by Molly Ringle
At that moment her gaze moved to him. It was like your crush catching you staring in high school. Adrenaline flashed through him, and he looked down at his fingers, which dangled over his folded legs. He swatted at a clump of blue clover flowers, feeling like a complete twit.
Niko finished relating their meeting with Landon.
“He’s sent his first text.” Niko held up the “throwaway” phone to display the message. It was now the morning after they’d grabbed Landon. What with time zone differences, they’d had to wait till now before they could get to the Underworld and assemble everyone during waking hours. “All he says,” Niko went on, “is ‘Everyone’s still asleep. Supposed to talk to European contacts later. May have more tonight.’ I’m going to assume he’s already lying, but for now we’ll leave him unpunished. It was more important to come and consult the rest of you.”
“These European sites,” Rhea said. “They still work, then?”
Zoe, Tab, Sophie, and Liam looked at her in confusion. Yesterday Adrian would have too. He had barely given any thought to the ancient sacred spots.
“I’ve no idea,” Niko said. “I always assumed they couldn’t possibly. Thought the secret had died out long ago, and likely the power along with it.”
Zoe turned to him with bewilderment all over her features. “Do you mind telling the rest of us what you’re talking about?”
“You wouldn’t have got to those memories yet, Zoe,” Niko said. “But you will soon.”
Adrian must have said that same thing a dozen times to Sophie. A faint smile tugged at his mouth, and he lifted his gaze to her. To his amazement, she returned the glance with the same tiny smile of recognition. Then the moment and the smile slipped away, and she turned to listen to Niko, who was continuing:
“Turns out if you roam round Europe—and I assume the rest of the world—you’ll find spots where something’s just right about the energies, or the magic, or—well, Hekate could have explained it. Zoe perhaps will. But what it means is, with a little training, the right plants, and a special artifact made of Underworld-sourced gold, mortals can cross into the spirit realm at those spots if they wish.”
Everyone stayed silent. Adrian shivered. Like Niko, he had dismissed the possibility of anyone using those sites anymore, and had put them out of his mind. But if Thanatos had caught wind of them, they had no choice but to investigate.
“They’re like portals?” Sophie asked.
“Exactly,” Niko said.
“Wait, now,” Tab said to him. “How come you remember this and Zoe doesn’t?”
“I’ve lived with the memories longer than she has,” he said.
“And did you remember this?” Zoe accused Adrian. “You never talked about it.”
“I sort of remember,” Adrian said. “Hades was dead before those sites were discovered and set up. By then I was in my next lifetime. And, well, I knew a certain amount about the immortals, and those sacred spots, but mostly I was tending to my own ordinary life. Then afterward, between lives…well, I didn’t think it mattered, because I don’t remember hearing of any great influx of mortals stepping into our realm.”
“That’s because there wasn’t a great influx,” Freya said. “They seldom ventured past the sacred spots even if they did cross over. They only switched realms for special ceremonies, or emergencies. And they were instructed not to speak of the ‘mysteries,’ as they were called. Those were only for the initiated.”
“Would those be the Eleusinian Mysteries?” Sophie asked.
Freya nodded. “Among others.”
“The Eleusinians were the first,” Rhea said. “In honor of Demeter, Persephone, Hades, and their bloodline. Others came later.” She smiled at Tab. “Some were called ‘Bacchic’ Mysteries, after Bacchus—another name for Dionysos.”
Tab raised her fists in the air. “Go me.”
“But if Landon’s right,” Adrian said, “they have one of these artifacts—some bit of Underworld gold. And they’ve dug up the secret on where the sites are and how to get through.”
“Hang on.” Zoe’s eyes were wide. “Is this one of the sacred sites? The Underworld?”
Niko looked grave. He nodded, as did Rhea and Freya.
Sophie looked instantly at Adrian, her eyes wide with panic.
Adrian spoke as steadily as he could, though his limbs had begun tingling with terror. Why hadn’t he thought of that in the past several hours? Why hadn’t Niko said something, the bastard?
