by S. L. Stacy
“So she had a fling with Lou, too?” I ask Victoria as we situate the vase in the space that’s been cleared on the other side of the room.
“Yep. And they had a child together,” says Victoria.
“And she, Lou, Eric and Hef are all on the Elder Council together. Talk about awkward.”
“It gets worse. He’s Eric’s other half-brother.”
I brush my hands together, my fingers feeling dusty after handling the vase. “This is like an episode of Maury.” As soon as it’s out of my mouth, I wish I hadn’t said it. I hope Victoria isn’t offended.
My big sister just smirks. “We’re too dysfunctional for Maury.” Laughing, we rejoin the others, who have congregated at the bar. The front door squeaks open and closed again.
“Reinforcements are here!” Peter announces. Jimmy shuffles in behind him, hands buried in the pockets of his jeans. I almost choke on my next breath, tears pricking my eyes.
“You came!” Apate and I blurt it together. Both of us give a start of surprise, then turn to glower at each other. Jimmy looks panicked as his eyes dance between us.
“I came because Lou asked me to,” he grumbles, ducking behind the bar to mix himself a drink. I return my attention to the door, waiting for it to open again.
“I don’t think Anna’s coming,” Peter says, catching my hopeful expression. “Sorry, love.”
I feel myself deflate. “I guess she’s made her decision, then. Picked a side.” Even after we—well, Victoria—saved her life.
“She just had some studying to do,” Peter adds unconvincingly. “Speaking of which—the next time you need us to play hero, some advanced notice would be nice!” he calls over to Lou. “It’s not like we’re on call.”
“It’s not like you have anything better to do!” Lou replies in a singsong voice.
Peter bristles, using both hands to rake his blonde hair out of his face. “Seriously, I can’t function under this kind of pressure. We came straight from rehearsal—I didn’t even have time to make myself more presentable. I mean, God, look at me.” He points to his jeans and white t-shirt. “I look like…well, I look like you,” he says, glancing at Jimmy.
Jimmy chuckles. “Dude, you are such a diva sometimes.”
Diva. The word reminds me of something. I watch as Peter examines one of his long-fingered hands, the nails coated with a glittery sapphire polish.
“Wait a minute,” I gasp, and Peter looks up from his hand. “You’re Lady—”
“But, then again, I couldn’t turn down helping out a friend in need,” Peter talks over me. He takes me by the shoulders and steers me to the far corner of the room. “Thanks for almost blowing my cover,” he says under his breath.
“I don’t care about your cover,” I whisper angrily. “You’re Lady Blah Blah. You posted all of those horrible things about my sorority!”
“Funny things,” he corrects me. “I posted all of those funny things about your sorority.”
“It wasn’t very funny when your post about Jasper and Carly going missing almost got us kicked off campus!”
Peter looks taken aback. “I’m so sorry! I had no idea, love. I swear, I wasn’t trying to—”
“I really thought we were friends, Peter.” I shake my head and start to walk away.
“We are!” He follows close at my heels. “Please don’t be mad at me. I never meant to hurt anyone. It’s nothing personal. I make fun of everyone!” His blue eyes meet mine, his lower lip puffing out miserably. I feel my anger start to dissipate.
“Just promise me you won’t draw any more attention to us. We have an important job to do and can’t risk having our cover blown, or worse. Gamma Lambda Phi is off-limits.”
Peter puts a manicured hand over his heart. “I swear!”
The door opens for the third time. I brace myself, eager to prove Peter wrong about Anna, but the two people stepping hesitantly over the threshold are even more unexpected.
“We’re closed!” Lou calls out to them.
“We know,” Rebecca says, inching further inside. “We heard you were a little short of hands and came to help. If you need it—”
“But it looks like you don’t,” Samantha says, already starting to back away. “Sorry to interrupt. Let’s go.” She tugs on Rebecca’s arm.
“Not yet,” Rebecca says to her through gritted teeth.
“We need any help we can get,” Victoria tells them. “Thank you. So much.”
