Apophis.
Panic jumped to heart-thumping fear. Isadora had no idea how the warlock had taken Gryphon’s body, but she wasn’t about to ask. She darted a look back down the darkened tunnel.
“Oh, your guardian won’t be joining us,” Apophis said in that same flat voice that sounded like Gryphon but wasn’t. He took one menacing step closer, drawing her attention back his way. “Your escape from Thrace Castle was disappointing, but even I must admit…it brought other, more interesting opportunities to light.”
He reached inside his crisp white shirt and drew out the medallion hanging on a chain around his neck.
The Orb of Krónos.
Oh, shit. The round medallion was as big as a man’s palm, with four empty chambers and the sign of the Titans stamped into the center of the metal. She looked into Gryphon’s—Apophis’s—eyes. In that moment, everything made sense. And in that moment, mythological monsters, daemons, and even Atalanta were the least of Isadora’s worries.
The Titans were the ruling gods before the Olympians. When Zeus and his brothers had risen up against them in their quest for power, Krónos had crafted the Orb and left it in Prometheus’s care and told him to use it only if things became dire. Zeus and his brothers won the war and the Titans were imprisoned in Tartarus, where they still reside today. But Prometheus, a champion for humankind, had known the horror the Titans would unleash in their need for revenge if they were ever set free, so he scattered the four elements across the earth and hid the Orb from the temptation of both man and god alike. Peace had settled over the earth and for thousands of years the Orb had ceased to exist. Until, that is, it was rediscovered.
“The fact you are no longer a virgin is disappointing, Hora, but something I’m able to work around.”
Isadora stepped back, slowly reached for the dagger at her hip. She knew Orpheus was the one who’d found the Orb, but she had no idea how Apophis had gotten it. The wearer of the Orb not only benefited from enhanced powers, but if he found the four elements and placed them in the empty chambers he would then possess the ability to release the Titans from their prison in Tartarus. And a power like that…Not only would it make him stronger than Zeus; if used, it would initiate the war to end all wars.
Apophis continued his advance. “There’s nowhere to run, Princess. And this time, no one to save you.”
No one but herself.
Her pulse beat like wildfire beneath her skin as she waited for him to draw close. She’d seen him bleed. She knew he was mortal, even if he was blessed with an unnaturally long life. She had to hope that in Gryphon’s body he was still as vulnerable as he’d been back at Thrace Castle. Hopefully more so.
The blinding blue glare coming from his eyes intensified as he stepped near. No, he wasn’t Gryphon, not anymore. And he had absolutely no regret over what he planned to do to her.
She braced her feet against the floor. Clenched her teeth. When he was only a foot away, feeling confident and smug that she was the weak female he could easily overpower, she grasped the dagger at her hip and swung out with all her strength.
The blade caught him across the chest. He hollered and jumped back. Bright red blood seeped through the white cloth to stain his shirt. She didn’t give him time to regroup. From her pocket she drew out the rocks she’d taken from Jason’s trunk and threw them into his face, intent on distracting him while she attacked with the dagger again.
But the rocks never hit their target. Their momentum stopped midair to hover and swirl inches from his face. His eyes grew wide; the glow in the room increased. His gaze narrowed in on the stones circling in the air at eye level.
Magick rocks. Some kind of ancient Medean spell was keeping them from falling. Realizing this was her best chance for attack, Isadora charged.
Her dagger caught Apophis in the side. He roared, whirled her way, and swung out with his arm. The back of his hand caught the side of her face. She sailed through the air and the dagger flew from her grip. Her body smacked into a column near the temple’s entrance.
Pain shot through her torso, exploded behind her eyes. She slid to the ground, gasped in a breath, rolled to her side, and tried to push up. When she looked up, though, Apophis wasn’t coming after her as she expected. His roar shook the walls as he thrashed out with both hands at the rocks that shot out of the air to pummel him from all sides.
Her gaze swept over the floor, searching for her dagger, but she couldn’t see it. She ground her teeth against the pain and pushed herself up, only to realize she was trapped. There was no way for her to get by Apophis and make it back through the same tunnel she’d come in.
That left hiding.
She wrapped an arm around her aching ribs, grabbed on to the column with her other hand, and righted herself. A quick look at the rock walls of the cavern told her that inside the temple was her best bet.
She stumbled through the enormous entrance, looked right and left. Ahead a raised stone altar was surrounded on all sides by marble benches and two large fire-burning torches that illuminated the space in an orange-red glow. A gigantic statue of Demeter graced the far wall. Along the periphery were small archways, no taller than a child, which looked like they led off into secret rooms or chambers.
Please, gods…for once be on my side.
She hobbled to her right, dropped to her knees near the first archway, and slithered through the space. The tunnel inside was dark, but one glance forward and she realized it went nowhere. Just ran the length of the wall and opened ten feet down to the next archway.
“Hora!”
Apophis’s enraged voice brought her around. She scooted as deep into the tunnel as she could, past the last archway into a corner where no light shone. Drawing her legs in, she tried like hell to become invisible. Her heart pounded hard against her ribs and her labored breath was all she could hear in the dark. How long until he found her? How long until he made good on his promise to “work around” the fact she was no longer a virgin? And what—oh, gods—had happened to Demetrius outside these walls?
Wait. The portal. Excitement leaped in her chest. She was on holy ground. If she could pull herself together enough to focus, she should be able to open a doorway home. She closed her eyes, pictured Argolea, tried to concentrate. Nothing happened. Frustrated, she tried again. But her racing heart and what was happening outside this small tunnel were all she could focus on. That and the sharp stab directly in the middle of her back.
A scraping sound echoed in the tunnel as she shifted along the wall, and then she felt something drop to the ground behind her. Reaching back, she wrapped her hand around a small round shape.
She drew the rock in front of her, opened her hand, and looked down. There was just enough light coming through the closest archway to see what she held wasn’t a simple rock. It was a diamond. As big as a coin and as clear as glass. And etched into the back wall of the stone, staring up through the shine as if it had been forged by magick, the mark of the Titans.
Her eyes grew as she stared at what she held, hardly believing it could be real. A loud crash echoed. Her gaze darted up just as the entire wall between her and discovery came tumbling down. Isadora yelped and covered her head with her hands. Debris crashed all around her. Before the dust settled, a hand latched on to her ankle and pulled hard.
A scream tore from her chest. She tried to grab rocks and stone, anything solid. But the hand was too strong, the force too great. She flipped over onto her stomach and grappled for something to stop her.
“I’m losing my patience with you, Hora!”
Apophis flipped her to her back. His irises glowed brighter than before, smothering the whites of his eyes until there was nothing but a blinding glare that illuminated the entire room.