“Well. Yeah. As you know, in the living realm this place is a cave system, a tourist attraction. People take boats in on the river, to view the formations. It’s why we don’t switch realms inside here; we’d likely end up in the middle of a tour group. But in ancient times these caves were regarded as a sacred site, on the living side. There were offerings, rituals. People often spoke of it as the entrance to the Underworld, though most of them couldn’t have actually known…” His voice trailed off as fear closed down his vocal cords.
“But Thanatos doesn’t know this is it,” Zoe said anxiously. “They don’t know we’re here. Right?”
Niko and Adrian exchanged a glance.
“Landon didn’t say,” Niko answered. “My impression is they aren’t sure.”
“But if they can get into this realm,” Rhea said, “they could find out pretty easily. All you have to do is follow the souls. Or ask one.”
“If I were them, that’s what I’d do,” Terry said. “Figure out which site is the Underworld, then go there, appear right in the middle of it, and do some damage.”
Everyone went silent again. Adrian, his mouth dry with fear, looked across at Sophie. She was definitely pale now, her gaze resting unfocused on the flowers. He ached to crawl across the circle and wrap his arms around her to soothe her. And to be soothed. Here it was, barely a month since her parents had been killed, and it was all starting up again.
“But they could be completely bullshitting, right?” Tab said. “They might not be able to switch realms at all.”
“True,” Niko said. “We have no evidence they’ve actually done it. But we’d better test that ourselves, with some mortals of our own.” He looked over at the Darrow siblings. “Sophie, Liam? Care to be guinea pigs?”
Sophie drew in a breath, met Niko’s gaze, and nodded. Liam, mute and worried, nodded too.
“As for me,” Zoe said, “I’m going to start setting up the strongest bloody protective wards I possibly can around this cave.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sophie walked in the midst of the group of souls and living folk, across the fields toward the back of the cave. Fear still made her tremble, but deep down and against all probability, Sophie found she was the tiniest bit excited about the prospect of switching realms all by herself.
Niko had ventured off alone, but now returned and thrust a couple of silver-gray leaves at her and at Liam. “You’ll need these.”
Sophie examined hers. “What are they?”
“Strawberry tree,” he said. “Magic plant of choice for this endeavor.”
“Andrakhnos,” Zoe murmured, using the tree’s Greek name, sounding as if she was just now remembering it.
“Does it have to be a strawberry tree from the Underworld?” Sophie asked.
“Didn’t in the old days,” Niko said. “But that’s another thing we’ll have to test.”
“Let’s try back here,” Adrian said. He’d been leading the group, and now stopped by the back wall, not far from the entrance to Tartaros. “If I recall, this part of the cave is off limits to the public in the living world.”
“I’ll check,” Niko said. He vanished, then reappeared a few seconds later. “Yep. Complete darkness. Quite out of the way.”
“Would anywhere around here work for this trick?” Sophie asked.
“I’d expect so,” Zoe said. “The hot spot is pretty much the whole cave system. The magic energies of the place—I mean, they’re all over down here.” She squinted around, looking worried, even th
ough she had already spent hours dashing about and setting up magical protective walls of some sort, which should resist attempts at entry by the uninvited. Or at least would alert her if anyone did somehow get through, or such was Sophie’s understanding.
“You’ll also need this.” Niko took a lumpy rock from his pocket and handed it to Sophie. It was shot through with veins that sparkled in the flashlight beams. “Underworld gold. It’s all I could find at the moment.”
“Oh. I’ve got that covered.” She handed Niko back the rock, then took the amethyst necklace out from under her sweater. She slid her thumb under the violet-shaped pendant, and timidly met Adrian’s eyes. “This has Underworld gold. Right?”
