"So when he saw the chance to kill the boy, he took it. He pushed his nephew off the Acropolis—-"
"Seriously?"
"Fortunately for Perdix, Athena saw what was happening, and the goddess saved his life by turning him—-"
"Oh my God!" I stared down at the iron partridge in my hand. "Is this Perdix?"
Mira gave me a pained look. "No."
"It was a logical assumption to make," I said defensively.
"No." Mira looked even more pained. "It's not. May I continue now?"
I started to answer, but it seemed as if Mira was afraid to hear another word from me because she had started talking rather quickly.
"What you're holding is one of Perdix's inventions. If you feed it a drop of your blood, the partridge will come to life and work as a living compass. You can command it to trace the stolen vial, and the partridge will be able to do so since the vial contains your blood."
"So I just command it?" I asked dubiously, "and wait until it comes flying back with the stolen vial?"
"If it were that easy," Mira said patiently, "I'd have done this myself. But it's not. This partridge can only follow you because you are the source of the blood it feeds on. Consequently, you'll need to follow it on foot, go wherever it leads you, and that's why I said Hades is unlikely to approve of this. He thinks you're too weak—-"
"He's just overprotective," I muttered.
"Because you're weak."
Oh, for the love of...
"And since I don't think it's worth risking Hades' wrath by letting you go on this quest alone..."
Chapter Seven
Thirty minutes later, and I was at the back of Hadrian's manor, wondering whether I had it right from the start. When his cousin insisted I take on a suitable companion and that she had the perfect person in mind, I had thought it was rather sweet of her, but...
Snakes for hair, a stare that could turn you into stone, and nails (this was frankly starting to feel like an omen) so long, hard, and crooked they almost seemed like talons.
A Gorgon, for Hell's sake!
Her idea of a perfect companion for me was a Gorgon!
If Mira wanted me dead, couldn't she just be up front about it?
I fought to keep my smile from slipping as I descended the steps to meet the Gorgon halfway. An oversized pair of sunglasses covered almost half of her face, which I was grateful for, naturally. Long live Ray-Ban!
She also had on a plain black dress, short-sleeved and ankle-length, and sensible-looking sandals. Very widow-like, or maybe she simply thought it efficient to have her funeral outfit on, in case she met someone down the road she'd like to kill?
The thought made me feel a little panicky, and this time I knew the Big M hadn't anything to do with it. Just good old fear, and it had me beaming extra brightly as we finally came close enough to each other to talk.
"Um, hi—-"
SNAP!
Her tongue had flashed out with a literal snap, real quick and scary, with her tongue as thin as a popsicle stick but as long as a chopstick, and yes, that was my fear-addled brain making me think in rhymes.
The Gorgon's lips stretched into a smile.
That is our traditional way of greeting.
"That's, um, nice to know."
My name is Sssusssan.
That's how her voice sounded by the way. Like a whisper that slithered straight into your ear instead of going through the proper channels. Vocal cords. Larynx. Air flow. Who needed them when you could hiss insidiously like a Gargon?
"I'm Saoirse—-"
The usurper.
I'd normally take offense, but because I was LOTUS, I decided to take the higher road. "It's, um, nice meeting you." And in case you were thinking it - my decision had nothing to do with the fact that my companion was a Gorgon. Really.
Thinking that we needed to establish a bit more rapport before heading out on what was possibly a life-threatening quest (God, just using that word made me feel like I'm Zelda IRL), I racked my brains for something else to say but still ended up with something lame.
"I'm glad I won't be doing this alone."
The Gorgon simply stared at me.
I decided to give it another try. "How do you know Mira?"
I ssserve her.
"I see." But actually, no. I didn't. How did that one go about acquiring a Gorgon as an employee?
And now, ssshe sssays I am to ssserve you.
The Gorgon's lip curled as she spoke, and it explained a lot. Like mistress, like servant, which also meant I now had another person whose approval I need to win.
But that was fine.
Part and parcel of being LOTUS, right?
So I summoned up another smile, saying, "I'd rather think we're partnering up for the common good."
That is not proper. Mistress Mira was right. You think like a commoner.
Wonder if Mistress Mira also told her I could punch like a commoner—-
LOTUS, I reminded myself with effort, and so I forced myself to pretend like I didn't hear her say a word. "Anyway..." I took the partridge out of my pocket and showed it to her. "Mira says you know how to make it—-"
I didn't even get to scream.
Just like her mistress, Sssusssan grabbed my hand without warning, and next thing I knew, she had the partridge in her other hand and used its beak to prick my finger.
Holy—-
I actually felt the partridge come to life, its iron beak turning warm as it drank a drop of my blood.
Sssusssan released my hand and hurled the partridge into the air. A part of me expected it to fall to the ground, but instead its iron wings started flapping as the bird hovered over our heads.
Now, we follow.
The partridge flew at a steady pace, and it felt weird at first, walking under skies a flaming shade of orange but not have sweat clinging to my skin. Soon after, we were climbing the same hill Hadrian had taken me to yesterday, but with so much happening between then and now, the memory already seemed like an eternity ago.
My curious and chatty nature eventually got the better of me as we headed downhill, and I found myself forgetting that the Gorgon was one of the most dangerous creatures since...ever, I supposed.
"I was wondering if you could tell me a bit more about you guys...I mean, those who have been—-" Living? But what if she was dead or undead and she deemed the term politically incorrect? Best to play it safe, so I cleared my throat, saying, "—-staying here in the Underworld."
Those who are kin to the Lord of the Underworld ssstill require his permission to live in the realm. But once given, they may come and go as they please.
"And those who aren't related to him by blood?"
It is a long process for those who of us who are ssstill living.
We came upon a familiar fork in the road while Sssusssan was speaking. With one of its paths leading straight out of the Underworld, I was relieved to see the partridge flapping its wings in the other direction. One exit down at least, which meant the thief had yet to escape or have the vial smuggled out of the realm.
This new path was fairly short, and I didn't even have time to ask the Gorgon another question before I started hearing familiar noises.
Sounds that you'd associate with regular day-to-day life.