Page 97 of The Shadow Gods

“And if I cut its head off, then I can defeat the monster?”

“Mm-hmm.” I hadn't seen Medusa since I’d transformed her, though I'd peeked from time-to-time. I wasn't willing to risk my own life if our eyes should lock. I was a goddess, but all I had to do was revisit history to know that gods and goddesses could be destroyed.

“Here.” I gave the boy one of my shields. The sun hit it, the reflection blinding.

I urged him to the cave entrance, shooing him away with a flick of my hands. “Go on. You have everything you need.” I wasn't sure he did, but I was curious about how this would play out.

On one hand, I'd lose a gorgeous creature like Medusa. Centuries had passed, but was it enough time? Had she truly suffered for the injury she'd done me?

But on the other hand, here was Perseus, full of potential.

The boy ducked into the dark cave with one longing glance at me. Did he think that I would help him? I fixed my features into ones of sympathy and encouragement, but I wasn't going in there. If Medusa's—my—power could turn a god to stone, I wouldn't be the first to learn of it.

I waited, growing bored as minute after minute passed. I half-expected the pup to run screaming from the cave.

But he didn't.

Maybe I should go inside. Watching would be better than wait—

Power.It blasted out of the cave, shaking the ground so hard rocks tumbled from the mountain.

He'd done it.

Like a wave, the power pushed past me, then receded back into the cave.

That was...strange. I stepped toward the opening, curious and sick of waiting. I was a goddess. Why should the half-mortal offspring of my father have all the fun? And beside, that wasmypower. I had been the one to create Medusa. If there was any residual, it was mine.

I stepped toward the cave, but Perseus came out first.

Eyes wide, muscles slick with sweat, he stepped into the sun. He blinked, holding up one arm to block the sun. In it, he held his sword.

But it was the other hand that interested me. He held a sack, heavy and bloodstained.

There was a pulse, power throbbing so quickly I barely had time to breathe it in.

Mine?It was familiar but changed.

In that second, when the power touched me and then disappeared, I realized what I'd done.

I was a goddess of war and strategy, and I hadn't foreseen these consequences.

“I did it.” Perseus's voice shook, but his gaze was steady.

I held out my hand, schooling my features. “I will take it.” My fingers twitched. Beneath my skin, a charge ran through my veins, reaching toward the power as like calls to like.

Pulling it closer to his body, Perseus shook his head. “No, Goddess. You were right. It was hideous. The body—” He shut his eyes briefly. “It's still in there. But this...” He gave the bag a little shake, and hissing—quiet and muffled, but still audible—came from the bag.

“Is she alive?” The question was asked before I could stop myself.

“No,” he replied. “The body is cold, but the serpents, perhaps...” He trailed off, curling his lips in disgust.

I knew what he didn't. The serpents were Medusa. There was no separating one from other. What power had I lost when I’d gleefully created this creature as repulsive as she was unique?

I wanted it back. All of it. Some of it. A taste of it.

It was mine.

Perseus stared at the bag, wondering, perhaps, how he would get close enough to the Cetus to wield a weapon like the one I'd given him. The monster in question was as big as some of these islands and had jaws that opened wide enough to swallow a fleet of warships.

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