Authors: Natasha Larry
Silenced (40 page)
I move without moving toward the statue of the god that created me. I move without feeling any bend in my knee. Any beat of my heart. I walk alongside Artemis, unsure how I have the strength of will to be walking beside her.
And yet, I am.
I reach the statue and place a hand out to steady myself.
“Are you ready?” she asks.
I glance at her, unsure of what to say. Ready to leave behind everything I care about for gods know what?
Sure, let’s do this.
I open my mouth, about to respond, when I hear a distant chirp.
I glance up at the starless sky and see a flurry of silver. So out of place. So right on time. When he chirps again, I actually smile, my heart doing ninja kicks in my chest.
With a final chirp, he lands at his rightful place on my shoulder and I start laughing.
“Oscar!” I ruffle his feathers. “What’s going on, buddy?”
He squawks. “We stick together.”
I laugh harder. “Damn right we do.”
Artemis smiles. Then, she pushes a button in on the statue. Before my eyes, it transforms into a small, golden boat with golden oars attached. She nods toward it and I get in, taking a seat on one of the two benches.
Oscar buries his head in my shoulder. As soon as Artemis is seated, the oars start to move on their own and row us out to sea. I sit there, petting my oldest friend in the world and thinking maybe the gods are looking out for me, after all.
Not that they aren’t still motherfuckers.
After ten minutes or so of traveling farther and farther out into the ocean, Artemis hands me a cube.
“What’s this?” I take the small, black box engraved with bone-white sigils on all sides from her and examine it.
“A gift. Because I like you.”
I look up at her briefly, then back down at the box. It’s then that I notice a moving picture on the box’s smooth surface. It’s Kiwi, in a place I don’t recognize, planting something in a vegetable garden alongside Sadie.
Sadie. Looking like that little ice skater that proved I had a heart. Tears roll down my face and splatter against the moving picture.
“It’s a time cube. That is six months from now.” Artemis smiles. “You saved the world, Pike.”
I glance up and clear my throat. “Thank you.”
She frowns. “Don’t thank me yet. The gods never give anything for free.”
I nod. If anyone knows how true that is, it’s me. I stare out into the middle of the ocean and ruffle Oscar’s feathers. The waves around us dance outward, creating a funnel through which we sink. As we travel under the waves, I try not to think about where I’m going or what price I’m going to have to pay.
She’s safe.
They’re safe.
And even if I never see them again, it will have to be enough.
I close my eyes and imagine Sadie skating around on the ice like an air bound ballerina. From a distance, Kiwi watches.
They’re going to be okay.
And there isn’t a price I’m not willing to pay for that.
The End.
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