Pandora (Book 3) (The Omega Group) (5 page)

When Mirissa walked into the hotel room, she found the team
in the midst of conversation.

“I still don’t think Flip can be trusted,” Orano said. “You
heard him. Every time he spoke about Daedric, it was in the present tense. But
when he talked about the other archeologists, he used the past tense. He knows
more than he’s saying.”

“Agreed,” Myrine said. “But if he’s able to decipher the
writing on Mirissa’s key, we need him.”

Julian’s voice came over the speaker on her mother’s phone.
“I’ve changed my search to include anything mentioning an old box or chest as
well as the clouds and storms, but I don’t expect it to help much.”

“Why not?” Myrine asked.

“Because I’ve already got thousands of hits.”

“And?” Myrine prodded.

“Pandora’s Box seems to be the only thing fitting all of our
criteria.”

Silence filled the room as all eyes turned to Myrine. She
pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. “Could that even be
possible? I mean, the story of Pandora’s Box is a myth, right?”

“Sure. Just like Amazons, Greek gods, shape shifters …”
Julian’s voice trailed off as his point sunk in.

Myrine ran her fingers through her hair. “We need to speak
to Artemis.”

Mirissa’s cell phone chimed its alert to an incoming
message. Her heart sank as she read it.
I
have your little friend. Bring the key to the ancient market in Thessaloniki in
one hour or he dies.
The picture that accompanied the text showed a smiling
Daedric standing beside Flip, whose eyes blazed with anger.

The last time Mirissa received a text from Daedric, her father
and some of his Navy SEAL buddies were the ones captured. At the time, she’d
been foolish enough to think she could handle the demi-god by herself. That
mistake caused the death of a good man. Since then, she’d been acutely aware of
every one of her weaknesses, and she knew she had neither the strength nor the
talent to go it alone.

“Guys? We have a problem.” She showed them the text.

Orano spoke first. “You can’t be considering trading the key
for that guy. We know nothing about him, and even if we did, the key is too
important to give up.”

“Of course she won’t trade the key,” Myrine said. “But we
can’t leave Mr. Petrakis with Daedric.”

Orano shrugged his shoulders. “Fine. So what’s the plan?”

As usual, they didn’t have much time to prepare. They would
be going up against a demi-god with no backup and no clear plan of attack. As a
group, the six of them made a formidable team, but whether that would be enough
was anyone’s guess. Another problem became evident when Beck Googled the area
Daedric wanted to meet. Although the market was an ancient archeological site,
it sat in the middle of the city. Apartment buildings surrounded the ruins on
three sides.

“How do we go up against a demi-god in a place where
thousands of people could be watching?” Mirissa asked. “Not to mention Flip.”

“It’s too dark for anyone in those buildings to see
anything. The noise will be the real problem,” Steve said.

Beck stepped forward. “If I can cover the area in a shield,
it should deaden most of the sound.”

Beck’s ability to create energy shields had saved Mirissa’s
life more than once, but she’d never seen her make one that large.

“Can you cover the entire market?” she asked.

Beck smiled. “I guess we’ll find out.”

********

Mirissa placed her hand over the key hanging around her
neck. She’d always known the day would come when it would be necessary to use
it, but she’d never expected an innocent person to be kidnapped over it. She’d
just met Flip and didn’t have any real reason to grow attached to the odd little
man, but she still felt responsible for him. She’d made a promise to keep him
safe, and instead she’d put him in jeopardy.

Trying to bury the guilt she felt, Mirissa approached the
ruins from one of the many deserted streets running through the area. At that
hour, all but the homeless were safely tucked away in their beds and would
hopefully stay there. Heavy gray clouds joined the strange red ones haunting
the skies, as a wicked electrical storm brewed. The lightning would hopefully keep
any late night partiers indoors, and the thunder all but solved their noise
problem. “Any sign of them?” Mirissa spoke to the team through her comms
device.

“Negative.” Her father’s voice crackled from her earpiece.
“I’ve got a pretty good view of the entire market and I don’t see anyone.”
Steve and Myrine were perched atop one of the buildings on the east side,
keeping a watchful eye through high-powered binoculars.