Adrian looked vulnerable all of a sudden, his black eyebrows relaxing from their scowl, his flashlight swinging forgotten at his side. He seemed transfixed by the sight of the necklace on her. She felt the heat flood back up into her face. After Christmas she’d sent him a brief text to acknowledge the gift: just Thank you for the necklace. It’s beautiful. And thanks for being patient. She hadn’t known yet how to address the fraught contents of his letter, nor had she told him she was actually wearing the necklace every day. Since it had been under her sweater, he likely hadn’t seen it till now.
He blinked a couple of times, then glanced into her eyes and nodded.
“Then you’re ready,” Rhea said.
“You remember how it goes, switching realms?” Tab asked.
Sophie nodded. “From the memories. I remember the feeling, even though I can’t do it.”
“Or can you?” Freya said. “Let’s try.”
They all drew back a step from Sophie, as if she required space.
“I’ll wait for you on the other side so you’ll have company there,” Tab said. “Good luck, chica.” She gave Sophie a finger-gun point, then vanished.
Sophie looked at her parents, who stood proudly watching her. Then she met her brother’s nervous, excited gaze, and smiled to reassure him. She didn’t quite look at Adrian again—too flustering. She wrapped her left hand around the necklace, encasing the amethyst-and-gold pendant. In her right she clutched the fresh leaves.
She closed her eyes and concentrated. She felt fear again, but this fear was less about life-threatening doom. It was more the fear of failing, of disappointing her friends by not being as deeply in touch with magic as certain mortals thousands of years ago were.
Souls murmured in the distance, their voices like wind. The river’s tributaries flowed and chattered. Sophie stood still, eyes shut. Remembering how she had learned from Hades to switch realms long, long ago, she envisioned the boundary between the worlds as a ridge, and imagined herself striding up toward it on a trail, reaching the level where the other side of the mountain came into view, moving on up and stepping over the top—
The world wobbled as if a great hand had shaken the globe. The voices went silent, though the water kept trickling. Sophie opened her eyes to find herself in pitch darkness except for one halo of light from the flashlight Tab held.
It was just her and Tab, standing alone in the living-world cave. Tab squealed, bounced up and down, and hugged Sophie.
Sophie’s whole body tingled with wonder.
She had switched realms. All by herself.
***
As he watched Sophie fade away, then glimmer back into sight a minute later, Adrian felt the strangest thing: not terror, as he rightly should, but pride. Pride in her, for managing to do it.
Actually, everyone else seemed halfway-positive about it too. Murmurs and gasps sounded all around at her disappearance. Liam was especially excited. The second Sophie returned, he dove forward shrilling, “Me next!”, and everyone gamely set him up to try it. Liam seized Niko’s gold-veined rock, held it in a clutch with the leaves, and soon flickered away over the spirit-realm boundary too. The same collective gasp of wonder and congratulation swept through the group.
“I want to do it again!” Liam said the second he got back. So he did, jumping realms back and forth, while the rest stood around discussing the implications.
To Adrian’s surprise, Sophie turned and walked straight over to him while the others talked.
“Well done,” Adrian greeted.
“Thanks.” She stopped in front of him, and smiled at the ground. “I know this means trouble. But, like…” She lifted her lashes to glance at him. “I’m kind of stoked. I feel so powerful.”
Tenderness sent cracks through the ice around his heart. She had come to him, was confiding in him, was sharing and enjoying the magic of his strange lifestyle again. At least a little. “You are powerful,” he said. “Always have been. Starting with peach-juggling powers, and getting stronger every year.”
She laughed, sounding charmed at his reference to their online correspondence before they’d met. At the sweet sound, more of the ice melted away.
“Still,” she said, “we don’t know much about this. Like, could Liam and I only switch realms because we have past-life memories from immortals who knew how to do it? If so, then no one in Thanatos should be able to. They haven’t eaten the pomegranate.”
The chill stole back over Adrian as he recalled their complicated new raft of problems. “Yeah, but supposedly some mortals learned how in the old days, and presumably they taught each other and wrote down how to do it. So it’s possible Thanatos got hold of those instructions, along with stealing one of the gold bits.”
