Chapter ElevenZeus is starting to stir. Hadrian's text message arrived at my inbox as I stepped out of Cheiron's front door, and the words made me momentarily squeeze my eyes shut.
Murders to solve, I was almost used to.
But having the fate of the world potentially resting on my shoulders as I raced against time while hunting down a thief?
It was a whole new stomach ache, and already I could feel the Big M rearing up its ugly she-devil horns.
Sssshit.
I mean, shit.
A ball of unease had started to form in the pit of my belly, and if allowed to keep growing, I knew it could soon explode into a full-fledged panic attack.
It could, but it would not.
Because I'm not going to let that happen, I convinced myself.
I opened my eyes and started walking.
Queens did not have panic attacks, and so I mustn't have them either.
Mustn't.
But by the time I spied the Gorgon waiting for me at our meeting place, I was way past panic attacks and just a scream away from having a total mental breakdown.
What happened?
I took a deep breath, knowing I had to be careful about my next words. It was one thing to defend Sssussan against Cheiron's accusations, but it was another thing to act like there wasn't the slightest possibility she hadn't killed the priestess, and she was just tagging along for the ride the way the most deranged killers couldn't ever seem to help spending time with their next victim.
So pick your words with care, I cautioned myself.
Just sssay what it is on your mind—-
"Cheiron says the priestess' killer is a Gorgon, and you're a Gorgon, so I want to know if you're her killer, too?"
The words had all tumbled out before my brain cells could catch up with my tongue, and now I just wanted to kill myself. Come on, menopause. Seriously? If I die, you'd die, too!
Sssusssan had yet to hiss out a word in reply, and I didn't know whether this was good or bad. But since the truth was already out in the open, I might as well dig myself a grave with it.
And so up went my chin as I met her sunglass-covered gaze and asked, "Are you?"
Of course not.
I wanted to believe her, and at one point in time, I might have even taken her words at face value and move on to the next suspect on my list. But things were different now. I was LOTUS, and the Underworld didn't deserve a queen who was too nice...or too stupid.
"If you wanted me dead," I heard myself say, "you could've killed me from the start."
That is true.
"But if you had turned me into stone or have one of your snakes bite me, Hadrian would've known who to blame..."
That is also true.
How calm she sounded. So darn calm that I knew I'd feel insulted, if she did turn out to be the killer. That was the big question here...and there was only one way I could think of to answer it.
My gaze stayed on Sssusssan as I pulled the partridge out of my pocket, and I could feel her start to frown as Little Iron shook its head as if waking itself.
What are you planning?
The Gorgon's voice had sharpened noticeably.
Answer me!
I glanced down at Little Iron. Small but terrible. That was my iron partridge in a nutshell, and I could only imagine what it was capable of doing...
Sssusssan hissed in shock.
Because it was my turn now to grab her hand without warning, and just before she could pull away, I had already done it. With the help of one viciously sharp nail, I had torn my palm open—-
You fool!
Little Iron was already eagerly drinking my blood.
The last thing I saw was the Gorgon reaching for me.
The last thing I heard was the pounding of centaur hooves.
And then...nothing."OUCH. OUCH. Ouch." Just like the first time I fainted, I woke up feeling miserable and ashamed. But unlike that time, I also woke up in pain, with someone dragging me by the hair over the hot, hard ground of the Underworld.
Shit.
I tried to reach up to free myself, but the moment I did, vines seemed to crawl out of nowhere, and I found myself restrained in an instant, ankles strapped together, and wrists bound behind my back.
"You're finally awake."
Mira.
I'd have to break my neck and do an Exorcist-360 just to be sure, but the queasiness in my stomach told me I couldn't be mistaken.
Hadrian's cousin had taken me captive.
I opened my mouth to scream...but ended up choking as more of Mira's vines crawled up and gagged me into silence.
I felt us stop, with Mira peering over me and her lips forming a smile the moment she saw my face.
"You look so stupid right now," she said with relish.
The words reminded me of Sssusssan, and the thought of the Gorgon being Mira's accomplice was more upsetting than Mira being as evil as she had always seemed.