The Immortals (40 page)

Hermes turned away from the professors to join his brother in the fray, shooting at the Hunter with reckless abandon. The first mortal-crafted bullets bounced off Orion’s newly strengthened skin harmlessly. He caught the next bullet on his sword, sending it whizzing back toward Hermes so quickly even the Many-Turning One couldn’t dodge it completely. The bullet grazed the arm of his suit, ripping a long slash through the linen. With Hermes’s weapons doing more harm than good and Dionysus useless—he merely leaned drunkenly on his thyrsus, watching
the proceedings with mild amusement—Apollo would need his sister’s help to defeat Orion. But first, Theo’s killer had to die.

Bill Webb stood trembling, his back to the cave wall, staring aghast as Nate quickly drowned in three inches of water and Martin choked to death on the blood welling from the arrow shaft in his throat. The chairman looked up at Artemis, dropped his knife, and kneeled before her. Hippo sprang toward him, and Hephaestus raised his hammer, but the goddess stopped both her protectors with an upraised hand. “No. He’s mine.”

Bill’s eyes rolled from Hippo’s slavering jaws to Hephaestus’s massive weapon, then finally to Artemis’s stony face. He held up his hands in supplication. “Mercy, Gentle Goddess.”

She drew the string taut and aimed her shaft at his face. “Theo would’ve shown you mercy,” she said slowly. The force of her godhood left her memories of Theo washed out and dim, like a photo bleached by the brilliance of the sun—but she knew that much.

“Yes! For Theo! Do what he would’ve wanted!”

“For Theo. Indeed.” She sent a golden arrow through his eye and into his brain. Webb swallowed once, twice, with a familiar birdlike jerk, then collapsed.

“Moonshine!” Paul hollered. “I’m running out of arrows!”

She turned to him calmly, bemused by the panic in his voice. Didn’t he realize she was invincible? Orion didn’t stand a chance.

She narrowed her eyes, watching the pattern of Apollo’s shots. “Do you remember how we used to hunt?” she called to him. That memory, one she thought long forgotten, returned bright and sharp, even as she could no longer recall the sound of Theo’s laughter. Twin gods in chariots of gold and silver, racing across the plains of Attica, arrows flying like rain, striking down those who offended, those who defied. The ghost of a smile crossed Apollo’s face, even as he dodged another arrow ricocheting off Orion’s sword—he remembered, too.

She raised her bow and nocked a row of three arrows to the string. “Then hunt with me now.”

At her cue, Apollo shot his last silver shaft at Orion’s calves. Arms raised, the Hunter leaped upward to dodge the arrow, just as Artemis sent her own gold arrows hurtling through the cave, right into his path. One flew into his left wrist and another into his right, shot with such force that they knocked him backward and pierced the stone behind him, pinning him to the cave wall. At the same instant, the third arrow struck the bronze sword with a sharp clang, tearing it from his hands. It fell, dented and misshapen, to the ground.

Only Orion’s harsh breaths broke the sudden silence. He hung limply from the wall, his body dangling as if crucified. His feet swung weakly, looking for purchase, but the ground was just out of reach. Blood slid in torrents down his arms from the arrows in his wrists, two red rivers joining the stream still pulsing from the wound in his side.

Apollo looked from the helpless Hunter to the victorious Huntress. “You want to do it, or should I?”

Artemis stared down at the golden bow in her hands, then up to Hephaestus. His arms and chest retained their colossal girth, but gray peppered his bushy hair and deep crags marked his coarse face. He’d already moved firmly into middle age. “You made this.”

“Special order.” His voice was deep and rough—a slow tectonic attrition. “Dash said you needed it.”

She nodded slowly. “A divine weapon to kill a divinity.” She nocked an arrow to the string, but held it loosely at her side. She looked once more at Theo’s fallen form. Then, finally, she lifted her eyes to Orion. He struggled against the arrows in his wrists, trying to pull his flesh past the fletching, then gasped with pain and hung still once more. Artemis felt no pity.

She raised her bow, focusing only on the swell of muscle above his heart. Hippo barked sharply, urging her mistress on.

Orion didn’t cry out or beg for mercy. He merely shook his head, more disappointed than afraid. “You should be grateful. You’re stronger than you’ve been in millennia. You would kill the man who gave you such a gift?”

She searched her heart for any joy at what she’d become, any gratitude, any last remnants of love for the man before her, and found only emptiness. “Not a gift. A curse.”

“You’re wrong. Don’t you see?” he insisted bitterly. “I’ve given you the power to bring your sweet Theodore back to life.”

