Tweety swallowed and looked to me for help. I nodded, having a pretty good idea of what he was about to share. “One of my siblings hatched with a deformed leg.” The griffin hesitated.
Demarco gestured again.
I kept my mouth shut, refusing to butt in, knowing the blacksmith would regret asking. I’d made the same mistake once.
“The woods I grew up in were deadly. We had a nasty troll infestation and those beasts love to feast on griffins. We’re like a delicacy to them or something. My brother never would have survived. My mother knew that, and she…took care of the problem.”
“You mean she killed him?” Demarco asked.
Tweety scratched his head, craning his neck around before he lowered his voice. “I’m pretty sure we ate him.”
Demarco’s jaw dropped.
Tweety’s expression soured. “Yeah. I understand cannibalism’s not a widely accepted human practice, but when you’re a hungry little griffin and your mom gives you meat, you eat it. It never seemed weird to me until I started taking care of Doreán. He was completely helpless at birth and definitely wouldn’t have survived my family.”
Demarco had yet to pick his jaw up off the ground.
I nudged him. “Hey, you asked.”
“Yeah, but…” He swallowed hard. “It was just Mom and me, but she still taught me about interacting with society. She told me it was my duty to protect anyone incapable of protecting his or herself. We found a bird with a broken wing once, and we made it a splint and nursed it back to life. We sure as hell didn’t eat it.”
Tweety slouched in his chair, and I could tell he was super uncomfortable. He clearly looked up to Demarco and wanted the blacksmith’s approval.
“You can’t blame him for what he was taught,” I said, jumping in to defend the griffin.
“What about Doreán?” Demarco asked, turning on me. “If he was badly wounded would you…uh…take care of the problem?”
My back stiffened. “Of course not. But I’ve been training him to protect himself so he doesn’t get badly wounded.”
“He’s three.”
“Yeah, and he’s currently being held captive by goddesses, so I’m glad that every time he fell I didn’t rush over to ask if he was okay. I taught him how to get up and brush himself off. When he got cut, I showed him how to clean the wound and bandage himself.”
Now he was looking at me like I was an animal, eating my own.
“What?” I asked, bolting to my feet. I needed to get away from the accusation in his eyes. So I don’t coddle my kid. Big deal. I’m still a good mom. Yeah, Doreán had been kidnapped on my watch, but I was doing everything I could to get him back. “That’s more than anyone ever did for me.”
I felt like I was being watched, which, of course, I was. Our heated discussion had gotten the attention of everyone in the entire restaurant. Even now the waiter was heading over to shoo us out. My face burned with embarrassment, and tears stung my eyes. Hoping nobody close enough to hear the conversation could speak English, I dropped enough euros to pay the bill, shouldered my pack, and stormed out of the restaurant, not even caring whether or not the guys followed.
Demarco caught up to me before I made it a full block away. “Where are you going, Romi?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Away from you.”
He easily kept pace with me. “Why?”
“Because you don’t understand.” And I didn’t appreciate the accusatory way he looked at me.
He grabbed my arm and tugged me to a stop, facing him. “Then make me.”
Frustrated, I gestured down a particularly dark alley. “What do you see in that alley?”
His gaze followed my hand. “I don’t know. Darkness.”
“Shadows lurk in that darkness. They fear me, so they leave me alone unless I call them to do my bidding. Being in Erebus’s line enables me to control, command, and even consume them, and they hate me for it. My blood makes them slaves, but they have teeth and will bite if I let them. I’d free them so they’d stop trying to kill me, but they have no conscience, and they would run over this world like locusts, destroying everything. You got a glimpse of their hate when we were stuck between realms, but you don’t know what it’s like to be constantly stalked by an angry presence just waiting for you to show weakness so it can attack.”
“You’re right, I don’t know what that’s like.” He gave the alley one more considering look before we rounded the corner. “Is it the same for Doreán?”
