm sun on their arms was like a flood of pleasure. While her family soaked it all in, Helen took the moment of silence to make the toughest choice of her life.

“Helen?” Lucas said in that knowing way of his, like he could sense mischief in her. “What are you up to?”

“It’s done.” Helen smiled and shook her head, refusing to tell him. “Time doesn’t stop here. We have to get back to the fight.”

“What’s done?” Claire whispered to Jason.

“Ah . . . ,” he began, and looked at Helen pleadingly.

“I made you pretty much immortal, Gig,” Helen said. “All of you. You can only die when you decide that you don’t want to live anymore.”

Claire stared at Helen, still not fully believing it.

“So don’t worry about getting killed in the battle, just keep your head down and stay out of the way. Everybody join hands,” Helen said urgently. As they joined hands, she looked at her circle, the circle she would take with her as far into the future as they could stand, and was grateful for the company even if they found that they couldn’t stay with her forever.

She looked into Lucas’s eyes last, his bright blue eyes that held a pool of strength deeper than any ocean, and thought about his vow to take Hades’ place someday. Helen knew that when that time came, she would go down with him. Hell was wherever Lucas wasn’t. They would never be parted again, no matter how long forever turned out to be.

Unless, of course, Zeus won and sent her to Tartarus.
That
eternity, Helen knew, she would have to suffer alone.

The air was thick with acrid, black smoke. As soon as Helen and her group appeared, bodies seemed to rush at them from all sides. A Myrmidon with red skin and flat, black eyes charged Helen, his sword swinging over his head. As the blade came down, Helen caught it in her bare hand, and wrenched the sword out of his grip. She spun around, back-fisting him, and watched him drop.

She looked at the sword in her hand, and had no idea what to do with it, so she handed it to Jason. When next she looked up, she saw that Lucas, Orion, Hector, and Jason had formed their own line of defense with Andy, Claire, and Cassandra behind them. They might be mostly immortal, but Claire, Cassandra, and Andy were not Scion strong, and they were even worse fighters than Helen was.

Helen heard Cassandra’s bloodcurdling scream and saw Orion step in front of her to cut the head off of one of Poseidon’s sea monsters. The creature kept charging at Cassandra, anyway, as if it didn’t need its head, which it probably didn’t.

“Prophet!” the creature hissed out of one of its many holes. Orion swung his sword again and cut its carapace in two—cleaving the lobsterlike creature in half and killing it, but too late.

Alerted to her presence, a wave of misshapen creatures began to ooze toward Cassandra. Like limping nightmares, they were not made for land, and their too-soft or too-hard body parts flopped hideously as they dragged themselves toward the precious Oracle.

“Zeus needs her! Apollo lusts for her! Poseidon demands we capture her for Olympus!” they gurgled, reaching their fish-stinking limbs toward Cassandra. She screamed in terror as the largest of the creatures clamped on to her arm with one of its claws, and in a flash, dragged her under its shell.

“No!” Orion bellowed, jumping on top of the horseshoe crab–like creature that had imprisoned Cassandra, hammering away at its armored shell with his bare hands.

The Kraken sounded again, shaking Helen from the inside out. The intolerable noise made her and everyone around her clutch their ears and drop to their knees. A shadow darkened the sky above her. Helen craned her head to see one of the Kraken’s tentacles descending directly over her.

“Enough!” Helen shouted.

The Kraken’s tentacle landed on top of her and she caught it, just as she had done with the Myrmidon’s blade seconds earlier. Every muscle in her body strained under the impossible weight of the Kraken’s blow, but Helen did not break. Instead, she threw the rubbery, sucker-covered limb aside and launched herself into the air.

Helen called storm clouds and lightning to her presence. She made the wind howl around her. She stopped the waves and turned the Atlantic into a watery mirror. She twisted the Earth’s magnetic field until the aurora borealis bent and glimmered around her like the footprints of angels.

“I challenge Zeus!” she cried, her voice echoing across her island home and the vast expanse of ocean beyond it. “Face me or forfeit Olympus!”

Nothing happened. Helen belatedly realized that she had no offering to give Hecate in order to make the duel official.

The number three popped up in Helen’s head, and for some reason she thought of wishes. She had no idea if immortals worked on a barter system or not, but at that moment, Helen had nothing to give but her word and nothing to lose but the whole world.

“Titan Hecate. I offer you three favors in return for your guardianship over the boundaries.” Helen bit her lip and tried not to think anything too incriminating, in case the Fates were listening. “As long as you guard
all
of the boundaries. Do this for me, I beg you, and I will do your bidding three times in the future.”

Orange fire sprang up in a giant ball around Helen, making an airborne arena. A young, bare-chested man passed through the flames and floated in front of her. Zeus was gorgeous and ruthless and so much like Helen that she could hardly stand to look at him.

They were alone here. No one was watching but the Titan Hecate. This battle was not for spectacle or for the amusement of the Olympians. The whole Earth, Everyland, and Olympus, hung in the balance, but it was so private Helen felt like she’d walked into his bedroom.

“Hello, daughter,” Zeus purred.

She felt his pull. Even though she knew she needed to defeat him, Helen was not immune to the half-animal, half-divine presence that surrounded him. And it was mesmerizing.

“How powerful you are,” he said, moving closer to her. “The clouds twist with color at your command, but they still pale in comparison to your beauty. They’d cry with jealousy if you’d only let it rain.”

“I’m not your daughter,” she replied quietly. “My father is a shopkeeper. He’s a single dad who had to raise me all by himself. He worked twelve hours a day, six days a week his whole life in order to keep a roof over our heads. My father’s worth ten of you, and probably ten of me, too. You don’t get to say you’re my father. You didn’t earn it like Jerry did.”

“He’s awake, you know,” Zeus said in an offhand way. “Give me Everyland, and I’ll leave Jerry and his woman, Kate, alone. After I send you to Tartarus, of course.”

Helen narrowed her eyes at him. “You’ll leave them in peace if I give you Everyland?”

“I swear it by the River Styx,” he said, and the sky rolled around them like a sheet on a clothesline, undulating in the wind. “I have no interest in punishing mortals who haven’t offended me. I never have.”

Helen knew this to be true. Zeus never held grudges against mortals. It was his wife, Hera, who did that.

“And what about my nearly immortal family?” Helen asked. “Lucas, Hector, Orion, Cassandra, Jason, Claire, Andy . . . will you leave them alone, too?”

“Yes, yes. Them too,” Zeus said with a bored wave of his hand. “Why not? They won’t want to face eternity without you, anyway. A few centuries and they’ll opt for a peaceful death.”

“Yes,” Helen said demurely. She looked up at him through her lashes. “But you won’t curse any of them, or Ariadne, in any way, as long as I give you Everyland?”

“By the River Styx,” he swore, and reached out to touch her cheek with his hand. “So caring about those you love. But you do understand that you face an eternity in Tartarus, don’t you?”

“Been there,” Helen said unflinchingly. “I figure spending eternity trapped in any one place, even paradise, is the same as hell after long enough. In a thousand years, I bet even a field of wildflowers begins to feel like a festering bog.”

“How right you are,” Zeus murmured darkly. His eyes shifted strangely, wildly, almost like he lost his grip on the here and now. “And so much time left to go.”

“And what about the rest of Olympus? Will they retaliate against my friends and family with curses if I go for this trade?” Helen asked innocently.