by Molly Ringle
Zoe’s legs shook. She wanted to drop to her knees and cry, but she willed herself to remain standing. Swallowing hard a few times, she recovered her voice. “How? How’d they do it? Magic? Not explosives, or…”
“Just a spell.” Niko sounded intrigued, if anything. “Can’t imagine the dreadful deal she made with the afterlife to borrow that kind of power.”
Adrian walked up behind Zoe and hugged her with one arm. He was trembling, his breath hitching in a fast cadence. Despair radiated from his touch. A second later, Tab came running, footsteps thumping the earth. She screeched through her panting breaths, “What the fuck? No!”
“Wait, but—” Zoe looked back at the two souls. She wasn’t going to panic, she wasn’t, she wasn’t, she wasn’t. “Your bodies then, they’re intact? Because—there’s a way to put you back, if they’re unharmed and if we can get them soon.”
“They were intact when we last saw them,” Freya said dryly. “But who knows what Thanatos has done since then.”
“The thugs are on their way here now,” Niko added. “We thought it best to get here fast and warn you.”
“Where did it happen?” Tab’s voice trembled; her blue eyes were full of tears. “I’ll go right now, damn it. I’ll go get your bodies.” Her voice broke on the last word.
“Areopoli,” Niko said. “Latch a vine onto me and take me along and I could show you, I suppose, but I don’t know if that’s—”
“Yes!” Zoe said. “Do it.”
“Is there really a way to bring them back?” Adrian’s voice was uneven too, and when Zoe looked aside at him, his face was pale as he gazed at his murdered friends. He still had his arm around Zoe, and she could feel the grief and terror drowning him.
“I did it as Hekate,” Zoe answered. “When I…tore out Ares’ soul. Which I suppose is what this other sorcerer did. I was able to put it back, but then he was mortal afterward, and anyway I’ve never done it any other time.”
“Try it,” Adrian said. “We have to.”
Tab nodded. “I need a vine—where’s—”
“Here, come with me,” Zoe said. She paused to squeeze Adrian’s hand in reassurance, or at least support, before slipping away from him and jogging across the field with Tab. She had left a few coils of willow-and-ivy rope next to the path, not far off, and she led Tab there.
As she handed Tab one of the coiled-up vines, their gazes held, and Tab pulled in a shuddering breath. “I’m scared, you know?” she squeaked.
“I know,” Zoe said. “So am I.”
“In the memories, I got to my death last night. I mean as Dionysos.” She grimaced and smeared a tear out of one eye.
“That was a dreadful one. I’m so sorry.”
“Hermes and Aphrodite died that same night, same way. And now they show up here dead, so I can’t help thinking: am I about to die too?”
“We’re not going to let that happen,” Zoe promised, though of course she couldn’t promise it. The other side had someone who could rip out souls in a second, and if Zoe didn’t identify her and stop her first—which would probably necessitate murdering her by the same method—then they could all be dead within the hour. The Underworld would fall to the enemy. The season of immortals would be cut short again in the midst of its regenerative spring bloom.
“It would just suck.” Tab sniffled. “I mean, to die before I even got to meet her.”
“Her? Oh. Ariadne.”
Tab allowed a bashful smile. “Well. I kinda meant any ‘her’ who I could fall head over ass in love with, whoever she is out there. I wanted to meet her, you know? But Ariadne in particular, yeah. Maybe I mean her too.”
Zoe smiled back, though she still only wanted to cry. “Let’s make a pact. Neither of us is allowed to die today, because we each still need to meet a proper ‘her’.”
At that moment they both jerked to attention.
Ares’ soul was near, seemingly right outside the cave.
“They’re on us.” Zoe met Tab’s gaze. “Stick round a bit before taking off, won’t you?”
Wide-eyed, Tab nodded.
***
It was absurdly easy to get into the Underworld. Tracy frowned when their car, the second in the group of ten, rounded the bend and saw the flashing lights of two police cars waiting by the cave entrance.
“Don’t worry,” Tenebra said. “I will get us by.”
At her urging, they walked right up to the gates: their entire entourage of fifty people armed with guns, grenades, and other cave-invading necessities, not to mention two dead bodies slung over the shoulders of the burliest men. Tenebra moved as if in a trance; it took effort to cast a glamour over so many people at once.
