Driven to fury, the older man started to slap Paelen violently across the face. But instead of hurting, the blows helped to clear away the snakes and fire raging through him. Paelen silently took Agent J’s blows. As before, human strength was nothing compared to the pounding the real Hercules had once given Paelen for stealing from him.
As others crowded forward to pull Agent J off, Paelen slipped a hand into one of the orderly’s pockets and retrieved the keys to the handcuffs. With the keys clenched tightly in his fist, Paelen pretended to pass out.
He heard Agent J’s heavy panting as the older man was pulled away.
‘We’re done for the day,’ the agent spat. ‘Take him away before I kill him!’
Paelen remained perfectly still with his eyes closed. Two orderlies lifted him on to a stretcher and transported him back to his room. They transferred him to the bed and handcuffed him to the side bars.
‘Stupid idiot kid,’ Paelen heard one mutter. ‘If he keeps pressing Agent J like that, the man will have him sliced and diced and poured into Mason jars.’
‘Better him than us,’ the other orderly said. ‘Where do you think he comes from?’
‘Don’t know, don’t care.’
‘What do you think they’ll do to him?’
‘I guess they’ll wait till they catch all the other freaks out there. Then they’ll question the lot of them until they spill their guts. Then when there’s nothing left to say, they’ll do what they always do. Ice the lot of them.’
‘Shame,’ the second orderly said. ‘I kinda like this kid. He’s got a real fire in his belly. He’s the first one I ever saw get the better of Agent J. Let’s face it, the man needs an attitude adjustment. This kid’s just the one to do it.’
‘That’s if he lives long enough.’
When they’d finished securing him, Paelen heard both men cross to the door.
‘Well, that’s my shift over, I’m outta here,’ one of them said. ‘Want to join me and the boys for a beer later?’
Paelen heard the beeping of the sound lock. When the door closed after the men, he remained still for a moment more. Finally he opened his eyes and looked around. He was alone.
He still couldn’t believe there were Nirads in this world. Agent J had been right about one thing. The Nirads were after Pegasus, not him. As he tried to slow his racing heart, Paelen recalled the last thing he’d seen on Olympus. How the Nirads were specifically going after Pegasus. If Diana hadn’t come forward, they surely would have killed him.
But why did the Nirads want Pegasus dead? And why were there two humans with him?
Paelen realized the answers were not to be found in this strange and horrible place. He needed to get out.
He recalled Mercury’s last dying words, begging him to join the struggle for Olympus. Much to his own shame, Paelen had turned his back on his people and fled the fight. But now, the fight had followed him here. He could not turn his back again. He would escape from these humans and find Pegasus.
Then he would finally join the battle.
15
Emily felt terror building up inside her as she sat waiting for the others on Pegasus’s back. It seemed like hours since Joel and Eric left. But finally, there was movement in the trees around them and Emily heard Joel call out her name.
‘Over here,’ Emily called back. ‘Hurry.’
Moments later, Joel and Eric reappeared. ‘We’ve got big trouble,’ Eric said as he put down the shopping bags and hugged his girlfriend. ‘All military leave has just been cancelled. I’ve been ordered to meet up with my unit not too far from here. It seems there is an emergency in the city.’
‘The emergency’s us,’ Emily said. ‘My dad called. The police know about Pegasus and our flight up 5th Avenue. They know about the creatures too. He said the CRU are after us.’
Eric nodded. ‘And they’re calling us in to help find you. I’m so sorry, but I’ve got to go.’
‘You’re not going to tell them where we are, are you?’ Emily asked fearfully.
‘Of course not!’ Eric answered. ‘I’ll do everything I can to lead them away from you. But it’s not just you they’re after. There are those creatures out there as well. Those I will try to stop.’
‘You can’t,’ Emily said. ‘My dad said bullets won’t even stop them.’
‘Yeah,’ Joel added. ‘When I hit one on the head with a baseball bat, it only stopped him for a moment. Even the fall from Pegasus didn’t slow it down.’
‘That being the case, the city has more to worry about than Pegasus,’ Eric said. He took Carol’s hand. ‘We’ve got to go. I want you out of the city as soon as possible.’
Carol smiled weakly. She turned to Emily and shrugged. ‘I’m so sorry you kids are in trouble. But I just don’t have the stomach for this.’