wristwatch, counting down from 5:00.
4:59.
4:58.
XXXIX
Reyna
‘I WOULDN’T MOVE, PRAETOR!’
Orion stood on the surface of the water, fifty feet to starboard, an arrow nocked in his bow.
Through Reyna’s haze of rage and grief, she noticed the giant’s new scars. His fight with the Hunters had left him with mottled grey and pink scar tissue on his arms and face, so he looked like a bruised peach in the process of rotting. The mechanical eye on his left side was dark. His hair had burned away, leaving only ragged patches. His nose was swollen and red from the bowstring that Nico had snapped in his face. All of this gave Reyna a twinge of dark satisfaction.
Regrettably, the giant still had his smug smile.
At Reyna’s feet, the timer on the arrow read: 4:42.
‘Explosive arrows are very touchy,’ said Orion. ‘Once they’re embedded, even the slightest motion can set them off. I wouldn’t want you to miss the last four minutes of your life.’
Reyna’s senses sharpened. The pegasi clopped nervously around the Athena Parthenos. Dawn began to break. The wind from the shore brought a faint scent of strawberries. Lying next to her on the deck, Blackjack wheezed and shuddered – still alive, but badly wounded.
Her heart pounded so hard she thought her eardrums might burst. She extended her strength to Blackjack, trying to keep him alive. She would not see him die.
She wanted to shout insults at the giant, but her first words were surprisingly calm. ‘What of my sister?’
Orion’s white teeth flashed in his ruined face. ‘I would love to tell you she is dead. I would love to see the pain on your face. Alas, as far as I know, your sister still lives. So do Thalia Grace and her annoying Hunters. They surprised me, I’ll admit. I was forced into the sea to escape them. For the past few days I have been wounded and in pain, healing slowly, building a new bow. But don’t worry, Praetor. You will die first. Your precious statue will be burned in a great conflagration. After Gaia has risen, when the mortal world is ending, I will find your sister. I will tell her you died painfully. Then I will kill her.’ He grinned. ‘So all is well!’
4:04.
Hylla was alive. Thalia and the Hunters were still out there somewhere. But none of that would matter if Reyna’s mission failed. The sun was rising on the last day of the world …
Blackjack’s breathing became more laboured.
Reyna mustered her courage. The winged horse needed her. Lord Pegasus had named her Horse Friend, and she would not let him down. She couldn’t think about the entire world right now. She had to concentrate on what was right next to her.
3:54.
‘So.’ She glared at Orion. ‘You’re damaged and ugly, but not dead. I suppose that means I’ll need the help of a god to kill you.’
Orion chuckled. ‘Sadly, you Romans have never been very good at summoning gods to your aid. I guess they don’t think much of you, eh?’
Reyna was tempted to agree. She had prayed to her mother … and been blessed with the arrival of a homicidal giant. Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
And yet …
Reyna laughed. ‘Ah, Orion.’
The giant’s smile wavered. ‘You have a strange sense of humour, girl. What are you laughing about?’
‘Bellona has answered my prayer. She doesn’t fight my battles for me. She doesn’t guarantee me easy victory. She grants me opportunities to prove myself. She gives me strong enemies and potential allies.’
Orion’s left eye sparked. ‘You speak nonsense. A column of fire is about to destroy you and your precious Greek statue. No ally can help you. Your mother has abandoned you as you abandoned your legion.’
‘But she hasn’t,’ Reyna said. ‘Bellona wasn’t just a war goddess. She wasn’t like the Greek Enyo, who was simply an embodiment of carnage. Bellona’s Temple was where Romans greeted foreign ambassadors. Wars were declared there, but peace treaties were also negotiated – lasting peace, based on strength.’
3:01.
Reyna drew her knife. ‘Bellona gave me the chance to make peace with the Greeks and increase the strength of Rome. I took it. If I die, I will die defending that cause. So I say my mother is with me today. She will add her strength to mine. Shoot your arrow, Orion. It won’t matter. When I throw this blade and pierce your heart, you will die.’
Orion stood motionless on the waves. His face was a mask of concentration. His one good eye blinked amber.
‘A bluff,’ he growled. ‘I’ve killed hundreds like you: girls playing at war, pretending they are the equal to giants! I will not grant you a quick death, Praetor. I will watch you burn, the way the Hunters burned me.’
2:31.