“We’re happy to,” Rebecca insists, coming further inside, Samantha trailing reluctantly behind her. “Carly might be your sister, but we’re all members of the same community. It’s time we put aside our differences and start working together.”
Hephaestus is the last to arrive. We form a circle around the vase, awaiting Athena’s instructions in silence. I take some time to study our motley group. My heart aches as I recall what I said to Victoria, about all of the Olympians being the same. Maybe it’s true—we’re not so different from each other—but it doesn’t have to be all bad. We all have moments of weakness, of vanity, of selfishness, of dishonesty, but we can choose to rise above all of that and fight for what is good, stand up for each other. I might not love everyone standing in this circle with me, but I respect them, even if it’s in a small way—a way so microscopic that sometimes I myself don’t realize it until the big moments. Sometimes I still wish I could throttle Apate, but I respect her love and loyalty for her family, and that she would do anything—including go behind her master’s back—to save her brother.
Athena’s solemn voice breaks through my revelation. “Are you ready for this?”
“Ready for what?” I ask, realizing she means more than just saying some words to open a portal.
“You haven’t told her yet?” she exclaims, shaking her head at Victoria in exasperation. She turns to me again. “We’re sending you in to get Carly.”
“What?” I shriek. “No way. One of you should go. Not me. I’ll just screw it up.”
Victoria cracks a smile. Apparently my insecurity amuses her. “You won’t. Athena and I have to stay here. Our combined strength will be needed to hold the portal open while Siobhan’s down there—to keep the walls stable,” she says to the room at large. “Otherwise, it would close behind you,” she adds to me. “If she’s as weak as Dolos says she is, she may need your help to get out. You can do this, Siobhan.”
I shrug. “I hope so. There’s really no other choice.”
“After you make sure Carly gets through the portal, count slowly to ten before going through yourself,” Athena instructs me. “Otherwise, you’re—”
“Toast. I know.”
“What about Dolos?” Apate demands, hands on hips.
Athena gives her a serene smile. “At this very moment, the Elder Council is opening a portal from Olympus to Pandora. He is to go through that one. Finally, we will open one from here to Olympus, where you will be reunited with him.”
Apate still looks wary. “In the dungeons, I’m sure.”
“We’re granting you and Dolos amnesty.” Athena’s dark gaze is stern. “Don’t make us regret it.”
“Oh. Well, thanks,” Apate mutters.
“Siobhan, step out of the circle. Everyone else, take the hands of the people on either side of you.” Athena reaches out and clasps Farrah’s and Lou’s hands. “Clear your minds. Concentrate on nothing else but the vase.” Once everyone is linked together, she and her fellow Elders begin to chant:
Take us to the in-between,
Where earth meets sky, and wake meets dream.
And time rushes by, unseen.
Take us to the infinite night,
Where up is down, and left is right,
And dark vanquishes light…
As their voices push onward, climbing toward an almost violent crescendo, the jar rattles against the floor, glowing like an orange coal. There’s the sound of air splitting in two, followed by a sharp sucking noise, then a hollow explosion as a silver column bursts from th
e mouth of the vase, collapsing seconds later into a shimmering whirlpool. Its wispy edges crawl out just like I remember, beckoning me into its foamy, swirling depths. I hesitate only a moment, then jump into them.
It’s not long before I’m forcefully spit out on the other side, landing hard on a cold marble floor.
I glance behind me, relieved to find the portal still churning just above the floor. The others are successfully holding it open for us. A few feet away, another portal penetrates the dark room, spinning vertically in front of a stone wall. The air here reeks with a familiar, metallic cologne. At first, I don’t understand what I’m seeing as I take in the rest of the room. It looks nothing like the abyss I dreamed about.
“That’s because I created it,” says a voice from a particularly dark corner of the room. A figure steps out of the shadows, revealing a young man with snowy white hair and wary green eyes. He’s all glam punk in a black leather vest, pants and finger-cut gloves. He carries a bright pink bundle in his arms.
