Page 106 of The Shadow Gods

Inside my chest, that cord pinged. The vibration carried from where it began, right to me. It was just a small current, but with the boost Paris had given me by putting the seal together, it was now a blinking red arrow.

Achilles was right. We didn't need Athena anymore.

But she still had power, and I'd keep her alive for a million years on the off chance we could use it.

So, we could wait a moment longer. Achilles and I locked eyes, he gave a nod, and as my friends' strength buoyed me, I focused on the cord.

Together, we would bring her back.

Leo

Thunder rumbled in the distance. It didn't register at first, but Castor's reaction was instantaneous.

Spinning in a quick circle, he located the origin of the thunder and stared. I remembered then how this was a place where nothing changed. No one came or went. For as long as he'd been dead, he'd been alone.

Thunder rumbled again, and my heart lurched. It was a strange sensation, like something was connected to it, making it throb.

It's them.

“Paris put the seal together,” I said, more to myself than Castor. “Their power—it must have returned.”

Castor narrowed his eyes at my words. “Paris.”

The sky lightened, gray parting briefly to reveal a sky so blue it was hard to look at.

“Pollux is bringing you back,” Castor whispered. A strong hand gripped my arm, distracting me from the sky. Our eyes met, his green ones so wide and hopeful. “You're not stuck here.”

But he would be.

A shiver ran through me, racing from my spine, over my head, and down to my chest. The urge to do—something—came with it. It made me anxious and energized. I was at the start of a race, ready to run.

He smiled at me, a mirror image of his twin, but as Pollux was when we first met. With a smile tinged with sadness and hopelessness.

I couldn't leave him here.

When Athena had brought me to Corfu, she hadn't been able to transport just me. What I was—a mortal brought back from the dead by the power of a god—wasn't so very different than the guys. Somehow, she hadn't distinguished between me and them, and so she brought us all.

Maybe...

The sensation in my chest grew as the clouds disappeared. The sun was so bright, I had to squint. “Hold my hands.”

Castor didn't hesitate. “I don't think this will work.”

It was worth a try. I turned, moving closer so I could wrap my arms around his body. “We're both dead. It might not work for either of us.”

I held on tight, as tight as I could while the light surrounded us and the thunder rumbled on and on and on, despite the bright sky.

Hector

The hand in mine tightened. Leo's eyes opened, the pupils blown wide so there was none of that familiar and beautiful golden brown.

She gasped, sat up straight, almost bounding out of Paris's arms and into mine.

I didn't have time to blink. One moment, she was the girl I knew—pale and freckled, messy red hair—and the next, she was more.

She washer.

Behind me, Pollux made a shocked choke, but I couldn't look away.

---