Athena shook her head. “You were never the brightest of the heroes, Pollux, don’t hurt yourself trying to work all this out.” She stood so casually, like she was delivering a lecture to a group of undergraduates. “What about you, Prince Hector, have you worked it out? Do you think I’m playing games?”
“Always,” Hector replied. “None of you know how to navigate a world without them.”
Her smile grew even wider. “Smart man.” She stood up straight, smile disappearing. “This is what I’m going to do. I’m going to give you all some time to work this out, because you’re right. I love a game. And one with strategy and players you don’t even know are on the board. Like Leo here. She’s a player. You haven’t worked out what she is, yet.”
“Leave her out of it,” Achilles said. He stood up, and took one confident step after another toward Athena to tower over her. “She’s mortal, and had nothing to do with what we did. If you want your revenge, you can try to take it on us.”
Her blue eyes flicked to mine. “Mortal?” She looked at Paris. “Like you?” And then Hector. “Or you?” Orestes eyes glowed bright gold. “How about you, Orestes? You were born mortal. Are you now? You might have started human but you all ended up something… more.” Electricity cracked through the air, lifting my hair around my head and the tiny hairs on my arms. Blue eyes sparking, black hair flowing around her shoulders, she glared at the men around me. “We gifted you a second chance, and you locked us away.”
She seemed to be as tall as Achilles, and when I glanced down, I realized she floated above the floor. That wasn’t electricity I felt. It was power. “You should be worshipping us, and you betrayed us.”
In a move too fast for me to track, she appeared in front of me, shoving a hard, cold object in my hand, and squeezing my hand around it.
“Stop!”
I didn’t know who yelled, or who tried to separate us. More than one set of hands were on my body, and then I stopped existing.
Here.
* * *
Hissing.
I glanced behind me, trying to find the source of the sound drowning everything else out. It was so loud, and getting louder. The sound overwhelmed me, and I slapped my hands over my ears.
And felt their tongues.
Dozens of cold, flicking, tasting tongues touched my neck, my hands, my cheeks, and forehead.
It was too much.
After everything.
After being held down and hurt. After being used. This sensation was too much.
I screamed, trying to push the creatures away from me, but only managed to hurt myself.
Athena laughed.
Shelaughed.“This is your punishment for your betrayal.”
A tongue touched the curve of my jaw, and I flinched, shutting my eyes. Seconds later, a firm hand gripped my chin, forcing me to open my eyes. “You seduced a god in my temple. You are mine. Your body. Your soul. You made a promise to me.” Blue eyes met mine. There was such anger in them.
I didn’t understand. “I worshipped you. Why are you doing this? I was nothing but loyal.” My gaze swept the temple. I had come here before I had memory, and was raised by Athena’s acolytes. In all of their stories, she was a protector. A wise woman with the intelligence to win wars. When I was old enough to make the decision—leave the temple or devote my life to her worship—it was an easy choice.
How wrong I had been.
“You are a liar.” My voice shook and was barely audible over the hissing that seemed to get louder as Athena’s anger grew. “I did nothing to deserve your anger, and you know it. Perhaps your anger is at your failure? You were bested by a god—he came into your temple and attacked me under your watch. Or maybe it’s jealousy.”
The hissing reached a pitch that made me wince and shut my eyes.
Athena’s cold hands gripped my wrists, pulling them away from my face. “Jealousy? Of you?”
I opened my eyes to find her studying me with that cold, cold smile. “There is nothing about you of which I am jealous. I thought perhaps this…” Her gaze went above my head and her eyes sparked. “I thought this was punishment enough but perhaps not. Look at your reflection, my girl, just this once, and see what you’ve become.”
Bright reflective glass displayed in a gilded frame appeared at her side, and slowly, watching me ever so closely, she spun me to face it.
There was my face, dirty and bruised from fighting, and—