“Not as bad. I protect Doreán. When he was born I warded him against their attacks. They can’t get through my blood ward, so they’d have to kill me before they could go after him.”
“Who protected you when you were little?” he asked.
That was the second time he’d asked me that particular question, and I still didn’t have an answer. Big chunks of my childhood were blurred together or missing completely from my memories. I didn’t remember Shade ever shielding me, but he must have. The moment Doreán was born, shadows filled the room to check out their new master. I’d been so out of it from labor I barely registered what was happening, but the midwife fled, leaving me and Tweety to fight them. Instincts must have kicked in, because I’d somehow infused my blood with my will and a bit of luck before using it to shield my son. Had Shade done something similar for me? Or had I been fighting the darkness on my own since birth?
“I don’t know,” I answered.
Demarco’s expression softened. Then he looked down. Grabbing my hand in his, he said, “I promise I’ll protect you now.”
He still didn’t get it, but at least he was trying. “I don’t need protection.”
Confusion furrowed his brow. “What do you need then?”
“Nothing.”
You’d think I slapped him. He released my hand and looked at me with hurt in his eyes. It was the truth, though. I didn’t need anything. I worked alone. I had Doreán and Tweety to take care of and I’d managed to take care of all their needs. Still, something inside of me wanted Demarco. I enjoyed the sound of his laughter and the feel of his skin against mine. His scent comforted and enticed me, and I just liked being around him. And I hated the rejected look on his face, loathing myself for putting it there.
Reconnecting our hands, I said, “I don’t need anything, but I could use a partner.”
One side of his lips curled up. “A partner, huh?”
“Yeah.” He’d proven his capabilities and shown himself to be an asset, but I still wasn’t ready to relinquish control or fully trust him. “Maybe like an eighty-twenty split.” I pointed to each of us in turn so he’d know I meant eighty for me and twenty for him.
“Split of what? Power? Duties? Money?”
“Yeah,” I nodded.
Chuckling, he shook his head. “I don’t think it works like that.”
Before I could argue, Tweety ran up and took in our connected hands. “Good, you guys kissed and made up. Can we get back to work now?”
Pfft. This from the kid who didn’t even want to go down the dark, scary hole in the ground. I elbowed him in the side and we headed for the ruins.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
IT WAS FULLY dark by the time Demarco, Tweety, and I reached the fence encircling the ruins. I wrapped us in shadows to keep us hidden as we plotted.
“Can you see or hear anything, Tweety?” I asked.
He tore his gaze from the darkness surrounding us long enough to stare into the ruins. “There are a couple of guards making rounds to the south. That’s it. Is this really necessary, Romi? Nobody can see us.”
I knew he was talking about the shadows. He’d complained when I’d first called them and hadn’t stopped complaining since.
“Yes. Now give me your hand so I can take us in.”
“Wait.” Tweety’s arm yanked back, dodging my advance. “Can’t we just hop the fence or something?”
“And then find the well in the dark with guards walking around waiting to catch us? No. That’s stupid.
This will only take a second.” I reached for him but he pulled away again.
“Romi, I don’t want to go back in the shadows. Not after last time.”
The level of his fear surprised me. Sure, things had gotten out of hand and all, but we’d survived. Besides, it wasn’t like that was his first time shadow walking with me. “We’ve done this several times and nothing bad has ever happened. I was hurt and you were scared, so the shadows thought they had a chance, but I made them regret their attack. Come on. You’re being ridiculous.”
He took a giant step away from me. “No. I’ll hop the fence and meet you there.”
I could’ve let him do that, but giving in to fear was dangerous. If he couldn’t overcome it, he’d become a liability and we’d have to leave him behind, which would destroy my sentimental teenage sidekick. Honestly, I wouldn’t like it much either. As much as I’d tried not to, I really liked the kid. Trying to use guilt to push past his fear, I reminded him, “This is for Doreán, remember? You said you’d do anything for him.”
“I know, but there’s no reason I can’t just meet you there.”
