Page 81 of Professor and the Seer
Dina glanced at me and winked.
Enyo appeared quite at ease.
I wished I had their confidence.
Mom strode boldly to the bottom step. “It’s been a long time, Ariadne.”
“Too long. I’ve been searching for you, Deceiver.”
The unhappy statement made Mom smile broadly. “Still miffed about the incident all those decades ago?”
Wait, what? I perked up at hearing this.
“You tricked me.” Ariadne stood. “You betrayed me by creating them.” She pointed to us.
“Whatever do you mean?” Mom remained cool and confident.
“I never even realized what you did,” Ariadne mused aloud. “It was subtle, I’ll grant you. Stealing from me to gift your daughters in his name.”
“Hard to steal when it was never yours in the first place,” Mom sassed. “Besides, you lied to me first. You weren’t supposed to go after Typhon.”
“Still salty?” Ariadne mocked. “First, you’re jealous because I seduced Bacchus away from you. Then, when I chose to be more powerful, you plotted revenge. Pity all you’ve done is only going to make me stronger than ever. Now that I’ve got Typhon’s champions here, I can take back what’s mine. And when he comes, I’ll end him once and for all.”
“Poor, deluded human. Still thinking you can be a god,” my mom mocked. “You might have had centuries to pretend, but you’re still a nothing. A nobody.” Why mom antagonized I couldn’t figure out. I could see Ariadne getting agitated.
But rather than lash out at Mom, she turned her ire on us. “Bacchus, bring me the witch first.”
“Make me,” he taunted.
Only Ariadne couldn’t, I realized. Not without magic.
“Your pet can keep his hands to himself.” Dina strode confidently to face Ariadne. “Let’s get this over with, bitch.”
While I’d seen various versions of what happened next, it still wasn’t easy standing still.
A confident Ariadne smirked. “Any last words?”
Dina remained true to herself and said, “Kiss my ass, you skanky cow.”
“Time for you to die!” Ariadne declared. Magic returned in that moment, flooding the room, but I was ready. My shield slammed up against the visions. I ignored Ariadne’s scream at Bacchus to take my sister’s head.
Despite the magic pushing at him to obey, he took his time, obviously reluctant. My mom looked serene. She should. As goddess of deceit, she also knew what to expect.
Fear invaded every cell of my body, as did a desperation to save those I loved. My need to protect exploded. I cast out, looking for magic to borrow, but rather than grab it willy-nilly, I fine-tuned my power, seeking from Ariadne, who brimmed with it, but also Bacchus.
Ariadne reacted quickly. Too quickly. Her arcane shield slammed down, cutting me off and sending me to my knees.
John crouched by me. “Frieda!”
“I’m fine,” I muttered.
But the wanna-be empress of the world wasn’t.
She uttered a screech. “What have you done?”
The metal band on her wrist split open and fell on the floor just as Bacchus reached up to remove his collar. With a mighty roar, he swung his sword, not at my sister but at his wife, who stumbled backward.
Magic rose again as she conjured a shield in front of her just in time to avoid being cleaved in half. Not that it stopped Bacchus from swinging wildly left and right.