𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇 [Jason Grace]

56

𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐓𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐢 had been the last time they'd fought and how she had killed August, the other demigod on the quest with them. Despite those mismatched legs, she could move fast when she wanted to. She dodged dagger strikes and would have eaten Jason's face if she hadn't gotten distracted and tried to seduce Dante first who stabbed her.

Now she had four friends with her.

"And your friend Jason is with you!" Tammi hissed with laughter. "Oh, yeah, I totally remember him. Still just as hot." 

She winked and both Dante and Jason wrinkled their noses in twin expressions of disgust.

Tammi touched her own sternum, where Dante stabbed her. "What's the matter, Son of Mercury? Don't like the reminders of the past?"

Dante tried to think. He and Jason stood shoulder to shoulder as they had many times before, ready to fight. But neither of them was in good shape for battle and they were hopelessly outnumbered. There was nowhere to run. No help coming.

That left Dante's favorite tactics: trickery, talk, delay.

"So..." he started, "I guess you're wondering what we're doing in Tartarus."

Tammi snickered. "Not really. I just want to kill you."

That would've been it, but Jason chimed in.

"Too bad," he said. "Because you have no idea what's going on in the mortal world."

The other empousai circled, watching Tammi for a cue to attack; but the ex-cheerleader only snarled, crouching out of reach of Jason's sword.

"We know enough," Tammi said. "Gaea has spoken."

"You're heading toward a major defeat." Dante sounded confident, even to himself. He glanced at the other empousai, one by one, then pointed accusingly at Tammi. "This one claims she's leading you to a victory. She's lying. The last time she was in the mortal world, Tammi was out for a shopping trip. She has no idea what's going on. She just wants to lead you to another disaster."

The other empousai muttered and shifted uneasily.

"Enough!" Tammi's fingernails grew into long black talons. She glared at Dante as if imagining her sliced into small pieces. "Don't you remember how I killed your friend? The other demigod? What was his name...?"

Tammi made a show of thinking while tapping her finger on her chin. Anger bubbled inside Dante. It roared in his ears, making him forget about everything else. He would have leapt at the empousa if Jason hadn't grabbed hold of his hand.

For a moment, the touch surprised Dante more than the anger inside him. When he caught Jason's eye, there was a hardened gleam, something primal and angry, like a wolf ready to tear through Tammi.

"August," Jason said, "His name was August."

"The boys lie," Tammi said. "So I was in the mortal world with Kelli and then I decided to go for a shopping trip. Fine! But that was all part of Gaea's plan. Now we will totally feast on demigods!"

The other vampires gnashed their teeth in a frenzy of excitement. Dante had been in the middle of a war twice before. That wasn't nearly as scary as empousai ready to feed.

He prepared to attack, but how many could he dispatch before they overwhelmed him? It wouldn't be enough. He slipped a dagger out of his sheath, still painfully aware he was holding hands with Jason of all people.