Omega (11 page)

“
You okay?” Dosy’s voice
had softened.

“
No,” I replied. “They
were my friends.”

“
Holly, I know this is
hard, but trust me. They are better off in Thanatos’ hands than
SISA’s. You learned about Thanatos, the god of death, didn’t you?
About his realm?”

I calmed some, recalling that good people
like the priests weren’t really gone. They lived on in a different
realm, one ruled by Thanatos. “Yes.”

“
Then you know death is
simply a gateway into a much better place.”

It was easier to let myself believe her,
trust her, than to sort through emotions I wasn’t prepared to feel.
The priests had never been close to me like Herakles was. I wanted
to believe them better off, the way they taught us in school. But
if Herakles followed them into the underworld of Thanatos …

I would do whatever I had to out of revenge.
Herakles was my heart, my life, the only thing keeping me from
acknowledging the desolation stemming from understanding that the
world I knew was now completely gone. I wasn’t ready for that.

“
Don’t wuss out now, kid,”
Niko said in a quieter voice. “You’re tough. Stay tough. I don’t
kill unless I have to, but all of us knew what was coming. I did it
quick.”

“
I do agree with him
there,” Dosy said. “SISA will do anything to find you.”

“
Let me go.” I tugged at
Niko’s grip.

He did so.

I left the wall and sank onto the couch,
trying to rein in the emotions I couldn’t quite categorize.
Herakles would tell me they were right, that I needed to stay
focused not emotional, that the priests were in the part of the
underworld saved for the most righteous. Yet the image in my head
of Father Ellis falling beneath Niko’s knives … I wasn’t happy at
the orphanage, but the priests didn’t deserve to die. What was
worse – this all happened because I disobeyed them and went to the
lake.

Father Cristopolos was right. In ten
minutes, I had undone years worth of their work and killed no less
than four priests.

What was I that pious men committed suicide
rather than reveal my identity and location? That SISA came for
me?

My stomach hurt from emotion I didn’t know
how to process, and I rested back against the couch, struggling to
recall something Herakles had told me that might help me think
straight about all of this.

“
You swear they felt no
pain?” I asked Niko.

“
I swear it.”

It didn’t really help. In fact, I had the
urge to scream and attack him and demand to know why he hadn’t told
me before. I was sliding to Dosy’s side of the court and starting
to hate Niko.

“
Why did you bring her to
DC?” Dosy asked Niko. “It’s the worst place to be.”

“
Or the best, right under
the nose of –”

“
No. It’s the worst.
You’re up to something. I know it.”

Niko fell silent.

“
You need to get her out
of here now.”

“
No,” I said, rousing
myself from the deep thoughts. “I’m not leaving without
Herakles.”

“
Don’t be stupid,” Niko
replied.

“
If you think I’m
stupid, then fine. I am! But I’m not leaving
without Herakles! You already killed everyone else who matters to
me.”

They weren’t taking me seriously. Dosy shook
her head and Niko rolled his eyes.

Fury flooded me. “What happens if I take
this off?” I asked, tugging at the red cord. “Oh. That’s right.
They come and get me and torture anyone found with me. We wouldn’t
want that to happen, would we?” I maneuvered it up my hand to my
palm.

“
No!” Dosy said. “Just …
leave it on.”

I paused and waited.

“
Look, I might be able to
find out where Herakles is by pulling some strings, but I can’t
guarantee anything. Not even that,” she said quickly.

“
Even if she does, I’m not
breaking into a SISA prison,” Niko said stubbornly.

“
This seems like the
fastest way to find Herakles. By being taken prisoner with him,” I
mused, lifting my hand so they could see the red cord. “Niko will
definitely never get paid and I’ll enjoy watching him at the hands
of SISA. I don’t know what happens to you, Dosy.”

He eyed me at the mention of money.

“
I’ve got friends,” Dosy
said. “I’d be fine. Niko wouldn’t be.”

“
If nothing else, my
biotag is worth money, isn’t it?” I asked Niko. “If I die in the
attempt, you can dig it out of my arm out and sell it to Marty then
steal more of his money.”

Dosy shot Niko a knowing look, and Niko
shrugged. “You do make a good point.”

“
You can’t be serious.
Even you aren’t that stupid, Niko,” Dosy said.

“
Hmm. So you don’t want me
to do it. Looks like I’m in, kid.”

I snorted, not at all certain if I’d really
won or if he was so determined to spite Dosy, he’d get us both
killed.

“
I’ll do what I can,” Dosy
said, gaze on me. “Niko, make up your mind. You gonna keep her
safe, or do I need reinforcements to take her away from you? I
don’t need to remind you of how few men your people have in
DC.”

I waited.

The two went into stare down mode again.
Finally, Niko shifted.

“
Fine. I’ll take her to
find this friend and dump her off at the front gates or wherever,”
he said finally. “I’m not going to risk my neck for
her.”

“
No surprise,” Dosy
muttered. “Good enough for me. I’ll be back in the morning with any
information I can find out about Herakles.” She strode to the
door.

“
Hey. You haven’t answered
my emails,” Niko called as she opened the door. “How’s …
Junior?”

“
He’s
not
Junior. He’s nothing like
you!”

“
You guys have a kid?” I
asked, astonished. “My gods. That poor little guy.” This earned me
two glares.

“
It’s why I’m the only
person immune to Niko’s knives and guns. We’ll talk about it
later.” Dosy left and slammed the door behind me.

The look Niko gave me made me think I should
sleep with one of his guns. But I was just as upset and glared
back. He spun on his heel and stormed into his bedroom, slamming
the door.

That poor kid.

