Pegasus and the New Olympians Read Online Free PDF

was about music. But what kind of music sends men to the grave but absence sends them to work? The Muses sang beautifully, but they never killed with their songs. Who did?
    Emily smiled. ‘I know.’
    ‘Tell me,’ the Sphinx demanded.
    ‘The answer is: the Sirens.’
    Alexis laughed. ‘You are wrong.’
    Emily’s temper flared. ‘No I’m not. The Sirens send men to their graves in the water, but when they leave, the sailors can get back to work. So it’s got to be the Sirens.’
    ‘You are wrong,’ Alexis repeated.
    ‘So what is the answer?’
    ‘That is for me to know and you to figure out.’
    ‘What?’ Emily cried. ‘You’re cheating. I got the answer right and you don’t want to admit it!’
    The fur on the hackles of Alexis’s lion’s back rose as the Sphinx narrowed her green eyes. ‘Cheat? You accuse me of cheating!’ She advanced on Emily.
    Emily took a step back and raised her hands. She felt the tingling of power flowing down her arms to her hands. The Flame was just a breath away.
    ‘Alexis, enough,’ Pluto said. ‘Control yourself. Emily, you too!’
    The Sphinx’s furious green eyes lingered on Emily a moment longer before she turned back to Pluto. ‘As you command.’
    Emily lowered her hands, but refused to take her wary eyes off the Sphinx.
    Pegasus nickered softly and nodded his head. He stepped closer to Emily and nudged her in the back gently.
    ‘He says Alexis never lies,’ Paelen translated. ‘If you had said the correct answer, she is bound by honour and the laws of Olympus to tell you. Your answer was wrong.’
    Emily started to protest further until Pluto raised his voice. ‘This is not open for discussion. The riddle was asked, the answer given. Alexis will go with you.’
    ‘But—’ Emily cried.
    Pluto shook his head. ‘You are the Flame of Olympus and too precious to risk. Either you will take Alexis with you, or you will not go at all.’
    Joel leaned over to her. ‘It’ll be all right, Em. With Pluto’s helmet, you’ll never even see her. We’ll just go, see Tornado Warning and come right back.’
    Emily looked at Joel, then Paelen, who was nodding his head enthusiastically. It was obvious how much they both liked the Sphinx. Finally her eyes trailed over to Alexis, who was still eyeing her up dangerously. She shook her head. ‘I have a very bad feeling about this.’

5
    The group entered the bright, powerful light of the Solar Stream. This was the passage the Olympians used to travel between worlds. It was loud and filled with white energy that caused the hair on Emily’s arms to stand on end. Riding on Pegasus, she recalled her father’s fearful face as he watched her go. She prayed she would be returning to him in Olympus soon with good news.
    Behind Emily and Pegasus was Joel on Chrysaor, while Paelen flew beside them using his winged sandals. Emily looked back and saw Alexis at the very rear. The Sphinx’s face was grim as her large wings beat in rhythm with Pegasus’s.
    When they burst free of the Solar Stream, Emily was alarmed to feel the sunny warmth of a summer day. What her father said was true. The time between the worlds was completely different. While it was night on Olympus, it was full daylight in the skies over New York City. They had also discovered that when a day passed in Olympus, weeks had sometimes passed in her world.
    They had decided to return to the New York area where the Belmont Stakes, the last race in the Triple Crown, was run. It was the final place Tornado Warning had been seen. When they emerged from the Solar Stream, Emily looked down to see the tall antennae of the Empire State Building pass directly beneath them. She could see tourists on the observation deck. They all seemed to be looking down on the world and failed to notice them. ‘Pegs, we’re too low! Take us higher in the sky!’
    Pegasus manoeuvred his wings and led the group higher in the sky as he flew uptown over the city. Emily looked back at Joel. He