Page 69 of Zeus' Spark
“I wonder if the gods hid their items of power in their temples in Greece, and someone moved all of the ancient places of power to America to weaken them.” His expression is grim. “How many of the gods have lost their items of power, I wonder?”
“This could be really fucking bad,” I say. “If none of the gods have their items of power and someone else can get their hands on them…”
Who would want to weaken the gods, and why?
Tristan pulls off the highway onto a dirt road where several men are standing and blocking the path. They must be some of his shifters.
He gets out. I can’t hear what they say to him, but as he looks back at our car, he grimaces, and I wonder if these men are more of the ones that got too close to the fountain.
The men thankfully wave us through without further comment.
Did Tristan tell them not to talk until we fixed this problem?
The road is bumpy, and the truck in front turns off the path into the desert. I shift in my seat, uncomfortable.
Why are we off-roading? Could this be a trap?
No, his people really do need help. No one should be stuck rhyming for their entire life, and no one should have to live with that annoying shit.
“Are those trees up ahead?” I squint at the distance. “It looks almost tropical.”
“It could be a mirage.” Raven sits forward between the seats.
“Didn’t Tristan say that it was an oasis? That’s probably it.” Jayden leans forward in his seat a bit. “But what is that?”
Scales and a huge snake-like body wrap around something its forked tongue slithers out tasting the air.
“That is a giant fucking snake,” I shout. “How the hell did they get in there without getting eaten by that thing?”
“Python,” Raven mumbles. “Apollo killed it when he decided to make the Temple of Delphi. It protected the navel of the Earth, or Gaia’s center.”
“What the fuck? Is there any way we’re getting through here without killing the fucking thing?”
“I doubt it,” Jayden says on a groan. “Monsters are attracted to you, and they are back for a reason. Even if we don’t know what that reason is yet.”
Great.
Just fucking great.
15
The truck stops ahead of us, and Tristan rolls his window down. “What the fuck is that?”
“That’s a primordial monster from Greek mythology,” Raven snarks back. “Python.”
He grimaces. “It’s never been here before. Why is it here now?”
“Adrian’s warning. The statue was watching. Whoever is bringing the monsters back was obviously watching us and knew to send Python here. Shit.” I glare at Raven.
She thought I was crazy or paranoid.
She throws her hands up in the air. “How was I supposed to know it wasn’t just because you’re on edge? We’re all on edge.”
“What are we going to do?” Tristan asks, cutting into our argument.
“It probably already knows we’re here, so sneaking up on it probably isn’t going to work,” Jayden muses.
“Why do you say that?” Tristan asks, cocking his head to the side.
