“Orpheus!”
Skyla lost her footing as a chasm split open between them and the hounds. She hit the ground with a grunt. One monster launched its massive body toward Maelea with a snap of its jaws. On her back in the wet grass, Skyla aimed her bow at the hellhound sailing through the air.
Its bloody teeth caught Maelea’s arm. She screamed. Skyla fired, heard the hound cry out in agony, pulled another arrow, lined up another shot, and fired again. Before she could get to her feet, Orpheus was on top of the hound, driving his blade deep into the beast’s flesh.
More snarls and growls echoed from across the chasm as the shaking died down. The other four hellhounds paced back and forth, waiting for their chance to strike. The bleeding hound lay dead at Orpheus’s feet.
“You will pay, Argonaut,” one hound growled across the distance.
Shocked, Skyla looked at Orpheus, who was shoving the earth element back into the front pocket of his jeans. Holy Hades. He already had one of the four sacred elements. No wonder Athena hadn’t told her who he really was.
“Go fuck yourself!” Orpheus shouted.
Two hellhounds barked out their protest with a snap of their massive jaws.
Orpheus sheathed his blade in a scabbard at his back and bent next to Maelea. “How bad is it?”
Tears filled Maelea’s eyes as she cradled her bloody arm against her stomach and shook her head.
Orpheus lifted her in his arms, then peered at Skyla across the damp grass before he hustled toward the boathouse. “If you’re coming, you’d better haul ass, Siren. They’re going to figure out how to cross that gap pretty quick.”
Skyla shot their seething enemies a quick glance before realizing that escaping with Orpheus was her only choice at the moment. With her bow and arrow still in hand, she ran after him and caught up on the dock outside the boathouse. He kicked the door in with his boot. The little bit of light shining in from the watery opening at the end of the boathouse reflected the word Olympian painted across the side of the nineteen-foot motorboat.
“Fitting.” She tossed her bow into the boat as Orpheus dropped Maelea in a seat and searched compartments.
“Where are the keys?” he asked Maelea.
“Hanging in the second compartment. There.”
Skyla untied the boat and threw the rope in. She jumped in the back, picked up her bow and arrow. Outside she could hear the snarls and growls of the monsters as they raced across the grass. “Um…anytime would be good.”
“Goddamn it.” Orpheus opened panels and slammed them shut. The sound of claws racing along the dock outside echoed in the air.
“Orpheus?” Skyla readied her bow, aimed for the door.
“Found them!” Keys jingled as Orpheus jumped behind the wheel.
The outer door shattered into a thousand pieces.
“Now!” Skyla screamed.
The boat’s engine roared to life. Orpheus punched the throttle. The hounds rushed into the boathouse. Skyla fired one arrow, readied the next shot just as the boat tore out of the boathouse and cut across the water.
She fell backward into the seat behind her. Water sprayed her face. When she found her footing and pushed up, the hounds were already pacing the end of the dock, their glowing red eyes tiny points of light far off against the shore.
They motored out of Union Bay and into Lake Washington. The dashboard lights highlighted Orpheus’s sandy brown hair blowing in the breeze as he maneuvered the boat through the glassy water as if he’d done it a thousand times before.
To keep from staring at him, Skyla moved to check Maelea’s arm. Looking at him made her wonder about that element. Where he’d gotten it and what he planned to do with it. And what else about him was the same as Cynurus.
Maelea jerked her arm back from Skyla’s touch. After arguing with the girl for five minutes, Skyla finally gave up and sat on the other bench.
They slowed as the lake came to an end. “Through there.” Maelea pointed toward a dock with her good arm. “There’s a park.”
Orpheus killed the engine and brushed past Skyla to tie the rope to the dock. A rush of heat swept over her skin where he grazed her, followed by a chill that left her with gooseflesh.
“How bad is the arm?” he asked, helping Maelea out of the boat.
“It’s—it’s fine.” Maelea wrapped her good arm around her bad.
“Let me see it.”
“No, it’s fine.”
When he grasped her hand and tugged it away from her body, moving the sleeve out of the way to have a look, she protested again. “I don’t need—”
“What the…?”
Maelea broke the eye contact, tugged her hand away, and cradled her arm against her stomach again. “I told you it was fine.”
Orpheus’s jaw tightened, but instead of arguing he turned toward Skyla and said, “She’s fine. Let’s go.”
Maelea took a step back. “I’m not going anywhere with either of you.”
Orpheus rolled his eyes. Then whipped her into his arms.