Soul of Olympus

Chapter Twenty-Two

"WOLVES," PIPER SAID. "THEY SOUND CLOSE." Jason rose and summoned his sword. Leo and Coach Hedge got to their feet too. Piper tried, but black spots danced before her eyes. Ariadne quickly helped get Piper balanced, before getting Piper to lean against a wall.

"Stay there Piper," Jason told her. "We'll protect you."

Piper gritted her teeth. She hated feeling helpless. She didn't want anyone to protect her. First the stupid ankle. Now stupid hypothermia. She wanted to be on her feet, with her dagger in her hand. But she knew if she even tried Ariadne would be a far worse experience than the wolves. Then, just outside the firelight at the entrance of the cave, they saw a pair of red eyes glowing in the dark. Okay, Piper thought. Maybe a little protection is fine.

More wolves edged into the firelight—black beasts bigger than Great Danes, with ice and snow caked on their fur. Their fangs gleamed, and their glowing red eyes looked disturbingly intelligent. The wolf in front was almost as tall as a horse, his mouth stained as if he'd just made a fresh kill. Piper pulled her dagger out of its sheath.

Then Jason stepped forward and said something in Latin. Piper didn't think a dead language would have much effect on wild animals, but the alpha wolf curled his lip. The fur stood up along his spine. One of his lieutenants tried to advance, but the alpha wolf snapped at his ear. Then all of the wolves backed into the dark.

"Dude, I gotta study Latin." Leo's hammer shook in his hand. 

"What'd you say, Jace?" AJ asked.

Hedge cursed. "Whatever it was, it wasn't enough. Look."

The wolves were coming back, but the alpha wolf wasn't with them. They didn't attack. They waited—at least a dozen now, in a rough semicircle just outside the firelight, blocking the cave exit.

The coach hefted his club. "Here's the plan. I'll kill them all, and you guys escape."

"Coach, they'll rip you apart like you're nothing," Ariadne said.

"Nah, I'm good."

Then they saw the silhouette of a man coming through the storm, wading through the wolf pack.

"Stick together," Jason said. "They respect a pack. And Hedge, no crazy stuff. We're not leaving you or anyone else behind."

Piper got a lump in her throat. She was the weak link in their "pack" right now. No doubt the wolves could smell her fear. She might as well be wearing a sign that said free lunch. The wolves parted, and the man stepped into the firelight. 

His hair was greasy and ragged, the color of fireplace soot, topped with a crown of what looked like finger bones. His robes were tattered fur—wolf, rabbit, raccoon, deer, and several others they couldn't quite identify. The furs didn't look cured, and from the smell, they weren't very fresh. His frame was lithe and muscular, like a distance runners. But the most horrible thing was his face. His thin pale skin was pulled tight over his skull. His teeth were sharpened like fangs. His eyes glowed bright red like his wolves'—and they fixed on Jason with absolute hatred.

"Ecce," he said, "filli Romani."

"Speak English, wolf man!" Hedge bellowed.

The wolf man snarled. "Tell your faun to mind his tongue, son of Rome. Or he'll be my first snack."

Ariadne and Piper remembered that faun was the Roman name for satyr. Not exactly helpful information. Now, if they could remember who this wolf guy was in Greek mythology, and how to defeat him, that they could use. The wolf man studied their little group. His nostrils twitched. 

"So it's true," he mused. "A child of Aphrodite. A son of Hephaestus. A faun. And a child of Rome, of Lord Jupiter, no less. All together, without killing each other. How interesting."