“There are too many hiding places for us to cover. We’ll
have to draw him out,” Myrine said. “Orano, are you in place?”

“I’m here.” His voice crackled over the comms.

“Beck, be ready.” Myrine paused for a moment before
continuing. “Our objective is to rescue Petrakis, but under no circumstances
can we let Daedric get to Mirissa or the key. Understood?”

Mirissa listened as everyone gave their positive response.
She, on the other hand, remained silent.

“Mirissa?” her mother questioned.

“I’m ready,” she said, sidestepping Myrine’s question. Mirissa
had gotten really good at hiding her insecurities from her team. If they knew
how much the thought of failing terrified her, they’d have her in therapy.
“Let’s do this.” She stepped onto the
stone wall
surrounding the site. The market itself lay mostly underground, accessed through
a dozen archways lining the long path running below her feet. Daedric would
most likely be hiding inside.

Mirissa jumped down to the gravel path and called out, “I’m
here, Daedric.” She waited for a response but, when none came, tried again.
“Daedric, I’m not waiting all night.” The scrape of gravel brought Mirissa’s
attention to an archway twenty yards to her right.

Daedric emerged, grasping Flip like a human shield. “So, we
meet again,” he said while sporting his best used-car-salesman smile. “I didn’t
think I’d have the pleasure of seeing you so soon.”

“Me neither. I thought for sure your Daddy would have kept
you locked away so you couldn’t embarrass him anymore. Guess we were both
wrong.” One side of Mirissa’s mouth turned up in a taunting grin as she
sauntered forward, closing the distance between them to a few yards.

Daedric’s eyes narrowed at her approach, and his smile
evaporated. “Give me the key.”

“I don’t think so, half-breed. Let Mr. Petrakis go first.”
Mirissa cringed when Flip let out a snorting laugh at her comment.
Geez, doesn’t he have any self-preservation
instincts?
A bolt of lightning streaked down from the sky followed by a
deafening thunderclap. The hairs on her arms rose as electricity filled the
air.

“You want him? He’s all yours.” Daedric released Flip and,
with arms spread, stepped back, allowing the little man to walk away.

Mirissa grabbed Flip’s hand and pulled him to her. “No
matter what, Flip, stay behind me.” She turned back to Daedric and saw a look
on his face she couldn’t quite read. He’d just given up his only bargaining
chip, yet still looked confident. He had something up his sleeve, but she
didn’t know what. On the bright side, they’d gotten Flip without having to
reveal their special abilities.

“I’ll take that key now, Mirissa,” Daedric said.

Her father’s voice crackled in her ear. “I’ve got movement
to the east. Looks like … dogs. Lots of them.”

Mirissa glanced to her left but saw only the underground
market. Whatever her father was seeing would be above her. Keeping an eye on
Daedric, Mirissa focused on expanding her auditory capabilities until she could
hear every blade of grass being crushed by the approaching animals.
How is he controlling so many animals?

“Beck, cover them,” her mother said.

Daedric teleported to her side the instant before Beck’s
shield took form.

“Now it’s just the three of us,” he said from beside her.

Before she could answer, a pack of snarling beasts bombarded
the shield, their
teeth
and claws desperately trying
to break through. From behind her, she heard Flip yelp, then saw him fly
against the inside of the shield.

“I can do this all night long, Mirissa. Give me the key and
I’ll let him live,” Daedric said, tossing Flip around with a flick of his
finger.

Mirissa used her own telekinesis to blast the half-god in
his chest. “Two can play at that game.”

“Sure, but who do you think will last longer?” To make his
point, Daedric bounced Flip off the ground and into the invisible barrier with
even greater force.

He was right. Flip wouldn’t be able to withstand that kind
of power for very long. Daedric, on the other hand, could handle it for as long
as he wanted to. “Beck, take the shield off me and cover Flip with one small
enough to ensure he stays alone.”

The response from her parents echoed in her ear. “No.”

“Damn it, Beck. Do it. I’ll be fine.” Mirissa waited for a
response, but got none. Flip flailed around like a rag doll and looked about
ready to pass out. “Beck? I can take this shield down with my blade like I did
on Ortega, but I need to know you’ll cover Flip.”

