orenda [leo valdez]

lxxi. Old Enemies

❝what good are wings without the courage to fly❞

⤷ atticus

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They crouched next to a stack of milk crates by the kitchen entrance. The area smelled of cooking grease, pigeon droppings, and chlorine from the nearby children's splash park. Calypso rattled the locked door, then glared at Apollo. Kira tried it as well, but it didn't budge.

"Help!" she hissed.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Well, now would be a good time to have a burst of godly strength!"

"Ow," He muttered. "Mortals have gotten good at making doors. Now, back in the Bronze Age—"

Calypso shushed him.

Their enemies' voices were getting closer.

"Get back," Kira murmured, pushing Apollo back. Pulling out her sword, she sliced the lock in half easily.

The door swung inward. Kira waved them inside. Calypso gently closing the door behind us. She turned the dead bolt just before someone outside shook the handle.

A gruff voice muttered in some old language.

Footsteps receded.

Beside her, Apollo and Calypso bickered, but Kira scanned the dark interior of the snack bar. Against the back wall were the basics: a sink, a deep fryer, a stove top, two microwaves. Under the counter sat two horizontal freezers.

She checked the first freezer. Inside, wreathed in cold mist, were carefully labeled boxes of ready-to-cook meals, but nothing that read TATER TOTS.

The second freezer was locked.

"Kira," Apollo said, "could you open this?"

Kira sliced it open with no effort.

"Well done." he lifted the freezer lid. "Ah."

Hundreds of packages were wrapped in white butcher paper, each labeled in black marker.

Calypso squinted at the descriptions. "Carnivorous horse mix? Combat ostrich cubes? And...griffin taters." She turned to the two with a horrified look. "Surely they're not grinding animals into food?"

"These items are under lock and key," he promised. "I'm guessing they've been set aside as treats for the zoo's rarest animals. That's a mix of food for a carnivorous horse, not a mixture of carnivorous horse."

Calypso looked only slightly less nauseated. "What in the world is a combat ostrich?"

Apollo's eyes glazed over, as if he was in another world.

"Apollo." Calypso nudged his arm.

"Apollo?"

"Don't go!" he pleaded.