The Iron Queen (Daughters of Zeus) - By Kaitlin Bevis Page 0,56

no mistaking that trashy church sign.

“Sir!” A firefighter grabbed me and steered me toward the large red truck. “You must move behind the line. Were you in the church, sir?”

He sounded doubtful. I didn’t look much like Apollo’s followers. When I shook my head, he directed me out of his way. Powerful blasts of water spewed from large yellow hoses, and the flames gradually died down to smoldering embers. Working my way through the crowd, I searched for Demeter, Apollo, and Artemis. What had happened here?

Apollo’s followers wandered around the smoldering remains of the church, seemingly oblivious to the sirens wailing and the EMTs rushing about, trying to herd them to safety. The rest of the cult lay scattered through the remains of the church, burnt to a crisp.

“What happened here?” I grabbed a bikini-clad girl by the shoulders. “Where’s Ap—Mr. Sunshine?”

Her eyes were red rimmed from crying. Or maybe it was something else. “The bad man made him say the magic words that turned him to dust.” She took a deep shuddering breath and then burst into tears.

Shock. Wonderful. I led her to one of the EMTs and continued my search. Behind me the girl who had been screaming nonstop changed gears and started singing an altered version of “You Are My Sunshine.”

I swore. If, and it was a very big if, what this girl had described was even half accurate, Zeus had forced Apollo to swear fealty. But how had he known where to find him?

I glanced at the church sign. Well, it wasn’t like Apollo had been subtle. We shouldn’t have let him come back here. But where were Demeter and Athena?

I grabbed the next teenager I passed. “There were two women who came back with Mr. Sunshine. One of them was blonde, nearly my height—”

The boy nodded, looking shaken. “And the hot Indian chick, right?”

I’d never heard Artemis described that way, but sure. “Where are they?”

“They vanished, man.”

My blood froze. “What do you mean vanished?” The boy didn’t answer and my voice rose. “Vanished like Apollo—er, Mr. Sunshine? Or just disappeared?” Why was I wasting my time with this kid? There were only two options.

I teleported back to Demeter’s and was nearly run over by Adonis carrying Aphrodite. Her hair draped over Adonis’ arm, almost touching the floor. The red was shocking against her sheet-white skin.

“What happened?” I demanded. “What the hell is going on?”

“You have to go back!” Melissa shouted from somewhere behind Adonis.

Adonis moved past me toward the living room, and I saw Melissa in tears. She launched herself at a bewildered looking Demeter.

Demeter, thank the gods. The tension in my chest eased, and I scanned the room for Artemis. She was curled up on the love seat with Ryan, face streaked with tears.

Demeter shushed Melissa and wrapped her arms around her. “What happened?”

Adonis and Melissa started talking at the same time. “Zeus was waiting for us—”

“He made Aphrodite charm everyone—”

“Didn’t work on Adonis—”

“I had to knock her out. She was going to make them swear fealty.”

“They told us to go—”

“I didn’t have a choice.” Adonis looked pale and shaken.

Melissa was sobbing so much it was getting hard to understand her. “I grabbed the two of them and teleported, but Ares and Hephaestus are still there! You have to go back! Please, Demeter!”

Aphrodite stirred, and Adonis sprang into action, grabbing a lamp off the end table. He raised it above Aphrodite, and I darted between the two of them.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“I’ll get them,” Demeter said. She vanished before I could object.

“If she wakes up, she’ll try to charm them into swearing fealty again,” Adonis explained. “He never told her to stop. She has to listen to him, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah, but gods! Don’t hit her!” I didn’t like Aphrodite much, but I wasn’t about to watch her get beaten to a bloody pulp every time she moved. She stirred again, and I turned, hand brushing back the hair on her forehead. A surge of power flowed from me to her, and she stopped moving.

I made a mental note to thank Hypnos for teaching me that trick. With any luck, she’d be out for a while.

Demeter popped back into the room along with Ares and Hephaestus. They seemed remarkably unscathed. As if reading my thoughts, Ares shrugged and pulled on the sleeves of his jacket.

“Zeus ported out as soon as Hephaestus and I charged him. I think he’d prefer to pick us off one by one.”

“I think it may have had something to