I handed the parchment back to Artemis, which she took with a satisfied smile, then I pulled the mirror from my pocket. Breath held, I looked.

My heart dropped. “Shit. The sky is dark.”

“He’s close,” Ares said.

“Very.”

“Come.” Artemis waved us forward. “There’s no time to waste. We must beat him to the Tower of Athena.”

My gaze darted to hers. “You’re helping us?”

“I want my favor.”

I grinned. “Then, by all means.”

She turned and strode to her horse, waving her hand to make the parchment disappear. Then she vaulted onto her stallion and cantered out of the temple. Ares and I ran to catch up.

We sprinted out onto the main entrance steps. Two large black horses waited just at the edge of the steps. I climbed into the saddle of the nearest one and followed Artemis. Ares followed, an expert rider. I held on for dear life as we galloped between the trees. Large birds fluttered around us, escorting us to the border. They reminded me of Jeff.

Where was he, anyway? Normally, the little dragon would be here for this kind of thing.

“We’re not far, now!” Artemis called back.

The trees began to thin, marking the edge of her territory, I had to assume. The sky began to darken quickly. Magically. I could almost feel the evil crackle of Drakon’s magic.

By the time the trees gave way to open field, the sky was almost pitch-black. An unnatural glow illuminated a dark tower on top of a hill, about three hundred yards in the distance.

“The Tower of Athena,” Artemis yelled back. “Be ready for anything.”

Since this was the gods’ last shot at protecting the stone from Drakon, it had to be good.

Tension prickled my skin as I galloped across the field, waiting for whatever Athena would send at us.

When low, deep growls sounded around me, I shivered.

The beasts charged out of the dark, monsters the size of cows but with the bodies of giant bulldogs. Except that there was nothing cute and doglike about them. Their heads were skeletons, with huge horns and fangs that looked like they could tear through flesh in an instant. Scales covered their bulky bodies, and their feet were tipped with talons that dug into the earth as they hurtled toward us from a hundred yards away.

“Athena’s beasts of war,” Artemis cried. “Only iron arrows will defeat them.”

Artemis raised her bow, firing in quick succession at the nearest beast. It took three arrows to fell the creature, which finally tripped and tumbled to the ground.

I conjured my bow, along with an iron arrow. The material felt strange in my hand as I fired. It flew toward a hound that was only fifty yards away, sinking into its leg. The beast hissed like a giant snake, but kept coming. I fired again and again, finally taking it out when it was only twenty yards from me. I could make out the black flame of its eyes as it fell. Could feel the dark stain of its magic and its desire to tear me limb from limb.

The three of us galloped across the field, the thundering hoof beats unable to drown out the snarls of the beasts of war. Artemis fired her arrows like the goddess she was, with deadly precision and speed that made my head spin. I tried to keep up, but managed to fell only one beast for every three that she took out.

When a beast got past our arrows, heading straight for Ares, he drew his shadow sword and leaned over, slicing cleanly through the neck of the galloping creature. The skull tumbled to the ground.

Bad-ass. Apparently they could be felled by iron arrows and shadow swords. What couldn’t that thing cut through?

Ares galloped ahead, directing his horse toward a cluster of beasts that raced toward us. His sword sliced through the air so quickly it looked like a blur. Skulls tumbled to the ground as he decapitated the beasts.

I fired three arrows at once, taking out a monster that was nearly upon me.

“There!” Ares pointed to the top of the tower. It glowed with a pale white light.

The stone of Synnaroe.

We were still a hundred and fifty yards away when the first burst of lightning cracked in the air. My heart jumped.

Drakon!

He was supposed to arrive when the lightning lit the sky.

“Go!” I cried, nudging my horse to go faster. He galloped across the plain, nearly flying.

Up ahead, a dark shadow stretched across the ground.

“Slow!” Artemis cried. “There is a crevasse.”

She was right. I was only thirty yards from it now, and could make out the breadth—too far to jump—and depth—probably deep enough to kill me.

A horrible shriek rent the night air.

I looked up. In the distance, Drakon appeared, flying toward the tower. He was massive, his wings the color of coal, and flying so fast that I’d never catch him on my horse. The crevasse wouldn’t stop him.

Lightning struck, illuminating his terrifying figure.

The difference between him and me was so clear in that moment.

Dismay gouged at my chest.

How would I get across the crevasse?

This was when I needed Jeff.

A flash of red and green appeared out of the corner of my eye.

Jeff!

As if he’d heard me, he appeared. But he was bigger. So much bigger. At least thirty feet long. So that was what he’d been doing all this time—growing.

My heart leapt as he flew toward me, red wings raking the air. He screeched, a joyous sound, and flew alongside my galloping horse.