Artemis’s fingers faltered on the string. “What did you say?”

From the corner of the cave, Dionysus spluttered with laughter. “You were right, Apollo, I’m glad I came. This is finally getting interesting.” He lifted his thyrsus and pointed it at his sister. “Go on, Artemis, bring back your man, if you can. But Orion left out one teensy weensy detail. I warned you—the only way to get stronger is human sacrifice. If you reverse the sacrifice, you’ll lose all that lovely strength. And let me say, that radiance looks damn good on you, so think twice before you give it up.”

“Don’t listen to him!” Orion protested, but Hephaestus silenced him with a threatening wave of his hammer.

“Orion’s setting a trap,” Apollo begged. “He wants you vulnerable again so he can hurt you. Please, Moonshine, why would you return to weakness now that you know strength?”

“Because I finally know what real strength is,” she said, lowering her bow. “And this isn’t it. This is power, this is rage, this is Artemis… but I’ve lost
Selene
. I’ve lost Theo. If I can bring them back, I will. I
must
.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. And you’re going to help me.”

Apollo shook his head. “I told you before that I won’t help you destroy yourself.”

Artemis tried to keep the fury from her voice. An Athanatos was no mortal, to be ordered about. “I once knew love and you took it away. You owe me.”

“I didn’t come for this.”

“Then why
did
you?” she seethed. “Why answer my summons?”

“At the hospital you asked me to help you save Theo. But in your prayer, you asked me to help you save yourself. I would do anything for you, how many times must I tell you that?” he asked, his voice rising with impatience.

“Then do this. You’re the God of Healing. Help me bring him back.” Before her twin could protest, she went on. “I don’t care if it takes away my supernatural powers.” They were hard words to say—even harder to mean—with such strength thrumming within her. “The goddess I’ve become,” she explained, “is the version Orion and his acolytes have worshiped. Heartless, cruel,
desperate
. Willing to sacrifice anything,
anyone
, to regain my strength.”

“So you want to be
powerless
?”

“No.” She didn’t want that. Merely the thought of returning to the vulnerable woman she’d been a week before made her tremble with fear. Power beckoned her like a siren’s call, but she stopped her ears and fought through the haze of vindictiveness, fury, and bloodlust, to find the faint spark of humanity that still glowed within her heart. If she stayed a goddess much longer, it might be quenched forever. “The key to understanding life’s meaning… it’s not immortality like Helen thought. It’s
mortality
. I’ve been wandering this city, this world, for millennia, acting out a role I don’t even know if I chose for myself. Now, Orion would remake me again, with all the worst parts of Artemis and none of the best. I can’t let that happen. This time,
I’m
making the choice.”

Apollo’s golden eyes filled with tears. Then he nodded and lowered his bow.

The twins knelt beside Theo’s body. The professor lay upon the cave floor, blood smeared across his lips from Artemis’s kisses. The warmth had already drained from his face, leaving it cold and still, a marble death mask that barely resembled the man he’d been.

The God of Healing placed one hand on Theo’s head and one on his bloody heart, just above the knife. “I’ll try,” he said, meeting his sister’s eyes, “But I don’t think I have the power anymore.”

“I’ll help you. I am the Relentless One who brings swift death, but I could also once give life and help bring children into the world.” She placed her hands on either side of Theo’s face. “Tonight I am more powerful than I have been in an age. As you shared my mother’s womb, now may you share my strength.”

Apollo closed his eyes and moved his lips silently. Then he took a deep breath and held it. His smooth brow furrowed. Nothing happened. He let out the breath with a heaving gasp. “I’m not quite strong enough. Maybe this isn’t going to work.”

“
No.
Try again.”

Apollo’s face twisted with sadness, but he yanked the knife clear of Theo’s body and pressed his palms against the wound, stanching the slowly oozing gash. He began his silent chant. When he took a breath, Artemis did, too.

“I am She Who Helps One Climb Out,” Artemis whispered into the silence. “Take my hand that I may pull you from death, Theodore. I am She Who Leads the Dance. Follow me.”

She reached out with all her senses. She heard the wind in the trees. A hawk overhead. The drip of Orion’s blood upon the ground. The breathing of the divine family around her. The thump of Hippo’s tail on the stone floor. She felt the air stir in the cave. She sensed the movement of a mouse nearby. Once more, she summoned wind and water, animal and bird, moon and stars. The power of the wild surged through her and into her twin, who sent his own sharp heat back to her, a tongue of unquenchable fire made only stronger by the foaming river of her strength. Silver and gold, day and night, sun and moon, a maelstrom of energies swirled within her, burning and freezing at the same time until she feared her corporeal body would burst and only her immortal spirit would remain.

