Page 35 of Monster Song
“Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, can we rescue my queen now?”
“You won’t like what you see. Demeter knew she was getting to us, and now she keeps her drugged.”
Kimon let out a little growl and barged into the sanctuary. There was actually electricity in here because they set it up like a medical room. They strapped Persephone to a bed with an IV in her hand. I rushed over and gently took it out.
“What’s in this IV?” I demanded.
“Moonflower from Olympus,” Keti said. “Once it’s out, she should wake soon.”
“That’s all I need to know,” Kimon said, cradling her in his arms like she was breakable.
We went to exit the room and go to the shadows where we could make our exit, but a large, blonde-haired woman was blocking our path.
“What’s this, Keti? Siding with the monsters? You know I can’t let you leave.”
She pressed her earpiece like she would make a call. It all happened at once. I had this surge in my gut. I almost did it without thinking. I threw a fireball at her right at the same time Solron flung one of her knives. The knife buried itself in her eye right when my fireball hit her chest. She went up into flames and collapsed in the room.
Irida grabbed a blanket off the bed and started beating the flames out.
“I thought we were doing this inconspicuously?”
“I never liked that bitch,” Keti said.
“I had it handled, River, but I like this side of you. Someone hit the lights, and then everyone grab onto me.”
That was certainly interesting. I didn’t know if it was Solron who killed that warrior or me, but at least I knew I had it in me. Before I knew it, we were standing on a hill far away from Demeter’s soldiers, but in view of the temple.
Keti frowned.
“How did you know we don’t scout out here?”
Kimon snorted and laid Persephone gently on the ground.
“We have our own scouts. She’d better be okay.”
We were all cramped trying to grab onto Solron, but I didn’t leave empty-handed. Persephone was beautiful. She had strawberry blonde hair and a pixie face. Someone, probably Demeter, had tried to dress her as frumpily as possible. I grabbed a pillow and blanket before I touched Solron. It didn’t seem right that the queen of the Underworld should lay on the hard ground.
I handed it to Kimon. He murmured a thanks, and my monster was so gentle as he spread the blanket on the soft grass and arranged the pillow. He set Persephone down like she was breakable.
Now, we just had to wait. The fight should have started at least ten minutes ago if my watch was actually right down here.
I was desperate to know my monsters were okay.
Chapter 19
Tryphon
T
he soldiers who took us to and from the arena had grown fat and complacent from their winnings in the pit. I think they thought of us as little monster pets. River was pretty passionate about dogfighting on Earth. Even a loyal pet could turn on his master if pushed hard enough. We weren’t pets. The notion offended me. It fucking annoyed me every time I watch a chain attached to the collar of one of my fellow monsters, and they walked them out as if they were walking a dog.
I had no idea what was going on in the pit, but it was a thing of beauty when they came for Demos. He burned one to ash. Pavlina got the other one. She didn’t even save him for later. She yanked him into her cell with a web and bit his head off. Several monsters were probably devouring the guards in the pit at once.
Pavlina and I transformed back into humans and started stripping the armor off the guards. I had to pull my long hair into a bun and cover it with his helmet. There were other creatures in the Underworld with hair like mine, but they generally had water magic and were one of Poseidon’s creations.
The naiads and dryads weren’t collared like the monsters were because they weren’t fighters, but they wouldn’t have been caught dead getting involved in this plot, and they justloveddrama too. This was way too much drama, even for them. No one would believe a naiad soldier. No, all the people who had signed up under Demeter were either from Artemis or humans who were chosen to live here.
Pavlina and I weren’t even remotely human anymore and couldn’t pass for it in a crowd. She had to tuck her hair up too, and she wouldn’t be able to look anyone in the eye because of the Black Widow markings in her pupils.