Although I’d never experienced it first
hand, I imagined this was what it was like if my parents were
fighting. Except my parents didn’t go around mercy-killing priests.
I locked the front door and settled down on the couch again, a
little out of place and worried about what was going on that no one
wanted to tell me.

At least I might soon know where Herakles
was. If I were in trouble, he would come for me. It was only fair I
did the same.

Father Ellis is
dead.
I wanted to hate Niko, but … well, I
was horrified to admit I was a little too angry with the priests
for lying to me my entire life to feel complete compassion for
them.

I was too confused to figure out what I
felt. None of this seemed real. I wanted to wake up at home in my
bed at the orphanage and trek into the woods with Herakles for
another survival lesson.

Hateful to me as the gates
of Hades is that man who hides one thing in his heart and speaks
another.

–
Homer

The next morning, I stood across the street
from the thick metal gates of SISA headquarters located in downtown
DC. Maybe it was stupid of me, but I hadn’t really considered it
might be hard to get to Herakles until I saw those tall, thick
gates guarded by half a dozen men on the street side. Herakles had
taught me to be self-sufficient in every scenario I could think of
to the point I thought myself somewhat invincible. But those gates
…

There’s no way I can sneak in.

I had to, though. I’d rather be trapped with
Herakles in prison than stuck alone in an insane world I didn’t
understand. The morning crowd, consisting of tour groups and
businesspeople, walked past the wall, seemingly oblivious to the
compound. I couldn’t look away.

At least, not until one of the masked guards
looked my way twice. The masks kind of freaked me out. They covered
their entire faces and heads. Each guard was identified by a patch
with a number on it rather than names and faces.

I left the sidewalk and went into the café
behind me. With the money I’d pilfered from Niko, I bought a Greek
coffee and sat near the window. The streets and sidewalks were
churning with rush hour activity. Part of me was thrilled to
realize I was a part of this world, at least on this surface.
Buying coffee, smiling at people whose paths I crossed … no one
knew I was different.

I kind of liked that.

The gates across the street opened once to
reveal a second set, these much smaller, and guards and tire
shredders in between the two. Beyond the second gates sat a white
building with marble pillars. I wasn’t able to gauge how large it
was in the two seconds the two gates were simultaneously open.

Niko had claimed this
building was more secure than the White House. Dosy disagreed,
claiming this was an offsite and the
real
headquarters was located in
Northern Virginia. She said this site was abandoned before a month
ago and considered its reactivation a ploy of some sort. I was
inclined to take her word over his, out of principal and because I
liked her better than Niko. I had no idea either way.

The two had still been
fighting about something that didn’t matter to me when I left. They
argued about
everything.
I didn’t even have to be subtle – just walked
out.

Herakles would tell me to evaluate
everything I could about the compound. So far, I’d figured out I
wasn’t going over the gates. I had no clue whether the sewer system
was an option. The only thing Dosy had been able to find out was
that Herakles was in the east wing, which wasn’t visible from the
street.

Official visitors entered the gates on foot
and by car. Their identifications were scanned, and they, their
belongings and vehicles were searched. My eyes followed the walls
down the block. I stood, grabbing my coffee to walk the perimeter
and see what other gates were present.

Half an hour later, I was forced to admit
there was one way in and out of the compound. I returned to the
café and sat with another coffee, toying with the red cord around
my wrist.

“
You little
shit.”

I looked up to see Niko at my table. He sat
down without waiting for an invitation.

“
You all clearly had some
things to work out,” I replied.

“
When you meet that
special someone who turns out not to be as interested in you as you
are them, then you’ll understand.”

“
I doubt it. Herakles told
me never to let any boy derail me from my goals, and I won’t.” It
had been easy, if frustrating, to let go of the boys the nymphs
stole. I wasn’t letting anyone near my heart, because Herakles said
that’s when bad things happened.

“
You think it’s a choice
to fall in love, to have a kid you aren’t expecting,” Niko
observed.

“
Everything in life is a
choice.”

“
No, kid. It’s not.” He
was amused. “But I do hope to see the look on your face when you
realize that.”

“
Whatever. Are we gonna do
this?” It was hard to talk to him when I wanted to explode about
the priests.

“
Do
what?
”

I pointed towards SISA building. Niko looked
briefly.

“
Let’s get something
straight. You’re insane to want to go to the one place you should
never want to be,” he replied.

“
You know why you’re here
right now? Because you murdered everyone else who could help me,” I
shot back.

“
Shut up, kid. I was going
to tell you, Dosy sent me down here to dissuade you, but I have a
different idea.”

I waited, surprised to sense he was on my
side. And irked he didn’t even blink when I mentioned the
priests.

“
There’s only one way into
that place,” he continued. “We need to be invited.”

“
What does that
entail?”

“
A mercenary bounty hunter
claiming to have the real Oracle in tow might warrant an
invite.”

I brightened. “That’s brilliant, Niko! Let’s
do that!”

He eyed me. “Does anything penetrate that
thick skull of yours? Like how dangerous this is, how small the
chances are they’ll let you leave? What they might do to you?”

“
Can’t be worse than what
you might do to me.”

“
You have no idea how big
of a favor I did those priests. They didn’t even pay
me.”

What an asshole.
“
Herakles will fix everything,” I said,
missing my friend even more.

“
We don’t even know where
he is.”

“
Yes we do. The east
wing.”

“
You’re not getting it.”
Niko sighed and studied me. “You might get in but you won’t get
out.”

Maybe he was right. But why did I want to
leave if Herakles was trapped and being tortured? My world – except
him – was crashing and burning. I was trying not to face that
reality and holding out for Herakles to fix things. I didn’t care
what happened to me if it meant he was gone.