Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
As for how one of the vials was "stolen" in the first place, the whole thing was a sham. The only reason an Echo's spell had worked to unlock her lab was because she had been the one to perform it herself.
It was something I had puzzled over at that time, how someone as clever and meticulous as Mira wouldn't have noticed a strange floral scent in her lab. But because I had the Big M, I had convinced myself that all of my first instincts were best forgotten or ignored.
Anyway, after having the vial "stolen", Mira had then used her knowledge of my "predictable" and "desperate" nature to concoct an elaborate tale of theft and redemption, all to buy herself some time to figure out a way to escape the Underworld with SR-41.
She had been like a parent preparing a scavenger hunt for her kid, only her clues involved sending Sssusssan off to visit a long list of people...and then getting the Gorgon to retrace her steps and killing everyone along the way.
So no, Maya was not their only victim. Four other people had died just to make things "fun" for me, and it was while Mira and her snake-haired henchwoman were talking that Gaea, having returned from a walk, accidentally found herself eavesdropping on the tail end of their conversation.
While she hadn't heard enough to know anything about Mira's plans, what she did know was that I was in danger, and so she had waited until Mira was gone before making her move.
She killed the real Sssusssan by burying her underground and then "dressed" herself (those were her exact words, FYI) in the Gorgon's flesh.
Since the earth goddess wasn't the type to risk underestimating her enemies, she had decided to stay in character while keeping me company in my quest. And when we reached town and I started acting rather suspicious, Gaea had decided to let me walk away and see what I'd do next.
I thought you were being threatened, the earth goddess explained, and you wanted to get away to meet your blackmailer.
So when she saw me enter a strange, dark house, Gaea had gone charging in, thinking I needed rescue, but instead she ended up exposing herself to Hadrian, who - in their quick exchange of Greek - had agreed to keep the secret of her identity.
Big mistake, that one, I always liked to remind Gaea and Hadrian, but only because I wanted to help them keep their feet on the ground.
Hadrian had believed I might accidentally slip up around Mira if I knew about Gaea disguising herself as the Gorgon, and the earth goddess had agreed.
Obviously, they thought wrong, and I had ended up throwing caution in the wind.
When I asked Gaea about the thing she had to do that kept her from accompanying me to Cheiron's house, she told me it was because she believed she had seen Mira lurking around outside the fortune teller's hut. So she had gone back to town, hoping Mira would take the bait and talk to her.
It was a good plan, especially since she was right, and Mira, in her monologue of evil, had admitted to being in town and watching from afar.
A good plan, like I said.
But because Gaea had decided to keep me out of the loop, I had started making my own plans as well.
The way I saw it at that time, since the amount of blood Little Iron consumed seemed to determine the speed in which the partridge discovered clues, I figured I could fast-track the whole process, have him jump from Point B to Point-Exactly-Where-We-Can-Find-Our-Thief by giving Little Iron as much blood as I could.
And what do you know?
My pet actually drank a freaking liter!
A liter!
I'd be dead if I were still human, but since I was a goddess, Little Iron only made me anemic and unconscious.
In the meantime, Cheiron had actually been following my trail since I left home. I was determined to protect you from the Gorgon, the centaur had admitted rather dryly, but instead I became another victim.
As Little Iron flew off like a bird on steroids, Gaea had been torn: if she left, something bad might happen to me, but if she didn't leave and follow Little Iron, something bad might happen to the entire world.
To this day, the earth goddess maintained that she had no idea what she'd have done if she were forced to make a choice, but...yeah right. We all knew she was lying. She'd totally choose saving the world or even choose saving a cockroach over me, just to ruin my day.
So anyway, it was a rather good thing Cheiron was there, and knowing that the centaur was the honorable sort, Gaea had dashed off without a word of explanation. She believed him capable of keeping me safe while I was unconscious, and the centaur did manage to do that...for about five seconds.