Part 13 (1/2)

The reminder of how unnatural his skills were didn't help my irritation. He motioned me out of the cell. I went, mostly because I was afraid to push him when I was trapped in a room that small. The nearness of Adonis made my instincts so sensitive, everything agitated me. A guard escorted us out of the prison building.

I couldn't take the thick silence between us or the fear I was in the kind of trouble I didn't know how to get out of. I kept telling myself that Herakles was free and would come for me. I just had to survive on my own here a day or two, and I could do that.

But this ... I stared at the back of his head, not understanding how I was dutifully following him down the corridor like a puppy when I knew I should at least try to run.

Because he knows me. I wanted to learn more about being an Oracle and my past, and this man claimed to have that knowledge, if I could survive him long enough to learn.

”On a scale of one to ten, one being stuck on the couch again tonight and ten being flayed alive, where am I in terms of trouble?” I asked finally.

”Three.”

I invented the scale and had no idea what that meant. What alarmed me: his response wasn't one. ”So you are upset about Herakles leaving?”

”Not at all. He served his purpose. I didn't impede his escape.”

Holy Zeus. Adonis knew all along. He was toying with me, once more the predator.

”Then why a three?” I demanded.

”You moved slower than I expected. I'm a little disappointed.”

I almost choked to keep from speaking. Stop falling for it, Lyssa! He's playing games with you! It was unnerving. I had to stop folding to my discomfort and just shut up, as Niko had ordered me.

So I did. I said nothing all the way back to his apartment.

He left me there. Alone. No guard. No handcuffs.

This was the part of his game where I cringed and admitted he was right. I was blindly volunteering to stay in the hopes he at least enlightened me about who I was before he did whatever they did to Oracles.

I had the distinct feeling I'd one day look back on this moment and wish with all my heart that I'd run.

But for now, I was staying put.

Rustling came from the direction of his bedroom. I started towards the open door but stopped.

I'm not alone. This instinct was the worst.

Turning, I spotted someone in a military urban camouflage uniform dropping onto the balcony from the direction of the roof. He was followed by four more men, all armed to the teeth. They entered the open s.p.a.ce.

”Sorry, kid. Boss wants you back now.” Niko pulled off his mask. ”You gonna come quietly? Help Uncle Niko get a second bonus?”

”Whatever I can do to help you pay your child support,” I retorted. I was really starting to hate him.

He held up a pair of handcuffs. ”Well then come on, you little s.h.i.+t.”

He was an a.s.shole, and Herakles believed Adonis was bad news. I needed to know who my parents were but at what cost? No one I'd met yet seemed remotely trustworthy. The weapons of his men were trained on me. He wasn't taking chances this time.

”Let me get something first,” I replied and strode into the bedroom before he could object.

A man like Adonis had to have some sort of weapons around. He was always lightly armed compared to the other SISA members and the military guys with Niko, but there had to be something.

The teddy bear on his bed made me look twice. If I had time, I'd have laughed at the idea that a demiG.o.d slept with a teddy bear.

I ransacked his closet and chest of drawers without finding anything but clothing. He had the personnel here needed to secure a prison with one occupant Herakles and a single doctor to run a DNA scan. The only markings on the walls were for the prison, the only offices in use for the doctor and one government employee, and no armory was anywhere in the compound I could find.

If it weren't so improbable, I'd have thought this place was a trap for one person. I was beginning to suspect that poor idiot was me.

”C'mon, Lisa,” Niko called.

I possessed nothing to use as a weapon, not even my lucky knife.

With no real options before me, I decided to go with Niko and wait for an opportunity to escape. The odds were better facing him and his men than Adonis. I emerged from the bedroom.

Niko and his military guard weren't alone. Four men in dark purple the color of the Royal Guard, the security arm of the Silent Queen stood behind Dosy. This time, the High Priestess was dressed for a fight, well armed and wearing fatigues like her men.

Before I could figure out what was happening, the door to the apartment opened. Adonis entered, flanked by two of his own men. Not that he needed them. If he showed up alone, it was enough for the others to be uneasy.

SISA. Military. Royal Guard. It didn't take Leandra explaining what was happening for me to understand what was going on. This was a Triumvirate turf war over me.

Adonis was the first to act. He launched at Niko and smashed him into the men with him before he kicked Dosy back. Settling into a fighting stance, he waited.

”I'm not picking a fight with you, Adonis,” Dosy said.

”You entered a SISA property without permission. I call that picking a fight,” Adonis replied.

”Agreed. Whereas I was invited,” Niko said.

”You were not invited,” Adonis replied in the same tone. ”I've already alerted the Supreme Priest who will ensure the Silent Queen and Magistrate are aware.”

”This was authorized,” Niko replied. His preference for the military over SISA began to make sense. Niko was one of them.

”Same,” Dosy said and stretched for the knives at her back. ”By all rights, protocol, custom and tradition, she was supposed to come to us first. I was authorized to use lethal force. How about you boys?”

Niko glared at her.

”Thought so. May Ares bless your weapons like Artemis has mine.” Dosy drew her weapons and lowered into a fighting stance. ”The usual rules. No firearms. Let's get this over with.”

Mesmerized by the three of them, I could deduce several pieces of information. The first: they all knew each other well enough to tell me this type of politics happened often. Second: if they were messing with each other, their leaders weren't all on the same page like the news claimed they were. Third ... Dosy could fight.

And that made me extremely happy after being told by the nymphs and priests at school fighting wasn't a proper womanly pursuit.

The three all drew weapons and began circling one another. Their companions stood back. I a.s.sessed my situation. The fastest and safest exit strategy was probably going to be the balcony and the ropes Niko's men had used to drop onto the balcony. I couldn't see whether the rest of Adonis' forces were outside the closed entrance door of the apartment. Three of Niko's men were between me and the balcony. With their attention on their fighting leaders, I just had to time this right.

Sparks flew off the weapons smas.h.i.+ng into each other. Dosy had started and Niko joined in. The three began a deadly dance as skillful as it was scary. Adonis was unmatched as far as speed, but Niko and Dosy managed to team up on him between taking swipes at each other. The two of them were amazing, and the dynamic of all three of them locked into a battle to the death held me in place.

Until I realized the others were equally entranced, and no one seemed to think I was capable of anything like I planned. For once, I wasn't upset about being underestimated. I inched closer to the men in my direct path, eyes on the three warriors holding nothing back. I was secretly rooting for Dosy, hoping Adonis didn't get killed and not at all concerned about Niko.

Their fight moved away from the balcony, pulling one of the military members with him. With two between me and escape, I didn't wait.

Snagging a knife from the nearest, I smashed him over the back of the head with both hands then sprang forward to knock the other off balance as he turned to see what the noise was. Herakles had taught me to disable rather than use lethal force, though I knew how to kill as well.