Page 8 of Zeus' Spark
“Use your shadows and try to get on its back, Jayden.” I sprint away before Jayden can grab me again. Peeking over my shoulder, I see the lion’s right behind me.
Jayden curses, wrapping shadows around himself and getting onto the lion’s back. He can move through the shadows but I had no idea he could move others through them too.
The lion snarls and stops in its tracks, nearly sending Jayden flying, but he barely holds on.
The lion rears up on his back legs and shakes his body with a bellow of rage. I back up to the trees as Jayden manages to get a handful of the beast’s fur.
Just as Jayden moves into position to wrap his arms around the lion’s neck, the lion thrashes again, sending Jayden flying across the clearing.
He plummets to the ground ten feet away from where I am standing. His eyes roll back in his head.
My first instinct is to run to him. Is he okay? Pain lances through my chest at the thought of him being dead. No. He can’t be.
“Fuck,” I hiss.
What am I going to do now? I can’t be the distractionandthe one who jumps on its back.
The rest of the students have already fled since Jayden and I got the lion’s attention. Turning around, I face the lion head-on.
Again, where the fuck is Raven? She wouldn’t just run away when there’s a fight. She is the daughter of Ares himself.
I put my back against a tree, scanning the area for any way out of this.
“Psst.”
What the hell? The noise is coming from above me.
Raven crouches on the thick branch of the tree. “Distract it for me, B.”
“Fuck yes. It’s going to lunge for me. I will stay until the last possible second so it makes it to the tree, and then you jump.”
She nods.
I shift uncomfortably, waiting for the lion to pounce.
It’s toying with me. It looks like a house cat ready to play with its front close to the ground and its ass up in the air, tail swishing behind it.
I grab at my still-bleeding shoulder. It stings but is already starting to heal, though my arm is still hanging limply at my side.
Yellow eyes lock with mine just before it pounces.
It feels like an eternity before he gets close enough for Raven to jump down on its back. His hot, stale breath hits my face just as I roll away.
Pain erupts in my shredded shoulder when it hits the ground.
“Ha. Die, bitch,” Raven shouts from the lion’s back. She winds her arms around its thick neck.
The lion rears up, thrashing, trying to dislodge her from its back, but her grip around its neck is too tight. It quickly loses the ability to move.
Rolling to my feet, I rush over to Jayden and check his pulse. “Jayden, shit. You need to wake up.”
Blood coats his face from a nasty cut on his forehead where it hit the rough bark of the tree.
“Fucking hell, that’s nasty.” Raven steps up next to me covered in dust.
“Is that the lion?” I ask, eyeing the dirt on her.
“Yeah, it crumbled to dust the second it died, and I was still on its back.” She grimaces, shuddering in disgust.
