The Blood of the Hydra (18 page)

“I need my arm,” Chef said, slower this time. “I can’t work without my arm.”

“I’m going to do my best,” I told him. “Just lean back and close your eyes, okay?”

He did as I said, but the reason I’d asked him to close his eyes wasn’t because he needed to for me to heal him. It was because I didn’t want him to see my expression when I unwrapped the tourniquet.

It was a good thing he wasn’t watching me, because while I couldn’t see myself, I would bet that my expression was one of absolute horror. All that was left after his elbow was a bloody stump, with a jagged bone sticking out of the end. The surrounding skin was ravaged, mauled by Scylla’s teeth. Blood dripped out of the open hole of his arm and splatted onto the deck. My stomach swirled at the sight of it, and it took all my effort to swallow down the bitter nausea creeping up my throat. I couldn’t even reach forward to touch it. It was too gruesome.

“You can do it,” Blake said from behind me. I turned around and looked up at him, grateful that he’d somehow known I needed support. My eyes must have conveyed my doubts, because he kneeled down next to me and leveled his gaze with mine. “It’s no different than the other times you’ve used your power,” he said, sounding absolutely sure of it. “You’ve got this, Nicole.”

“What’s taking so long?” Chef asked. His voice shook from pain, and he was sweating so much that his hair was drenched and matted to his head. “Just do it already.
Please
.”

Unable to let him live with this pain for a second longer, I reached forward and placed my hand on his arm. Then I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and called on the white energy, gathering it until it filled my body. I let it out of my palms, allowing it to flow into Chef’s arm and knit his injuries back together.

Once finished, I opened my eyes, disappointment flooding my chest at what I saw. Chef’s injuries were healed—the skin was firm and smooth—but the piece of his arm that was missing hadn’t grown back. Instead, he looked like someone who had been an amputee for years.

“I’m sorry.” I looked down at his stump of an arm and shook my head, unable to meet his eyes. “I tried. I really did.”

“Try again,” he demanded. “Kate promised you could fix my arm.”

“I said she could heal you, and that you wouldn’t die,” Kate said, her voice soft. “And that
maybe
she could fix your arm.”

“
Try again
,” he repeated, staring straight at me. I finally looked up at him, and saw the desperation in his eyes. It was the same desperation and fear that I’d expect from anyone who was coming to terms with the possibility of losing a limb.

This shouldn’t have happened to him.
We
were the ones who were supposed to be putting our lives at risk on this mission—not the crew. I owed it to him to try again.

“Okay,” I said. “I will.”

I placed my hands back on his arm, and called on the white energy again. But unlike the other times when I’d tried to heal someone, I couldn’t sense anything there to fix. Still, I sent the energy into his arm, hoping it would do
something
.

I knew before opening my eyes that it hadn’t worked.

“I tried,” I told him. “I’m sorry. I really did.”

“You’re supposed to be a
healer
,” he said, yanking what was left of his arm back to his side. “What good are you if you can’t fix this?”

“She
saved your life
.” Blake’s voice was calm and controlled, but he flexed his arm muscles, and I could tell that it was taking all of his effort to keep himself from lashing out. “If Nicole wasn’t here, you would have bled out and died.”

“Death would have been better than this,” he muttered, glaring at his stump.

“You don’t mean that…” Kate said.

“Oh yeah?” he said, raising his eyebrows. “Cooking is my
life
. I worked for years to get to where I am now. Now, just like that, it’s gone. I’ll lose my job. I’ll never be able to cook again.”

Hypatia must have heard the commotion, because she walked over to us, her hands clasped in front of her. “Nicole did what she could, and you’re in much better shape now than you would have been if she wasn’t here,” she said. “You knew this would be a dangerous mission coming in, yet you volunteered anyway. You will be rewarded for your bravery. So while I know it can’t make up for what you’ve lost, as the Head Elder of Greece, I promise that you will be taken care of for the rest of your life.”

“All I want is my arm back,” he said. “Who am I if I can’t cook?”

Hypatia shot me a sympathetic look, and she reached forward to escort Chef below deck. He went with her, in a daze, not looking behind him.

All I could think as I watched him disappear down the steps was that I wished I could have done better.

I should have been able to give him his arm back.

Once we were through the strait of Scylla and Charybdis, it wasn’t far to Helios’s island. During that time, we took turns showering—none of us wanted Scylla’s guts on us for any longer than necessary. And I didn’t want Chef’s blood on me, either. It just reminded me of my failure.

Unlike the Land of the Lotus Eaters, Helios’s island had a modern dock on it, so it was easy for us to pull up. According to Hypatia, this was because the island was now the home to a beautiful witches-only resort, popular for newlyweds on their honeymoons. From looking at it out of my window, I could see why. With huge overwater bungalows extending out into the sea, it reminded me of those exclusive resorts where only celebrities and socialites vacationed.

To avoid Scylla and Charybdis, most people portaled in. But the magic around the island prevented unapproved portals, and there was a long waiting list for a room at the resort. Which was why we’d had to travel there the old-fashioned way.

Once done freshening up, I gathered some of my extra arrows from the storage room and ventured onto the deck. Everyone was there—except for Chris.

“Where’s Chris?” I asked.

“He’s quite worn out after flying the yacht across the strait,” Hypatia said, as if what he’d done was a normal occurrence. “This will be your easiest task in this mission, so he’ll be staying back and resting, since he’ll need his full energy when you all fight the hydra.”

“Is he okay?” Kate asked, her eyes wide with worry. “Does he need someone to stay back with him?”

“He’ll be fine,” Hypatia said. “We need the rest of you on Helios’s island to collect the milk from the immortal cattle.”

“Maybe I could stay back to keep him company?” Rachael volunteered. “Since from what you said, collecting the milk shouldn’t be hard, right?”