But it worked. A police officer strolled toward them, and Tracy said, “Geologists. We have prior permission. All of this is our equipment.”
The man nodded and waved them past, and recommenced pacing around and looking for the dangerous people with guns whom the pathetic opposition had surely reported by phone. Tracy shook with silent laughter. Too easy by half. He leaned over and kissed Tenebra on the cheek. She didn’t react, but when he accidentally caught Yuliya’s hurt, silent gaze, he looked away swiftly. He hadn’t had much time to talk to her since the whole group got back together tonight. But he promised himself he’d set her up with a lovely villa wherever she liked once their new world order was in place. As long as she agreed not to be a bother to him.
While the inattentive police patrolled behind them, Krystal snapped the gate locks with a pair of bolt cutters, and they all trooped inside and down the steep metal staircase, illuminating their way with flashlights. Moist stalactites pointed down all around like the teeth of a carnivore, some so close that the taller members of the team had to duck on their way past. Entering like this, they had deduced from studying the geologic maps, would be far easier than switching realms outside the cave and then trying to descend into it. They had no idea whether there’d be a staircase in the spirit realm. There probably wasn’t, so they would have to rappel in or throw down rope ladders—maneuvers to avoid if you could, when invading somewhere. You could do maximum damage, on the other hand, if you were able to pop up directly in the heart of the place and open fire right off the bat. Which, therefore, was the plan.
Also, they didn’t encounter any magical wards blocking their way in the living world. The unnaturals must have known that such a thing would have gotten in the way of all the tourist traffic in and out of the cave, and would have attracted unwanted attention. As for the wards they would encounter when they tried to switch realms, well, Tracy had faith in Tenebra when it came to dealing with those.
Rowboats painted Greek-flag blue floated on the river at the bottom of the stairs, moored by ropes. The team untied five of them, split into groups and climbed in, and used the long poles lying in the bottoms to push them along the river. As they drifted deeper into the tunnels, the darkness, silence, dank smell, and closeness of the cave began to unnerve Tracy, though he would never have admitted it aloud. Yes, you could feel this was an ancient sacred place, and a dangerous one, even from within the living world.
Krystal and one of the hired men were consulting the geologic map by flashlight, and after a bend in the river, they pointed, and the man called, “Here.”
They pulled the boats up to the shore. A tall metal fence wedged between stalagmites blocked access to the cavern beyond. Tracy knew from studying the maps that the official Diros Caves tour only took people into some parts of the caves, and that vast caverns and twisting passages lay in the off-limits areas. They had selected the biggest cavern on the map, and decided it was likeliest to correspond to the giant underground field of souls described by their sources. They couldn’t know for certain, of course, and appearing in the wrong place—or even the right place—might result in their being cornered and quickly killed. But such was the risk of any invasion.
Tracy’s heart galloped as he climbed out of the boats with the rest of his team. He glanced about at the o
thers, and his courage mounted. They were all risking their lives for his cause too. If he fell today, at least he would not fall alone. And their chances of success were better than ever, really, thanks to the wondrous Tenebra. He smiled in triumph as he caught sight of the two bodies of the immortals, which the men lifted out of the boats and hefted onto their shoulders again.
Everyone picked their way between stalagmites and columns until reaching the metal fence.
Krystal unholstered one of her guns. “This where we switch?”
Tracy closed his hand round the gold leaf and strawberry tree leaves in his pocket. “Yes. We’ll try, at any rate.”
“There is indeed a ward.” Tenebra swished her hand slowly through the air. “A moment, please.” They waited while she fished out her blood-soaked knife artifact and muttered some words. Then Tracy felt a strange jolt like a shudder, or a pulse of sound deeper than human hearing. “The ward is down,” Tenebra declared.
“Ready, then?” Tracy asked.
Guns, knives, and flamethrowers clicked into position all around. Brisk nods answered him. Krystal looked fierce and indomitable; Tenebra looked tranquil; Yuliya kept her gaze fixed on him, but the hurt in her eyes had been mostly displaced by military determination.
“Please,” Tenebra invited Tracy.
