Kronos

52

The Titan

Though her body ached with every motion, Andrea had vented all her frustration and rage in attacking Trevor. In the corner of her eye, she could see Atticus doing the same to Remus, but she dared not look. Trevor might not be the most physically impressive man, but he still held an UMP, the removal of which was her first goal.

She slugged him with every ounce of energy she had and was happy to hear a high-pitched squeal of pain escape his mouth. His body spun from the blow, but he managed to hold on to the UMP and was already bringing it back around. Andrea caught the weapon with both hands and held it at bay.

In desperation, Trevor pulled the trigger, sending a full clip of ammo into the sky. Even after the bullets were spent, their struggle for the UMP continued, each pulling and kicking the other. Andrea knew Trevor had spare clips and didn’t want to give him a chance to reload the weapon. She pulled hard, but Trevor kept a vise grip on the gun and was pulled toward her so that their faces were only a foot apart, the gun held tight between them.

“Can’t we solve this in a civilized manner, my dear?” Trevor said, but the gleam in his eyes revealed he had no intention of being civilized.

Andrea pulled harder. “Stop…calling…me… that!” With a sudden reverse in direction, Andrea pushed instead of pulled and the combined force of her push and Trevor’s pull sent the UMP smashing into Trevor’s face. He sprawled back onto the deck, a trickle of blood running down his forehead.

With his hand, Trevor felt the wound, which quickly oozed hot liquid. Aghast at the sight of his own blood, Trevor scrambled to his feet and shouted, “That’s going to leave a bloody scar! This is bollocks!”

Trevor charged as Andrea swung the UMP at him like a club. She connected with his side, but the impact was slight as his body collided with hers. The UMP fell from Andrea’s hands. She and Trevor sprawled to the deck. Moving slowly from having the wind knocked out of her and still feeling the residual head-to-toe ache remaining from the beating Remus had delivered in O’Shea’s quarters, Andrea struggled to get back to her feet.

But not quick enough.

She never saw Trevor stand up, but the kick to the side of her head confirmed that he had. The stars that swirled in her vision and the ringing in her ears further told her she wasn’t long for this world. Her body became an unsupportable weight, and though she tried to push herself up, her arms failed to function.

A second kick, this one to the gut, sent her back down to the deck, clutching her stomach, gasping for breath. She was vaguely aware that Trevor was circling her, and though her body didn’t register the pain anymore, she could feel his foot smashing into her body time after time.

As the impacts against her body stopped, she heard Trevor speak in his typical boyish voice. Though she couldn’t see him, she imagined he was wearing his lopsided grin; that his billowy white hair, stained with blood, was dancing in the sea breeze. The mental image of the man infuriated her. She wanted nothing more than to jump up and beat the pulp out of him, but her body was broken and unresponsive.

A sudden jolt of fresh pain, far beyond what she’d experienced so far, ripped through her body. She screamed as the pain throbbed through her nervous system, causing her muscles to twitch uncontrollably. The agony was made all the more painful by the knowledge that she’d failed Atticus. By allowing Trevor to kill her, which he would most likely do at any moment, she failed in her promise to Maria. She had said she’d be there for Atticus. She had said she’d take care of him. And all she’d achieved by regaining his trust, his love, was to give him one more person to mourn for. There was no guarantee that Giona would survive Kronos. Even though O’Shea’s Jonah theory had given them hope, the odds of its being true were too remote. Atticus would be alone again, and she would be to blame.

Trevor’s voice invaded her senses again. She heard him say something about always having a second pair handy and opened her eyes to see him donning his trademark, thick-rimmed glasses. Her eyes fell beyond Trevor, who stood with his back to the rail. It was fitting, she thought, that the ocean would be the last thing she saw. She’d spent years of her life saving people from the ocean’s deadly grasp. And it would be there to watch her die.

The blue waters of the Gulf of Maine disappeared from her view as a black apparition rose up behind Trevor-the Grim Reaper himself come to claim her. A sudden tightness and the most intense pain she’d ever felt, convulsed her body. She screamed like an animal, wounded to the core. Death gnawed at her muscles, pulling them apart sinew by sinew.

Then the pain ceased, and she knew she was dead.