Blackjack wheezed, kicking his legs against the deck. The sky was turning pink. A wind from the shore caught the camouflage netting on the Athena Parthenos and stripped it away, sending the silvery cloth rippling across the Sound. The Athena Parthenos gleamed in the early light, and Reyna thought how beautiful the goddess would look on the hill above the Greek camp.
It must happen, she thought, hoping the pegasi could sense her intentions. You must complete the journey without me.
She inclined her head to the Athena Parthenos. ‘My lady, it has been my honour to escort you.’
Orion scoffed. ‘Talking to enemy statues now? Futile. You have roughly two minutes of life.’
‘Oh, but I don’t abide by your time frame, giant,’ Reyna said. ‘A Roman does not wait for death. She seeks it out and meets it on her own terms.’
She threw her knife. It hit true – right in the middle of the giant’s chest.
Orion bellowed in agony, and Reyna thought what a pleasing last sound that was to hear.
She flung her cloak in front of her and fell on the explosive arrow, determined to shield Blackjack and the other pegasi and hopefully protect the mortals sleeping belowdecks. She had no idea whether her body would contain the explosion, whether her cloak could smother the flames, but it was her best chance to save her friends and her mission.
She tensed, waiting to die. She felt the pressure as the arrow detonated … but it wasn’t what she expected. Against her ribs, the explosion made only the smallest pop, like an overinflated balloon. Her cloak became uncomfortably warm. No flames burst forth.
Why was she still alive?
Rise, said a voice in her head.
In a trance, Reyna got to her feet. Smoke curled from the edges of her cloak. She realized something was different about the purple fabric. It glittered as if woven through with filaments of Imperial gold. At her feet, a section of the deck had been reduced to a circle of charcoal, but her cloak wasn’t even singed.
Accept my aegis, Reyna Ramírez-Arellano, said the voice. For today, you have proven yourself a hero of Olympus.
Reyna stared in amazement at the Athena Parthenos, glowing with a faint golden aura.
The aegis … From Reyna’s years of study, she recalled that the term aegis didn’t apply only to Athena’s shield. It also meant the goddess’s cloak. According to legend, Athena sometimes cut pieces off her mantle and draped them over statues in her temples, or over her chosen heroes, to shield them.
Reyna’s cloak, which she’d worn for years, had suddenly changed. It had absorbed the explosion.
She tried to say something, to thank the goddess, but her voice wouldn’t work. The statue’s glowing aura faded. The ringing in Reyna’s ears cleared. She became aware of Orion, still roaring in pain as he staggered across the surface of the water.
‘You have failed!’ He clawed her knife from his chest and tossed it into the waves. ‘I still live!’
He drew his bow and fired, but it seemed to happen in slow motion. Reyna swept her cloak in front of her. The arrow shattered against the cloth. She charged to the railing and leaped at the giant.
The jump should have been impossibly far, but Reyna felt a surge of power in her limbs, as if her mother, Bellona, was lending he
r strength – a return for all the strength Reyna had lent others over the years.
Reyna grabbed the giant’s bow and swung around on it like a gymnast, landing on the giant’s back. She locked her legs around his waist, then twisted her cloak into a rope and pulled it across Orion’s neck with all her might.
He instinctively dropped his bow. He clutched at the glimmering fabric, but his fingers steamed and blistered when he touched it. Sour, acrid smoke rose from his neck.
Reyna pulled tighter.
‘This is for Phoebe,’ she snarled in his ear. ‘For Kinzie. For all those you killed. You will die at the hands of a girl.’
Orion thrashed and fought, but Reyna’s will was unshakable. The power of Athena infused her cloak. Bellona blessed her with strength and resolve. Not one but two powerful goddesses aided her, yet the kill was for Reyna to complete.
Complete it she did.
The giant crumpled to his knees and sank in the water. Reyna didn’t let go until he ceased to thrash and his body dissolved into sea foam. His mechanical eye disappeared beneath the waves. His bow began to sink.
Reyna let it. She had no interest in spoils of war – no desire to let any part of the giant survive. Like her father’s mania – and all the other angry ghosts of her past – Orion could teach her nothing. He deserved to be forgotten.
Besides, dawn was breaking.
Reyna swam for the yacht.
XL
Reyna
NO TIME FOR ENJOYING HER VICTORY OVER ORION.
Blackjack’s muzzle was foaming. His legs spasmed. Blood trickled from the arrow wound in his flank.
Reyna ripped through the supply bag that Phoebe had given her. She swabbed the wound with healing potion. She poured unicorn draught over the blade of her silver pocketknife.