Oona was already a step ahead of her. Atlas had set her heavy bag on the ground, and she knelt beside it and pulled out several of her books. “There’s gotta be something in one of these.”
“Just don’t go too far away,” I told Quinn. “I don’t want you getting lost or separated from us.”
She saluted me, then she and Atlas disappeared around the corner in search of some sign of the correct path.
Asher dropped his bag to the ground and began pacing, cursing as he did. Sweat beaded on his temples, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “I can’t believe this.”
“It’s okay. The sólarsteinn says he’s still there.” I held it flat on the palm of my hand, and the rainbow prism of light still pointed to the same spot it had been aiming at since we got here. “We’ll find him.”
Asher shook his head. “But we shouldn’t be here for nightfall, and it’s getting late. I made us waste the whole day.”
I stared up at the cloudless sky, and I was surprised by how different it looked here. When we’d reached the entrance to the Gates it had been early afternoon, with a yellow sun shining brightly. But now the sun appeared to be setting, casting everything in dark oranges and reds, and we hadn’t been here all that long.
Did time move differently in the Gates?
I squinted up at the sky, trying to make sense of it. “Is it, though?”
“It’ll be dark soon,” he persisted, and I didn’t bother arguing with that. He might be right, and the Gates was definitely someplace I wouldn’t want to be after dark.
“We’ll find him. It’s not your fault.” I put my hand on his arm to comfort him, but he shrugged it off and took a few steps away from me.
“How is it not my fault? The task I was assigned was navigation, and I clearly failed.” His voice trembled with barely contained anger.
“None of us knew that technology doesn’t work here in the Gates. We’re almost there, Asher. We’re going to find him.”
He exhaled deeply and avoided my gaze, the way he had been all day. “I wish I could be so sure.”
“Are you okay? You’ve seemed … off all day.”
“It’s been a weird day.”
I moved closer to him. “Is that all?”
Finally, after a long pause, he lifted his head, and his dark eyes were stormy, as he quietly said, “I saw you last night.”
“What?”
He licked his lips. “I saw you dancing with Quinn and kissing her.”
My jaw dropped. This was not what I was expecting him to say, and I had no idea how to respond. Definitely not now, but probably not ever.
“You were back at the hotel,” I managed.
“I left. I found a safe under the bed for the weapons, and I wanted to see how you were doing … and then I saw.”
“Oh. I … I don’t know what to say.”
“I was just starting to really care about you, and I thought…” His mouth twisted into a grimace, and he looked away from me. “I don’t know.”
“This isn’t the time to talk about this, Asher.”
“I know. I just…” He rubbed the back of his neck, then looked at me again.
“Hey, guys!” Oona shouted, breaking through the tension. She turned her head to yell down the corridor to the others. “Quinn, Atlas, I may have found something!”
“What?” I asked, going back over to where she knelt in the dirt just as Quinn and Atlas came jogging back over to us.
“What’d you find?” Atlas asked, wiping away the sweat on his brow with the back of his arm.
Oona tapped the page in the old book splayed open before her. “It says here that all roads lead from the Merchants of Death, which is the name of that awful market back there, so we just have to go back there and try again.”
Asher cursed under his breath again, and Quinn groaned. None of us was looking forward to heading back to the market. The path from there had been wonderfully uneventful—we’d seen hardly a creature or a demon along the way, and that had suited us all just fine.
“Maybe we should just head out and find a place outside of the Gates to camp for the night, and try again tomorrow,” Atlas suggested.
“But I don’t really think it’s that late. I think we—” I began, but the sound of wings flapping and a familiar squawking interrupted me.
There, perched on the edge of the wall, was a huge raven, with the setting sun shimmering off its black feathers. The bird tilted its head at me, and somehow I knew this was the same raven I’d seen before. The one that had been following me around.
“That raven.” I pointed up at it. “I know that raven.”
“What do you mean, you know that raven? How do you know that raven?” Oona asked, incredulous.
“I just do,” I replied as the bird started hopping down the wall away from us. “I think we should follow it.”
“What are you talking about?” Quinn asked.
“I’m gonna follow it,” I decided just as the bird took flight.
“Malin, that doesn’t make sense,” Quinn said, trying to reason with me, but there wasn’t time to argue before I lost sight of the bird. The raven was flying on ahead, so I took off after it, and I didn’t wait to see if anyone else was following.
FIFTY-TWO
As the raven flew overhead, guiding me through the winding paths, the walls around me grew higher and higher, until I realized that they weren’t actually walls at all. They were large pyramidesque structures that soared toward the reddening sky above, and homes were carved into the sides, like cliffside pueblos.
My focus was on the raven and making sure I didn’t lose sight of it, but I heard the others running behind me. I quickly looked back over my shoulder and saw that all four of them were behind me.
When I glanced over at the homes built into the towering pyramids, I saw that demons were leering at us from their windows and doorways and narrow balconies. I could almost feel their eyes burrowing into me, and I ran faster, afraid of what would happen if all the inhabitants decided to descend the long staircases after us.
