“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.
“I swear by the River Styx that the Olympians will not curse your little group,” Zeus said.
Helen pretended to think about it. She bit her lip and wrung her hands. Finally, she nodded quickly in assent, as if to get it out of the way.
“Hecate will not allow you to back out of this trade once you agree to it,” Zeus reminded her tentatively, gesturing to the sacred space around them, carved out of midair in orange fire.
“I know,” Helen said, truly saddened for a moment that she had to give up her world. She could feel it inside of her. Every lake, every tree, and every pane of glass in her sweeping city was a part of her—a part of her that she had to abandon forever to her enemy to save her family. Her voice broke with real pain when she spoke. “I’ll give you Everyland.”
“Swear it before Hecate.”
“I swear before Hecate to give you Everyland in exchange for the safety of my friends and family.”
Zeus smiled at her, lightning flashing across his face. “Aphrodite told me you’d do anything to protect the people you love. She said it was the quality she adored most in you. It certainly will save a lot of liv
es. For now.”
Helen dropped her gaze, so he wouldn’t see eagerness and regret warring with each other in her eyes. “So how does this work? Do we go to Everyland first?”
“Yes. When we get there you simply make a new rule that Everyland answers to me alone,” Zeus said, tucking her hair behind her ear, almost like he cared about her. “And then I’ll take you to Tartarus.”
Lucas saw Helen throw the Kraken’s tentacle to the side and launch herself into the air. He was about to follow her out of sheer habit, but he saw Orion on top of a giant horseshoe crab monster, screaming Cassandra’s name. Lucas’s little sister was nearly immortal, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be captured by the Olympians and used as their Oracle until she willed herself to death.
After seeing how she’d handled the Kraken, Lucas trusted that Helen could take care of herself and ran to help Orion get his little sister back. The monster was huge, and it had spikes sticking out of its sides and a long, swordlike appendage for a tail that it used to slash at anyone that came near. Avoiding the razor-sharp tail, Lucas ran to the front, crouched down and tried to flip it over, only to find about a dozen hairy legs that all ended in pincers under the dome of its top shell, clawing at him. He heard his sister screaming somewhere in there with all those legs.
“Luke, hold it so it can’t get to the water!” Orion yelled, and slid down the side of the carapace.
Lucas held the monster in place while Orion began hacking his way through the forest of appendages. They could both hear Cassandra crying Orion’s name frantically, and finally they saw her white face and tiny hand reaching up out of the suffocating bristles and grasping claws. Orion pulled Cassandra free while Lucas tipped the monster over onto its back.
“How do you kill it?” Lucas asked, climbing on top and hacking away at the underbelly with no idea where to aim.
“I don’t know,” Orion replied, dumbfounded.
“You’re the sea-god guy!” Lucas yelled.
“It doesn’t have a central heart or a brain!” Orion yelled back. “Maybe try boiling it?”
“Son of a . . . ,” Lucas swore, and jumped off of the struggling creature. Lucas wanted to end its misery, but he didn’t know how. He scrambled away, and turned his attention to his little sister.
“Orion!” Cassandra sobbed against his chest.
“It’s all right, Kitty,” Orion said soothingly, running his hands over her to make sure nothing was broken or bleeding.
Cassandra quieted down, and he checked every limb and every joint on her body. Then she reached up to put her fingers in his thick hair and turned her mouth up to his like a shy flower opening for the first time. In a daze, Orion lowered his lips and kissed her.
Lucas’s foot connected with the side of Orion’s head before Lucas was even aware that he was angry.
“She’s just a child!” Lucas growled, jumping on top of Orion’s sprawled body and hitting him as hard and as fast as he could.
“I am not!” Cassandra screamed.
Lucas was vaguely aware that Cassandra was scratching his face and trying to claw him off of Orion. She kept repeating that she loved him, but it didn’t matter much to Lucas. His little sister really was like a kitten. Her claws stung, but they didn’t have the strength to injure.
“I know!” Orion hollered. “I shouldn’t have—I’m sorry!”
Orion was holding up his arms to shield himself, and Lucas noticed he wasn’t even trying to fight back.
“You better kill me now, Lucas, because I’m not going to stay away from her. I can’t.” Orion’s voice was breaking with emotion.