Page 127 of Crown of Olympus
I breached the ocean’s surface, pulling in deep lungfuls of air. Caelus and Aros surfaced nearby, all three of us treading water.
“Thank you,” I coughed, emotion threatening to get the better of me. “We have to get to shore. Did you see those eels? They’re huge!”
“What eels?” Aros asked.
“Giant, creepy fuckers. They ate Scylla,” I grimaced.
“Let’s get going then. Apollo and Archimedes already have a head start,” Caelus said, nodding to where the pair were fifty feet ahead and gaining.
Swimming, like dancing, was a sort of refuge of mine. In the water, my mind emptied, and I could think of nothing but the next stroke. It was a pattern I fell into automatically. I lost myself to the rhythm of my arms and my breaths working in effortless harmony. I kept my head above water for a beat longer, taking stock of my surroundings. I realised I had not only caught up to Arch and Apollo, but had overtaken them, leaving Caelus and Aros for dead.
A grin broke out across my face as I ploughed forward. Finally, something I was better at than the rest of the champions.
I really should have known Poseidon wouldn’t stand for that in his domain — or in his trial.
I reached the shore in record time, panting as I crawled up onto the beach. The four males still had a ways to go, so I eased into a sitting position, catching my breath and watching them close the gap.
A sharp tug on my braid yanked me backwards. I screeched as I was dragged up the beach and over the sand dune, clawing at my scalp and holding it flat to my skull to ease the pain.
Once we were out of view of the ocean, my assailant let go. Itwisted swiftly, launching to my feet. Lividity pulsed fiery hot through my veins and shadows sprang to life in my palms as Poseidon stood before me, glowering. All five-and-a-half furious feet of him.
“You dare to best my trial?You?” he spat. “After what you did to my son?! You’re no better than your father, vile murderess!”
He backhanded me with the strength of a tsunami. My vision exploded into stars.
“You — who stole — my — son!” Each word was punctuated by his fist.
Blood sprayed in an arc from my nose — broken.
Pain ignited in my cheekbones — also broken.
My ears rang, drowning out any further insults the sea god deigned to throw my way — a sure sign my eardrums were perforated.
Poseidon stomped a sandaled foot down on my ribcage, snapping bones and stealing the breath from my lungs. He smirked — a villainous curving of his lips distorting his otherwise pretty face.
I lay gasping in a pool of my own blood, broken and barely conscious.
Squeezing my fist closed, I willed my shadows to obey.
Poseidon was wrenched off his feet by my faithful inky serpents who retreated to coil protectively around my midsection.
But I was spent. Between sirens, serpents, Scylla, and the swim, I had nothing left.
Luckily, I didn’t need to move.
Caelus crested the dune unexpectedly fast for someone who’d just struggled to swim a mile to shore. To his credit, it took only one heartbeat to assess the scene.
He conjured bolts of lightning in each hand as his eyes flashed a furious white. He speared the sea god with the bolts,one in each bicep, pinning him to the ground in a cry of burning agony.
He launched a third bolt, landing precisely between the sea god’s legs, piercing his micro-dick straight into the sand. Honestly, it was a hell of a shot, somehow managing to find that tiny thing.
Poseidon screamed. Actually screamed.
Now it was my turn to smirk.
Caelus, in a show of unchecked violence unlike anything I’d ever seen him commit, threw himself at Poseidon. Punch after punch landed with ease, sending the god’s teeth flying. By the time he was done, Poseidon’s face was just as bloody and broken as mine.
Without a word, the storm-wielder rushed to me and dropped to his knees. His face — usually so inscrutable — was now an open book. His bottom lip trembled, his brows were furrowed, and his beautiful, silver eyes were filled with something dangerously close to regret.
