Page 48 of Harbinger
Orena, Kes, and Tisiphone failed to look abashed.
“You were on your way to the Astrea Sea before you came to help us?” Cassius asked tensely.
Atropos nodded. “We’d heard that the Nereid who’d seen Ladon had returned to her realm after a long absence.”
Cassius frowned.
“What’s wrong?” Morgan asked.
“I’ve been to the Astrea Sea a couple of times since the Fall,” he said hesitantly. “I would have heard something if a three-headed dragon was roaming the place.”
“We visited the place secretly once too, and found no trace of Ladon,” Atropos confirmed. “Still, this is the only lead we’ve had in the last hundred years.”
Morgan studied the Moira, understanding dawning belatedly. “You believe Ladon can help you find the Garden of the West?”
“Just as Temir is Tenebra’s child, Ladon is the offspring of the Hesperides. He was born from their combined powers.” Atropos paused. “He is connected to them in a way we are not. If anyone can find our sisters, he can.”
A noise broke the tense silence that ensued.
Phebei had pushed herself to her feet and was tottering over to the couches. Loki and Akamon hovered close behind, ready to catch her in case she stumbled.
Lilaia and Bostrof watched with trepidation as their daughter grasped Tisiphone’s dress and attempted to climb onto her lap with little huffs and puffs.
The Goddess picked her up and plonked her gently on her knees. “You’re a brave little girl, aren’t you?”
“Aya,” Phebei concurred with a grin.
Tisiphone eyed her critically. Shadows bloomed around her.
She leaned her face close to Phebei. “BOO!”
Lilaia made an incoherent sound. Bostrof paled. Atropos winced.
Phebei’s smile faded when she saw the snake heads now tipping Tisiphone’s hair amidst the halo of darkness surrounding her. She stared before breaking out into giggles.
“I knew there was more to this child than met the eye.” Tisiphone looked up into their accusing stares. “What?”she said defensively.“It didn’t scare her.”
“No, but it mademecrap my pants a little,” Bailey mumbled.
Akamon was trembling and had stepped behind Loki.
“How about you try making funny faces or something at the child next time?” Atropos suggested with a frown.
Tisiphone grimaced. “I tried that when Temir was small, remember? He bawled his eyes out for an entire day. Besides, this kid is gutsy. Why, I wouldn’t be surprised if she—Ouch!”
Phebei had gotten a hold of a handful of the Fury’s hair and was yanking the snakes closer to try and eat them. “Yum!”
The serpents hissed in alarm as they struggled in her grip, tiny eyes bulging when her mouth loomed into view.
“Your daughter is insanely strong,” Adrianne told Lilaia and Bostrof dully while Tisiphone carefully peeled the little girl’s fingers off her hair.
23
Wind rushedin Cassius’s ears as he and Tisiphone streaked toward the rugged coastline growing on the horizon.
The sea-locked continent jutting out of the ocean was ringed by dark, towering cliffs upon which waves crashed thunderously, the foam they churned rising hundreds of feet and misting the air around the landmass.
Their winged figures cast minuscule shadows across the archipelago rising from the western waters of the Astrea Sea, their passage too swift for the people in its towns and villages, or the fishermen in the vessels moored in its harbors and dotting its ocean, to discern against the pale sky and the dazzling light of the realm’s two suns.
