Olympian Elemental Trials Series

Chapter 6: Why Have One, When You Can Have a Dozen

Dion

What the hell was the human waiting for? "Hop on!"

I held out my hand for her to get on the bike before the Empousa got her. If the creature did, it would sail the woman through the clouds and I'd lose them. My domain, outside of Olympus, was the earth, not the damn sky. Time to stop the creature before it took flight with the mortal.

The woman glared at me as if I were as bad as the monster. Was she seriously debating to seek my help against a blood-sucking demon? For a fraction of a second, I thought about sending a bit of euphoria into her so she'd trust me. But there wasn't time.

"Now!" I shouted.

My tone triggered something in her because she leaped toward me, seizing my hand, hopping onto my bike in one smooth motion with my help.

"She's mine!" the Empousa squealed.

In answer, I let go of the throttle. My bike jerked beneath me as I swung the tip around on the front tire. Brakes squealing. The human clutched her arms around me tighter. Righting the bike, I punched it.

We sailed down the road, weaving in and out of traffic, the bike lurching underneath me as I pushed the speed as hard as I dared without tearing the mortal off my back.

Traffic stopped ahead of us, and I careened onto the sidewalk. People screamed, diving for cover. I had to get the human to safety which meant finding hallowed ground outside of Hecate's realm. Which, since some of the gods flipped in who they favored at any given moment, was one of my own places.

A secret temple of mine that had been destroyed during an ancient war and not was crushed to dust under an office building complete with a restaurant. I didn't care. Wasn't like humans worshiped the gods much anymore. But because my temple was sacred ground, no other god could cross the threshold without my permission.

We just had to reach the place before the Empousa caught us.

Seeing an opening in traffic, I zipped off the sidewalk, back onto the street. Cars honked behind us but I kept flying down the road. Damn tourists!

I ran a red light, nearly sideswiping another car. The human tightened her grip even more like she was trying to crush my ribs. As uncomfortable as the pressure was, there was no way she could actually hurt me and the constant contact reassured me that she wouldn't dislodge easily.

The Empousa shrieked her battle cry. Her wings beat against the air to catch us. At least the mortals wouldn't see her except out of the corner of their eye. Whenever they did a double-take, nothing would be there.

Just a few more blocks.

But as I turned the corner, the road narrowed down to one lane. Damn construction!

I swerved into an alley, taking the back road. It was longer than the main street but I couldn't be still long enough for the monster to grab the woman on my back. And right now we were an easy target for the demon to swoop down and catch us.

A shadow loomed over us. f**k, f**k, f**k! Black claws reached down as the Empousa dove like a rocket at us. I jerked the handlebar and leaned down. The bike's back tire spun tossing up smoke at the creature. Then I righted us back tires squealing as we whiplashed down the road.

A quick glance in the rearview mirror showed me Empousa covered its ears, her height faltering as its wings slowed. Its kind hated high-frequency sounds and what I'd just done was worse than nails on a chalkboard. But it only bought us seconds. The demon screamed, racing after us again.

I gunned the engine and the bike jerked forward. The wind ripped at my clothes as I tried to shield the brunt of the human from the onslaught.

The restaurant's blinking sign with the letter 'M' in Magnificent Cafe was burnt out.

So close I could smell the scent of flatbread cooking.

But the Empousa flew in front of the door, blocking my path. I jammed on the brakes. The bike squealing. Behind me, the human went sailing over my head.

Fuck! I dove off the bike into the air. Grasping her shirt, I yanked her to my chest, then rolled onto my back. The asphalt scrapped across my leather jacket.

My bike rammed into a car shooting up flames and metal. Momentarily, the Empousa covered her eyes.

"Now!" I pushed the human off me. "Get inside."

She stumbled. Blood dripping from the side of her head. "Wha-a restaurant? How is that going to stop a demon?"

"Just do it!" I gritted my teeth and stood. Using my earth powers, I held out my hands, calling the ground beneath the concrete to shoot up underneath me.

The Empousa glanced from me to the human and back.

"You'll have to fight me for her." I smiled. How long had it been since I fought a supernatural creature? Too damn long.

"Hecate will hear of your interference but I can put in a good word for you if you give me the human now." It c****d its head to the side, red eyes flaming.

"Tell your mistress the human is under my protection. If she had a problem with that, tell her to stop hiding in shadows and come talk to me herself."

Beneath me, the earth pillar I made raised me at eye level with the creature. Thankfully this restaurant didn't get a ton of traffic and the few humans who milled about didn't notice me or the Empousa. And I had to find out why the human I'd saved had. No other mortals could see a god or demon unless we allowed it.

Had that been the case with the Empousa? Did it reveal itself to the human to scare her? Frighten her so bad that she would've agreed to anything once she reached Hecate's realm. Why would the goddess what this woman?

Part of me yelled to walk away and let the creature have her. Why not? Pissing off Hecate was dangerous at best but I hadn't had this much excitement since the wars with the Ottoman Empire. Who knew, maybe the ancient Titan could put me out of my misery and I'd go down in a blaze of glory saving a human. Ah, Apollo would sing my praises and all the women would swoon at what a hero I was. Ha! I'd laugh my ass off from Hades' underworld for eternity.

With a hiss, the Empousa shot toward the woman. I jumped off the eight-foot-high pillar I'd made onto the creature's back.

The demon bucked and twisted. Black claws raked my legs as she fought. Her leather wings beat around me. I snagged one to keep it from falling to the ground. It wouldn't kill me but I'd rather not let this f*****g monster get the drop on me and grab the human. I couldn't help the mortal once she was in Hecate's realm. Why go to all this trouble for a mortal?

Time to end this. I twisted my arm around the creature's neck. Claws dug into my arm but I held firm, cutting off the beast's air supply until she went limp. We both plummeted to the ground.

I rolled to break my fall. The ground crashed into me and if I hadn't been a god, both my legs and more would've been broken. I stood and a couple nearby blinked at my sudden appearance.

"Nice night, isn't it?" I grinned.

The man whisked the woman he was with down the street while I dusted off my leather jacket.

"H-How did you do that?" the human I'd saved asked.

Why wasn't she in the damn cafe like I told her? I gritted my teeth and marched forward intending to grab her and yank her inside when her eyes suddenly widened, her face turning ashen.

I didn't want to look behind me at what she saw but I did anyway. Twelve other Empousas dotted the sky only a skydive away. Their wings beat the air and all of them glared right at us.

Holy f*****g hell!