Read Online Theta by Lizzy Ford - Free Book Online Page B

I
crossed paths with now were desperate and more likely to beg than
allow their substantial egos to speak on their behalves.
    “ I have a message for you
from someone you seek,” Paeon said.
    I waited.
    “ He says to stop seeking
him. He says, you must focus on what is happening inside the city,
because we are all in danger. He sent me as an olive branch. I am
to serve you and help your soldiers heal from battle and sickness
and any other malady that might befall them. When you are ready, I
am authorized to broker a peace with you and work with you to
defeat our common enemy.”
    I ignored his nonsense about a common enemy.
I had one real enemy: the gods. Cleon was a very annoying obstacle
standing between me and the military forces I needed to defeat the
gods.
    Zeus sent you? I asked.
    “ Yes. I’m here to help
you.”
    “ Or to spy on us,” Herakles
said. “There will be no truce after all your kind has done. Not
ever.”
    “ I see neither of you trust
deities. It does not surprise me that you do not, strong one, but I
am surprised by you, Your Majesty.” Paeon studied me. “Have you
forgotten your special bond with us? Have you forgotten how blessed
your family is? Have you forgotten Zeus, the king over all the
gods, chose to
become your patron?”
    His self-assurance, along
with the light accusation I heard in his questions, blinded me with
fury as few things in this world were capable of. I crossed to him
and slapped him hard, hating the words flowing out of his mouth. He
was so confident, so certain what his people did to my family was
a blessing when we
lived under a curse that enslaved us for all time in stone – an
inescapable, living death meant to last for eternity! My soul, and
the souls of everyone who came before me in the Bloodline, would
never go to Hades, never find peace, because of this blessing !
    Too angry to deal with this creature
anymore, I whirled and left the barn. Herakles followed me. I
walked blindly for several minutes before realizing where I was, at
the edge of the forest.
    Releasing a breath, I shook out my upper
body without freeing up my chest, which felt like it was being
squeezed by an angry god. My breathing was ragged and shallow.
Tears of anger stung my eyes. My emotions had been bubbling just
beneath the surface since we left DC.
    Herakles was a silent presence behind me. He
said nothing as I struggled to regain my composure. Gradually, as
the humid night breeze swept by me, I was able to pull away from
the hate and rage that filled me whenever I thought about my
destiny and the fates of everyone in my Bloodline.
    I had long ago decided the curse of the
Bloodline would end with me. I would not perpetuate the curse the
gods had placed upon my family, and I didn’t intend to allow it to
befall me, either.
    I had to find Zeus. I didn’t care what
message Paeon carried from my patron god. I owed neither of them
any loyalty.
    Facing Herakles, I was about to motion to
the notebook he kept at his waist when he held it out to me. I gave
him a tight smile and wrote my latest orders in as few words as
possible, aware of his literacy challenge.
    Find Zeus. Do whatever it takes.
    Handing it back, I watched him read it
slowly. He nodded.
    “ If I may ask …” His gaze
dropped to the envelope sticking out of my waistband.
    My anger softened. I missed my mother
figure, Theodocia, and Herakles ached for the girl he had adopted,
the next Oracle of Delphi, Alessandra. She had been taken prisoner
by the Supreme Magistrate before he attempted to destroy my army
and drove me out of the city. Theodocia stayed behind, coining the
moniker DC Mama, as she led the insurgencies inside the city. My
code name was NOVA Mama, referring to the local parlance for
Northern Virginia.
    Herakles and I were both suffering from not
knowing the fates of our loved ones trapped in the city. Tugging
the letter free, I scanned through it briefly. Theodocia rarely
said much, in case the letters were intercepted