“I don’t imagine it will be,” Hypatia said. “As long as you all stick to the rules and don’t slaughter any of the cattle, you shouldn’t run into any difficulties. And as I’ve said before, while we appreciate you and your brother joining us, this mission was given to the Elementals, not to either of you. So, you’re free to do as you please.”

“Then I’ll stay back with Chris,” Rachael said, smiling sweetly. “If that’s okay?”

Kate crossed her arms, her lips set in a firm line. “What if something goes wrong on the island?” she asked. “Like what happened on the Land of the Lotus Eaters. We’ll need all the help we can get.”

“You all would have gotten off that island with or without me and my brother,” Rachael said. “Weren’t we actually a
detriment
to you? After all, I was still under the influence of the lotus fruit and had to be knocked out so I didn’t try to kill you for taking me off the island…”

I looked back and forth between Rachael and Kate. The instinct I’d had before must have been right—Rachael was interested in Chris. She loved adventure too much to stay back for any other reason.

“Fine,” Kate eventually said. “Stay here. What do I care?”

But from the way her eyes welled up with tears that she quickly blinked away, it was obvious that she did care quite a bit. And from the looks of Rachael—who was an Amazonian golden girl—I couldn’t blame Kate for being upset. That was tough competition.

I wished I could honestly tell Kate not to worry, but I couldn’t tell her that when I couldn’t be sure of it myself.

“So Rachael will stay back with Chris,” Danielle said, marching toward the exit of the yacht. “Now, can we all get going? The cows aren’t going to wait all day.”

Once we got off the yacht, we headed straight to the hotel lobby. The lobby was its own bungalow—the biggest one of them all—and it also extended over the water. The gleaming hardwood floor had a few clear tiles in it that looked down into the sea, and elegant waterfalls flowed down the sides of the walls, reminding the guests that they had entered paradise.

The group of us—five high school students dressed in workout gear, all carrying various weapons—was enough to make the receptionist’s mouth drop open. But she straightened and clasped her hands over her desk, quickly composing herself.

“Good afternoon, and welcome to Thrinacia, the island of eternal youth,” she said, her voice overly perky. “May I please have your names so I can find you reservation?”

Blake stepped forward to take the lead. “We’re not here for a vacation,” he said. “We’re here to speak to Lampetia.”

The receptionist said nothing, instead simply looking at us as if we’d lost our minds.

“You do know who she is?” Blake continued. “The daughter of Helios? The owner of this resort?”

“Y-yes,” she stuttered. “Of course I know who she is.”

“Good.” Blake nodded. “Because we need to speak with her.”

“You can’t just walk in here and ask to speak with
Lampetia
,” the receptionist said. “She’s a nymph—which as you know, means she’s a minor nature goddess—and a very busy one at that. She would have let us know if she was expecting anyone. But if you need to speak with someone in charge, I can call in my manager and she’ll be happy to assist you.”

“Will your manager be able to take us to Lampetia?” Blake asked.

“We know she’s on the island,” Kate added. “She never leaves, since she has to be here at all times to guard the immortal livestock.”

“Please make yourself comfortable in the sitting area,” the receptionist said, blatantly avoiding answering our questions. “The manager will be right with you. Feel free to enjoy the fresh fruit while you wait.”

We all took a seat, and Danielle reached for a pear. But Kate stuck her hand out, stopping her.

“I wouldn’t eat that if I were you,” she warned. “Remember what happened on the Land of the Lotus Eaters? I doubt there’s anything wrong with the fruit here, but we have plenty of food back on the yacht. It can’t hurt to be safe.”

“Okay,” Danielle said, dropping her hand to her side. “Fair point.”

We sat there for a few minutes, silent as we waited. To pass the time, I leafed through a booklet on the spa treatments offered at the resort. Apparently, they had the best anti-aging milk bath in the world. Which made sense, since that milk was exactly what we were here for—it must be from the immortal cattle themselves.

As the receptionist had promised, the manager came out to meet us in less than ten minutes. With tanned olive skin and dark wavy hair, she looked like she came from a family who had lived in Greece since the ancient times. But despite her friendly smile, her no-nonsense suit made it clear that she meant business.

“Good afternoon,” she said, shaking each one of our hands. I couldn’t help noticing the red scabs around her fingernails, as if she had a bad habit of biting them. “I’m Calliope—the manager of this resort. Maria here told me that you’re interested in learning about our owner Lampetia?”

“We don’t want to
learn
about her,” I said. “We’re here on a very important mission, and we need to
speak
with her.”

“I’m afraid that isn’t possible,” Calliope said, her bright smile never leaving her face. “But I’m more than happy to answer any questions you have about the resort. Are you interested in booking us for an event? A graduation party, perhaps? Or a spa day? We’re famous for our luxury milk treatments.”

“Enough.” Danielle huffed and raised her arms in the air, palms out. “Since you obviously won’t take us seriously, perhaps this will change your mind.”

The sound of trickling water that had been a constant in the background stopped. I glanced at the waterfalls—there were four of them in the lobby—and saw that instead of the water flowing
down
, it now defied gravity by moving in horizontal streams, straight to the center of the room. Once reaching the center, the streams twisted around themselves, forming a growing sphere. The water sparkled in the light, and it was breathtakingly beautiful—like a shimmering planet. Then the sphere exploded upward, scattering into a rain shower that drenched the entire lobby. Danielle held her arms out and raised her face to the ceiling, smiling as the droplets poured down on her. She looked completely in her element.

Just when Calliope’s eyes were about to pop out of their sockets, all of the water evaporated, leaving the lobby completely dry. The waterfalls flowed normally, trickling down as if nothing had happened at all.

Maria sat still at her desk, her mouth wide open. The pen that she’d dropped on the floor rolled until it hit the wall.