Page 124 of Until the End of Ever
The god wearing Silver’s charm and my leather wrist band smirked, before tossing Silver onto his back.
"Traitor!" Zeus bellowed, materializing another lighting bolt out of thin air.
Apollo was already gone from the forum, leaping so high, blasting through the translucent dome overhead and towards the sun beyond the clouds.
Zeus sent the bolt, a precise hit, anticipating the trajectory of the sun god's flight.
No, no, no!
"Let's go," Lucian whispered. "While he's distracted."
Except he was distracted bykilling my friend!I couldn't tear my eyes away from my friend's doom, even as Lucian dragged me toward the arch.
I didn't see the direction it came from, but a physical shield flew out to meet the lightning bolt and Apollo disappeared with Silver.
The king of gods yelled, enraged, his stormy eyes on us next.
I knew the next lightning bolt would be for us.
I was going to die. Lucian was going to die. There was no way we'd escape it. We had no one to throw a magical shield for us.
"Meow."
I was the first to stumble, thoroughly confused.
But the next moment, Zazel brushed against my leg.
Oh, fuck.
How the hell had he gotten here? And how had he known to come? Zazel always appeared when I was distraught, but it was usually within the manor.
At first, I was scared for my familiar, cursing whatever compelled him to come here to die along with us.Except the god sneering at us paused, the glowing weapon in his hand still.
That couldn't befearin his eyes, could it?
That would make no sense. It was just Zazel. And yes, technically, the cat might have been of demonic origin, but he was still just a silly little cat, purring when he was stroked the right way, demanding too much food, sleeping at the crook of my knees.
Why would the king of Olympus be scared of a pocket-sized feline? Was he allergic?
He doesn't have to be pocket-sized.
The thought seemed to come from me, and yet, not at all. My own voice, but the words were unprompted, out of the blue.
Zazel's red eyes met mine, and the next moment, I knew. I knew why this cat would never, could never bond with Lucian, or anyone else. I knew why he sought me out now.
I knew who he was.Whathe was.
And, insane as it seemed, that knowledge unlocked a wealth, ten lifetimes’ worth of spells, magic, strategy, lovemaking, jewels and chariots and war. First of all, war.
I didn't even have to say a word, only brushing his little forehead, drawing one rune.Fehu, the rune of Frej. Abundance, success, wealth, yes.
But it also simply meant Frey.
And Freya.
Zazel stepped to my side, his paw grown to the size of a dinner plate, flexing his knife-long claws. Each of his fangs was longer than my arm. It was only when I moved to my feet that I realized just how large he'd become. He would have dwarfed Ronan's warhorses.
Suddenly, the fact that the goddess used cats to draw her chariot made sense.