Then it all stopped.

She heard the water ebb back into the lake. She could no longer feel the moonlight above. All her senses went blank, as if someone had pulled a shroud over her mind. Only the pulse of a vein against her fingers broke through.

Selene opened her eyes. Theo stared back at her.

Her brother gave a small gasp of surprise. Hippo barked happily, then started sniffing Theo as if he were a newly discovered treat.

Memories flooded back… the feel of his hand in hers by the riverside, the sound of his laughter as he crawled across his office floor in a safari hat, the look in his eyes as he took her in his arms beneath the waterfall.

Theo raised a shaky hand to Selene’s cheek. “Goddesses don’t cry,” he murmured hoarsely. “No, don’t look away.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but one look at Theo’s awestruck face and she found that for once, she couldn’t lie.

“I’m not hallucinating this time, am I?” He looked down at the bloody crust on his chest where the knife had been, watching it scab over before his eyes. “How did you—”

“Apollo and I healed the wound,” she admitted. Despite her dulled senses, her strength remained. Calmly, she tugged at the handcuffs around his wrists until the steel snapped beneath her grip.

“Wow.” He struggled onto his elbows, looking down at the twisted metal. “I finally catch a break, huh? Just what you need when you get stabbed by your ex-girlfriend’s insane fiancé—an Olympian god to bring you back to life.” He laughed weakly, then groaned and clutched at his chest.

“Whoa there, hero. You’re going to need to take it slow for a little while.” She helped him ease back onto the ground.

He reached for her hand. “Selene… I…”

Paul’s strangled gasp interrupted him. “Artemis.
Artemis.
Something’s wrong.”

And in that instant, Selene felt a wave of weakness wash over her. She flexed her hands, knowing with a terrifying certainty that all the power she’d possessed just a moment before had fled. Still on her knees, she swayed woozily. It took all her effort just to turn her head toward her twin. A streak of white ran along a curl of his hair. Paul held out his shaking hands toward her. “You didn’t say it would weaken
me
.”

Selene clapped her hands to her head, trying to banish the rush of dizziness. The cave suddenly grew darker as her radiance leaked away. Theo, still shaky himself, caught her as she slumped forward. Hippo whimpered piteously, staring at her mistress.

Paul rose to his feet, bracing his hands on his knees like an old man, and stumbled backward toward the cave entrance.
“We were connected,” he said with a moan. “When your power drained, so did some of mine. You’ve got… you’ve got a white streak in your hair.”

“So do you. I’m so sorry, Sunbeam,” Selene managed. “I didn’t know. I thought—”

Orion’s wheezing laughter interrupted her. “Thank you, my Huntress,” he said. “You finally avenged my murder.” He looked to Paul. “Bringing the dead back to life has made you weak, Gilded God,” he spat. He turned to the others. “Men follow musicians like dumb sheep, and their worship has kept Apollo strong. We must kill him
now
, before he recovers.”

The Smith stepped forward, his hammer raised. “You think we’ll let you harm our brother?” he rumbled.

“Oh yes. In fact, I think you’ll do it for me.”

Dash laughed. “You’ve been playing with mortals too long, Hunter, if you think you can get us to do your bidding.”

“This is no joke, Hermes,” Orion seethed. “Even you are not as powerful as you once were. No one is. I can change that.”

The Smith glowered at him suspiciously. “How?”

“You stole one Corn King from death. Give me another. Give me Apollo. Once he’s crowned and blessed, as Theo was, he’ll be a sacrifice more powerful than even a Makarites—a sacrifice so great it would do more than bring Artemis and me back to strength. It would make you
all
truly Athanatoi once more.”

“He lies,” said the Smith.

“Tell them, Artemis!” Orion cried. “She had the power of a goddess again before she threw it all away. Sacrifice Apollo to the ritual and you, Hermes, will fly through the air on winged sandals. Hephaestus, your fading will cease, volcanoes will erupt at your command! Dionysus—you can bring men to madness or lust with a flick of your finger.”

Dennis merely snorted. “Sounds like an average Saturday night in my apartment.”

But Dash looked intrigued. “My sandals will work?”

Dennis lifted his thyrsus and pointed it at his brother. “Look at that. You’re considering it. Damn, Dad was right. Give the gods hope of return and things get
all
kinds of fucked up.”

“What do you say, Apollo?” Orion demanded. “Theo sacrificed his life for Artemis. Will you?”

Paul could only look from Dash to the Smith to Dennis, his expression panicked.