While all of the Gates had a putrid stench, as I neared the end of the stretch of pyramids I noticed the smell growing more intense. It wasn’t just sulfuric anymore—it was moldy and earthy. And beneath that was a pronounced sweetness, sickeningly so, like apples and berries left to rot in the sun.
It was the scent of death and decay.
The raven cawed loudly, soaring ahead of me, and I raced around a corner and stopped in my tracks. I was in front of the Bararu Mutanu Ossuary.
At first glance, it looked like an average chapel built centuries ago, except all the flourishes, every single detail of them, from the archway to the seal of Kurnugia on the wall, were made entirely out of bones. Skulls and femurs—both from mortals and immortals—decorated every inch. The architecture was impeccable, and it would’ve been rather beautiful if it wasn’t so macabre.
“Holy shit,” Quinn said breathlessly as she and the others caught up with me. “What is this place?”
“It’s the ossuary,” Asher explained. “It’s the heart of the Gates, and below it is the entrance to Kurnugia.”
We were all so enamored with the skeletal edifice that none of us noticed the beautiful woman standing in front of it—not until the hulking albino wolf at her side let out a guttural growl.
“Easy, Surma,” she commanded the beast gently, her voice lilting with an unfamiliar accent, and her blue eyes settled on us. “You look lost. Perhaps I can help you?”
Her gown—made of gauzy, half-decayed rags—ruffled in a light breeze, and part of it had slid down off her shoulder. Her pale skin was mottled gray and blue in places, with the dark lines of her veins visible underneath.
As she walked toward us, taking slow steps, she brushed her fine blond hair out of her face, and I realized that scent of death was coming directly from her. Oona and Asher recoiled from her stench.
“You’re Kalma,” I said to her, remembering what I’d learned from textbook
s. The demigoddess who guarded the passage to the underworld was renowned for her odor.
“I am.” She batted her lashes, unfazed. “Why are you here?”
“Are you sure this is the right place?” Oona asked, sounding almost desperately hopeful that we wouldn’t have to travel past a goddess of death into a building made of bones.
But the raven had perched on a skull sitting just above the doorway, so I knew this was exactly where we were supposed to be.
“We need to go inside,” I said firmly.
“I can’t grant you passage in there,” Kalma replied, sounding disinterested in the whole affair. “Kurnugia is no place for mortals.”
“We’re not going to Kurnugia,” I explained, hoping to avoid a confrontation if I could. “We only want to go inside the ossuary. There’s a draugr inside there that we need to find.”
“Those that are inside are allowed in by invitation only, and I am certain that no one invited you.”
I stood my ground, holding my head high. “You can let us in, or we will go in by force.”
Kalma offered me an amused smile. “I have no fear of you.”
The wolf charged first, lunging toward us, and Atlas moved quickly, swinging at it with his mace. The spiked ball collided with Surma, who let out an angry growl as he flew into the building.
Kalma may have looked young and harmless, but when she threw a punch, Quinn went flying backward and landed heavily in the dirt. I barely ducked out of the way of her next attack.
While Atlas dealt with the demon wolf, Oona crouched beside Quinn, making sure she was okay, but Quinn was up in a flash, wiping the blood from her lip and charging in to help Atlas. Oona began rummaging through her knapsack for anything that could help in the fight, leaving me and Asher to handle Kalma.
I didn’t want to use the dagger and risk breaking it, not before I used it on Tamerlane, and I wasn’t sure how well Sigrún would work against a goddess of death, so that left me fighting hand-to-hand. When I swung at her, Kalma grabbed my fist and stopped it, grinning at me as she squeezed my hand. She was bending my wrist backward, making me kneel before her. My bones were hard to break, but it wouldn’t take much more from her before my arm snapped.
Asher pulled Dyrnwyn from its sheath, the black blade glinting under the crimson sky, and swung at Kalma. He connected with her arm, and I could see he was using all his might, but the blade barely even broke her skin, sending dark gray blood dripping down her flesh.
She let go of my fist and turned her attention to Asher, letting out an ethereal laugh. “You cannot kill me. I am of death.”
I wasn’t sure if Kalma was telling the truth or not, but in my experience nothing was completely immortal—it was just that some were harder to kill than others.
“Use the power of the weapon!” I shouted at Asher. “Aim for her head or heart!”
He held the sword with both hands. Asher closed his eyes as Kalma approached—presumably channeling the purity of his intentions into the weapon.
Finally, just when she was upon him, the blade burst into white-hot flames, and Asher swung with all his might. Her dress went up in flames immediately, the fire blackening her skin as it burned. Kalma let out an agonized scream that died almost instantly as Asher sliced through her neck.
Her head toppled to the ground, her blue eyes still staring upward and her mouth open in an angry scream as her dark blood poured into the dirt.
Surma—her once-faithful companion—saw his mistress dead and the sword on fire, and let out a confused yelp before turning tail and running off to hide in the labyrinth.
“You okay?” Asher asked, helping me to my feet.
I nodded. “Let’s just get going before somebody else tries to stop us.”
FIFTY-THREE
“This damned thing won’t budge,” Quinn grunted as she slammed into the massive arched door that blocked the entrance to the ossuary.
Atlas joined her, and together they hit the door so hard that they knocked a door knocker made of human bones loose and it tumbled to the ground.
