Zander glanced at the disk in her hand. Even he could feel the raw power radiating from the ancient metal. If their son had had this when he faced the daemons, it was possible he would have had the strength to escape after all.
His eyes lifted to Callia’s. And he saw then that she was suddenly clinging to the same hope.
“Okay, you lost me there,” Casey said, letting go of Theron and moving to stand in front of Callia. “Why would Prometheus hide it?”
“Because, according to the legend,” Isadora explained, “the person who wears the orb with the elements intact not only has the power to release the Titans from Tartarus, but he has the power to control this world as well.”
Realization dawned over Casey’s face. “She’s using it to get around the prophecy.” She looked at Isadora, then at Zander. “Is that what you’re telling me? If Atalanta has this orb, and the four elements inside, she has the power to control the human realm?”
“Yeah,” Zander said. “And the human realm is the one realm the gods haven’t been able to control. The skies, the Underworld, the seas…those are theirs. But the human realm has forever been off limits. As long as she has the orb, she’s immortal again, and more powerful than any of them. And if anyone challenges her”—he glanced at his guardian kinsmen, standing near Theron on the other side of the room, all tense because they knew just what this little thing could do—“she can unleash the Titans, which would then start a war like no one’s ever seen before.”
“Oh, God,” Casey whispered, looking down at the orb. “So I guess it’s a good thing she doesn’t have it, huh? But I still don’t understand how it got from Argolea to your son.” She looked up and around, questions in her eyes.
Isadora focused on the orb. “It had to have been smuggled out. Someone must have found it.” Her jaw clenched. “Orpheus.”
“That little piece of shit,” Nick muttered from across the room.
“It doesn’t matter how it got out,” Theron said. “If the boy had it, he must have gotten it from Atalanta.”
“He stole it,” Callia said softly, looking up at Zander. “That’s why he was with this human. That’s why the daemons were hunting him.”
Yeah, he’d figured that out as well. And that’s why they would kill him as soon as they found him. If they hadn’t already.
“Hold on.” Isadora’s voice drew Zander’s attention. “There’s a catch. Atalanta can’t wield the orb on her own.”
“Why not?” Casey asked.
“Because in her god form she’s considered an Olympian, not a Titan. In order for any Olympian—even one of the Twelve—to wield it, they have to have a key. They have to have something from both the human world and their realm. They have to have—”
“They have to have someone who is half god, half human, perfectly balanced,” Casey finished for her, eyes wide.
“Yeah,” Isadora said softly, realization dawning in her eyes as she glanced at her half-sisters. “Now it makes sense, the markings we share. The Horae were all about balance and timing and order. Casey and I, as the Chosen, are that perfect half-god, half-human, but we’re not balanced without you, Callia.”
“So she needs one of us to wield the orb,” Callia whispered.
“Yes,” Isadora breathed. “Or one of our offspring. And since Casey and I don’t have young yet…”
Callia reached up and touched the marking on the back of her neck. “She came after mine.”
Isadora nodded. “Atalanta didn’t steal your son because his father was an Argonaut. She stole him because she knew what you were before any of us did. Because our father, the king, is somehow linked to Themis, the Titan who spawned the Horae, and we are too. And she needs one of us”—she glanced at each of her sisters—“or one of our offspring to help her get what she really wants.”
Callia’s eyes darted to Zander. “Then she won’t kill him.”
“Wait,” Zander said, sensing her excitement but not wanting to get their hopes up again. “If what Isadora said is true, if you three really are the modern-day Horae, Hours, whatever, and she needs you to wield the orb, then why didn’t she just take you that day? And how did she even find you both in the first place?”
“I don’t know,” Callia said, shaking her head. “I don’t know how she found us, but she wouldn’t have taken me, because a child is easier to manipulate than a thirty-year-old Argolean who’s dedicated her life to the monarchy. She’d have known I never would have helped her. I’d have chosen death first.”
“And maybe she didn’t have the orb at the time,” Casey added. When they all looked her way, she said, “Ten years ago Atalanta was still immortal. She was still in Tartarus, building her army, right? You’ve all said she’s a schemer, that she’s constantly searching for ways to exact her revenge. If that’s the case, then it makes sense she’d have backup plans. In case the prophecy did come to pass.” She looked at Isadora. “In case we found each other and she was rendered mortal after all. She’d have been planning other ways to get exactly what she wants.”
“Which is revenge,” Theron said from across the room. His jaw hardened. “The females need to go back to Argolea. Now.”
“What?” The sisters all turned to look his way.
“Theron…,” Casey started.
“I won’t go back, Zander.” Callia turned. “I have a right to be here.”
She did. But Theron was right too. If Atalanta had lost his son, then she’d have no qualms about taking one or all of the sisters while she figured out a way to get the orb back. It wasn’t safe for any of them to be in the human realm.
“The females have a point, hero,” Nick said from where he stood near the bed.
Theron glared at the half-breed leader. “Stuff it, Nick. This doesn’t concern you.”
Nick’s jaw twitched. “Actually, it does, smart-ass. Probably more than the rest of you, because my people fucking live here, while you all hide off in never-never land.” He looked toward Callia, Isadora and Casey. “You ladies can stay at the colony for as long as you want. You have safe haven here.”
“Sonofabitch,” Theron growled. “Nick—”
Nick glanced at Isadora. “There’s more to the legend, isn’t there? Tell them the rest of it.”
Isadora’s eyes darted sideways. And in her irritated expression it was clear she didn’t like Nick. Or the fact he was telling her what to do. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
But she did. Even Zander could see that.
They didn’t have time for this bickering. Zander turned his full attention on Nick. “Can you get me to the truck stop where your soldiers found the human?”
“Chopper will be the fastest way to get there,” Nick said, rubbing a hand over his jaw. “We’ve got one at the airstrip, just outside Silver Hills. I can radio ahead and have it fired up.”
“Good.” Plans materialized in Zander’s mind. From the corner of his eye he saw Callia’s exasperated expression, felt her frustration. But he ignored it. He was heading into attack mode, and this time it wasn’t just duty, it was personal.
“One question,” Nick asked. “What the hell can one Argonaut do against a horde of daemons?”
“He’s not just one,” Theron announced. “If Atalanta’s got one of our own, we’re all going.”
“And me,” Callia said.
Zander didn’t look over. “No.”
“I—”
“Not this time, thea.” Adrenaline pulsing with the prospect of what lay ahead, he focused on Nick. “We’ll need maps of the terrain. Fresh weapons. And your best guess where you think she could be hiding out with my son.”
“Done. But you’re gonna need more than that, hero. Something tells me you’re gonna need the favor of the fucking gods.”