Without stopping to analyze, I scrambled up into a crouch on the saddle, and then leapt onto Jeff’s back. I clung to him, gripping the rigid spines on his back. He screeched and wheeled away from the horse, headed straight for Drakon.

Wind tore at my hair as I adjusted my seat, getting a good grip. This was nothing like riding a horse or even a griffon. Jeff’s massive wings whooshed through the air. Joy and terror made my heart thunder.

“Get under him!” I called.

Jeff blew a massive blast of fire and flew faster toward Drakon. My enemy was close to the tower now, only fifty yards away. We were twenty from him, but Jeff’s determination made him fast.

I drew my sword from the ether, a trick that Ares had taught me, and gripped it. I had one chance. I didn’t think I’d hit his heart last time. This time, my aim needed to be true.

The tower loomed as we neared, the stone shining bright and white from its perch at the top. Lightning struck all around, the thunder deafening.

As we neared Drakon, Jeff blew a blast of fire at his tail. The bright orange flames lit up the night, singeing Drakon.

The shadow dragon didn’t even notice.

But his attention was fully on the stone. I could almost feel his greed, just under the surface of the dark magic that radiated from him, sickening me.

“Lower,” I called to Jeff.

He darted beneath Drakon, then rose up. I squinted, searching for his black heart. There, in the middle of his chest, glowing black.

I lunged up with my sword, striking hard.

It sank into his chest, but he shrieked and swooped away.

Damn it.

Not a direct hit.

He whirled around, his black gaze on me. Debating.

Would he strike?

He turned, flying for the tower. His goal was the stone, and he wouldn’t be diverted.

“One more try, Jeff! Be fast!”

Jeff burst forward. I clung to his back, the wind ripping at my hair, as he darted under Drakon and shot upward. The massive black dragon blocked out the dark sky. My heart thundered as I rose up on Jeff’s back. My focus zeroed in on Drakon’s heart.

I struck, stabbing my blade through his shadowy form until the tip of my sword pierced him straight in the heart. For the briefest second, I could see it so clearly that I could taste the victory.

Then an electric shock darted down the blade and into me, sending pain tearing through my muscles and bones. Drakon thrashed in the air, roaring loud enough to shake my brain in my skull. He thrashed, one of his massive wings knocking into Jeff. The same electric current shot through my dragon.

Jeff shrieked, the blow sending him pinwheeling in the air.

My muscles had turned to jelly and my mind to mush. I could barely hang on to Jeff. We fell, plummeting toward the ground, wind tearing at my clothes and hair, roaring through my head. At some point, I must have let go. We fell side by side, but the drop was short.

I slammed into the ground, pain flaring through my back.

Hazily, I blinked, turning my head and searching for Jeff. For Drakon.

Jeff lay near me, limp on the ground. Slowly, he raised his head. I clung to that, desperate to take it as a good sign.

Fifty yards in the distance, at the base of the tower, Drakon lay in a lump.

My heart leapt. Was he dead?

But the great black dragon shuddered and rose. He crawled the last few yards to the base of the tower, using his massive wings like limbs. He was evil personified, his eyes blazing with dark light.

Then he began to climb the tower, a dragon version of King Kong. Great claws at the tips of his wings plunged into the tower stone as he dragged himself up.

“No!” I scrambled unsteadily to my feet, my muscles screaming.

“Nix!” Ares’s shout sounded from behind me.

I turned. He galloped toward me, leaning over the side of his saddle. He must have found a bridge over the crevasse! I reached up and he grabbed me, swinging me onto the horse behind him. I landed on the horse, clinging to Ares, and he galloped faster, headed straight for the tower.

I had no idea what we’d do when we reached it, but something.

Except that Drakon was nearly at the top now, his great body clawing up the dark stone. He scrambled through the great windows that glowed from the stone.

“No!” I could just barely see him wrap his huge body around the glowing light until it was extinguished completely.

Then he disappeared.

Gone.

Frustration tore through me. Failure. I wanted to scream, beat at the earth. Have a tantrum of epic proportions.

It was Jeff, and worry over him that saved me from doing that. As Ares slowed the stallion to a halt, I turned to look back at my dragon. He was sitting upright now, smaller than he had been. Only the size of a very large cow. He shook his head, wobbly.

I collapsed against Ares’s back, gratitude welling in me. But failure was hot on its heels. Worry and grief, too.

“We failed,” I said.

“Just this time.”

I nodded, my mind racing. What would we do from here? What was our next move supposed to be?

Galloping hoof beats sounded from behind us. I turned. Artemis rode toward us, her blond hair whipping in the wind. She stopped her horse near us.

“Your bravery was commendable,” she said.