“It’s enchanted.” Oona knelt down in front of the three steps that led up to the door, with her grimoire open. “Like the cabdriver said, the inhabitants are too powerful for anything in the physical world to keep them out, so there has to be magic and spells in place.”
“Can you break it and get us in?” Quinn asked, rubbing her shoulder where she’d been crashing into the door.
“Maybe, but you have to shut up and let me read,” Oona said.
I stepped back, giving her space, and stared out at the darkening world around me. Kalma’s body lay a few feet away, still reeking horribly of death, and I wondered dismally if we’d make it out of here alive. Assuming that we could get into the ossuary, and that we could stop Tamerlane, would the demons that populated the Gates really let us get out unscathed?
“We can do this,” Asher said, his voice soft and reassuring beside me, as if reading my thoughts. “We made it this far, we can make it all the way.”
I swallowed back my fear. “I hope so.”
“How’s your wrist?” He gently took my hand in his, as if his touch could heal any broken bones, and the gesture did make me feel a bit better, easing some of my anxiety.
“I can’t feel it, really, not now, but I’m sure it’ll hurt like hell later,” I admitted. The Valkyrie adrenaline had kicked in, so I didn’t feel pain the way I usually would.
“I’m sorry about fighting with you earlier. Now’s not the time for any of this.”
“It’s fine,” I said hurriedly.
His dark blue eyes met mine. “I just want you to know that, no matter what happens here today, I truly care for you, and everything will be all right.”
“Everything will be all right?” I smiled bitterly. “Asher, the world might end.”
“It might, but it won’t. And you’ll be all right.”
“How can you say that?” I asked, not understanding where this newfound certainty was coming from.
He shrugged. “It’s just something I know.”
“How?”
“Remember when I told you about how our ancestors can leave truths in our hearts when we need them most? It’s how I knew about you, and as soon as I saw the ossuary, I knew about this. I can feel it, right here.” He took my hand, putting it on his chest, right over where his heart pounded steadily. “You will be all right, and I need you to remember that.”
I shook my head. “Why?” Then the implication of his words hit me. “What about everyone else?”
“I think I got it!” Oona shouted excitedly.
“Malin, Ash, get over here! Let’s get this shit done!” Quinn barked.
Asher let go of my hand and jogged back over to them, so I did the same, although I felt more dazed than I had a few moments ago.
When I reached the door, Oona was already pouring vials of a dark liquid around the edge of the door and repeating something in a low voice that I didn’t understand.
“What’s she saying?” Asher asked.
“I think it’s Akkadian, but I don’t really know it,” Atlas replied, quietly so as not to disturb Oona. “I’ve just heard Samael speak it around the office from time to time.”
“Okay.” Oona straightened up and rubbed her hands together. “Let’s see if that works.”
She took a deep breath and grabbed the door handle—made of bones, just like everything else—and, slowly, the door opened.
FIFTY-FOUR
Inside, the ossuary smelled like an old root cellar—all earth and must. The doorway opened into a grand front room, replete with several chandeliers made of bones lighting the large space.
The air was cold, strikingly so after the oppressive heat outside, and it was totally silent. I hadn’t really expected this to be a bustling hub of activity, given Kalma’s warnings about it being invitation-only and the enchantment on the door. But it appeared totally devoid of life in here.
Off the spacious main hall there were
six doorways—all arched with bone.
“Which way?” Oona asked.
The raven flew in through the open door, but this time it didn’t appear to plan to direct me where to go. Instead, it landed in the center of the main room and picked indifferently at pebbles on the concrete floor.
Fortunately, I still had the sólarsteinn, so I pulled it out of my pocket. The dim candlelight from the chandeliers managed to do the trick, and after a few moments the prism of light shone through the stone, pointing directly toward the fourth door.
I led the way, and while I was surprised when the raven didn’t follow, I didn’t let that deter me. The sólarsteinn knew who I was looking for, and I wouldn’t stop until I found him.
The corridor was narrow but tall, with bones curving over us on the ceiling. Occasionally a skeletal arm would be hanging down, as if reaching out for us.
Softly—almost eerily—the sound of a piano playing began echoing through the hall. The music grew louder, until finally we came upon a large open door that led into what appeared to be a small bar.
At the far end of the room was a piano, and like everything else in the ossuary, it, too, had been created with bones. The pianist himself was a skeleton, with a few bits of flesh still clinging to his bones, and a large pair of dirty white wings sprouting from his back. As he played, feathers would come free and flutter slowly to the floor.
The bartender appeared to be the same kind of creature as the pianist—all bones with just a few bits of flesh, and the decaying wings on his back. He was pouring a glass for the only patron in the place, who sat at the bar with his back to us.
Though I’d only seen him once in real life, I recognized him. The salt-and-pepper hair. The odd bluish tone of his tawny skin. The hunch of his broad shoulders.
“Stay here,” I whispered to my friends as we lingered just outside the entrance to the bar.
“What if you need us?” Oona asked, her dark eyes wide and fearful.
“Just stay right here,” I insisted. “If I need you, you’ll know. But this is my battle to fight.”
Between the Blade and the Heart Page 24