Authoritatively she stopped the small caravan at the mirror. Gregory beside her made the mistake of looking up into her face; she stared at him expectantly for a moment before jerking her head towards the portal. Gregory ducked his head and shook it spitefully indicating that no, he could not open the doorway. I could feel Alecto screwing up my face in displeasure and I wasn't about to tell her that Gregory just didn't want to help her. She was but seconds from removing his shaking head from the rest of his body when Alex touched the glass.
The hot wave of anger boiled away. Alecto muttered at Gregoryâ"What good are you, dragon?"âbefore we moved forward.
He didn't give any verbal indication of having heard. I imagine he counted how many creative ways he could flame broil her, using her cleaned boned as toothpicks.
We all stepped through without a word. Alecto walked through first, leading the way into the unknown. Had she not taken control of my body, I would have needed to hold on to someone in the portal; as it was, Alecto didn't need anyone's help.
On the other side of the portal I could smell the River before I could see it. We marched through another decorative hall and through a set of huge, heavy wooden doors. We let the creaking of the old hinges announce our party.
Perhaps the stench was coming from the army that had amassed at the entrance of the fortressâmuch more organized than they had been when last I'd seen the Frankenstein army. They stood at attention only ten feet from where we emerged. Waiting.
I couldn't see Alex, Gregory or Lindsay behind me but I could hear their surprise as each one witnessed the immense army before us. Sure, I knew that Hector had an army, but I wasn't expecting this.
The Underworld forces had grown in the past several days. It was huge; it was bigger than huge. I couldn't see where it ended; there were so many people and creatures standing before us in rows upon rows of beings with the conviction to kill. Where did Hector even find all of them?
Sure, there were humanoid creatures out there. But what I noticed first were those that weren't human in any way, shape, or form. Six hulking men, for lack of a better term, towered over the rest of the army, standing out in their fleshy, wrinkled bodies. I would recognize a giant anywhere, even if I'd never come across one before. Amidst the unmoving army of Hades stood a creature much like a bull, though it walked on two legs like a man. Women with snakes in their hair, beasts with heads of goats and snakes writhing from their tails, lions with great wings... monstrosities like I had never seen before. I saw creatures with wings like Alex and I saw nightmares of unnatural melding of animals. Thousands and thousands of creatures stood silently on the banks of the River Styx, waiting for the command.
If Gregory said we were outnumbered and this was our army, what would the Olympians bring to the table?
In the first row, right in the center of the army, stood half a dozen Furiesânext to Coleman the satyr. I recognized them after seeing Lindsay's transformation so many times. They too possessed the snake tattoo and wings and wore minimal armor.
The army shuffled slightly, unsure of this new player. Alecto smiled with my mouth before she spoke using my voice.
"Today we prove to the ambiguous gods of Olympus that we are stronger than hiding, stronger than pretending not to exist!" The army roared. When the cheers died down, Alecto continued. "Today we remind the world what it means to have power! We will defeat the armies of the gods and as victors share in the ambrosia!" The army cheered with each statement but a thousand beings before me lost their minds at the prospects of victory and ever-lasting life.
Hector had no idea what was comingâthe betrayal he would walk into when he joined us.
"We take the battle to Olympus!" Alecto thrust her fist in the air and the army followed by example. Weapons, paws, fists, all pumped above the heads of the army.
The doors creaked again, causing Alecto to turn from her new best friends. A dark figure emerged from the fortress, approaching steadily. He swung a long staff in a wide circle on his left before twirling the staff in front of him and swinging it on his right. Repeat. Again. Jasper's hands only stopped swinging the staff when he reached our group. He forcefully stabbed the end of the staff into the hard rocky soil of the Underworld and smiled at me.
At Alecto.
"My queen, it is so good to see you; beautiful as the last time I saw you." He bowed his head to her, inclining her superiority over him. Fury beats lamia like rock beats scissors; good to know.
Alecto smiled serenely and reached for his chin. She lifted his head until he was no longer bowed. "You freed me, love. You never have to bow in submission before me. Thank you for caring for my vessel until she would let me in; she doesn't appreciate you but I have gratitude enough for both of us."
Jasper placed a small charm in the hand still under his chin. He stood while she tucked the mantle of Hades into her chest plate with a sincere smile. I could feel her smiling, triumphant. I wanted to be sick.
She placed her hand on his cheek to caress his face. Jasper closed his eyes and leaned into it. I bet the scene was difficult to watch but it was unbearable to know that it was my hand that touched him.
Have you figured it out yet, foolish Autumn? Alecto thought to me.
What was there to figure out?
The thought finally came to me. The bars that Jasper had been feeding me with Lindsay's Fury blood infused in them: they made me weaken enough that Alecto could break through. He did it because he loved her, not because he was loyal to Hector. Had everything that brought us to this point been but a ruse to reincarnation Alecto and bring her back to him?
Think harder, Autumn. You're almost there, Alecto goaded me.
Patronizing is not a good look for you, Alecto, I scolded.