He held the leaves tight, and reached his mind toward the other realm. He sensed Tenebra catching the opening spiritual door, as it were, and holding it ajar. The shimmering gateway formed before them, just centimeters in front of the metal fence. But through it, instead of the fence, he could see eerie images of human shapes, glowing and greenish, their numbers so great that they stretched away beyond the reach of vision.
The faces of his team registered awe, along with a healthy amount of fear. But when Tracy waved his hand toward the gateway and said, “Krystal? Charge,” she bolted forward without hesitation and dove through the shimmering gate. The others all followed. Last of all, Tracy joined hands with Tenebra and they stepped into the Underworld, and let the gate dissolve behind them.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Adrian was trembling harder than ever. His bulletproof helmet was tucked ready under his arm, an ultra-strong stun gun in his belt. Niko’s and Freya’s souls stood beside him, knives vine-wrapped onto their wrists.
The enemy was coming. He was letting them come, hoping to trap them in a circle of armed ghosts and crush them by any means possible. But he didn’t like this plan at all, not when someone among the invading army could murder anyone, even immortals, at the utterance of a single spell. Still, it was hard to take the ghost army anywhere other than the fields, so, fine. Let the wankers try. At least his dead soldiers couldn’t be harmed.
As soon as they had sensed Ares’ soul approaching, Tab and Zoe had raced up to spy on the invaders. Adrian instructed them—practically yelled at them—to stay out of sight, to do nothing at this point, just to observe and report back. It was too dangerous to act against them yet.
Zoe soon texted: Police are outside, but the army walked right in! Ugh. Magic. As we already knew.
Fine, what are they doing now? Adrian answered.
A couple of minutes passed, then Zoe responded: Getting into boats, coming down river. With bodies. Niko’s and Freya’s. Please let me fucking kill these people.
First you stay safe and come back here, he typed. It’s good they brought the bodies, yeah? Saves us a trip.
Yeah, she said. Tab and I are crying but yeah.
Niko was reading the texts over his shoulder. Adrian tilted the phone to make sure he saw that one.
Niko smiled affectionately. “Maybe she does love me somewhere deep down.”
Adrian tried to smile back. He and Sophie had wanted to tease Niko and Zoe for their past-life amorous attachment. Now he couldn’t even bear to tease; he only wanted to cry too. Sure, Niko and Freya could be pains in the arse, but they had also been valiant and bright and buoyant. They were his friends. The world was better with them in it, alive, and they’d been snuffed out in seconds like match flames.
Adrian cleared his throat, fighting to restore his brave facial expression. “Hey, we’re not counting you as dead yet. She’ll use that magic and put you back, or at least try. You’ll see.”
“Hmm.” Niko gazed across the field at Freya’s soul, who was helping organize a phalanx of ghost soldiers. “Could be interesting. But let’s take care of the army of dickheads first.”
“They’re getting closer.” Adrian lifted his chin in the direction of the river. “I feel her coming. Krystal.”
Zoe and Tab sprinted back into the fields a minute later. “They’re close,” Zoe panted.
“I know,” Adrian said. “So their disguises, that was magic all along?”
She nodded. “Glamours, I’d say.”
“Why don’t we have glamours?” Tab asked. “That sounds awesome.”
“They’re dishonest,” Zoe protested. “They’re nearly always used for the wrong reason, therefore the magic would rebound on me. Because unlike some bitches, I don’t have a special evil bargain with the Fates. But—” She gasped, and froze.
A weird shudder seemed to scud through the whole field.
“What was that?” Adrian asked.
“One of the wards.” Zoe stared toward the river. “She knocked it down. Ripped through it like it was tissue paper. Goddess, that’s one powerful bargain she made.”
Adrian knew they should mobilize now, but his feet felt rooted to the grass. Were these his last few minutes alive? Would he soon be stuck here in soul form, along with Zoe and Tab and everyone? Sophie would be devastated, furious. And he hadn’t even told her about Niko and Freya yet; he couldn’t bear to…
Shouts and the rattle of automatic gunfire echoed through the cave. He couldn’t see the battle from here; it was apparently taking place behind hills and columns, around a bend of the river. But it was undoubtedly beginning.
“Well.” With shaky hands, he fitted his helmet onto his head and lowered the clear shield. “Time to go.”
