CHAPTER 16
Clio’s hands trembled on the wheel of her car, the reality and the consequences of the night settling on her shoulders. Nate, Hunter, Reed, and Cooper were cleaning up the remains of the battle at the water park, and once they finished, Nate was going to call it in as a break-in. With nothing missing from the park, they’d probably pin it on teenagers.
The passenger seat was full of wolf. Maybe she could pass him off as a husky. A gigantic, brown husky. At first, she had worried he might run into the night and she’d never see him again, but Mason had been right about the wolf protecting her. He never left her side. And when she had opened her car door, he hadn’t hesitated to jump inside.
At Trinity’s place, Clio turned off the engine and stared over at her silent passenger. “I wish I knew if you could understand me. Is Mason in there somewhere?”
The wolf didn’t respond except to lean forward and nuzzle her cheek. She scratched his ears and sighed. “Tomorrow, I’ll get to work on searching for any historical mentions of King Lycaon’s curse. There must be a loophole or something like Nate said, but honestly, if there was a way to break it, wouldn’t Zeus have told me?”
She got out of the car, and her furry passenger stepped across the gear shift to follow out her side. She unlocked the front door, and the wolf came inside. Trinity was already seated at the dining room table.
Clio kept her hand on the top of the wolf’s head. “You’re not allergic, are you?”
“No.” Trinity crossed her arms. “While you were being heroic with your wolf, Lia was filling us in on a visit from Ted.”
“I thought he was busy tracking down Rhea.”
“He was. And he found her. Apparently, Rhea and the guiders of destiny were all part of Lia’s poker group over at the Village.”
Clio’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope.” Trinity shook her head as she stared at the wolf. “I still can’t believe that’s Mason.”
Clio scratched his head and focused on Trin. “If Ted found Rhea, why didn’t she come to help us tonight? She wouldn’t protect her husband’s mistress, right?”
“That’s what I wanted to tell you.” She rubbed her forehead. “It was a setup. Someone wanted us to find Rhea for them.”
“Who?”
“Remember when Cooper was under hypnosis and Apollo told him the explosion on the Oceanus rig had opened the door to Tartarus?”
Clio’s stomach twisted. She already knew the answer. “Kronos.” She focused on the wolf. “All this sacrifice to stop Pamela, and for what?”
Trinity leaned across the table to nudge her. “Grab your wolf. We’re slumber-partying over at Callie and Hunter’s.”
Clio groaned. “I’m exhausted. Can’t we go over tomorrow?”
“We’re down one Guardian, and Kronos is out there… Tera’s meeting us there, too.”
The last thing Clio wanted was to have to relive the story of Mason’s heritage and Zeus’s curse over and over, but now that Mason was a wolf, the others were probably right. There was safety in numbers, and Callie had the biggest house.
“I’ll go pack my bag.” Clio went down the hallway, the wolf close behind.
Ted hit send on the email to Trinity and closed his laptop. He needed to get on the road. Tonight, Mikolas had called a meeting of the Order of the Titans. He wanted to alert the others about Kevin Elys. They figured if they could give the Order a heads-up that an older gentleman believed himself to be Kronos and they should steer clear of him, then maybe they could keep Kevin from infiltrating their ranks.
And with any luck, Trinity would be able to persuade the other muses to meet Ted in the morning to compare notes on Kronos and figure out a way to navigate the waters. If Rhea and the guiders of destiny had been friends with Lia all along, it couldn’t be mere coincidence. And maybe Lia could get them to help.
With his gold mask and black robe in the trunk, Ted headed out to Crystal Peak for the meeting. The moon was bright overhead as he pulled into the parking lot. There were plenty of parking spaces. Ted frowned, parked his car, and got out.
Mikolas was at the corner of the lot chatting with a longtime member, Doug. Like Ted, Doug’s father had been a member of the Order, and when he’d passed away, Doug had taken his spot.
Doug acknowledged Ted as he approached. “Good to see you, Ted.”
Ted put his hand in his pocket, scanning the lot. “Where is everyone?”
Mikolas turned Ted’s way, too. “Doug is the only member who had enough integrity to show up tonight.”
“Pamela sent out an email with photos of you with a couple of the muses,” Doug answered, “and another one of her face all battered and bruised. She said you lost your father’s vision and Mikolas is protecting you.” Doug crossed his arms. “I had to see it for myself. Are you turning us in to the police?”
“No.” Ted shook his head, watching Mikolas. Ted wasn’t sure how much to share with Doug, but he figured Mikolas would stop him if it looked like he was going too far. “Pamela’s not exactly—”
“From around here,” Mikolas cut in. “She used to be in my Order back home in Greece. She was angry about my decision not to kill the muses.”
“What about the injuries to her face?” Doug studied them. “Did she confront you?”
“Absolutely not.” Mikolas narrowed his eyes. “We had nothing to do with her wounds. She attacked one of the muses on her own, and a witness tried to intervene.”
Doug raised a brow. “Why were you with the women your father persuaded us needed to be stopped?”
Mikolas pointed at our empty meeting place. “I called tonight’s gathering to bring the Order up-to-date on the Pamela situation, as well as give everyone a warning to beware of an older gentleman named Kevin Elys. He believes he’s Kronos, and he could threaten all of us with exposure if he were to connect us with his agenda.”
Doug cocked his head. “But that doesn’t explain the photos of Ted with the muses.”
Ted sighed. “It’s come to my attention that killing the muses was all Pamela’s idea. She convinced my father that they would hinder our progress, but Mikolas is right. Murder puts a target on our backs with the police.”
Mikolas leaned against his car. “I asked Ted to meet with the muses to get the police off our trail. He went to college with one of them.”
Smooth.
Ted nodded in agreement. “I was warning them to watch out for Pamela. That way, if she hurts any of them, the police will be looking for her and not the Order.”
Doug mulled over the explanation and finally started to nod. “I didn’t have much of a stomach for killing them. Our movement is supposed to bring back the Golden Age of Man, to stop war and famine. It doesn’t feel right ushering it in over dead bodies.”
Mikolas straightened up. “I’ll send out an email tonight, but if you could spread the word to the others about the truth behind Pamela’s photos, I’d appreciate it. We’ll try to have another meeting next week.”
Doug shook their hands. “Talk to you soon.”
Ted waited for him to drive away before turning to Mikolas. “If Kevin hooks up with Pamela, we’re fucked.”
Mikolas stared into the distance. “Unless we can convince the Order that he’s delusional.”
“Are you forgetting he’s the Father of the Gods? Kronos can take any form. If he puts on a show for them, we’ll never convince them.”
“Did you make a date with your muse?”
“She’s not my muse,” Ted said, defensive. “But Trinity did agree to talk to me tomorrow.”
“Good. In case we can’t win the Order back, we need the muses to trust us. If we can pool our information, maybe we can find a weakness.”
“Maybe you should show them your Guardian’s mark.”
“No.” A muscle jumped in Mikolas’s cheek. “The Muse of Astronomy is dead, and without her, my gift from the gods will stay dormant. I’m no use to them, not as a Guardian. You already have an in with your ex-girlfriend. I’ll stay out of it and focus on tailing Kevin again.”
“Okay. I’ll keep you posted.” Ted got in his car and drove away, acid churning in his stomach. For some reason, his father had believed the members of the Order would be partners with the freed Titans, elevated above the rest of humanity.
But each day it became clearer that Mikolas had been right all along. The gods were petulant and vengeful, and humans were nothing more than disposable playing pieces.