“True. Well, we can try it with other mortals who haven’t eaten the pomegranate. See if they can do it.”
He nodded. “Zoe’s parents. They’d be up for it.”
“Right.”
Adrian and Sophie both fell silent. The group had already discussed that idea; Zoe was going to fetch one or both of her parents tomorrow to try it.
Sophie’s hand fluttered up to grasp the necklace. “Hey, good thing you gave me this. Came in handy.”
Adrian gave a shaky laugh. “You’ve no idea the goosebumps it gave me, seeing you wear that down here. Bit of a time warp.”
She let go of the pendant and reached out to brush her fingertips along the scruff on his jaw. The motion was brief and awkward, and she let her hand fall away a second later, but she seemed to stay composed. “I do have an idea. Seeing you with a beard down here does the same to me.”
Self-conscious, he rubbed his chin. “Oh. Yeah. Haven’t got round to shaving for, um, couple of weeks.”
“It’s all right. Looks kind of nice.” She strayed back a step.
“Sophie,” Niko called.
She looked back, seeming relieved to have a reason to turn away.
But she’d spoken kindly to him. She had touched his face and hadn’t seemed to be outright sickened by it. That was reason enough to stay alive.
Niko and Zoe walked over.
“We ought to move you and Liam out of here,” Niko told her.
Sophie’s gaze darted to the souls of her parents, who were talking to Liam. “No, I—I don’t want to leave them.”
“No one can hurt your parents anymore,” Zoe said. “But you two, if mortals can switch realms in spots like this…”
“But your wards should help,” Sophie said.
“My magic is not failproof.” Poor Zoe sounded desolate. “You all must see that by now.”
Niko slid his arm around her shoulders and kissed her on the temple. She didn’t even push him away, Adrian noted. Interesting.
Adrian addressed Sophie. “I agree. I’ll rest a lot easier if you two are away from one of these hot spots.”
“Not too far away,” she pleaded.
“Just a couple miles should suffice,” Niko said. “We can find you a nice hillside with a view around here. You could still come to the cave and visit your folks every day.”
“What, like camping outside?” she asked.
“Say I fetched the Airstream,” Adrian said. “And another similar caravan, so Liam can have space of his own. We could set you up, with…” He glanced around the group. “Two o
f us staying with you whenever you’re there, and bringing you here and elsewhere as needed.” He dropped his gaze. Not him, of course. Not overnight with her. Not these days.
Terry had wandered over to linger beside Sophie, and had caught this suggestion. Sophie turned anxious eyes to him, but he nodded firmly. “I want you two out of harm’s way, kid. And you know…” Terry looked in speculation at Niko and Adrian. “Those ropes you harness the horses with. Could you keep us tied up that way too, somewhere outside the Underworld?”
Adrian’s eyes widened. He cleared his throat. “Well. I kind of don’t believe in tying up human souls with my own hands, but…I guess if they wanted me to, then yeah.”
“Souls can be brought out of the Underworld,” Zoe said. She was frowning abstractly at the cave wall, as if remembering. “Only to other places in the spirit realm, mind. But I did it once or twice as Hekate, on the rare occasion someone asked to try it. They just always feel a pull to come back here. Most never have the wish to leave, except to be reborn.”
“Well, I have the wish in this case,” Terry said. “That way you could bring us along. The vines would keep the Underworld from pulling us back, just in case our free will doesn’t do the trick.”
Sophie looked as astounded, almost scandalized, as Adrian felt. Persephone, too, would never have dreamt of interfering with the cave’s natural order of how it handled human souls. “Really, you’d want that?” she said.
“We’d get to see the sky again. Could stay outside all night. Bad weather, well heck, that wouldn’t bother us. Sure, let’s try it.”
Sophie finally looked at Adrian, and cracked a smile. “Would the poor Airstream survive getting towed over here by the horses at those speeds?”
He scratched at his beard and blew out a breath. “One way to find out.”