A Girl's Guide to Guns and Monsters - Martin Harry Greenberg [41]
“So . . .” Helen started, “are you here with someone?” She dreaded his answer, but was relieved when he shook his head.
“Actually, no. I thought I’d take my chances by chilling up here, taking in the view, see if anyone else had the same idea to come up here all alone . . .”
“I’m Helen,” she said, holding out her hand. “Helen Leda.”
The man took her hand and Helen was surprised at how warm it was, how inviting. He raised it to his lips and kissed it. Sure, Helen thought, it’s a bit corny, but sweet nonetheless.
“Enchanted,” he said. “My name’s Jason. Jason Eros.”
At the mention of his name, Helen’s face fell. “Oh . . . shit . . .”
Jason cocked his head at her, still holding her hand. “What? What’s wrong?”
Leis was standing right behind him. A loop of ornate chain was stretched between her two hands and she threw it over Jason until it came down across his arms and she pulled it tight. “Gotcha!” she cried.
Jason’s arm fell to his sides. Leis lashed her foot out behind one of his knees and dropped him to the observation deck tiles.
“Leis,” Helen called, “don’t! He’s a nice guy.”
Leis glanced up at her and shook her head, an amused look on her face. “Sure he is,” Leis said. “Let me guess. Came off as rather sweet, rather charming, felt yourself warming to him quickly . . . ?”
Helen nodded.
Leis pushed Jason over, planting him face first onto the observation deck before rolling him over on his back again. She bent over and looked him in the eye. “Not a sincere moment to all of it,” she said. “Calling yourself Jason Eros now, are you? Aren’t you just a clever little creature of habit?”
The chain wrapped around the man couldn’t have been thicker than a necklace, yet Jason seemed totally immobilized. “What the hell is that?” Helen asked.
“It’s amazing what the university has in its archeological archives,” Leis said. “This is made from the same material as the crossbow bolt tips. It’s all Hephaestian steel.”
“I know this one,” Helen said. “Hephaestus. Mythical Roman blacksmith, right?”
“So close,” Leis said. “Greek. Roman version of him is named Vulcan.”
The observation deck crowd around them had all backed off considerably. Leis grabbed Jason’s face and turned it toward Helen as well.
“I knew you’d take my bait,” she said.
“Excuse me?” Helen asked. “I’m your bait?”
“Yep,” Leis continued without any real reaction. “See, I knew I’d have trouble identifying him. Wasn’t sure what form he’d be in, but he can be oh- so-predictable when it comes to a pretty lady.”
Helen couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “So you brought me along as bait?”
“Don’t get your panties twisted,” Leis said. “It worked, didn’t it?”
Helen felt the rage rising in her. She hated being used. It was one thing when Leis drank the last of Helen’s clearly marked orange juice in the fridge, but putting her in harm’s way on purpose? It was beyond the beyond. Before she could stop herself, Helen stalked over to Leis, reached down with both hands, and shoved her hard. Leis stumbled backward, rising to her feet to keep her balance.
“Hey!” Leis shouted. “What the hell?”
“What are you going to do?” Helen asked. “Stake me through the heart with one of your Hephaestian bolts?”
“Keep pushing me around,” Leis said, “and it just might be an option.”
Leis’ eyes flared with rage, but Helen didn’t back down. She was too pissed at being dangled like a worm on a hook. Leis threw open her cloak, her arms shooting out to shove Helen. It stung, but Helen pushed back, grabbing Leis’s cloak and trying to pull it closed in the hopes of containing her. The wind whipped against them as they struggled, the cloak enveloping them, blinding Helen as she held on to it for dear life.
When the wind dropped back to normal, Helen bat-ted away the end of the cloak covering her face, but almost wished she hadn’t. Leis had pulled her crossbow free and was aiming at her. Helen let go of the cloak, backing away as fast as she could and raising her arms in hopeless defense. Leis fired and Helen closed her eyes, bracing for the impact.
The crossbow’s string twanged.