“Pollux!” Leo cried, moving into my line of sight. As Hector lifted my arm, twisting and pulling so the joint slid into place, she lifted her shirt to display her gorgeous creamy skin dotted with golden freckles and luscious breasts encased in silk a shade or two darker than her skin. I even caught the hint of a nipple.
Fire.
Then relief.
She yanked her shirt over her breasts, covering everything up, and wasn't that a tragedy?
“Done,” Hector announced.
Already, my muscles were tightening, but the pain was gone. I might be sore for a second or two, but my healing would kick in, and it'd be like it had never happened.
“Fuck.” I rubbed my hand over my eyes, trying to get myself together.
“How did you do that?” Achilles asked from the carpark Leo had found.
“You must have moved in a weird way,” Leo offered, her cheeks pink. She wouldn't meet my gaze, and I wasn't having any of it.
Leaning forward, I held her chin between my index finger and thumb and kissed her. “Thank you for the distraction. It was worth the pain.”
She blushed even more, the rosy pink deepening to red. “I, uh, wanted to help.”
“You did.” And I would dream about how she did it for months.
Dreams.
“I had a dream about my brother,” I said aloud, finally answering Hector's question. “He did this. It must have been my brain making sense of the pain.”
But even as I explained, I knew I was wrong. That hadn't been a dream. What had Castor said?I can feel you. It's real.
It's real.
Gods. What if it was real? Had I damned my brother to an eternity of solitude? “He told me things were changing.” I peered at Hector. “He swore I wasn't dreaming. Do you think it's possible?”
His face darkened and he took a breath. Shaking his head, he crossed his arms and studied our surroundings.
What was changing that he could sense? Who else had escaped? Besides Athena, I suspected Poseidon, but I couldn't be certain. It could have been my father or Apollo, or any god or goddess with a bone to pick.
And they all had bones to pick.
“We need to make a decision about the seal,” Leo said. Her clear voice carried across the hum of traffic and city sounds. “Either put it together and see what happens or try to destroy it for good.”
Hector nodded.
I knew what my vote was. “We should try to smash it. Do it now,” I said. “We're waiting for the right place, but there is nowhere they won't find it.”
“Here?” Leo looked around. She'd found a small carpark across from a church, but what I could see seemed more residential than commercial. “I guess a church is as good a place as any. We could use some divine intervention.”
“Careful.” Achilles sucked in a breath through his teeth. “You never know who is listening.”
“If the Olympians exist, who's to say there aren't others?” she asked. “We could be dealing with pantheons upon pantheons. Or just one.” She gazed up at the church, craning her neck as she stared at the cross placed at the highest point. “It's newer than I expected. Actually—” She dropped her chin as she looked around. “Everything here seems recently built.”
“Two world wars were fought here,” Achilles reminded her, causing a flush to rush along her neck to her cheeks.
“I'm an ancient historian, so I have that as an excuse, but still...” She trailed off. “I think we do it now. Here.” She pointed to the church. “What do you think?” By the time she finished speaking, her face was pale, and she swallowed hard.
“If we smash it, we could release them. If we hide it, they could find it. If we don't smash it, they could steal it and put it together. That will either release them or make us more powerful. There's no way to know what could happen.” Achilles strode to the van, withdrew the container holding the shards, and straightened. “I hate not knowing the outcome, but the only way to know for sure is to—”
“Try something,” Hector interrupted. He glanced at his brother and then Orestes. Both men stood as still as statutes, the blood drained from their face, but they gave sharp nods of agreement. “Pollux?” he asked, turning to me.