Wonder Woman: Warbringer (DC Icons #1)(86)
Diana retrieved Theo from where he was lying on his back, panting in the dirt, and set about making herself useful, afraid that if she faced Alia now, Alia would see the truth in her face. Because Diana knew that Phobos and Eris weren’t worried. They’d been sure of themselves, smug. And they’d been hungry. What Alia had sensed in them was not anxiety but anticipation.
Now Diana understood what this war would really mean, and the terrible truth of the vow she’d made settled over her. If they did not reach the spring, she would have to face the horror of killing Alia, or live with the knowledge that she had helped set the gods’ terrible appetite loose upon the world—and offered her own people up for the feast.
They drove on, all of them weary and shaken. They’d faced bullets, missiles, a plane crash. Still, thought Alia, it was different to know that the forces allied against you weren’t just humans who happened to be better trained and armed, but that actual gods were trying to take you down.
For a while, Diana and Jason passed the map back and forth, debating the best route to take to Therapne. They could save hours by cutting east across one of the major highways, but those roads would also probably be the most closely watched. Instead, they agreed to keep heading south to a twisting mountain road that would take them directly through the Taygetus. It was steep, empty of people, and rarely used by anyone but tourists eager for scenery. The sharp cliffs and rock overhangs also meant they’d be hard to get eyes on from the air.
The sun sank low over the horizon, and Nim’s pace slowed. They used their brights when they could, but sometimes they had to double back when they missed road signs, and they were all getting sleepy. Nim’s yawns grew more frequent. They rolled down the windows, turned the radio up loud. Jason kept offering her swigs of sugary soda from their supplies. But it was no good.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “If I don’t stop, I’m going to fall asleep at the wheel.”
“It’s okay,” Alia said gently. She could sense Diana’s frustration with their progress, but she also knew Nim had pushed as hard as she could. They all had. If the gods had meant to scare them off, they’d failed.
They’d been wending their way down the eastern side of a steep series of hills, and when they reached a flat-enough area, Nim steered the car carefully off the road behind a stand of lush poplars and brush that would hide the car from anyone on the road.
“We’ll camp tonight,” said Jason. “If we get an early start tomorrow, we’ll be in Therapne long before sunset.”
“We have to be,” said Diana. “At dawn, the new moon rises and Hekatombaion begins.”
Nim punched a button and the car’s engine went silent. She turned off the headlights.
“We have the blankets Diana took from the farmhouse,” said Jason. “Two people can sleep in the car.”
“Or we could all sleep in the car,” said Theo. “Not that I’m afraid of the dark. Which I am not.”
Nim’s hands gripped the steering wheel. “I’m not sure that’s a great idea. Not if our…friends come back.”
They opened the Fiat’s doors and stepped outside into the balmy air. The stars glimmered brightly, gilding the trees around them in silver. Diana dropped into a lunge, stretching her long legs, and Alia felt a pang of sympathy. If she felt this stiff after being crammed in that car, Diana must really have been hurting.
“Do you hear that?” said Theo. “It sounds like running water.”
They picked their way through the trees and brush toward the sound and emerged at the top of a wide outcropping of rock. Alia took a deep breath, something in her heart eased by the beauty of what she saw.
A waterfall. Two waterfalls, really. One that fed the small pool beside them, and another that cascaded over the rocks in a misty white veil, emptying into a wide, dark pond below.
Theo picked up a rock and tossed it over the cliff. It hit the surface with a resonant plunk, sending silver ripples marching toward shore. “Seems pretty deep.”
“Look,” said Nim. “A bell.”
She was right. An old iron bell hung from a metal bar that had been driven between the rocks. “I think there’s a cave back there,” said Alia. “But why a bell?”
“It might be a hermit cave,” said Diana. “Mystics—”
But her voice was cut off by the sound of Theo’s whoop as he ran past them stark naked and leapt off the rock. A tremendous splash sounded, and they raced to the edge to see him emerge in the frothing water and shake his head like a dog.
Did I really just see Theo Santos naked? Alia thought. Do not giggle, she warned herself, but it was really hard when her mind kept conjuring up the image of Theo’s starlit backside.
“Good news!” he called from below. “It’s deep enough!”
“He is unhinged,” said Nim.
Diana frowned. “How did he even get his clothes off that fast?”
“We don’t have time for this,” Jason grumbled.
“I don’t know,” said Alia. “We have to stop for the night, and that water looks pretty good.” Just for a minute, she wanted to forget all the horror they’d seen. She wanted to pretend she was an ordinary girl on a road trip, even if she knew the illusion wouldn’t last.