The Shadow Summoner | Book Three - PJO Universe

two

A MOTHERS LOVE

"Im confused." Apollo said as they stumbled along in the dark tunnels. "Are we still prisoners?"

Lu glanced at Apollo, then at Ariana and Meg. "Dense for a god, isn't he?"

"You have no idea." Meg grumbled

Ariana agreed. "He's always been like this."

"Do you work for Nero or not?" Apollo demanded. "And how exactly.?"

Hw wagged his finger from Lu to Meg, silently asking, How do you know each other? Or perhaps, Are you related since you're equally annoying?

Then Ariana caught the glint of their matching gold rings, one on each of their middle fingers. She remembered the way Lu and Meg had fought, their four blades slicing and stabbing in perfect synchronization.

Clearly, Lu had trained Meg once upon a time.

The obvious truth smacked Apollo in the face.

"You trained Meg." Apollo realized. "To be a dimachaerus."

"And she's kept her skills sharp." Lu elbowed Meg affectionately. "I'm pleased, Sapling."

Ariana had never seen Meg look so proud about anything.

She tackled her old trainer in a hug. "I knew you weren't bad."

"Hmm." Lu didn't seem to know what to do with the hug. She patted Meg on the shoulder. "I'm plenty bad, Sapling. But I'm not going to let Nero torture you any more. Let's keep moving!"

Torture. Yes, that was the word.

Ariana wondered how Meg could trust this woman. She'd killed the amphisbaena without batting an eye.

She had no doubt she would do the same to Apollo to herself if she felt it necessary.

Worse: Nero paid her salary. Whether Lu had saved them capture or not, she'd trained Meg, which meant she must have stood by for years while Nero tormented their young friend emotionally and mentally.

Lu had been part of the problem - part of Meg's indoctrination into the emperor's twisted family.

Ariana worried that Meg was slipping into her old patterns. Perhaps Nero had figured out a way to manipulate her indirectly through this former teacher she admired.

On the other hand, Ariana wasn't sure how to broach that subject. They were trekking through a maze of subway-maintenance tunnels with only Lu as their guide.

They continued their march, Meg and Lu trudging side by side, Apollo straggling behind, forcing Ariana to do the same.

Overhead, steel-caged work lights cast prison-bar shadows across the brick walls. Mud and slime coated the floor, exuding a smell like the old casks of 'wine' Dionysus insisted on keeping in his cellar, despite the fact that they had long ago turned to vinegar.

At least Meg's sneakers would no longer smell like horse poop. They would now be coated with new and different toxic waste.

After stumbling along for another million miles,

Apollo ventured to ask, "Miss Lu, where are we going?" He was startled by the volume of his own voice echoing through the dark.

"Away from the search grid," she said, as if this were obvious. "Nero has tapped most of the closed-circuit cameras in Manhattan. We need to get off his radar."

It was a bit jarring to hear a Gaulish warrior talking about radar and cameras. Ariana wondered again how Lu had come into Nero's service.

As much as she hated to admit it, the emperors of the Triumvirate were basically minor gods. They were picky about which followers they allowed to spend eternity with them.