Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 88960 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88960 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Several moments of silence passed before Lana shook her head. “Maybe we’re overthinking this.”
“Yeah.”
“Maybe it’s just an INTERPOL thing.”
“You’re right.” Or at least that was what I wanted to think. Because otherwise...I had no idea what these strange, inexplicable things made Paul.
Epilogue
SATURDAY DAWNED BRIGHT and sunny, and I arrived at SMHS half past seven, having decided that it was better to be extremely early rather than risk being a minute late and making our esteemed division director to wait for me.
Dike was a sight to behold when she arrived, with an intricately designed bronze helmet covering her hair and a resplendent centuries-old suit of armor worn over her tall, graceful figure.
One look at her, and I knew Mt. Olympus was strictly black-tie, Ancient Greece style – which also meant I had made the right choice.
Dike gave my outfit a cursory look, and I held my breath. I had donned a flowing white empire-cut dress with a belt of gold tassels that laid low on my hips and matched the woven pattern of my leather sandals.
“Good choice,” my superior said, and I silently breathed a sigh of relief. Thank Cronos for that.
Dike and I slid into the backseat of a black sedan, and as its engine roared into life, I looked about eagerly, wondering what it would shapeshift into. A winged stallion like Pegasus perhaps? Or maybe a sphinx or—-
The agent behind the wheel stepped on the gas, and the car sped out of the driveway.
Any minute now...
Any moment now...
Any time now...
“What are you looking like that for?” Dike asked blankly.
“I was, umm, trying to guess what this car would change into?”
“Aren’t you old enough to know that Transformers aren’t real?” The Daughter of Justice shook her head in disapproval. “You need to be more discerning between myth and fiction, Agent Vavrin.”
My mouth opened and closed. “I wasn’t – I never – so, this really is just a car?”
The older woman shot me an irritable look. “What else could it be?”
I tried to wrap my head around what she was saying. “Then...it’s possible to drive to Mt. Olympus?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes.”
And so it seemed as ten minutes later the car had sped past a wall of fog and onto a paved road that meandered through woods made breathtaking by its stunningly colorful foliage and drovepast a sparkling brook in which mermaids swam alongside frolicking water nymphs. Finally, the car rolled to a stop in front of massive golden doors, and I knew with every excited beat of my heart that what I was staring at was none other than the doors of Mt. Olympus itself.
“Chin up, Agent Vavrin,” Dike commanded as we stepped out of the car.
“Yes, Director.”
“Also, stop shaking.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Dike glared at me.
“I meant, I’ll never shake again in my entire life.”
“That’s better.” The Daughter of Justice nodded at the guardsmen flanking the entrance, and they slowly pushed the doors open, their muscles straining with every inch that I could only imagine how heavy the doors were. Could it be made of real gold?
A young girl in braids introduced herself as a Muse’s apprentice with a deep curtsy. Dike gave her a nod, so I started to nod as well – until I saw my boss glaring at me.
Oops.
I curtsied back to the young girl, and only then did Dike stop looking murderous.
Mt. Olympus’ ballroom was amazing in its vastness, with towering marble pillars that went all the way up until it disappeared in a mass of fluffy clouds. It took me several moments to understand that I was literally looking at clouds, and that the sky actually served as the ballroom’s ceiling.
Very cool, I thought, but what if it rained?
The couple on the throne chuckled. Dike was glaring at me again. And I realized a second too late I had blurted my thought out loud.
I was so dead.
“Come forward, Blair Vavrin.” It was the man on the throne who spoke, tall and powerfully built, with a dramatically handsome face and a long dark beard.
Sad Keannu, I thought yet again, but of course he wasn’t just that. He was Zeus, the god who reigned in Mt. Olympus – and he knew my name.
Zeus! Knew! My! Name!
My knees knocked against each other as I moved forward, stopping only before the edge of the dais. Remembering Dike’s lesson earlier, I made sure to curtsy this time, so deep that I almost lost my balance and toppled over.
When I straightened, the couple on the throne was visibly amused, and Dike looked like she wanted to throttle me.
Okay, not only was I dead, but I was so going to be fired after this.
“We thank you for your aid.” It was the dark-haired woman on the throne who spoke this time, and cast it, but she looked so much like a dead ringer for Charlize Theron that I felt like I had stepped into a movie set, and that would be...what?