“Carly!” I realize, racing over to them. Dolos tries to lower Carly to her feet, but she clings desperately to him.
“Carly,” Dolos says into her hair, looking at her tenderly. “Siobhan’s here. It’s time for you to go.”
Her response is not at all what I expected. “No,” she whimpers, nuzzling his shoulder. “I don’t want to go. I don’t want to leave you.”
“Um, what have you two been up to down here?” I wonder, crossing my arms and giving Dolos what I hope is a challenging look.
He returns it with a helpless, embarrassed shrug. “We fell in love.”
I nod like I understand, even though I don’t. Now Carly’s fallen for one of them, too? Well, isn’t that just great. “I’ll give you two a moment. But, Dolos, you have to get her to leave. I don’t care what you tell her. Just get her to go home.” It’s his turn to nod, and then I saunter away, watching the flames of the candelabras spark along the walls.
***
I bury my head further into Dolos’s neck. I drink in his wintry scent, finding comfort in his cool embrace.
“Carly.” I hear his voice, gentle and coaxing. “Siobhan’s here. It’s time for you to go.”
“No,” I protest. “I don’t want to go. I don’t want to leave you.”
I hear another voice, curious but tinged with suspicion. A familiar voice. But that’s neither here nor there. I don’t care who it is. I don’t want to leave Dolos. I won’t.
He says something, then the other voice responds in frustration. Then there are footsteps, walking away from us. Good. The voice has left. Now it’s just me and him. As it should be.
Dolos pries me off of him, forcing me to look into his pale, narrow, beautiful face. “You have to go, Carly. You know you have to. You’re not going to survive down here for much longer.”
“That’s okay,” I insist, laughing at the way his forehead is knotting up, all scared and concerned. “I can die in your arms. It’s kind of romantic.”
“Stop it.” He gives me an urgent shake. “You’re not thinking clearly. It’s time to go home. Back to your college, back to your sisters. Back to…Alec. Home. Just like you’ve wanted all along.”
Alec. Who’s Alec? “But I don’t want to go home if you’re not there. Are you coming, too?”
His eyes are watery, like a turbulent green sea. “No. You’re going back to your home. I’m going back to mine. That’s just…that’s just the way it has to be.”
A strand of his dark hair bobs in front of his face. When I try to brush it aside, he flinches away from me. I drop my hand, feeling suddenly limp and fatigued, like that one small movement drained the rest of my energy.
“But I love you.” I whisper the words so softly, I can barely hear them myself.
“No, you don’t. You don’t even know me.”
“I know you enough to know that I love you. And you love me, too. Don’t you? You said you did.”
He looks somewhere behind me and says, “No.”
“That won’t work on me.” I try to smile, but my lips feel mushy, like my face is made of putty. “You can’t push me away like that.”
“I’m not just saying it to push you away.” This time, he looks me full in the face, trapping my gaze in his. “I. Don’t. Love you.”
My body is dissolving now, so frail, so weak, I’m not even sure I have control of it anymore. “But you said—”
“I know what I said.” He flashes me his most cunning, mischievous smile—the smile of the white-haired prince. “I’m a liar, Carly. You said so yourself. And you were right all along. I could have let you go, if I wanted to. But I didn’t. I tricked you. I wanted to play with you a little while longer. And you let me.” His laugh is low, resonant and evil. “Love me now?”
Despite the cold fingers latching onto my heart, giving it a frosty squeeze, something about what he’s just said doesn’t seem right. And yet, when I look into his eyes, I don’t see love there anymore—just a wall of ice and a gleam of malice. His arms release me, and I float away from him, like a balloon in a gust of wind.
Below me, I see a glittering, spiraling silver pond. Misty tendrils grab for my arms and legs, drawing me downward. Not having anywhere else to go, I swim toward it, closer and closer, until I succumb to its filmy embrace.
***
“It’s done,” Dolos says, lips a thin, resentful line.
