Forever Linked

Prologue

Prologue

One Month Previous

Hayden smiled a wicked smile at the girl in front of him, “Wait just a moment, this won’t take long.” He rounded the corner expecting to see the Gorgon that had followed him from his date. At first thought she was in love with him, the way he could feel her stares, it was only when he found a stone spider in his soup that he knew it was time to get out of there.

The Gorgon was not where he thought it would be, but then if it was he wouldn’t be able to live another day. Hayden cursed that he’d forgotten to bring his favourite sword he only had a small dagger that would work short range. He doubted he’d able to get close enough to cut the Gorgon’s head off in the first place.

“What’s little Tycho doing out all by himself, where’s your friends. I liked the flying one.” The voice came from behind him, yet he’d still to feel her presence. That would mean she wasn’t standing behind him, she was on one of the stairs or the top of the buildings. Drat, if she was behind him he could have turned around and sliced her head clean off.

“Since when do you care about a social life?” He asked without turning around or opening his eyes. If she was Medusa he would turn to stone the moment she laid her eyes upon him. One look from Medusa would turn any living creature to stone. If this was Stheno or Euryale he would be much safer, but he doubted that.

“Do not get smart, I could crush you in seconds.” He could hear her words getting louder now, that meant she was getting angrier or closer, neither seemed like a good thing. Suddenly a perfectly manicured hand lifted his chin up. Were his eyes opened he was sure he’d be turned into a prefect statue. It was the valuable prize in the Ancient World to kill one of the eight; their bodies could go for thousands of Drachmas to the right person. Something told him this Gorgon knew the right person.

A sharp nail ran from his Adam’s apple to the hollow of his neck, he kept still his fingers clasped around the hilt of the dagger. He would have to do this by sounds, which was hard with the snakes all plucking at his flesh. It was when one of the snakes got too close to his eye that he finally snapped. He brought the dagger out and in a swift motion sliced into in front of him. If his calculations were correct then the Gorgon would be cut was head to naval, yet he could not open his eyes to make sure. Retracting the dagger he glided his fingers along the blade hoping to feel something warm underneath, yet all he felt was the cold metal. “They told me you’d be hard. You are much too easy. At least the one they call Nysa looked me in the eye when I killed her. She cut into my skin with her emerald and rubies, but I gutted her true. Her blood fed me for an entire decade. Yet she was just a starter compared to what you could fetch me. You’re the leader, the great thinker. You’re the one they fear for they can never see you coming.”

Hayden stopped listening after that, the words she’d spoke was ringing in his ears; ‘When I killed her’. This Gorgon had killed Nysa, his Nysa. The girl he had vowed to keep safe with his life, the girl who could make him smile by just being there. She’d killed Nysa, the women that had healed him when he’d been bitten by the Hydra, the women that never left his side all the days he’d been sentenced to bed rest. Suddenly he saw her smirking face in his memories and knew then why he hadn’t cared then that she’d died. That thought made him feel better and cleared his head to think about what the rest of what the Gorgon had said.

“When I talk you listen!” The gorgon shouted. “I’m not talking for my benefit.”

“You might as well be I’m not bothered by what you say.” He calmly lied through his teeth. “You may be bothered by what I have to say though. You said you killed Nysa, not that you turned her to stone that means those who look into your eyes are not affected. That names you either Stheno or Euryale, the sisters that cannot harm a human.” He didn’t say that he knew then which sister it was; he had a much bigger surprise up his sleeve.