A Shield of Fate and Ruin (Apollo Ascending Book 3), page 29
We navigated around fallen beams, heading for the exit.
Then a section of a wall fell in, blocking our path. The flames on it danced as it swept towards us.
Val pushed me back, and a beam dropped, knocking him to the ground.
“Val,” I yelled, scrambling over to him. His chest rose with breath, and I gave him a shake, but his eyes remained closed. “Valerian, please… please, you have to wake up.”
He didn’t move.
More of the roof fell, and before I could turn, or try to yank Valerian away, or attempt to save us both, it landed on my back, knocking me against him.
The crackling warmth of fire seeped into my shoulders, and I panicked, grunting as I attempted to push it off of me. The weight of it shoved me down, and the heat grew.
“No.” I shuddered and squirmed around, kicking with all my weight against the piece and it crackled as it hit the ground beside us. A gash on Val’s temple dripped blood, and I sank down low to get beneath the smoke. I had to get us out. I turned the direction I’d come in, but flames danced in front of the doorway.
So we had to go out the other way. It was a long distance from us.
But I could drag him out by the shoulders if I had to.
I got onto his other side and gripped under his arms, grunting as I pulled him down the walkway.
A crackle sounded like thunder renting the sky.
I looked up.
The entire roof caved in, the building falling in on itself, plummeting towards us.
The roar of it swallowed my scream.
40
Hyacinth
I stood on the docks beside Ixion, who rocked back and forth on his feet, his golden eyes skimming the shore where seagulls dove for fish, gray feathers trembling on a breeze. The crew of the boat I’d paid for our passage on loaded the vessel with supplies. We’d get on it next. And leave Apollo.
I shuddered and clenched my fingers into the straps of the knapsack, the ring he gave me twisting with the motion. I brushed my thumb over it, grazing the Hyacinth flower, the emerald stone, and then the sun. My heart lurched into my throat, making it hard to breathe for a moment.
He’d return to us.
I had to believe that.
“This is so neat,” Ixion said.
“Have you never been on a boat before?”
He shook his head, his long curly hair brushing his shoulders. “I’ve never seen the ocean. Well, I’ve seen paintings. But not like this.” He took a deep breath. “It smells like the taffy Nanny Esee makes.” He paused then, his eyes taking on a sheen, his restless energy stopping for a moment.
I kneeled beside him. “I’m sure you’re going to miss her.”
He nodded, his lip thrusting out.
I rubbed a hand around his back, grateful to have someone else’s sadness to focus on. “What if on the boat ride, we write letters, and you can tell all of your adventures to Eseelie? Then we’ll mail it when we arrive?”
He looked up at me, his eyes welling. “I would like that,” he whispered. He was so young. And he needed so much. I would make sure he was cared for. A project to help pass the time on our journey was a good idea.
Heat swept over the sky, the rush of it knocking us down, and I pulled Ixion towards me, cushioning his head from hitting the stones.
And then I jumped to my feet, barely noticing as I helped Ix back up.
A golden glow bled across the heavens.
The heat of it flaming into my bones.
Like the sun had exploded.
“Apollo,” I cried.
My breath rushed out of me, like my heart went with it. No. Not Apollo. I could face anything but losing him.
Ixion gripped his soft fingers into my palm so hard it ached, and I forced myself to curl my hand around his, to give him a squeeze, to pretend like everything would be fine. He lifted his face up to me and then I sucked in a breath.
The silver glow of the high gods no longer ebbed around him, and his eyes shone a rich brown.
His marks of divinity had left him.
I leaned into my magic and a vine curled around a pole bloomed.
I still had my powers, but Ixion’s were gone.
Had the high gods lost their powers? What had Apollo done?
The sailors cursed. Two broke into a fight and one threw a fist into another’s nose with a crunch. Blood gushed down the front of his chest, staining his tunic. The first man stormed off.
The captain walked over, his wrinkled brow furrowed, his dark eyes still focused on the skies.
The light had receded.
But I knew.
Apollo was gone.
The captain pulled a handful of coins from his pocket and offered them to me.
“What’s this for?” I asked.
“A refund.” He sighed. “I’m afraid we have to cancel. My sailors are too wary after all those boats went down a few weeks ago. The gods at war have made it where I can barely get a crew together and now,”—he gestured with his jaw towards the heavens—“whatever just happened in Olympus spooked off most of what I have remaining. Maybe come back in a week.”
“A week?” My voice came trembling, and the captain gave me a look like he was sorry for it but shrugged and ambled off.
I clutched the gold between my fingers.
But what was I supposed to do with that? I didn’t need money; I needed passage home.
And Apollo…
Tears stung my eyes. Ixion looked up at me and I took a deep breath.
I couldn’t lose my composure… not here and not now.
I had to be strong for him.
“A change in our adventures.” I spoke unsteadily, but forced my voice to firm up.
Ixion trembled beside me. “What’s wrong?”
