Page 3 of The Shadow Gods

But there was time to be scared. A scream left my throat before my head rolled from my shoulders. And still, there was time to be sad and mourn the path my life had taken.

As my vision dimmed, Perseus came to stand next to me, and with my dying thought, I realized,this. Thiswas happened when you were merciful.

Hector

Too Many Years Later To Count

Ididn't know enough about the Gorgons.

The thought raced through my brain as I maneuvered my old beast of a vehicle over the moors to the cottage.

Leo sat next to me. Her red hair wild, curls riotous. Her face was pale and serious, making her golden brown freckles stand out on her skin. She focused those warm brown eyes of hers on the road ahead of us, but I got the sense she didn't really see where we were going.

Today was supposed to go differently for her. When we'd found her, defending herself against a committee of Oxford professors bent on stealing her research and smearing her reputation, she reminded me of a soldier in battle. For a small woman, she projected confidence in a way that left you feeling she was taller, older, and stronger than she was.

But she was young. And while she was confident in her intelligence, she second-guessed herself in all other aspects of her life. It made me want to follow her into war and protect her with my life.

Right now, though, she was quiet.

Too quiet.

Leo was hardly ever quiet. Her voice filled spaces, nervous, awkward, but genuine. Always genuine.

I reached for her hand, the one she had clenched tightly in a fist on her knee. She jumped when our fingers touched, and I pulled back.

I thought she stretched toward me, but maybe I misread it. After everything Athena had shown her, maybe the touch of a man's hand was too much for her.

But all I wanted was to hold her.

Her gaze was on me. I could feel it the same way I felt the sun on my face. The warmth of it went from the crown of my head down to my lips, lingered there, and then was gone. Hidden behind a cloud. Leaving me chilled right down to my bones.

The images that Athena had forced into Leo's head still ran in circles around mine. I squeezed the steering wheel, wishing it was the neck of the god who had hurt her.

Medusa.

There was the myth of her—vengeful, frightening,wrong—and then there was...her.

Leo.

She wasn't a monster. She hadn't been then, and she wasn't now.

The Gorgon wasn't a creature I'd come into contact with during my infinite existence, though for some reason unknown to me, her face had adorned temples and homes throughout Greece.

Sucking in a breath, I opened my mouth to speak, but words failed me.

I should have taken her hand.

We were close to home now. Coming up over a rise, I could make out the shape of my cottage, shrouded in mist. “We can't stay here.”

She nodded. “I know.” Her voice was tight, giving me the impression she was holding back tears. A quick glance in her direction revealed dry eyes and a pale face, though. If she was sad or scared, the only sign of it was the small lines next to her mouth and between her ruddy brows.

She looked so very, very human.

I wouldn't let anything happen to her. I swore it to myself.

The closer we got, the more tasks I enumerated.Get the seal, money, passports, computers, clothes.I had more than enough money from my current company to keep us afloat without touching the funds I'd accumulated over millennia. There was no doubt in my mind Athena knew where we were, and for some reason—some unspoken, unrevealed strategy—she'd chosen Oxford as the place to show her true self.

I'd figure that out later, but first, I had to get us out of England.

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