DIVINE » l. valdez

xiv

❝has something ended or begun? ❞

"JASON!"

Piper wouldn't stop screaming as everyone scrambled to their feet. 

Jason body was a hundred meters away steaming, his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

It had been two minutes since Hera had gone nuclear. Piper held Jason tightly in her arms.

"It's no use, child." Hera stood over them in her simple black robes and shawl. 

Hina's breath caught in her throat. They couldn't lose Jason. Not after everything they'd survived together.

Every vestige of winter was gone from the valley. No signs of battle, either. The monsters had been vaporized. The ruins had been restored to what they were before—still ruins, but with no evidence that they'd been overrun by a horde of wolves, storm spirits, and six-armed ogres.

Even the Hunters had been revived. Most waited at a respectful distance in the meadow, but Thalia knelt by Piper's side, her hand on Jason's forehead.

Thalia glared up at the goddess. "This is your fault. Do something!"

"Do not address me that way, girl. I am the queen—"

"Fix him!"

Hera's eyes flickered with power. "I did warn him. I would never intentionally hurt the boy. He was to be my champion. I told them to close their eyes before I revealed my true form."

"Um ..." Leo frowned. "True form is bad, right? So why did you do it?"

"I unleashed my power to help you, fool!" Hera cried. "I became pure energy so I could disintegrate the monsters, restore this place, and even save these miserable Hunters from the ice."

"But mortals can't look upon you in that form!" Thalia shouted. "You've killed him!"

Leo shook his head in dismay. "That's what our prophecy meant. Death unleash, through Hera's rage. Come on, lady. You're a goddess. Do some voodoo magic on him! Bring him back."

"I can," Hina realized, her face turning pale. "I can save him."

She rushed forward, grabbing hold of Jason's limp hand.

"No! You can't, you'll-" Leo's sentence trailed off, his words unspoken, but Hina understood- die. She would die to bring Jason back. Hina wasn't sure how much power she had before she'd be gone forever, and she couldn't let Jason leave them.

"I know, Leo. But, Jason is the one who needs to be here, he's Hera's champion. I was meant for this- it's my fate. This is my curse."

Hina knelt down beside Jason, earning a small nod from Thalia. She closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of her powers flow from her hand to Jason's. 

She swayed to the side, before her body went limp. Leo ran forward, catching Hina at the last second. He glared up at the goddess, fire in his eyes. 

"He's breathing!" Piper announced, gaining everyone's attention. Leo kept a tight grip on Hina as he turned to look at Jason.

"Impossible," Hera said. "I wish it were true, child, but no mortal has ever—"

"Jason," Piper called. "Listen to me. You can do this. Come back. You're going to be fine."

Nothing happened. Leo wondered briefly if Piper had imagined it.

"Healing is not a power of Aphrodite," Hera said regretfully. "Even I cannot fix this, girl. His mortal spirit—"

"Jason," Piper said again. "Wake up."

He gasped, and his eyes flew open. For a moment they were full of light—glowing pure gold. Then the light faded and his eyes were normal again. "What—what happened?"

"Impossible!" Hera said.

Piper wrapped him in a hug until he groaned, "Crushing me."

"Sorry," she said.

Leo smiled faintly at Jason, glad that one of his friends could defy death. 

Thalia gripped her brother's hand. "How do you feel?"

"Hot," he muttered. "Mouth is dry. And I saw something... really terrible."

"That was Hera," Thalia grumbled. "Her Majesty, the Loose Cannon."

"That's it, Thalia Grace," said the goddess. "I will turn you into an aardvark, so help me—"

"Stop it, you two," Piper said. Amazingly, they both shut up.

Piper helped Jason to his feet and gave him the last nectar from their supplies.