Pegasus and the New Olympians by Kate O'Hearn Read Free Book Online

But even with the glass door fully open, the winged stallion was too large to fit through the doorway. Joel, Paelen and Emily had to push Pegasus from behind to force his whole body and wings through the opening.
    ‘C’mon!’ Joel grunted. ‘One more good push should do it.’
    Pegasus whinnied in complaint as he was shoved painfully through the glass door. With a final effort, the stallion made it through the tight opening, but not before losing several feathers.
    As Chrysaor and Alexis trailed in behind the stallion, Emily and Paelen ran around the yard gathering Pegasus’s lost feathers, now blowing in the breeze. A large feather blew into the canal just as Emily reached for it.
    ‘Go and get it,’ Paelen said as the feather floated on the surface.
    ‘I’m not going in there,’ Emily protested. ‘You go get it.’
    Paelen shook his head. ‘Not me. I do not like water. You should go.’
    ‘And I don’t like alligators,’ Emily said. ‘I’ve heard Florida canals are full of them.’
    Paelen looked at her in shock. ‘So you wish for me to be eaten by creatures in this water?’
    ‘No, of course not, but being Olympian I’m sure the alligators would leave you alone.’
    While they argued, the feather drifted further away. Finally Emily raised her right hand. She concentrated on the feather while summoning the Flame. A tight beam of fire shot from her hand and burned up the feather. When it stopped, all that remained was steaming water.
    Emily looked at Paelen and rubbed her hands together. ‘That’s sorted. Let’s catch up with the others.’
    When they were all gathered in the small lounge, Emily stood beside Pegasus stroking his neck to let her powers restore his lost and damaged feathers. ‘Sorry about that, Pegs,’ she said softly. ‘But we had to get you in here. I don’t think any of us realize just how big you are until something like that happens.’
    Pegasus nickered softly and nodded his head.
    Moments later, Alexis raised her head and hushed Emily. ‘There are two humans stirring in this dwelling.’
    ‘Two?’ Emily repeated.
    Alexis let out a ferocious roar. In the blink of an eye, the Sphinx launched into the air. Soaring over Emily’s head, a strange, choked voice behind her screamed as Alexis knocked to the floor a long-haired man wearing a brown bathrobe.
    Emily received her first look at Alexis’s eating teeth as the Sphinx stood on the man’s chest and prepared to kill him. They were a terrifying sight. Huge, sharp canines filled her mouth as her jaw unhinged to allow her to open her mouth wider than Emily thought possible.
    ‘Alexis, no!’ Joel cried. He ran up to the Sphinx and knelt down beside her. ‘Please don’t kill him! We know him. He can help us.’
    When the Sphinx looked over to Joel, Emily saw her eyes were almost as scary as her teeth. The colour was gone and all she could see were enlarged, black pupils. A low deep rumble continued from the Sphinx’s throat. Emily understood what Diana meant about Alexis being a good security guard. She was terrifying.
    Finally the Sphinx’s pupils returned to normal and her teeth retracted. She climbed off, but remained close and poised to strike.
    Joel helped the man climb shakily to his feet.
    It took a moment to recognize him because he’d changed so much. His hair was long and shaggy and he had a moustache, but it was him. ‘Agent T!’ Emily cried. ‘What are you doing here?’
    ‘Me?’ the CRU agent challenged. ‘What the hell are you doing back here? And what is that thing you’ve brought with you?’ He pointed a shaking finger at Alexis.
    ‘Thing?’ Alexis repeated as her soft growls grew considerably louder. ‘Did you just call me a thing?’
    It was Agent T all right. He still possessed the same arrogance and defiance that all CRU agents had. If he wasn’t careful with the Sphinx, that arrogance would get him killed. Emily stepped forward to stop the disaster before it started. ‘This is Alexis,’