Behind him, Nathan let the rope sag as he ran a thorough eye over me, looking for any sign that I was hurt. I knew all he would find was exhaustion. Though that produced a small frown, he let it slide as he turned his attention back to Alec.
“Can you anchor it to something?” he shouted.
I eyed the distance separating us warily. This chasm was three times as wide as the one that Jas and Kira had crossed. If Alec did the same thing Jas had done, he’d have to climb a lot farther than Jas had climbed.
I would have used my powers to transport Alec safely across . . . if I could have. As weak as I was now, I feared I would drop him to his death.
Alec walked backward, unraveling the rope as he edged closer to the storage room. To give him more rope, Nathan walked closer to the lip of the chasm until pieces of earth gave way beneath his foot.
“Far enough,” I warned sternly, earning a teasing grin from Nathan.
Apparently, he found it humorous for me to be protective of him.
Alec called back that the rope was secured on his end. “You got my weight?” he asked Nathan.
I grimaced when I saw the short piece of rope Nathan had left to hold on to. And he was already so close to the edge . . .
Why couldn’t my magic be limitless?
Jared recognized the severity of the situation, and moved to stand behind Nathan. Knowing Jared would do everything he could to keep Nathan from falling provided me with some relief. Regardless, I held my breath as Alec climbed out onto the rope. Nathan grunted from the extra weight, far more than he had to hold for Lilian and me.
At least Alec moved a lot faster than we had, and had crossed halfway before Nathan muttered a pained, “Hurry!”
I pulled what little energy I had left to the surface. Jared’s arms shot out to hold onto Nathan as he leaned dangerously forward. I heard the ground beneath him crack away.
I caught Alec first, and flung him across the remaining distance. He rolled to the ground at my feet. Beyond him, Jared and Nathan tumbled backwards from the sudden loss of Alec’s weight on the rope.
Then I joined all three of them on the floor as I was zapped of all my energy.
“Turn the volume up,” Callie squeals, waving her arms frantically at me. “This is my favorite part!”
I realize I am in possession of the remote control, and hit the volume button in time for Harry’s infamous speech, and the following New Year’s kiss, to play out loudly on the television in front of us. Scattered across the floor around us is an assortment of popcorn, chocolate, and sodas. It looks like every other sleep over we’ve had during our six years of friendship.
Except, this time, Alec is there. Yielding a nail polish brush.
He pauses to allow Callie ample time to settle down from her Harry Met Sally swoon before taking the brush to her toes again. I glance down at my own feet, and find them smeared in still-wet, bright red polish. He even got it between my toes.
“Alec,” Callie admonishes once she peels her eyes from the television. “You suck at this!”
“Not like I volunteered,” he grumbles. He pulls his bottom lip between his teeth in concentration as he makes a swipe with the brush, catching more of the skin surrounding Callie’s toenail than the nail itself.
“You love it,” Callie returns, “almost as much as you love me.”
Alec glances up, and blinks. His lips part in preparation to say something.
“Here!” Callie tosses me another video, silencing the words in Alec’s mouth. “Let’s reinvent ourselves like Julia Roberts next.”
A glaring bright light ripped me from the dream. I opened my eyes in time to catch the oncoming headlights of a car before it passed. My head was resting on something warm and soft. I hissed from the stab of pain in my neck as I moved. As stiff as it was, I assumed I had been sleeping in this position for some time.
I was crammed into the middle seat of our vehicle, with Lillian, Bruce, and Alec. Alec stirred as I lifted my head from his shoulder. The headlights of another passing car illuminated his eyes as he stared down at me.
“Don’t you dare say anything,” he warned in a hushed voice. His finger tapped the tip of my nose. “And if you ever tell anyone I painted your toenails . . .”
I laughed softly. “You’ll what? Paint them again as punishment?”
His eyes narrowed on me briefly before he cracked a smile. “What was that?”
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “Apparently, one of us wanted to have a slumber party.”
“Yeah, that was me,” Alec answered without hesitation. He sounded so serious, I wasn’t sure whether or not he was joking. “But I had hoped for a pillow fight in skimpy pajamas. Not painting toenails.”
My eyes narrowed. “Is that what you think girls do at slumber parties?”
His face fell. “You don’t?”
I shook my head, and earned a defeated sigh from Alec. “So . . . you paint nails and watch movies?”
“Two of Callie’s favorite activities.”
“Hey . . .” Nathan’s head popped between the two front seats, and his eyes settled on me. “Everything okay back there?”
“Sure. Just dreaming,” I answered.
His gaze swung to Alec, and he grimaced as if he felt sorry for him.
I nodded at the back of Jared’s head, where he sat in the driver’s seat. “Where are we going?”
“Areopoli. We’ve got a few hours of driving ahead of us yet. You should get some more rest.”
“What’s in Areopoli?” I asked.
“The Diros Caves,” Nathan answered at the same time Alec said, “The entrance to the underworld.”
~ ~ ~
~ Nathan ~
We took turns driving through the night to get to the southernmost tip of Greece. We stopped there, in Areopoli, which was the closest town to the Diros Caves. It was the only place we could think of to start searching for the rest of the demigods. Isatan had suggested that they would be found near the entrance to the underworld, and the Diros Caves had long been considered the most commonly used of the few possible entrances.
