"WOLVES," KALEIDOSCOPE SAID. "They sound close."
"No shit," Eden snapped, standing up and grabbing herself a silver dagger.
Perfect Jason rose next to her and summoned his sword. Fire Boy and Coach Hedge got to their feet too. Kaleidoscope tried to get up and inevitably failed.
"Stay there," Perfect Jason told her. "We'll protect you."
Then, just outside the firelight at the entrance of the cave, Eden saw a pair of red eyes glowing in dark. She hated it here.
More wolves edged into the firelight — black beasts bigger than Great Danes, with ice and snow caked on their fur. Their fangs gleamed, and their glowing red eyes looked disturbingly intelligent. The wolf in front was almost as tall as a horse, his mouth stained as if he'd just made a fresh kill.
Then Perfect Jason stepped forward and said something in Latin.
Eden didn't think a dead language would have much effect on wild animals, but the alpha wolf curled his lip. The fur stood up along his spine. One of his lieutenants tried to advance, but the alpha wolf snapped at his ear. Then all of the wolves backed into the dark.
"Dude, I gotta study Latin." Fire Boy's hammer shook in his hand. "What'd you say, Jason?"
Hedge cursed. "Whatever it was, it wasn't enough. Look."
The wolves were coming back, but the alpha wolf wasn't with them. They didn't attack. They waited — at least a dozen now, in a rough semicircle just outside the firelight, blocking the cave exit.
The coach hefted his club. "Here's the plan. I'll kill them all, and you guys escape."
"Coach, they'll rip you apart," Kaleidoscope said.
"Nah, I'm good."
Then Eden saw the silhouette of a man coming through the storm, wading through the wolf pack.
"Stick together," Perfect Jason said. "They respect a pack. And Hedge, no crazy stuff. We're not leaving you or anyone else behind."
The wolves parted, and the man stepped into the firelight. His hair was greasy and ragged, the color of fireplace soot, topped with a crown of what looked like finger bones. His robes were tattered fur — wolf, rabbit, raccoon, deer, and several others Eden didn't want to identify. The furs didn't look cured, and from the smell, they weren't very fresh. His frame was lithe and muscular, like a distance runner's. But the most horrible thing was his face. His thin pale skin was pulled tight over his skull. His teeth were sharpened like fangs. His eyes glowed bright red like his wolves' — and they fixed on Perfect Jason with absolute hatred.
"Ecce," he said, "filli Romani."
"Speak English, wolf man!" Hedge bellowed.
The wolf man snarled. "Tell your faun to mind his tongue, son of Rome. Or he'll be my first snack."
The wolf man studied their little group. His nostrils twitched. "So it's true," he mused. "A child of Aphrodite. A son of Hephaestus. A faun. The daughter of Poseidon. And a child of Rome, of Lord Jupiter, no less. All together, without killing each other. How interesting."
"Believe me, I've wanted to," Eden muttered under her breath.
"You were told about us?" Perfect Jason asked. "By whom?"
The man snarled — perhaps a laugh, perhaps a challenge. "Oh, we've been patrolling for you all across the west, demigod, hoping we'd be the first to find you. The giant king will reward me well when he rises. I am Lycaon, king of the wolves. And my pack is hungry."
The wolves snarled in the darkness.
Out of the corner of her eye, Eden saw Fire Boy put up his hammer and slip something else from his tool belt — a glass bottle full of clear liquid.
Wolf Boy glared at Perfect Jason's sword. He moved to each side as if looking for an opening, but Perfect Jason's blade moved with him.
"Leave," Muscle Boy ordered. "There's no food for you here."
"Unless you want tofu burgers," Fire Boy offered.
Wolf Boy bared his fangs. Apparently he wasn't a tofu fan.
"If I had my way," Wolf Boy said with regret, "I'd kill you first, son of Jupiter. Your father made me what I am. I was the powerful mortal king of Arcadia, with fifty fine sons, and Zeus slew them all with his lightning bolts."
"Ha," Coach Hedge said. "For good reason!"
Perfect Jason glanced over his shoulder. "Coach, you know this clown?"
"I do," Kaleidoscope answered.
Gee, thanks for being late, Eden thought, rolling her eyes.
"Lycaon invited Zeus to dinner," Kaleidoscope said. "But the king wasn't sure it was really Zeus. So to test his powers, Lycaon tried to feed him human flesh. Zeus got outraged—"
"And killed my sons!" Fire Boy howled. The wolves behind him howled too.
"So Zeus turned him into a wolf," Piper said. "They call . . . they call werewolves lycanthropes, named after him, the first werewolf."
"The king of wolves," Coach Hedge finished. "An immortal, smelly, vicious mutt."
Wolf Boy growled. "I will tear you apart, faun!"
"Oh, you want some goat, buddy? 'Cause I'll give you goat."
"Stop it," Perfect Jason said. "Lycaon, you said you wanted to kill me first, but . . ."
"Sadly, Child of Rome, you are spoken for. Since this one" — he waggled his claws at Kaleidoscope — "has failed to kill you, you are to be delivered alive to the Wolf House. One of my compatriots has asked for the honor of killing you herself."
"Who?" Perfect Jason said.
The wolf king snickered. "Oh, a great admirer of yours. Apparently, you made quite an impression on her. She will take care of you soon enough, and really I cannot complain. Spilling your blood at the Wolf House should mark my new territory quite well. Lupa will think twice about challenging my pack."
Kaleidoscope struggled to her feet.
"You're going to leave now," she said, "before we destroy you."
