“Stop,” she shouted. “Let go!” She pushed at his hands, but he might as well have been made of steel for all the good it did. The ground whipped by so fast. They were beside the family Jeep in less than a minute.
“What was that?” she asked. “Cally…” She remembered a flat sound as Calypso had collapsed: her head striking Aidan’s gravestone. “You have to go help her!”
“I can’t leave you,” Achilles said. Snarls echoed through the cemetery. Calypso shrieked. “That was one of Ares’ wolves. Just one. They travel in four.”
“Take me back there, damn it! I stripped Ares’ back down to bones, what do you think I can do to four puppies?” She took a surprised breath. She’d been so angry she’d been screaming through her teeth.
“Shit,” he muttered. “If anything happens to the other weapon…” He took her by the shoulders. “Get in the car and stay there, do you understand? And get Athena here. Now.”
He opened the door and stuffed her inside. She pulled out her phone and texted Athena with trembling fingers.
She peered through the rows of headstones, trying to see Achilles and Calypso. Cally would be okay. The wolves wouldn’t give Achilles any trouble. Even if they managed to kill him, he’d just get back up again.
A few minutes passed. Exactly how long she couldn’t say. She remained in the Jeep, clinging to the steering wheel with hands hot enough to hurt, trying to fight off waves of rage so strong they felt like nausea. And then Achilles jogged through the cemetery with Calypso in his arms.
“Cally,” Cassandra said, and opened her door.
“Stay inside!” Athena shouted through the window of the Dodge as she and Odysseus squealed into the parking lot. She jumped out before the car stopped and pointed at Cassandra with a stern finger.
“Geez!” Cassandra said. “Odysseus, what did you do, drive through yards? I just texted like four minutes ago.”
“Yeah, it was fast,” he said. “Cally, Jesus!” He ran over and took her from Achilles. Blood streaked her jacket and sweater, bright red. The wolves had slashed at her cheeks and bitten her shoulders and hands.
“I’ll heal,” she said, leaning against him. “It won’t scar.”
“Of course it won’t,” Athena said, her voice equal parts comforting and bitter. “The wolves. Where are they?”
“They ran,” Achilles said. “When I threw the white one into a tree.”
“They ran,” Athena said, and grabbed him by the arm. “So we chase.” Without another word, they took off together, and they didn’t stop no matter how loudly Odysseus called.
*
“What are you up to?” Achilles asked, but Athena didn’t answer. If he wasn’t an idiot, he’d figure it out.
She sniffed the air, scanning the larger grave markers, and the trees, anywhere a pack of wolves might hide. Then again, they might scatter. But that was all right. She only needed one.
Ares, Ares, Ares. My idiot brother. What were you thinking, sending them after us when you knew I was here?
But she really didn’t care. The wolves were a gift, and much like gift horses, you didn’t look them in the mouth. A flash of red fur, flicking fast like a fox tail, darted toward a copse of trees on their left.
Excellent.
“Go!” she shouted to Achilles, and he took off, cutting off the wolf’s path of escape so she could come in from behind. As they closed in, she noted that it was the twitchy one. Panic. Maybe the most annoying wolf, but no matter. She wasn’t picky. The other wolves would sing like canaries to Ares and Hera. They’d tell them all about Achilles. She hoped it drove fear deep into their bellies. Fear, like icing on her cake. But, it didn’t really matter what they felt. Because while the other wolves sang, this one would lead them right back to its master.
“Take it alive,” she said.
18
EXHIBITION
They kept the wolf chained in the basement. It refused to talk. It refused even to stand up on two stretched hind legs and pace. Panic quivered and twitched and looked as sad as any wild animal on an eight-foot leash.