If I had teeth I would have been grinding them. But while I ruminated about teeth, Jasper pulled my body closer to his and placed my head in the crook of his neck. I could feel the prickly hairs on his cheeks against my forehead but I had no control and could not push him away.
In revulsion I pushed at Alecto's consciousness instead. It was the only thing I could reach. My disgust with her and Jasper, together or apart, was so strong it compelled me to shove against her mind with mine. For a second, I felt traction; Alecto's hold slipped and in that second of freedom I choked on a scream.
But Alecto was not ready to give up my bodyâif she ever would beâand she slammed my mouth shut. My body grew hot with her anger. Jasper let go, unable to handle the heat, though he did not back away.
I learned two things from my stubbornness: Jasper couldn't take the heat that my Fury body generated and Alecto was not as strong as she professed to be. All good news in my book.
Don't be a fool! Alecto screamed in my head. But her anger could not touch me: I had hope now.
Jasper's interest in my well-being made sense; he was simply caring for the vessel that would house his love. The man hadn't wanted anything to do with me for so long as I was Autumn. But now, as Alecto, he wouldn't let go. I could feel his rough hands running down my body despite the heat, violating me without my permission, soothing Alecto's fiery outburst. I hoped his skin would blister and boil but with Alecto once again in control, and wary of my presence in her head, she contained the angry heat within her. Jasper remained unharmed.
He finally let go of Alecto and smiled down at her. Love was sickening.
It finally hit meâJasper was in love with a Fury who never dies but is instead reincarnated into a new, fresh, young body. The lamia continued to grow old while Alecto was consistently born into new bodies.
Jasper would want to live forever, naturally, to be with her for the rest of time. He needed something to give him immortality.
He needed the Nectar.
How did he steal it? I asked Alecto. She just grinned with my mouth, ignoring the question but confirming my suspicion. Of course Olympus would automatically point fingers at Hector; he was the perfect scapegoat. He had known, this whole time he had known that the Nectar was in the Underworld and hadn't given it up.
I would have just given it back. Wouldn't that have made life so much easier?
Hector didn't realize the implications of his newfound godhood. He thanked Jasper for his thievery, prideful and arrogant. It wasn't until Jasper refused to hand over the ambrosia and Olympus realized it missing that he understood. Alecto grasped Jasper's hand as she spoke condescendingly to me inside my head, reminding me that she had the upper hand.
The Fates didn't even come up with a prophecy until after Hades, the original, passed on. Zeus didn't declare war until his unfortunate brother gave the Underworld to a half-breed. Jasper was supposed to receive the mantle of Hades upon the god's death and instead your precious, foolilsh Hector got to it first.
I was always coming back for him, regardless of his age. And he would do anything for meâeven kill a god.
This is the way it was always supposed to happen.
"Alecto, they are waiting for your command." Alex gestured out to the waiting mass of creatures and men. The Harpy had instantly turned into a loyal follower of the Fury invader in my skin. She was almost worse than Jasper, eager to please.
Her betrayal cut; we weren't exactly friends, but I at least thought we had gotten close over the last week. Initially she had tried to intimidate me. Then she acted as a mentor of sorts. Now she had forsaken me completely.
Lindsay's betrayal wasn't surprising: some time between leaving the fortress and now she had disappeared. Good riddance.
Gregory, on the other hand, was the only one who hadn't instantaneously fallen to the ground and kissed Alecto's feet. It made me like him just a little more. In response, Alecto shrugged at him, deeming him unimportant in the grand scheme. I desperately hoped he would run, far away, before she changed her mind. The thought of losing him as well as Alex and Hector was unbearable.
If I could have, I would have taken them all the to tunnel on the other side of the cavern and run until we were safe, no matter how far away safety might be. Niobe stopped me from running there once, and Alecto stopped me now.
My body moved forward through the settling dust. I no longer wanted to talk to Alecto. I needed to bide my time, gather my strength in order to push her away permanently. That was important now, nothing else.
I had to force her out of my head.
Alecto smiled and opened her mouth to address the crowd again. As if on cue, the sky opened up above our heads. Alecto jerked her attention upward to see that the fight had been brought to us. That her plan to take the Underworld army to Olympus had been foiled by bad timing made me giddy.
Chariots and winged beasts and beams of light, oh my!
Griffons soared through the hole in the world, followed by bright chariots and flying gods; it hardly seemed like there was enough room on both riverbanks combined for all of us, but somehow they fit. Centaurs appeared on the rocky soil, glowing gods brought their fierce weapons and their game faces.
Their light was almost too bright in the darkness, the dusty atmosphere of the Underworld. It was certainly odd to have the juxtaposition between the blend of the Underworld army and the Olympians who faced each other now. It didn't belong anywhere near the amalgamation of strangeness that was the army Hector had gathered.
And yet, was it really so strange? I mean, of all the things that I never in a million years thought could be possible, was this even surprising?
It was hard to tell these days.
One figure stepped out before the rest. He was huge, larger than Ares had been, sporting a beard and lacking a shirt. His form exuded supremacy, dominance and control.
So much for taking the fight to Olympus.
Zeus had arrived. And Hector was nowhere to be seen.