She looked at Odysseus, his eyes bright and alive, and let her gaze wander over his features, down his shoulders and chest. These were the last few moments of quiet. Soon, they would make a decision and begin moving forward toward their end.
I’ll die protecting him. There are plenty of worse ways to go than that.
Then she heard it, a whisper in her ear. It carried with it the scent of dust and a blast of dry, dry heat.
“You must go, and soon, child. He’s coming back to you and bringing all of them along besides.”
“Demeter.”
Odysseus and Hermes stopped talking. They couldn’t hear Demeter’s voice. To them, the room was empty. Hermes started to ask what Athena meant, but she held up her hand.
Miles of highway passed by behind her vacant eyes. It was a road she knew would lead them straight to Apollo, with Hera still just following after, if they were lucky.
“He’s on the freeway. He’s forsaken stealth for speed. But he won’t stay there. He’s going to turn off and—” Athena stopped, and swallowed. “Thank you, Aunt.”
“We are more monsters than gods now,” Demeter whispered. “But some are worse than others.”
For a second, Athena thought she felt a soft, dry brushing against her shoulder, like leathery fingertips. And then Demeter was gone. Athena’s eyes flashed back to the present.
“I know where they are. He’s on the road, and he’s making a wrong turn.”
* * *
“Not that I doubt a god’s ability to drive,” Henry said from the backseat, “but shouldn’t you look ahead of you, at least once every few miles?”
Aidan cleared his throat and mumbled an apology, then went back to staring into the rearview mirror. Cassandra knew why. He was waiting for the sky to go black behind them, waiting for a ball of fire, or a flash of lightning, or whatever-the-hell entrance Hera would decide to make when she burned up their trail.
Aidan glanced at the fuel gauge and struck the steering wheel with his palm.
“This thing gets shit for gas mileage, Henry.”
“So everyone keeps telling me. Why didn’t you take another car, then? And why don’t you have one of your own? Super rich, undying god guy?”
Andie heaved herself toward the front seat. “Stop bickering!” She put her hand on Cassandra’s shoulder.
“He could’ve bought us twelve Priuses if he was worried about fuel economy, is all I’m saying.”
“Shut up, Henry!” She gestured toward an exit sign. “Just get off the freeway. The back roads are secluded. We can slow down and save gas and still have cover. We can’t stay on the interstate much longer anyway without risking a high-speed police chase.”
Cassandra sat quietly in the passenger seat, holding an open bottle of Orange Crush. Andie had finally gotten her to drink a little of it, though she’d refused anything to eat. She glanced up through the windshield. The sky was so incredibly blue and Aidan was driving so fast. But it wouldn’t matter. Her death waited for her beneath blue skies and pines. On a day just like today.
“Aidan.”
“Yeah?”
“If this doesn’t work, will you promise to protect them?” She touched Andie’s hand, still on her shoulder. “I mean it. Will you get them somewhere safe, even if I’m dead?”
“Don’t talk like that,” Andie snapped. “We’re not going anywhere without you.”
Cassandra ignored her and watched Aidan. He was a god, and gods were single-minded. She’d always thought Andie and Henry were his friends. But maybe they didn’t matter if she wasn’t around. Maybe he’d just leave them, out of grief, or out of indifference.
“Nothing’s going to happen to any of you.” Aidan looked at Cassandra. “They’re my friends too.”
“Promise.”
“I promise.”
You promised me too, once. That you had no more secrets.
The word of a god. Was it worth anything? He’d only known them for a few years, barely a blink in his long life. She would be gone before the sun began to set, and he’d go on forever. She closed her eyes.
“It’s not going to hurt. It’s just going to be scary, and then everything will be dark. Do you think that’s how it is? My head will crack open, and I won’t know anything anymore. I won’t be anymore.”
“It’s not going to happen.” Aidan ground his teeth and signaled for the exit toward Seneca Lake. “We’ll cut through the Finger Lakes back to Kincade. But we’re not staying. I’ll just … tell Athena to be ready, and then we’re going north.”