Free Olympic Cove 2-Breaker Zone by Nicola Cameron

die from his wound, only suffer until the end of time. Hercules persuaded
Zeus to allow Chiron to give up his immortality to Prometheus, who had been
chained to a rock in the Caucasus and left to die for the crime of giving fire
to Mankind. The brave centaur was then placed among the stars by Zeus himself,
and his body formed the constellation Centaurus .
    “Which just goes to show that humans can
find patterns in absolutely anything and history is written by the winners,”
Chiron said sourly. “I’m not among the stars, whatever that means, and there
was no place for me on Olympus without my immortality, so my half-brother Hades
was kind enough to let me wander around like this.”
    Ian cleared his throat. “Um, this is all
fascinating, but I think we might want to let Nick sit down before he falls over.”
    Nick realized he was weaving slightly.
Chiron gave him a judicious look. “Yeah, your color’s off. Grab a seat, kid.”
    Still clutching the staff like a
lifeline, he stumbled to an armchair and sank into it. “I don’t understand any
of this. What’s a Bearer? Why am I supposed to have lessons? What lessons?” His
voice rose with every word. “I just wanted to get away from my asshole
boyfriend!”
    “And there’s the meltdown,” Ian
muttered, coming over and kneeling next to his chair. “Nick, listen to me.
You’ve already had to take in a hell of a lot today.” He glared over his
shoulder at Chiron. “Let’s table the whole Bearer thing for now, okay?”
    The centaur shrugged. “Fine
by me.”
    You’re right. We’re putting too much on him. If it was possible for a snake to look
embarrassed, Pythia managed it. We’ll discuss this later, Nicholas. For now,
attend to your patient. If you need my assistance, simply take the staff and
call my name. The snake wound back down into its former position and
froze, becoming carved wood again.
    “My patient—oh, shit.” Nick tried to
lurch up from the chair, but Ian pushed him back down. “No, I need to check on
him.”
    Chiron held up a hand. “I’ll do that. Slick,
get the kid some alcohol, stat.”
    ****
    Leaving the stunned mortal in the care
of Ian, Chiron went back into the guest room. As he’d expected, Aidan was still
in bed, curled away from the door and suspiciously still.
    Chiron checked the IV line, then smirked. “You can stop pretending you’re asleep,
tadpole. I can hear you thinking.”
    Reluctantly, the merman rolled onto his
back, large eyes blinking in the dim room. “You’re really Chiron, lord?”
    “In the flesh.” Chiron waggled
transparent fingers. “So to speak. What can I do you
for?”
    Aidan struggled to sit up. “Where am I?”
    “You’re in the home of Bythos and
Aphros.” He shrugged. “Technically it belongs to their mate Ian, but it’s all
the same thing in the end.”
    A look of shock crossed the mer’s face.
“I’m in the Storm God’s home?”
    “Yeah, but he started out as a human so
don’t get all worshippy or anything. He’s short and annoying. You’ll probably
like him.”
    The mer visibly gulped. “Oh. Are the sea
lords very angry with me?”
    That surprised the centaur. “For what?”
    “For getting shot by a human. For having to be rescued and taken in.” The merman’s fists
clenched, and he glanced away. “Mers are supposed to be better than that.”
    Chiron sighed. Merfolk pride was a
fierce thing. “I wouldn’t worry about it,” he said. “Even if the human who shot
you says anything to his friends or family, they’ll just think he’s crazy.”
    “Still, I let myself be seen. Be
wounded, even. That was just pathetic.”
    “Right now, the idiot who shot you is
probably in more danger from the Wonder Twins than you are, so stop beating
yourself up. How’s the leg?”
    “I’ve had worse.”
    Chiron nodded. “You can thank your healer
for that. Getting Aphros to fetch some morphine was inspired.”
    “My healer?” The merman
looked at him now. “You mean Nick? He’s