“Yes there is. I need you to go with me into the shadows now—while I’m all nice and healed, rested, and in control—so you can get past this crap, because we might have to travel again with me wounded, and I need you not to be a little sissy bird about it.”
Even in the dark I could see his jaw drop in outrage. “Sissy bird? You were literally unraveling in front of my eyes. Your body looked like a coil coming loose and turning to smoke. And…you were terrifying, Romi. If not wanting to see that again makes me a little sissy bird, then whatever.”
“Romi—” Demarco tried to cut in.
“No.” I held my hand up, blocking him. He didn’t understand what was going on here. “First the well, now this. Tweety has to face his fear, or we might as well say good-bye now. We need a griffin, not a chicken.”
He crossed his arms. “I’m not a chicken.”
Anger. I could feel it coming from him, and it would work. Anger could override fear for sure. I just needed to feed it a little. “Smell that?” I asked, dramatically sniffing the air. “Smells like chicken.”
His voice dropped an octave. “I am not a chicken.”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
“Screw you, Romi.”
I laughed. “You mad, bro?”
“Damn right I’m mad. You know I hate it when you call me that.”
“Then stop being one, and I’ll stop calling you it, chicken.”
He growled at me.
“Good. Anger is much more useful than fear. Come on, chicken.” Before he could protest, I grabbed him and Demarco and stepped into the shadows.
We emerged beside the well. Tweety flailed his arms, swearing as he tried to shake me off. “I can’t believe you did that!”
Shushing him, I pulled him closer and whispered, “You can hate me or be pissed at me all you want, but I won’t let you fear me. Fear is dangerous, Tweety. You need to get over it. See, we just walked through the shadows, and you’re fine, so put on your big boy pants and let’s go find Demeter.”
He jerked away from me, but he didn’t argue. “I see what you did there.”
“Good. Maybe there’s hope for you yet.”
“I can’t see anything,” Demarco whispered. “Should I bring out my flashlight?”
“The flashlights are plan B,” I replied. Positioning us so my back was to Tweety, I told Demarco to close his eyes.
I didn’t know whether or not my luck would enable him to see in the dark, but it had helped him see the Empusa, so I was hopeful. I blew on my fingertips and rubbed them across his eyelids before doing the same to my own.
“There. Can you see now?” I asked.
My vision had brightened enough to see Demarco’s eyes open and then widen. Little flecks of gold brightened his irises and pupils. “Whoa, this is really cool. It’s like wearing night vision goggles.”
“Wait, you have night vision goggles?” I asked. Had I known, those could have been Plan A.
“At home, yes. I put them on the list once.” He grinned. “How long does this last?”
“I’m not sure, but I can do it again when it starts to wear off.”
“What did you do to him?” Tweety asked, joining us.
I was glad to see that the griffin was warming back up, but I could have done without that particular question.
“I…um…I don’t know. It’s just something I was hoping I could do and didn’t know for sure whether or not it would work.”
“You have enough materials or ingredients or whatever it is you need to refresh it?” Demarco asked.
Sure, we’d go with that. “All good.”
Now that everyone could see, we climbed over the roped-off area and huddled around the well head. Faint wailing reached my ears, and it definitely sounded like it was coming from down inside the well.
“I hear it now,” Demarco whispered.
“Yep. That definitely isn’t just the wind.”
I pulled the climbing equipment from my pack, securing the belay rope around the well before attaching it to the vest. Then I slipped into the vest.
Demarco reached for the vest, halting my progress. “I should go first.”
I pushed his hand aside and continued to fasten the buckles.
“Romi, I’m serious. There could be anything down there. It’s dangerous.”
I looked into the well, and couldn’t see anything but darkness. “Which is exactly why I’m going down first. If anything spooks me, I can call the shadows for an evac. What can you do? Smash it? What if it’s not smashable?”
He frowned.
“Besides, I know more about any monsters that may be down there than you do. Oh, and this looks pretty tame compared to some of the places Shade has sent me, so I think I’ll be all right.”