Wolf Boy's red eyes crinkled with humor. "A brave try, girl. I admire that. Perhaps I'll make your end quick. Only the son of Jupiter is needed alive. The rest of you, I'm afraid, are dinner."
Eden rolled her eyes. "Sheer dumb luck's gonna save us, just watch," she muttered to herself.
Perfect Jason took a step forward. "You're not killing anyone, wolf man. Not without going through me."
Wolf Boy howled and extended his claws. Perfect Jason slashed at him, but his golden sword passed straight through as if the wolf king wasn't there.
Wolf Boy laughed. "Gold, bronze, steel — none of these are any good against my wolves, son of Jupiter."
"Silver!" Kaleidoscope cried. "Aren't werewolves hurt by silver?"
"We don't have any silver!" Perfect Jason called.
"Of course we do!" Eden snapped, showing her gorgeous silver dagger, a gift from her best friend Thals. "Fucking idiots."
Wolves leaped into the firelight. Hedge charged forward with an elated "Woot!"
But Fire Boy struck first. He threw his glass bottle and it shattered on the ground, splattering liquid all over the wolves — the unmistakable smell of gasoline. He shot a burst of fire at the puddle, and a wall of flames erupted.
Wolves yelped and retreated. Several caught fire and had to run back into the snow. Even Wolf Boy looked uneasily at the barrier of flames now separating his wolves from the demigods.
"Aw, c'mon," Coach Hedge complained. "I can't hit them if they're way over there."
Every time a wolf came closer, Fire Boy shot a new wave of fire from his hands, but each effort seemed to make him a little more tired, and the gasoline was already dying down. "I can't summon any more gas!" he warned. Then his face turned red. "Wow, that came out wrong. I mean the burning kind. Gonna take the tool belt a while to recharge. What you got, man?"
"Nothing," Perfect Jason said. "Not even a weapon that works."
"Lightning?" Kaleidoscope asked.
Perfect,Jason concentrated, but nothing happened. "I think the snowstorm is interfering, or something."
"Unleash the venti!" Kaleidoscope said.
"Then we'll have nothing to give Aeolus," Perfect Jason said. "We'll have come all this way for nothing."
Wolf Boy laughed. "I can smell your fear. A few more minutes of life, heroes. Pray to whatever gods you wish. Zeus did not grant me mercy, and you will have none from me."
"No mercy, huh?" Eden called, bringing out throwing knives instead and yeeting one randomly. Luckily, she hit one and it crumbled into ashes. She grinned. "I'll fucking show you no mercy."
She jumped over the gasoline because she really didn't want to ruin her heels, and she felt the power coursing through her blood as she threw another knife and it embedded itself into a wolf. She smirked and threw one at Wolf Boy before taking her dagger back out and stabbing everything in sight.
Wolves charged at her? Easy, she turned and met their mouths with silver. Every slice, every stab, it just made Eden feel more powerful.
More godlike.
After she'd killed every last one of the wolves, she turned and her blade collided with Wolf Boy.
"Fucking try me," Eden grinned, the adrenaline continuing to hit her.
He growled at her, and she fucking hated his glowing red eyes. "This isn't over, girl."
The wolf king disappeared into the night.
Eden looked back at them, and they were shocked. Except for Coach Hedge, who was whooping and saying shit like "that's my girl!"
"Did you just kill all of them?" Fire Boy asked her.
"What, like it's hard?" Eden shrugged.
Seconds later, she heard more wolves baying, but the sound was different — less threatening, more like hunting dogs on the scent. A smaller white wolf burst into the cave, followed by two more.
Hedge said, "Kill it?"
"No!" Eden said firmly. "Wait."
The wolves tilted their heads and studied the campers with huge golden eyes. Eden crouched down, and the nearest one headbutted her hand playfully. She giggled and petted all of the wolves near her.
A heartbeat later, their owners appeared: a troop of hunters in white-and-gray winter camouflage, at least half a dozen. All of them carried bows, with quivers of glowing silver arrows on their backs. Eden grinned. Sheer dumb luck struck again.
Their faces were covered with parka hoods, but clearly they were all girls. One, a little taller than the rest, crouched in the firelight and snatched up one of Eden's knives.
"So close." She turned to her companions. "Phoebe, stay with me. Watch the entrance. The rest of you, follow Lycaon. We can't lose him now. I'll catch up with you."
The other hunters mumbled agreement and disappeared, heading after Lycaon's pack.
The girl turned toward them, her face still hidden in her parka hood. "We've been following that demon's trail for over a week. Is everyone all right? No one got bit?"
"No, Thals," Eden called, scratching the head of one of the wolves. "I thought you knew, after all these years, about how much better I am at sword fighting than you."
Thalia pulled down her parka hood. Her hair was spiky black, with a silver tiara across her brow. She grinned at Eden, who ran and tackled her in a hug.
"I haven't seen you in forever, E," Thalia squeezed her really tightly, and it reminded her of better times. "I can't believe you're out for once. Did Annabeth really make you go outside?"
"Fuck, she fucking did," Eden groaned, staying in Thalia's embrace, her legs wrapped around her waist. "She made me collect these losers, like, just fucking look at them—"
"Thalia." Perfect Jason stepped forward, his voice trembling, completely ruining the moment. "I'm Jason, your brother."
bye if you're wondering why there's so many updates im prewriting and im now on like??? thirty??? or something cause soon i'll be actually writing chapters and then they'll come out slower so fun fun !!
<3 maybel