Ch. 8 Seriously, never give Fox pain meds

                                    

                                          
Ace had rarely been as confused as he was in this moment. And he had been pretty confused before. But he had no idea how he and Logan had come to be slammed against a vending machine by Xander. There was no denying that Xander was a huge dude, even by demigod standards, but Ace wasn't one to be easily pushed around. 
                          
	And had Xander's eyes always been gold? Ace didn't pay the greatest attention to detail, but he was pretty sure he would have remembered the creepy yellowish eyes. 
                          
	Suddenly, Xander's head jerked forward and his face scrunched up in pain. Looking past him, Ace spotted Ro holding her emergency knife, a murderous look on her face. She was standing next to a very happy looking Fox. 
                          
	"Ro! You brought me to the vending machine! Yes! Gummy bears!" Fox was grinning like a madman, or, madwoman he should say. 
                          
Ro ignored Fox, keeping her gaze on Xander.  "Release him. Release Xander."
                          
	What on earth was Ro talking about? He was the one who needed releasing, not Xander. Well, him and Logan. Although if Xander was possessed or something that was likely who she was talking to. "Ace, you have to charms-"
                          
Before Ro could finish her sentence, Xander's face twisted into a sinister grin. Xander's body lurched, and his eyes slowly faded from gold into a deep brown showing that whatever had been inside him was gone now. Perfect. Now that they had that settled, they could leave. Immediately after Xander's eyes changed, he had slackened his iron grip on Logan and Ace's necks.  
                          
He had no idea what had possessed Xander, and he didn't really care as it was gone now. He turned to Ro with a smile on his face. It melted off when he saw the color of her eyes. Really? 
                          
For the first time since he'd met Ro, her face was completely devoid of all laughter and happiness. Her face was cold and harsh and ruthless. She sneered.
                          
"This one is strong, I like her." Ro's voice sounded raspy and mechanical. "She is fighting me, but she will not win." She looked down and examined her fingernails. "She keeps her nails long. They will be perfect for ripping your face off."
                          
She snarled and launched herself at Ace, her nails just grazing his cheek when an arm wrapped around her waist. Xander grabbed her, holding her back as she bucked and fought. Ace's cheek had three thin slices that welled blood. She stopped writhing and a wicked smile twisted her features. "She is powerful. Let's see what she can do, shall we?"
                          
The ground beneath them began to shake, dust falling freely from the ceiling. A piece of the ceiling, no bigger than a chicken nugget, shook loose and landed on Logan's shoulder, earning a yelp. Xander's grip on her loosened and she whirled around, elbowing him in the chest. He flew backwards, crumpled against the wall, and she stood over him, her golden eyes glowing with a cruel light. Everyone stumbled, their balance thrown and she was the only one standing steady.
                          
Suddenly, she doubled over, as if she had been punched in the stomach. For just a second, her face twisted and her gold eyes were replaced with green ones. She barked out, "Charmspeak!" But then the gold eyes returned, as cold and impassive as before. 
                          
But what was it Ro had said? Maybe charmspeak would work to get rid of them. 
	"Look at me." He poured everything he had into the words. Ro's gold eyes glazed over and met his. A snarl twisted her features. "Stop the earthquake."
                          
She struggled for a moment but eventually the shaking lessened until the ground only vibrated.
                          
"What are you?"
                          
"I'm an eidolon, you-" She let loose a string of terrible names in ancient Greek. Ace waved them off and kept going.
                          
"Are there more of you?"