He sighed, but apparently had no arguments to withstand my logic.
“Look, I get that the Pythia told you something that has you spooked, but I’ve been doing this a really long time. I’ll be fine. Do you guys remember how these buttons work?”
They both nodded.
“Good. As soon as I hit the bottom and determine it’s safe, I’ll take off the vest and push the button to retract the rope. Then…rinse, repeat. Got it?”
They both just stared at me.
“Rinse what?” Tweety asked.
I rolled my eyes and tried again. “When you see the empty harness come back up, help Demarco into it, then we’ll send it back up for you to pack while you wait.”
“So what are we rinsing?” Demarco asked.
My brain. The entire conversation felt like it was rinsing all knowledge and understanding from my brain. “Forget the rinse repeat thing. It’s just a saying.” And a perfect example of why I usually worked alone.
“What if I decide to come?” Tweety asked.
The worried look the kid gave me broke my heart a little. I pulled him in for a hug and tried to squeeze the breath out of him. “You got a little scared. It’s not the end of the world, you know?”
He nodded.
“You did a good job finding out where Demeter is. I’m proud of you, Tweety.”
Another nod.
“I’ll see you down there, okay?”
“Thanks, Romi.”
“Of course.” I gave him one last squeeze then went to release him, but he grabbed my hand.
“Just one question. When you were becoming one with the shadows, what happened to your clothes?”
My clothes? Had I been naked when we’d stepped out of the realm of Erebus? No. I remembered being fully clothed. So when I’d unraveled, what had happened to my clothes? Did the fibers burst apart and then come back together?
“I don’t know,” I finally admitted.
He smirked. “Exactly.”
The little punk had finally figured out how to tell me what happened to his shorts when he sprouted feathers.
“Ahh. Why didn’t yo
u just say that?”
His smirk only widened.
I slugged him in the shoulder and pushed away from him.
Demarco intercepted me on my way to the well. His gaze dropped to my lips and I got the craziest feeling he wanted to kiss me. And I kinda wanted him to. Instead, he tucked me under his arm in a hug and said, “Be careful.”
I stood on my tiptoes, pulling his face downward. Then I kissed the tip of his nose. His eyes widened with surprise.
Grinning, I said, “I’m always careful.”
He tilted his head. “Always?”
I sat on the edge of the well, my legs dangling over the dark abyss. “Yep. Well, except that one time when you knocked me up.”
Tweety was chuckling when I drifted down into the darkness.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
LOWERING MYSELF INTO the Kallikhoron well was a lot like passing through a narrow, vertical tunnel. Although my body didn’t touch the earth surrounding me, it got close in a few areas. Demarco would be a tight fit for sure.
The crying grew louder as I descended, reassuring me that we’d made the right decision. If Demeter wasn’t down here, some other crybaby sure was. I kicked my way past a protruding shelf and the well opened up into a cavernous room with a watery floor and a raised stone walkway along the north side. Slowing my descent, I swung back and forth until I got enough leverage to drop safely onto the walkway. Balancing on the uneven stones, I surveyed the area.
The water was deep enough that I couldn’t see the bottom. I also didn’t see any monsters lurking beneath the surface, but that didn’t necessarily mean they weren’t there. I undid my harness and waited about a minute. Nothing jumped me, so I pressed the button to retract it. The mechanism whirred back to life and the harness ascended, spinning in circles as it went. I stood alone on the side of the pool, trying to figure out which direction we should go. The crying sounded like it was bouncing off the walls, coming from every direction at once. Hopefully Tweety would be able to get a bead on it once he was down here. If he didn’t chicken out and stay up top.
The space darkened. When I looked up, the bottoms of Demarco’s gigantic boots filled the well shaft, blocking the moonlight. I kept an eye out while he lowered, until his body dropped beneath the shelf. He scanned the area until he made eye contact then started swinging in the same way I had. Moments later, he stood beside me on the shelf as my fingers worked to remove the harness.
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