~ { Shadow and Beauty } ~

Hunters of Artemis

{Kiara}

"Well, they can starve," Kiara retorted.

   Lycaon bared his pointy teeth. Kiara was pretty sure the man could shred her to pieces in a matter of seconds. She doubted it would be painless if that were to happen. Then, Lycaon turned and glared at Jason's sword. He moved to each side as if looking for an opening, but Jason's blade moved with him.

   "Leave," Jason ordered. "There's no food for you here."

   "Unless you want tofu burgers," Leo offered.

   Lycaon bared his fangs. Apparently he wasn't a tofu fan.

   "If I had my way," Lycaon said with regret, "I'd kill you first, son of Jupiter. Your father made me what I am. I was the powerful mortal king of Arcadia, with fifty fine sons, and Zeus slew them all with his lightning bolts."

   "Ha," Coach Hedge said. "For good reason!"

   Jason glanced over his shoulder. "Coach, you know this clown?"

   "Jason, we both do," Kiara said. She had finally placed Lycaon's name. She remembered the legend she and Jason had been told when they were back at Camp Jupiter. "Lycaon invited Zeus to dinner," she said. "But the king wasn't sure it was really Zeus. So to test his powers, Lycaon tried to feed him human flesh. Zeus got outraged—"

   "And killed my sons!" Lycaon howled. The wolves behind him howled too.

   "So Zeus turned him into a wolf," Piper said, also looking like she remembered the story. "They call... they call werewolves lycanthropes, named after him, the first werewolf."

   "The king of wolves," Coach Hedge finished. "An immortal, smelly, vicious mutt."

   Lycaon growled. "I will tear you apart, faun!"

   "Oh, you want some goat, buddy? 'Cause I'll give you goat."

   "Stop it," Jason said. "Lycaon, you said you wanted to kill me first, but...?"

   "Sadly, Child of Rome, you are spoken for. Since this one"—he waggled his claws at Piper—"has failed to kill you, you are to be delivered alive to the Wolf House. One of my compatriots has asked for the honor of killing you herself."

   "Who?" Jason said.

   The wolf king snickered. "Oh, a great admirer of yours. Apparently, you made quite an impression on her. She will take care of you soon enough, and really I cannot complain. Spilling your blood at the Wolf House should mark my new territory quite well. Lupa will think twice about challenging my pack."

   Piper's heart tried to jump out of her chest. She didn't understand everything Lycaon had said, but a woman who wanted to kill Jason? Medea, she thought. But Kiara had killed that witch in front of Piper's eyes. What if she had survived...?

   Piper struggled to her feet. Spots danced before her eyes again. The cave seemed to spin. "You're going to leave now," Piper said, "before we destroy you."

   She tried to put power into the words, but she was too weak. Shivering in her blankets, pale and sweaty and barely able to hold a knife, she couldn't have looked very threatening.

   Lycaon's red eyes crinkled with humor. "A brave try, girl.

   I admire that. Perhaps I'll make your end quick. Only the son of Jupiter and maybe the daughter of Pluto is needed alive. The rest of you, I'm afraid, are dinner."

   At that moment, Piper knew she was going to die. But at least she'd die on her feet, fighting next to Jason.

   Jason took a step forward. "You're not killing anyone, wolf man. Not without going through me."