Everything, I wanted to say.
We weren’t safe on a boat heading towards Niria, and the gods were fighting, and my country was at war, and the love of my life was probably dead, and I didn’t know the first thing about raising children.
“Nothing. Let’s see if we can find lodging for the night. Maybe we’ll get a sweet.”
He still seemed uncertain, but his eyes widened. “Okay.”
I pulled us back down the alleyways littered with salty puddles and refuse from the docks. Stucco buildings lined one side, large bushes growing from the swampy edges of the bay on the other.
Where might public houses be in this city? I knew nothing about navigating a town as anything other than an official. Maybe we should return to Eseelie. Yes, that was a good idea. She’d allow us to stay for the time. But, then again, maybe not. Ares’ deal with Apollo was to get Ixion out of the city. Perhaps we should travel back down the continent until we found another port. We would need enough food for…
“Prince Hyacinth.”
I turned.
As soon as I did, I realized what a mistake it was.
The man who had spoken grinned cruelly and then took a step towards me, a dozen others creeping out of the alley and circling around us.
“If you want our money,” I said as I pulled Ixion in closer to me. “You can have it.”
“Oh, Prince.” The leader smirked. “We don’t care about your money.”
The group jumped us, all at once, like a cat and its shadows, leaping in unison.
I tucked Ixion behind me and kicked against the men.
But so many of them fought against me, grasping my arms, their fingernails digging into my flesh. The first one leaned against me, his breath coming putrid as he whispered. “Fight us, Prince, and we’ll hurt the boy. Come with us and we won’t lay a finger on him.”
I swallowed, my heart thundering.
What would Apollo do in this situation?
Ixion stood, his arms gripped by one thug, his hands clenching into his knapsack, terror pasted on him.
“You won’t harm the child?”
“I swear it on the memory of my mother.” He smiled again, something eerily familiar and repulsive about it.
“All right,” I said.
He jabbed the edge of a knife into my back and led us towards a boat moored at the dock. “After you, young princes.”
I froze.
We were not getting on a boat with these men.
I twisted around, calling on my magic, vines scrambling forward.
The leader nodded to the man holding Ixion, and he drew a dagger, cutting a slit in his arm. Ix screamed, blood dripping from his elbow, punctuating the path beneath him.
“Fine,” I said. “Fine. Let’s go.”
The leader’s jaw worked like he wondered if I’d fight again, but then he gestured towards the boat. As we stepped onto the deck, I grabbed Ixion’s trembling hand.
The men ushered us to the stairway that led below deck and opened the hatch before shoving us into it and closing it with a bang.
We stumbled, and I caught Ixion, skinning my knees as we hit the wood floor.
I dropped and Ixion fell beside me, clinging to me, sobbing, his small body vibrating mine.
“It’s okay,” I whispered.
“The bad man hurt me.”
“I know.”
“Where are they taking us?”
I licked my lips. I wish I knew the answer to that. But I had to put on a brave face for Ixion. “Remember how I said our adventure had changed?”
He bobbed his head, the gray light slipping through slats of floorboards illuminating the soft curve of his cheek as I peeled open Apollo’s bag and pulled a bandage out.
“Well, have you ever heard of pirates?”
He gasped and then nodded again. “Are we taken by pirates?”
I tied the cloth in place over his injury. It was shallow, at least. Thank the gods for that. “I think so. But don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe.”
He considered that, his fingers grazing over his bag, and then he lifted his face. “Can we still get a sweet?”
“I’ll ask.”
The boat swayed as it moved, and my stomach dropped.
I didn’t know where this ship headed, what their purposes were. And they’d said my name. They knew who I was. It wasn’t Ixion they were after, but me, wasn’t it? Then again, they had called us princes. What was Ixion the prince of?
Terror stung through me, but then I remembered the worst of it all.
Apollo—my torch and love and soul—was gone.
But I had promised him to care for Ixion and keeping the child safe was my highest priority. Regardless of what it might cost me. Ever since I’d returned from death, all during our entire long journey, I had wondered where my place was. What role did I have in this world anymore? Ixion rested against me, the softness of his cheek grazing my arm. My mind solidified. I didn’t know where we headed, but I understood what duty needed me. Ixion would stay safe, no matter what.
The fear ebbed.
And my purpose crystallized.
The boat rocked as it hit the waves. Ixion shivered, and I pulled him against my side. I had no idea what the future held, but I knew what I had to do. The rest would have to keep.
Bonus Content
Bonus Content for this book includes:
Character Art of Arion and Orion
Music Playlist
Name Pronunciation Guide
And can be found at: www.authornicolebailey.com/FATEbonus
* * *
Purchase the 4th and final book, A Spark of Death and Fury, here:
https://www.authornicolebailey.com/a-spark-of-death-and-fury.html
Nicole Bailey, A Shield of Fate and Ruin (Apollo Ascending Book 3)