The downside was that Areopoli was a much smaller town than Corinth, and that made blending in more difficult. However, the caves had made it a fairly popular tourist hub, so I knew we wouldn’t be the only out-of-towners walking the streets.
Narrow homes constructed of stone towered over the smooth cobblestone streets. Broad windows displayed antiques and trinkets within the many shops that lined the sidewalk. Though I had done a lot of traveling, and had seen a lot of places, this little town quickly ascended to the top three, right behind Boone and Mount Olympus, simply for its charm and simplicity.
I found it hard to believe the demigods were there.
“Wouldn’t you expect there to be some sign that they were near?” I mused as we navigated the local farmer’s market in the town center.
The sign hanging outside the courthouse stated, population: 1656. That number had to have been wrong. If it were accurate, then every single resident had shown up at the market this morning. Along with all the tourists. This town was definitely flourishing. No signs of evil darkened the streets this bright and airy morning.
“I don’t think they’re here,” Kris murmured in response.
“Maybe they haven’t come out of the underworld yet,” Alec suggested.
I sure hoped they had. Otherwise, our job was about to get a hell of a lot harder. Though Alec joked about it, taking a trip to the underworld wasn’t something I wanted to do unless we absolutely had to. As far as I knew, no hybrid had ever ventured there. I didn’t even know if we could
return . . . or if our souls would be sucked up and forced to stay. That sounded like something Hades would do to unwelcome guests.
“Let’s hope they have,” I returned. “We just need to look harder.”
Right on cue, Jared pushed his way through the crowd, and handed out the stack of brochures on the Diros Caves he had gathered from the front stoop of the cou
rthouse. Flipping through, I saw the tour times, and consulted my watch.
“Next tour is in an hour,” I volunteered.
“Enough time to check out the hostel,” Alec pointed out.
“That’s what I was thinking.” As I nodded in agreement, I glimpsed Kris biting her lip to keep from smiling. “What?” I asked her.
Her eyes flicked between Alec and me, and her smile broke free. “You two are the only ones who don’t see it.”
I glanced at Alec, and he shrugged. “See what exactly?” I questioned Kris.
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing,” she muttered as she pushed through the crowd in the general direction of the hostel. Despite her words, I knew she was pleased about something.
Damned if I knew what.
The hostel, on the other hand, wasn’t much to be pleased about. Though we weren’t in any position to complain. Not after we had all been forced to sleep in the cramped vehicle for a few measly hours earlier that morning. That miserable experience made the three-story hub for back-packers and tourists looking to save a few bucks look like the epitome of luxury.
Considering it was the weekend, the hostel didn’t have many beds left. There were just enough to accommodate our eight-person team, though we were split between the two ten-bed rooms. Jared, Kira, and Jas joined those already roomed on the ground floor while the rest of us joined a family of five on the second floor.
This wasn’t my first time using a hostel. I had a varied opinion of them. Some were better than hotels, while some were little better than squatting in an abandoned house, which I had also done at one time. This one fell somewhere in the middle. Crowded, with a poorly lit dingy communal bathroom on each floor, it was, at least, mostly clean and quiet. As an added bonus, the diner next door offered free breakfast to guests.
Though this hostel offered two private suites, they were both currently in use. I hung back to ask the concierge to let me know when either of them became available.
Being surrounded by the other guests limited our ability to communicate openly about the reason we were in town. Humans didn’t handle the truth about our world very well, and the last thing I wanted to do was scare some kids on a family vacation with overheard whispered conversations about the dangers of the underworld.
The family we shared a room with was gone, on whatever adventure they were in town for, as we moved our bags in. I watched curiously as Kris removed the rosemary leaf from her backpack and placed it under her pillow on the narrow cot next to mine. Her eyes darted to mine, and I smiled.
“Come here.” I sat on the edge of my bed, and pulled her to me.
I didn’t have to do much coaxing. She snuggled into my chest like we were two connecting pieces of a puzzle, and breathed a content sigh.
“I know this is stupid, because I see you every day,” she said, “but I miss you.”
“It’s not stupid,” I returned. I knew exactly what she meant. We were together . . . but yet not together. Not in the way we both wanted.
Though this certainly helped.
“How are you doing?” I probed. “Really doing?”
She shrugged meekly, and I knew she didn’t want to talk about everything that had happened the day before. At the risk of making her mad, I forced her back to give her a look that demanded an answer other than, okay.
“I don’t really know,” she admitted. “On one hand, I’m relieved that most of the demigods are gone. But the way it all played out will haunt me for a long time.” She lowered her head, making it difficult to hear her as she muttered, “Too many have already died because of me.”
“Not because of you,” I returned. “Circe and the demigods started this. You’re trying to stop them. There’s a difference.”
“But if I . . .”
“What? Join Circe to stop all this fighting?” I ventured. “Even more will die, Kris. Including Callie.”