“Here,” Zoe said. “This once, I think us wearing glamours would be okay with the powers that be.”
She closed her eyes for a second, then the air shimmered around Tab and her, and their appearances shifted: they both seemed to turn into ghosts, shimmery greenish versions of themselves. Zoe opened her eyes and blinked at him. “Well, it’s working on you. Is ours working?”
“Yeah, you look like souls.” Adrian prodded Zoe’s arm just to make sure she was still solid, which he was thankful to find she was. He frowned at his own arms and legs. “But I don’t look any different.”
“Yes you do. You just can’t see it on yourself.” Another burst of gunfire rattled through the caverns. Zoe made a motion like putting something on her head—the helmet, he supposed, though her glamour warped appearances so that he couldn’t actually see it. “All right,” she said. “Let’s go end this, one way or another.”
“For the Underworld,” Adrian said as they began to run toward the melee.
“For the pantheon,” Zoe added.
“For the good guys!” Tab shouted.
“Ugh,” Niko remarked, running alongside them with Freya. “You’re all terrible at motivational battle speeches. I should have written one for you beforehand.”
***
Tracy had to admit it chilled his blood when he stepped into the Underworld and found himself surrounded by uncountable numbers of glowing ghosts, as expected—and at least twenty of them wielded actual physical knives, which he had not expected. Aside from that, a few were children, which was especially spooky.
“They’re armed!” Krystal and several of his other soldiers were shouting to him.
“Indeed. That wasn’t supposed to be possible.” Tracy whipped out his handgun and pointed it in warning at one of the souls who advanced upon him. “Well, then. Attack them.”
Krystal shrieked some sort of war cry, and started firing one shot after another. Though their faces had become sheens
of fear-sweat, the other soldiers lashed out too, some with knives and some with guns.
Tenebra gripped Tracy’s arm and said in his ear over the noise, “I am keeping the glamours only on the two of us. It will save my powers and let us get past under cover.”
“Good plan. Besides, it doesn’t look like the glamours were keeping the ghosts from spotting any of us.”
“No. I suspect souls see straight through these spells, but until now I would not have known.” She sounded academically curious rather than alarmed.
“A-ha, there.” Tracy pointed. One of Krystal’s shots had hit the knife on a ghost’s hand, and sent the knife spinning off into the cave, leaving the ghost defenseless. A great improvement over the other shots, which had gone straight through all the souls with no effect whatsoever except to ricochet dangerously off the cave’s columns and walls.
“Go for the knives!” Krystal shouted to her comrades. “Disarm them!”
“They’ve got it under control,” Tracy told Tenebra. “They’ll be causing quite a diversion. Shall we slip off and find our treasure?”
Tenebra shimmered into a glamour that resulted in giving her the appearance of a soul, translucent and luminous. She gave him a cagey smile. “I am thinking you might take a bite too before we destroy this tree. If we even wish to destroy it?”
He smiled back. “Let’s find it and see.”
She took his hand. They left the noisy battle behind and ran alongside the river, heading upstream toward the multitude of black, gray, and white trees visible in the distance. They slipped past countless souls, most of whom were migrating toward the battle in curiosity, but he didn’t see Adrian Watts or any other immortals or living folk along the way. Tenebra might not have the chance to yank out their souls, then; Krystal’s team might have to manage it with explosives, if she and the other soldiers didn’t get killed first. Ah, well. He could become immortal first and dole out the fates of the survivors later.
***
It hadn’t been too harrowing, walking through the spirit-world wilderness in the middle of the night. Sophie and Liam heard lots of rustles or squeaks from forest animals, and caught glimpses of reflective eyes or furry limbs or scaly tails in their inadequate flashlight beams before Kiri snarled and sent the creatures scurrying off. Some they spotted were extremely cool, such as a cluster of moths with bioluminescent blue wings. The worst was when something fell on her shoulder from a tree overhead, and turned out to be a black centipede-like creature almost a foot long. She screamed and knocked it to the ground with a swipe of her arm, and Liam yelled too when he looked down at it. Even her parents’ tranquil souls exclaimed in surprise. But it scuttled off on its zillion legs into the underbrush without doing her any harm.