1304 The Harbinger (The 13th Floor) by Christine Rains Page B

eyes. Babies weren’t supposed to be able to turn you to stone with their gaze, but she wasn’t going to take that chance.
    The first one chomped her ankle. Her wings shuddered, but she held herself in place. It was worse than frostbite or burning. The suddenness of death to her limbs was making her instincts scream flee. She couldn’t. Not just because she was chained, but because this was for Sam.
    “What’s going on? What are those things and what are they doing?” Sam’s hands were balled into fists.
    “They’re just little lizards. Close your eyes. Pay no attention.” Meira surprised herself when her voice didn’t shake.
    “They’re hurting you.” Sam protested as a third basilisk busted free of its shell.
    How long would it take for them to realize that they weren’t going to get fresh meat by just biting her? A few? A dozen? The eldest of the nest chirped sharply. It was getting angry.
    “Of course they’re hurting her.” Hera chuckled. “They’re hungry. Usually their mother is there to feed them but not for these poor little babes. Yet their venom turns their prey into stone. They’ll learn soon, sweet things.”
    “This is part of the challenge.” Meira swiftly added. “They want me alive afterward, Sam. Whatever happens, I’ll live. Don’t give in.”
    “There’s no reason for you to go through this just for me.” Sam shook his head and turned to the gods. Meira’s other foot was tasted, toes curling as they turned to stone.
    “Sam!” Her cry drew his attention back to her before he said something. “You heard what the oracle said. You’ll survive, go home, have a family. You’ll save more lives. Mine is only one. The suffering of a few doesn’t matter when it comes to the greater good.”
    “You know I’ve never subscribed to that philosophy,” Sam said.
    Of course she did. She’d only hoped that in this moment, he might reconsider. Meira peeked down to see two more basilisks tumbling out of their broken eggs. Such small things and rich with golds and greens on their scales. They might make pretty pets if they were only lizards.
    It was strange she thought those things. She was going to die and she was thinking about pets. Did it take her mind off the pain? No. Three biting at the same time drew out a scream.
    “Sam, you have to listen to me. You’re a hero. The world needs you.” Meira held her wings out to the sides to keep her balance. Wooziness from the pain threatened to topple her. Then the basilisks would be nipping at parts other than her feet. “I know you didn’t hear what the oracle said to me.”
    “She said she couldn’t see your future.” Sam shook his head again as he said it.
    “I’m at a crossroads. I have too many futures or none, and that’s why she couldn’t see one future for certain. But what she said to me was far worse. If I live, I’ll have a child and that child will destroy Earth.” It was one of the possibilities, but the one she feared the most. She couldn’t give Sam any hope for her. He needed to win, and she needed to die. Tears streamed down her pale flesh. “I can’t let that happen. You can’t let that happen.”
    “But she can’t know that for certain.” He ran his hands over his head as his chest heaved.
    “She’s never been wrong.” Meira let out a shriek as one of the babies—she’d lost track of which was which—climbed up her leg and inspected her knee. When it bit her, the poison seared through her body. The thick skin of her feet had slowed their venom, but now they were creeping up to softer flesh.
    “Ares!” A great whoosh and Algaea swooped down from the sky, landing to fall on her knees before the God of War. “Please, stop this. I know you can. She’s my sister. If you care for me at all, you’ll save her.”
    “Go away.” Ares snarled and gestured with a flick of his hand.
    “Please!” Algaea shuffled closer, bending her head to his shins. “She’ll bear your mark. She’ll be one of your