“I’ve failed.”

“But not permanently.” She glanced around, her gaze landing on the bodies of the fallen beasts of war. “I must go. Athena may not like that I was here. But when this is over, I will come to you for my tribute.”

“All right. Thank you for your help.”

She nodded, her silver eyes serious, then turned her horse and galloped back, aiming for a section of land bridge that would take her over the crevasse. That must have been the way Ares had come for me.

I turned back to Ares. “What now?”

“Home. Then we come up with another plan.”

It was all there was left to do, really.

A woman’s voice sounded from nearby. “I must say, I’d hoped you’d stop him.”

I turned toward the tower, catching sight of a figure striding toward us. A woman with dark hair, serious gray eyes, and wearing ancient Greek armor. A white owl perched on her shoulder. Her magic was like a one-two punch to the gut. A feeling of both calm and chaos, the sound of battle, the smell of blood. But also the comforting sense of knowing what to do in a bad situation.

“Athena,” I said. “Goddess of wisdom and war.”

She inclined her head.

“I’m sorry about your beasts of war,” I said.

She stopped about a dozen feet from us. “They will regenerate. As for you … You were lucky to survive this.”

With every muscle aching from the electric shock and my bones feeling jolted to the marrow, I had to agree. Whether I’d survive my next encounter with Drakon? That was yet to be determined.

“Do you know why my blade didn’t kill Drakon?” I asked the question that had been lurking in my mind. “I hit him right in the heart. I saw it.”

She nodded, lips pursed. “Only the beak of the phoenix can kill Drakon.”

“What does that mean?” I didn’t have a beak. Was it figurative?

“Only you can determine that. And before you ever get that far, you will have to work on your flaws.”

“Flaws?” Didn’t love the sound of that, even though it was likely true.

“Yes. Your greatest flaw is lack of belief in yourself. It has colored your experiences here and in the mortal world. But it needs to stop. You’ve proven yourself here, today. Your kindness in helping Nestor, your bravery in defeating the beasts of war. You are worthy, Phoenix Knight, and you will need that knowledge and strength of will to carry you through to the end of this journey. You will not survive if you doubt yourself.”

So I might survive. That was good news. “I’d never realized I doubted myself so much. I really thought I’d been getting a handle on it lately.”

“Doubt is an insidious thing, creeping up when we least expect it. Have faith. Pursue your course of action and trust that you are good enough. You’ve proven it over and over.”

Warmth pushed away some of the pain in my muscles. Ares reached back and gripped my hand. I could feel his agreement. It radiated from him like the light of the sun.

His closeness also made me realize that I was still mounted on Artemis’s horse. Should I get down to greet the goddess?

I’d probably fall flat on my face. And since she didn’t seem to mind…

I stayed seated. In the distance, Jeff wobbled through the air, trying out his wings.

“Will he be all right?” I asked.

“Yes, though that was quite a blow for your familiar.”

“He’s brave.”

“That he is.” Athena made a gesture with her hand, then twisted her wrist so her palm faced upward. A white charm lay in her palm. She approached, her magical signature growing stronger with every step.

Frankly, it was damned uncomfortable. Wisdom and war created two very conflicting magical signatures. I sucked in a shallow breath and braced myself, my weak muscles threatening to give up the fight and send me plummeting off the horse’s back.

Athena raised her hand, offering the charm to me. My gaze darted to her owl, which watched me with thoughtful golden eyes, and then to the charm.

“What is it?” I asked, remembering all the tales of tricky gods.

Athena, for all her wisdom and power, had also been the one to smite Medusa. She was dangerous.

“A gift. Freely given, which I am not always wont to do.” Her steady gray eyes met mine. “But you will need it, Phoenix. Very soon. You came here today and did not get what you wanted. But I hope you will get what you need. This charm is a temporary gift of wisdom and mental clarity. You will know when to use it—when your sisters are near—and it will make all the difference.”

Well, I couldn’t look that gift horse in the mouth. “Thank you.”

I reached for the charm. It tingled coolly against my fingertips as I plucked it from her palm.

“When you have defeated Drakon, which I hope desperately that you do, return the stone to me,” she said.

“Of course.”

“I will send you home now. You don’t have time to make your way back through the Underworld.”

“Nor the strength.”

Athena’s eyes traveled to Ares. “You have been quiet, vampire.”

“It’s not really my show, is it?” Ares said. “I’m the backup.”

“Phoenix will not be able to accomplish this without you. Or without her family and friends. Your strength is in your bond. In your unity. Don’t forget that.”

I swallowed hard, hating to hear that. I didn’t want to put any of them at risk. But she was right. If today had proven anything, I wasn’t nearly strong enough on my own to defeat Drakon.