“Don’t answer that, Sunbeam.” With Theo’s help, Selene struggled to her feet. “No one is sacrificing anything for me. Not anymore.”

She turned to her brothers, unsurprised by what she read in their faces. Dash and Dennis eyed Paul curiously, as if mulling over the possibility of his demise. Even the Smith, usually one of the least bloodthirsty of the Olympians, looked at her twin with something like hunger. If they chose to listen to Orion, she’d be unable to stop them. By relinquishing her omnipotence and weakening Paul, she’d put him in great danger. Now it was up to her to save him by convincing the others to spare his life. She was used to urging people at the point of an arrow.
I’m no good at this,
she thought.
I’m no stitcher of songs, no weaver of words. That’s Theo’s gift, not mine.
As if he heard her, Theo laced his fingers through hers. His touch was a rope thrown right into her desperate hands. Through it flowed love and confidence, and most of all, hope. She gripped his hand a little tighter, then let it go and stood upright on her own. As the shock from losing her powers faded, her dizziness dissipated, and some of her strength returned. She took a deep breath and turned to her siblings.

“There will be no more killings. The cult is finished. And we must swear tonight that there will never be another,” she began.

“Don’t listen to her!” Orion interrupted. “Apollo’s at his weakest right now—you must do it now if you have any hope of killing him before he recovers.” Before he could say more, Theo retrieved the roll of duct tape from Nate’s body and slapped a
gag across Orion’s mouth. Selene nodded her thanks, then continued.

“I see how you look at my brother even now, wondering if
maybe
it’d be worth it. One dead god and an eternity of power. But tonight’s sacrifice would not be the last. Every year, the ritual must be repeated. More innocents dead. Not a god, you’re thinking—you would only kill thanatoi after tonight. But each time we condone the murder of a guiltless mortal, we take one step further from our own humanity, one step closer to a version of ourselves better left in the mists of memory. We were heartless, cruel, fickle creatures, bereft of empathy, of true human emotions. Only jealousy, rage, lust, despair were left to us. I had forgotten until Orion brought me back to godhood. I could control the tides, that’s true, but I couldn’t control my own choices, my own memories, my own heart. Is that what you would return to? Long ago, Father put a stop to the sacrifices in the Eleusinian Mysteries when he decided we should cease to grant immortality to mankind. Tonight we must do so again, even though we deny godhood to ourselves as well. But if our millennia on earth have taught us anything, it’s that the world changes, and we must change with it. You may yearn for what is lost. I prefer to see all that we have gained. I say this because… because I have never felt weaker than I do at this moment. But here, with all of you around me”—she looked at each of her brothers in turn and then at Theo, who stood just within reach, solid and strong and vitally alive—“I have never felt stronger either.”

Shame creased the Smith’s face. “She’s right. What Orion offers comes at too great a price. We must learn to accept our new lives. None of us are perfect anymore. I’ve had a little longer than the rest of you to get used to that idea. We’ll be all right.”

Paul heaved a sigh of relief as Dash patted him on the back.
“You didn’t
really
think I’d kill you for a pair of flying shoes, did you?” Selene thought Dash’s grin a little forced, but at least Paul seemed out of immediate danger.

Dennis just rolled his eyes. “So everything’s settled, then? Apollo, looks like you’ll live another day—even if you are looking a little worse for wear.”

Paul bristled and ran a hand self-consciously through the streak in his hair. “It was… a shock, that’s all.” He stood up a little straighter and met Selene’s gaze. “If losing some of my powers is the price I must pay for getting my sister back, I do so willingly. I’m no thanatos yet, just a little… dimmed. It was bound to happen eventually.” Fine words, but he couldn’t hide the grief that pulled at his mouth.

Selene walked to her twin and leaned her forehead against his. They were exactly the same height. Very lightly, she kissed his tanned cheek, then stepped back to look him in the eye. “Do not despair. Whether gods or not, our lives still have purpose,” she said quietly. She took his hand in hers and faced the others. “The mortals need us, even if they don’t know it. And, most of all, we need each other. The Smith made me a bow and arrows to wield. The Messenger carried him word that I needed it. He Who Unties unraveled the truth of the Mystery. And you, Bright One, God of Healing, Son of Leto, Twin of Delos, brought the man I… brought Theo… back to life.”

Hippo barked in protest. “She doesn’t want you to leave her out,” Theo said with a laugh.

Paul chuckled, and his mirth warmed Selene like a sunbeam on a winter’s day. “True. Your dog found me wandering through the park and led me to the cave. I felt the pull when you invoked me, but turns out my directional sense isn’t quite as specific as it used to be.”