She sighed, looking utterly defeated. “But Permna . . . Isatan . . . all those soldiers. Maybe Phisma was right. All of this fighting is unnecessary.”
“So what’s the alternative? Give up?”
She shook her head at the floor. “I can’t do that either. I don’t know what to do.”
“I know you, Kris. You’re not going to bow down, and then let all those innocent humans die. You’re not going to let Callie die. This is what the Kala does. We protect humans from the forces of evil, remember? We’ve trained and prepared to sacrifice for the good of the war against them. You shouldn’t feel guilty about the sacrifices they’ve made.”
“It’s all going to end soon,” she muttered softly. So quietly I wasn’t sure I heard her right.
“What?”
“This war is coming to an end,” she stated firmly. “You were right. I’m going to bring an end to it. My mother told me it has been prophesized.”
“Your mother?”
“I saw her in a dream . . . or a vision? She says I can free her where the others have failed. She will help me defeat Circe’s curse. I need to find her.”
I choked on a laugh. “In the underworld?”
She nodded glumly, then shrugged. “We might have to track the demigods there anyway, right?”
“Still . . . Hecate will be . . .”
Significant measures had been taken to keep her there. What were the chances we could get through whatever traps had been set up to keep Hecate in? And then get back out with our souls intact?
“Destroying the demigods will take the pressure off of Alec and me,” she added, “but it’s not going to end the curse. We will need my mother’s help.”
I pondered the complexity of that task. The thought of getting in to the underworld seemed . . . impossible. Not to mention extremely dangerous.
“Why am I just now hearing about this?”
“I had the vision right before the demigods attacked the hideout,” Kris explained. “I didn’t have time to tell anyone about it until now.”
I rubbed a hand over my face as if that could wipe away the pang of uncertainty that had settled into the pit of my stomach. It gave me no clarity. Only a brief episode of stars in my eyes.
“Do you know how to break Hades’ curse on her? Did she explain that?”
Kris shook her head solemnly. “I have no idea. She said the stars have been aligned, and the path will show itself to me soon. That’s all I know.”
My eyebrows shot up. What kind of explanation was that?
“Okay,” I forced. “We’ll figure it out. We’ll get rid of the demigods, then find your mother. Curses broken, life back to normal . . . then what?” I met Kris’s curious eyes with a small smile. “Where do you want to go when this is all over?”
I watched the expression on her face change from curious, to understanding, to full-blown happy as it dawned on her what I was asking. What I was saying.
I could have said more, as the dainty ring burning a hole in the back pocket of my jeans demanded. While I knew I would give it to her eventually, it hadn’t felt right yet. Considering we went from one troubling situation to another with little relief in between, I had decided to wait until our lives were back to normal. As normal as it could get after experiencing the things we had experienced.
Regardless, Kris smiled brightly at my question. The choices were limitless, and I would go anywhere she wanted to go.
Her arms tightened around my neck. “I thought maybe I’d want to be on a beach somewhere,” she mused.
“As long as it’s not the Kala base, I’m okay with that.”
“But then, I thought maybe the mountains,” she continued, her voice taking on a far-away quality. “I realized that I sort of miss Boone.”
“That’s okay, too.”
“Which would you rather?”
I thought better of saying, wherever you’re at, because I figured that would only add more ammo to Alec’s claim that I was whipped. Instead, I said, “I like the mountains.”
Kris’s smile grew. “I didn’t like the mountains when you made me wal
k through them for days.” She scoffed softly. “God, you were unbearable then. Did you even realize how horrible you were?”
“I was trying not to feel what I felt for you,” I admitted softly. “Even then.”
Some self-control I’d had. Not that I cared now. I was with Kris, and there was no way I was about to give her up now.
Apparently, whatever I said was pretty good based on the kiss she gave me. The first few seconds, I even forgot that we weren’t alone in the room, and I gripped her waist tight as I pulled her as close as I could get her to me. It wasn’t enough.
It was never enough.
She pulled away with a smile on her face. “I heard you ask the guy at the front desk to let you know when a private room opened up.”
I nodded. Yes, I had done that.
“It’s ours, right?” she asked.
“Yeah, I figured we’d need a place to—”
“No . . .” Kris’s gaze leveled on mine intently. “It’s ours, right?”
And then I got it. I knew what she was asking. Though that actually hadn’t been my intentions for requesting the private room, having some alone time with Kris was certainly a good enough reason in itself to have it.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “It’s ours.”
Chapter 11
~ Kris ~
Diros Caves were a few minutes outside of town. We arrived with just enough time to purchase our tickets, and get in line with the other visitors. Though we had ulterior motives for exploring the cave, we blended in with the tourists as a group of friends looking for adventure.
After a few minutes, I lost myself in the tour as our guide pushed off away from the dock in our small eight-person boat. As one of the few caves in the world that was predominately under water, the only way to explore the caves was via boat. The path our boat took was illuminated by lights suspended by an overhead cable.
All the cables originated from a large black box near the entrance to the cave—something we would have to remember if we had to come back.
Everyone had their own list of things to pay attention to during the tour. Security, possible entry points after hours, and most importantly, anything that looked like an entrance to the underworld.
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