Part 5 (1/2)
”Part of your power,” I observed. ”What is it?”
”These, Adonis, keep G.o.ds and men and everyone but my father from seeing what they protect.” He lifted another and dropped it into his forearm. ”I gave these to someone around the time I rescued you, under orders from my father.”
”Who isn't about to tell you what he was protecting.”
Lantos grimaced. A demiG.o.d, he was the disowned son of a t.i.tan, marooned on earth when he disobeyed his father and cut off from everything and everyone but his own eclectic mix of powers. ”No, but I can guess. The men downstairs in prison. What are their names?”
”Herakles and Thiebauld.”
Lantos grinned. He stood and paced, his step energized. ”Adonis, you are incredible! One tiny instinct gave way to all this! We only need Herakles. Send the others to the House or wherever you make men disappear. And ... go back to the forest tonight. We need to know what happened to Herakles' charge.”
Alessandra, said Mrs. Nettles. She was gazing at me. At times, I considered the notion my toy was possessed even more so than usual. Her voice was different when she said the name, and the gleam of intelligence was in her eyes. The umbrella was forgotten at her side.
An image I'd never seen before flashed into my thoughts, that of a little girl clutching a blue gem. Just as quickly, it vanished. ”His charge? You think that's what the forest and cords were hiding?”
”I know it is. I gave these to Herakles and a priest twelve years ago. The last order of my father's I obeyed was to hide the new Oracle.”
”Oracle,” I repeated. ”Finally. We'll be able to start Phase Two soon.”
”Exactly. But we need to beat the Queen and Magistrate to her. The G.o.ds are too busy to prepare her trials. I've maneuvered them into letting the Triumvirate determine what challenges she must overcome before her power manifests fully, as is customary. Each member of the Triumvirate gets to task her once.”
I listened. Lantos was a man of shadows and secrets buried beneath a brilliant smile. That he'd been planning for an event no one knew was coming didn't surprise me. ”You have a trial in mind already.”
”I do.” He smiled. ”And it has to do with Phase Two.”
Lantos' sole motivation in life was to carry out his father's revenge in the hopes of being granted asylum with the rest of the t.i.tans. His single act of disobedience saving my life had seen him cut off. Together we'd risen in power with a combination of my unusually strong adeptness at political maneuvering and his magic and ambition. Despite my skill at obtaining power, I had no desire for it. I would always bend my will to Lantos.
”We will get to her first.” I considered. ”You said Herakles is her guardian?”
Lantos nodded.
”I'll let word leak that he's here and post a reward in the online boards of the Merc Guild for capturing her. If she's got a fraction of the power of a G.o.ddess, she won't hesitate to unleash it to find her guardian. Someone will notice.” I placed Mrs. Nettles on the ground and moved out from behind the counter. It was almost past sunset. I peeled off my weapons and watch in antic.i.p.ation of the change. ”Tonight I'll return to the forest and look for any trace of where she went.”
The image of the unknown girl flashed once more and this time, brought a stab of pain.
”Your nose is bleeding,” Lantos said.
I touched my nostril and gazed briefly at the drop of maroon on my fingertip. The pain subsided and with it, the vision. ”Just sinuses.” Why did I say that? It wasn't sinuses, and I knew it. The urge to lie to the man to whom I owed my life had been instinctive.
Alessandra, Mrs. Nettles said once more.
Lantos was gazing at me closely, a flicker of something dark in his gaze. Normally, Lantos was the moon and me the night sky. His outgoing, optimistic personality sometimes grated on others whereas my silence was usually taken with caution if not fear. People were able to sense the predator I was without seeing me in my secondary form. It helped that my reputation well earned was nonetheless much larger than my deeds.
I cleaned up my nose and felt the trickle of fire that went through me every time I was about to change. ”How go your Holy Wars?”
”Exactly as planned. We're keeping the Magistrate's men busy outside the wall and the G.o.ds in disarray, fighting one another rather than us. I brokered another truce today.”
”Only you could do something like this.”
”Stop baiting me. It was your idea. Divide and conquer.”
By nature, I tended to toy with the people around me. It wasn't malicious, more instinctual. I made every effort not to do so around Lantos for the simple reason that he was my friend.
”Like a true war leader. How do you come up with such ideas?” he asked, half in jest.
I shrugged. ”It made sense for the situation.”
”It's tied to your past. Your hunches are too ... good for them to be just hunches.”
”And I told you I'm not remembering anything yet. If I guess correctly, it's not done consciously.”
”Any insight or hunches as to what Artemis is up to?” Lantos asked casually.
Of all the G.o.ds stuck on earth, Artemis was the only who hadn't sought him out to help establish a territory or broker deals with the Supreme Magistrate's men. It was common knowledge among the G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses that Lantos was one of them. Crisis kept them from demanding his exact lineage or asking too many questions that might reveal him to be the son of their enemy. ”None. The G.o.ds are your business, not mine.”
”You've proven frighteningly accurate in everything.”
”If I knew, I'd tell you,” I replied. ”I hear nothing through the spy networks and no indication your fellow Triumvirate members have any insight either.”
Lantos nodded.
”I'm about to change,” I said and pushed off my boots. ”See you in the morning.”
”Fly well.” Lantos' smile returned. He replaced his mask, bowed to Mrs. Nettles and left my flat.
I went to my room and stripped out of my clothing before heading to the balcony.
Mismatch. Mrs. Nettles never called me by the name Adonis, which I'd adopted after Lantos saved me. Mismatch was the name she claimed was mine before Lantos. She was shuffling after me as fast as her stubby legs would go.
”What is it, Mrs. Nettles?” I asked. ”Quickly. It's my time.”
Don't hurt her.
”You know what Phase Two is. I must obey Lantos,” I replied gently.
You will see.
This was definitely one of her double possession stages when she seemed to have knowledge beyond her or my ability to access.
My attention s.h.i.+fted to the fire growing inside me. The moment the sun dipped beneath the horizon, my body began its nightly transformation. Black wings sprouted and spread from my shoulders outward. The hair on my body disappeared, and my head grew heavy, my features malformed and hideous, my body thickening and growing half a foot taller. Talons sprouted from my hands and toes followed soon after by a barbed, whip-like tail.
Not even Lantos knew how and why this transformation occurred. I resembled the stone grotesques and gargoyles perched on the temples of the G.o.ds. Beneath the dark gaze of Nyx, I often flew and sat among them, waiting for any of them to come to life and join me for my nightly hunt.
They never did and I was left with a sense of loss to reinforce the knowledge I was alone.
Fly! Mrs. Nettles clapped silently and watched my wings flare out. The vacant look was back in her face. Whatever secondary possession took hold of her, it was gone once more.