Page 45 of The Shadow Gods

Paris jogged back from the bakery, two white bags held in each hand. Before he could hand them to Leo, Achilles had the van started and in gear. “We need to go.”

Leo was already buckled in back, a pile of books on her lap, but the rest of us stood around, waiting.

Hector frowned, but opened the back door and gestured for me and Paris to get in.

Orestes climbed in front, dropped his bag at his feet, and withdrew a notebook. “We're going west to east across Italy, and we'll stop at least once to rest.”

“We can do it in one trip,” Achilles argued. “We talked about this last night.”

To his credit, Orestes didn't back down. “We did, and I told you it was too far. If we want to be safe, and smart, we'll take our time. We haven't, the five of us, been close to Greece in centuries. Things are going to be crawling out of their holes when we get there. I don't want to bring any more attention to us than we have to.”

Achilles grunted, but he didn't argue. I saw both sides. The faster we got to Corfu, the faster we could avoid anything that wanted to waylay us. At the same time, if we moved too fast, we could miss the signs we were being hunted. I didn't want us to be a bigger target than we already were.

“It's inevitable that Athena comes after us. I just want to know more before she does,” Leo said.

Achilles glanced in the rearview mirror, eyes narrowed. “We don't know that.”

His words were harsh and clipped. Leo's cheeks flushed, but she held her ground. “We do. She could be flying over us now, like the fucking vulture she is. That should have been her symbol. Not the owl. Actually, I hate to give any bird a bad name by being associated with her. It's not fair to birds.”

Achilles glared a second longer before a laugh pushed past his lips. He narrowed his eyes again, pissed—probably—that she'd made him laugh when he wanted to stay mad.

She held up a book. “I'm reading about Gorgons and hoping it gives us an edge. Maybe there will be a sign about how I tap into superhero powers. That would be nice.” She whispered the last part under her breath.

Her superpowers, as she called them, hovered at the back of my mind. I wanted them to protect her, but god-given gifts came with strings. And there was no way Athena meant her to have any kind of power of protection. Whatever Leo had wasn't supposed to exist, and Athena wanted it.

But how would she get it? The possibilities scared the hell out of me.

“What book is it?” I asked her, gesturing with my chin to the hardcover in her hands.

“This one is calledTheogony.Seriously, Hector, you have an incredible library. It was as good as Oxford.”

“I had a long time to collect them,” he replied. “I'm glad they're useful.”

“Have you found anything?” I asked.

Leo shook her head. “Sorry. Not yet.”

“Here.” Paris interrupted us, handing back a flakey, buttery pastry.

Lost in thought, she didn't notice right away, so I took it from him. “Leo. You need to eat.”

She nodded and took a bite. I could tell she wasn't tasting it, too absorbed by whatever had distracted her.

I should have kept her a secret.

The thought drew me up sharp. What would have happened if I’d kept her existence a secret? Or if I'd lied and told my friends we didn't need to worry about her?

How would everything have unfolded if I'd made different choices?

Paris nudged me with his elbow, held out a pastry, and waited. I took it, even though all appetite had disappeared.

“Can I help?” I asked, forcing myself to take a bite, chew, and swallow. I didn't taste anything but took another bite.

Leo held out the book. “I'm looking for anything related to Medusa, the Gorgons, or Athena. Any little thing that seems tied to any of those topics.Theogonyis about the creation of the gods, so maybe there's something about how the gods created other creatures like me. It's a long shot.”

“If you know how something is made, you might learn how to unmake it,” I said, half to myself as I accepted the book.

Paris stopped rifling in the pastry bag, Achilles turned down the fan blowing air at us, and Orestes shifted to face the back. Glancing up at the sudden quiet, I met their gazes. “What?”

---