Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 123065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 615(@200wpm)___ 492(@250wpm)___ 410(@300wpm)
Anubis’s eyebrows arch. “Oh?”
“You know what I mean. She’s the last. She means nothing.”
“The more you speak the more it seems like you’re trying to convince yourself, then again what’s one small insignificant human life, hmm?”
“Exactly.” I look away.
“I’ll send her in once she gets here for training tomorrow. Cyrus, I hope you find what you’re looking for. And in the end, I hope it is worth it.”
I give him my back and listen to his solid footsteps as he leaves my office and opens the door to the raging noise from the bar. I don’t even hear it shut. It’s loud, it's always been chaotic.
It’s good. This is good.
I’m almost done.
It’s almost finished.
Balance will always outweigh Chaos.
And power will always overcome death.
I look in the direction of Olympus knowing it’s there, waiting for me. History will always repeat itself even when I’m gone.
By the time I make it outside to the street for a much-needed break, the weather’s gone from sunny to chaotic, like it can sense what’s about to happen or maybe it’s pissed about what’s been happening, what needs to continue to happen in order to keep those waves where they belong. The trial must continue. I must finish it. The Puget Sound feels different tonight. Many of the islands are no longer living beings, simply rocks scattered across the ocean, all except one so full of anger it refuses to let time take it.
“Settle down, Ken,” I whisper under my breath, knowing he can hear the vibrations of my voice through the wind, even if he doesn’t want to. A giant crack sounds in the distance as a tree snaps in half on the small island, hurling itself into the water. Nature’s throwing a small tantrum as per usual.
I snort out a laugh of amusement. So testy. “Yeah, well stop eating only fish, bread won’t kill you.”
I turn my back from the direction of his home, close my eyes, and breathe in the salty breeze mixed with the smell of cigarettes and booze.
“It wasn’t always like this, was it?” I say mostly to myself. “It’s almost like I can’t remember anymore what it was like to fly.”
The wind abruptly dies down, and I go back into the noisy bar to tell my staff we are about to prepare Styx for its final guest.
CHAPTER 2
CLEO
“Old myths, old gods, old heroes have never died. They are only sleeping at the bottom of our mind, waiting for our call. We have need for them. They represent the wisdom of our race.”— Stanley Kunitz
Igrip the railing as the fresh sea breeze of the Puget Sound stings my face. I loathe ferries. I always have. They’re large water taxis that move at the speed of a snail and right now it’s taking everything in me not to just jump into the freezing cold water and swim.
“Please. Please.” I tug at my bracelet and stare at the Olympic Mountain range.
My brain can’t help but continue to spit out the actual facts.
Nearly a million acres just outside of Seattle of nothing but mountains and water surrounding it.
Seventy-three miles of coastline alone.
Thirty-two glaciers.
Scientists have explored only about five percent of the earth’s oceans and according to myth we even have a giant squid or Kraken in ours. Not to mention the fascinating draw of one of the only islands in the Puget Sound where archeologists have found Egyptian hieroglyphics.
I look over the edge. A single tear slides down my cheek dropping dramatically against the railing, between my two hands still gripping tight. It’s around a thousand feet in depth.
He could be anywhere.
Or he could be totally fine.
This was not how I saw this all going. My twin brother just had to yet again be adventurous and stupid. He was never reliable so why did I think this was the one moment he would be? I not only moved from Glenns Ferry but took a new job to be closer to him and now he’s not even here but missing—or according to one of his nerdy older friends—and the only one I could get into contact with—on the adventure of a lifetime! My grumpy and panicked attitude apparently was not welcome.
Allegedly thousands of people applied to do this dig off the coast and Jack was picked, the plan was for him to go after I got settled in Seattle not just bounce the minute I said yes, scribble the guy’s number down for me to contact, and hook me up with my job.
It took at least a week for the police to finally take me seriously and even then they said it seems he merely went off grid and had told his employer he’d check back in, when asked if he’d done it before I couldn’t just lie and say no. He went missing for an entire month in Egypt two years ago, a year before that he was gone for a week in Cuba. I can’t blame the authorities for seeing him as a flight risk, but this time it feels different, this time I’m truly worried and not at all confident about finding him. The wind feels colder. The journey slower. I know it in my gut—something’s wrong.