The Blood of Olympus (The Heroes of Olympus #5)(57)

Thalia sheathed her knife. ‘You don’t know Orion. I wish we had more time, Praetor. I’d like to hear about your camp and how you ended up there. You remind me so much of your sister, and yet –’

‘You know Hylla?’ Reyna asked. ‘Is she safe?’

Thalia tilted her head. ‘None of us are safe these days, Praetor, so I really must go. Good hunting!’

Thalia disappeared down the corridor.

The metal doors creaked open. The three Hunters led Reyna through.

After the claustrophobic tunnels, the size of the warehouse took Reyna’s breath away. An aerie of giant eagles could’ve done manoeuvres under the vast ceiling. Three-storey-tall rows of shelves stretched into the distance. Robotic forklifts zipped through the aisles retrieving boxes. Half a dozen young women in black trouser suits stood nearby, comparing notes on their tablet computers. In front of them were crates labelled: EXPLOSIVE ARROWS AND GREEK FIRE (16 OZ. EZ-OPEN PACK) and GRYPHON FILLETS (FREE-RANGE ORGANIC).

Directly in front of Reyna, behind a conference table piled high with reports and bladed weapons, sat a familiar figure.

‘Baby sister.’ Hylla rose. ‘Here we are, home again. Facing certain death again. We have to stop meeting like this.’

XXIII

Reyna

REYNA’S FEELINGS WEREN’T SO MUCH MIXED.

They were thrown into a blender with gravel and ice.

Every time she saw her sister, she didn’t know whether to hug her, cry or walk away. Of course she loved Hylla. Reyna would have been dead many times over if not for her sister.

But their past together was beyond complicated.

Hylla walked around the table. She looked good in her black leather trousers and black vest top. Around her waist glittered a cord of gold Labyrinthine links – the belt of the Amazon queen. She was twenty-two now, but she could’ve been mistaken for Reyna’s twin. They had the same long dark hair, the same brown eyes. They even wore the same silver ring with the torch-and-spear emblem of their mother, Bellona. The most obvious difference between them was the long white scar on Hylla’s forehead. It had faded over the last four years. Anyone who didn’t know better might’ve mistaken it for a worry line. But Reyna remembered the day Hylla got that scar in a duel on board the pirate ship.

‘Well?’ Hylla prompted. ‘No warm words for your sister?’

‘Thank you for having me abducted,’ Reyna said. ‘For shooting me with a tranquilizer dart, putting a bag over my head and tying me to a chair.’

Hylla rolled her eyes. ‘Rules are rules. As a praetor, you should understand that. This distribution centre is one of our most important bases. We have to control access. I can’t make exceptions, especially not for my family.’

‘I think you just enjoyed it.’

‘That, too.’

Reyna wondered if her sister was as cool and collected as she seemed. She found it amazing, and a little scary, how quickly Hylla had adapted to her new identity.

Six years ago, she’d been a scared big sister, doing her best to shield Reyna from their father’s rage. Her main skills had been running and finding them places to hide.

Then on Circe’s island Hylla had worked hard to be noticed. She wore flashy clothes and makeup. She smiled and laughed and always stayed perky, as if acting happy would make her happy. She’d become one of Circe’s favourite attendants.

After their island sanctuary burned, they were taken prisoner aboard the pirates’ ship. Again Hylla changed. She’d duelled for their freedom, out-pirated the pirates, gained the crew’s respect so well that Blackbeard finally put them ashore lest Hylla take over his ship.

Now she’d reinvented herself again as queen of the Amazons.

Of course, Reyna understood why her sister was such a chameleon. If she kept changing, she could never fossilize into the thing their father had become …

‘Those initials on the reservation sign at Barrachina,’ Reyna said. ‘HTK. Hylla Twice-Kill, your new nickname. A little joke?’

‘Just checking to see if you were paying attention.’

‘You knew we would land in that courtyard. How?’

Hylla shrugged. ‘Shadow-travel is magic. Several of my followers are daughters of Hecate. It was a simple enough matter for them to pull you off course, especially since you and I share a connection.’

Reyna tried to keep her anger in check. Hylla, of all people, should know how she would feel about being dragged back to Puerto Rico.

‘You went to a lot of trouble,’ Reyna noted. ‘The queen of the Amazons and the lieutenant of Artemis both rushing to Puerto Rico on a moment’s notice to intercept us – I’m guessing that’s not because you missed me.’

Phoebe the ginger-haired Hunter chuckled. ‘She’s smart.’

‘Of course,’ Hylla said. ‘I taught her everything she knows.’

Other Amazons started to gather around, probably sensing a potential fight. Amazons loved violent entertainment almost as much as pirates did.

‘Orion,’ Reyna guessed. ‘That’s what brought you here. His name got your attention.’

‘I couldn’t let him kill you,’ Hylla said.

‘It’s more than that.’

‘Your mission to escort the Athena Parthenos –’

‘– is important. But it’s more than that, too. This is personal for you. And for the Hunters. What’s your game?’