“Good,” I tell him, walking back over. In my head, I start to count, just like Athena told me to—leaving Carly enough time to cross back, plus a little more. One. Two. Three…“You did the right thing. Now it’s time for us to go home, too.”…Six. Seven. Eight.
He nods, poised to step into the portal in the wall. Nine. I pause at the edge of mine, waiting one more second.
Ten.
I throw myself forward.
At the same time, something comes hurtling through it, slamming me back against the floor. I thrash in confusion, knocking the dark, petite body off of me.
“Stop!” Apate cries, lunging at her brother and tugging him away from the portal leading to Olympus. “It’s a trap!”
“What?” Dolos says, looking at his sister as though he’s not quite sure whether she’s real or not.
“I said don’t go that way. They’re going to kill us!”
I fight a rush of dizziness, scrambling to my feet. “They wouldn’t do that! Athena said they were granting you amnesty!’
Apate bares her teeth. “Athena’s a liar!” She steers her brother toward the portal she just popped out of. “Go through this one.” He obeys without hesitation, leaping into its silver surface. Great. Now I have to wait another ten seconds. One. Two—
The breath is knocked out of me when Apate barrels into me again, pushing me up against the rough, granite wall. My head cracks against it, and I slump to the floor, pain shooting through my head and back, the eerie chamber spinning around me. I try to blink it back into focus.
This isn’t real, I have to remind myself. Apate is upholding her brother’s illusion. But the ache in my head and the bitter acid rising in the back of my throat sure do feel real.
When the world stops moving, I see Apate crouched over the edge of the portal.
“Wait,” I groan, falling to my hands and knees and crawling toward her. “Wait for me.”
Apate’s feline eyes look sideways at me. “Your friends are having a bit of trouble keeping this thing open, and I wanna get back before it closes.” Her foot kicks out, pinning me in the chest. I go flying backwards.
“Please. Don’t leave me here. Please, Apate. Please.” I finally manage to catch her gaze and hold it steady. Apate gnaws her lower lip. She glances back at the portal, then at me sprawled on the floor. “Please,” I repeat, knowing how pathetic I sound but wanting to take advantage of her moment of hesitation. “Do the right thing.”
“Sorry, blondie,” she says, tearing her eyes away from me. I unleash a deafening scream as I watch her dive into the portal.
It vanishes beh
ind her.
So does the room.
And I’m left drifting in a black, infinite void.
Chapter 30
I don’t know how long I’ve been hanging here, drifting, waiting. Waiting for another portal to open. Waiting for someone to rescue me.
But no one ever does.
I’m alone in the dark, alone in the space between universes, with only my own mind to keep me company. But even that company is wearing out its welcome. With nothing to do but float here and think, with nothing to see in my memories except their faces—the faces of everyone who has left me here, my so-called friends—I’m plunging into madness, recollections and dreams rolling together until I don’t know what really happened and what didn’t. The places, the faces, the voices crush me from the inside out. All I want is to get them out of my head. To descend into blissful forgetfulness. I want to die. Please, I beg the universe. Just let me die.
Maybe that’s what Vanessa’s prophecy meant. Maybe I die here.
One day, when a wavering, silver circle finally does break through the infinite black, I don’t know what it is, even though I know it’s important.
Siobhan. There’s a voice coming from the portal, reaching for me across the void. A name pops into my head: Victoria. Do you see the silver light, Siobhan? Come toward it. Come to the light, Siobhan.
You’re never supposed to go to the light. I don’t know how I know this—I just do. So I stay where I am, aimless, adrift…
Come on, Siobhan. The voice is getting frustrated. I know you can see it. I don’t know how long I can keep it open by myself. Come toward the portal. Come home.
Portal? The word pulls on the back of my mind. Home?
Well, why didn’t you just say so?
I focus on the portal, seeing nothing but its undulating, iridescent tentacles. As I think about getting as close as possible to them, I feel myself gliding in that direction. They reel me in until my palms meet something cold and gelatinous. The rest of me follows…
***
Two solid arms wrap around me, yanking me out of the portal. It closes with a gasp behind me.