“Fine,” Beck said.

The familiar
pop
of the shield dissipating was followed immediately by a deluge of angry hounds.
Mirissa glanced toward Flip. A small force field covered him, but he looked
horrified.
He’s safe. I’ll deal with the
explanations later.
Daedric, on the other hand, calmly stepped away, as if
readying to watch a show.

Dozens of snarling beasts leapt from the upper platform. She
swung her arms left and right, pushing them with her powers to keep them from
landing on her, but there were too many. It took mere seconds for them to
surround her and, as though they were working from choreography, they attacked
en
masse. Soon, blood seeped from dozens of cuts and
scrapes on her extremities.

Mirissa’s Amazon ring vibrated on her finger, signaling its
desire to get in the game, but she suppressed it. Her blade would have been
useful, but she couldn’t bring herself to kill the dogs. They weren’t attacking
her by choice, rather by Daedric’s command.

A streak of light flew passed her, slamming into several
animals and sending them sprawling backward. Their yelps of pain filled the
air. “Don’t kill them!” she yelled at her teammate. Orano had the ability to
create deadly energy balls. She’d seen him topple trees with their power, but
she’d also seen him play at shocking his friends with energy no more powerful
than static electricity. At that moment, she needed him somewhere in the
middle. “Think stun gun from
Star Trek
,”
she called out.

“I see you brought more friends with you. Thank you. I was
getting bored.” Daedric stood no more than fifteen feet away, calmly watching
the scene play out in front of him. His cold blue eyes locked on hers as though
daring her to attack.

Mirissa left Orano to deal with the beasts while she focused
on the real problem.
 
The loose gravel at
her feet rose into the air in front of her, swirling until it formed a cyclone
that towered over them. She hurled the debris tornado toward Daedric, who
simply batted it away with a smile. She sent another, and another, until so
many bombarded him that the pile of debris at his feet reached his ankles.

She needed to keep him occupied. She’d seen him strangle men
with no more than a thought. That particular trick didn’t work on Mirissa—a
lesson learned at her first confrontation with the demi-god at Ortega—but it
would work on the others.

A shadowy figure emerged from the tunnel behind Daedric,
skulking toward him. Mirissa pulled the pile of gravel at the demi-god’s feet
into the air and created a massive vortex around him. Every time he broke
through, she reformed it, increasing its speed. When the advancing figure was
close enough, she let it fall.

Greco reached out and grabbed Daedric’s shoulder with his
left hand, throwing a mean punch with his right that connected with the base of
Daedric’s skull. Anger flared in the demi-god’s eyes but, before he could
retaliate, Greco was thrown to safety by an unseen force.

“Now!” Myrine’s order bellowed through Mirissa’s earpiece.

Orano turned his attention away from the dogs and began
firing energy balls at Daedric. Their power, although lethal to men, wouldn’t
be enough to do anything more than annoy the half god. But Mirissa would change
that.

She raised her hands to the heavens and pulled at the
enormous amounts of energy created by the electrical storm. Mirissa’s ability
to control the elements allowed her to make use of whatever Mother Nature
offered up. The night’s raging electrical storm had been perfect.

As she fought to keep control, she lowered her arms and
directed the newly harnessed energy toward Orano. The balls he created
immediately grew in size and intensity, their light too bright to look at.
Mirissa glanced over her shoulder in time to see the first of them slam into
their target.

The initial impact lifted Daedric off his feet. The second
drove him into the rock wall. One after another, the super infused energy balls
pounded him until he let loose a feral scream, then vanished.

Mirissa collapsed, letting the electricity loose to resume
its natural path in the sky. The experience left her utterly drained, and she wanted
nothing more than to crawl into a warm bed.

 
Orano, on the other
hand, stood tall and strong, flexing his already taut muscles. “That was
incredible. I’ve never felt that kind of energy before. Can we do it again,
please?”

“Maybe later,” Greco said as he approached Mirissa. “I think
she might need a bit of a break.” He put his arm around her shoulders and gently
pulled her to her feet.