Sweet Shadows

  “I’ll wait out in the hall,” I say, wanting to give her and her brother as much privacy as possible. “And when we get Gretchen home, we can start looking for our biological mother.”

  She smiles and heads for her room.

  While she’s gone, I take a moment to savor her news. Our birth mother. Cassandra Gregory. I could have been Greer Gregory. Doesn’t have quite the ring of Morgenthal, but I could have made it work.

  A minute later, Grace is walking through the door, pulling a small cross-body bag over her head.

  “Let’s go.”

  She starts walking and I follow quickly behind. If she doesn’t want to talk about her brother, I’m not going to force the issue. What do I know about sibling relationships? But I can’t help wondering what that weird final echo in my vision was all about. What does it mean? Did he really already know about me, or was that some trick of my mind? I don’t know enough about my power to be sure.

  That’s something I’ll tackle after we use the pendant, after we get Gretchen back. Thane can wait; we’ve got a sister to save.

  Grace and I sit on the floor facing each other, kind of like in a sacred circle or something. She pulls the pendant out of her bag, holding it carefully between her palms.

  “You’re sure you want to do this?” she asks.

  I want to make a sarcastic quip, but I don’t think that will alleviate her concerns. “Yes,” I say. “I’m sure.”

  Holding out her shaking hands, she lets the pendant dangle. The light from the overhead fixture hits the gem, spreading golden beams throughout the room. I feel the magic drawing me closer. I take a deep breath and brace myself for whatever is to come. I reach for the pendant.

  When my fingers first brush the gold, I feel a tingle. Kind of like the shock of static electricity. Just a little spark.

  Emboldened, I clamp my fist around the whole thing. Instantly it feels like I’ve stuck my finger in a light socket. Flash after flash of pure energy jolts through me, over me, around me.

  My brain swirls with the same kind of hazy image I saw earlier in Contemporary Civilization, only there is no solid object at the center. As much as I try to focus my mind, to rein in all the racing thoughts, I feel that I’m in free fall. Bursts of momentary clarity.

  Knife.

  Blood.

  Prayer.

  Then things turn darker. Amid the shadows I see glinting steel and tearing claws. Flesh shredded, bodies piled, deafening roar. It’s like a vortex of blackness, of evil. And high above, I see streaks of purple and gold.

  I can’t draw breath. I feel like I’m drowning in air. The images narrow, shrinking down to a—

  “Greer!”

  My eyes flash open. Grace is screaming, leaning over me with a desperate look in her eyes. Her hands grip my shoulders, shaking me as if she’s trying to bring me back to consciousness. To life.

  I struggle to breathe for a minute, my eyes never leaving hers. Silver to silver. She’s like my anchor, keeping me conscious and rooted in this world. Saving me from drifting back into that dark place that almost claimed me.

  Finally, when I feel that I have control of myself and my mind, I say, “What?”

  “What?” she echoes. “What! Are you kidding me?”

  She moves off me and pulls me to a sitting position.

  “You were screaming in terror,” she says. “Gasping like you couldn’t breathe. Your eyes rolled back into your head and—”

  I place a hand over hers. “I’m fine.”

  “Fine?” She shakes her head. “Thanks to me. I had to yank this out of your hand.”

  She holds up the pendant, letting it dangle from her fingertips like a poisonous snake.

  “I know,” I say, pushing shakily to my feet. “Thank you.”

  Things are falling into place, the unconnected puzzle pieces clicking together to form a comprehensible picture.

  I don’t have time to think about that dark, scary place. Of where I might have ended up if Grace hadn’t pulled me back. Right now, we have to save our sister.

  “I know how to get to the abyss,” I say. “I need a knife.”

  I can almost feel Grace’s eyes follow me as I disappear upstairs. Moments later I return from the kitchen with a small paring knife. If I’m interpreting the visions clearly, this is what needs to be done.

  “Why do you need a knife?” Grace asks.

  “I’m going to open a portal.”

  “Then what?” she asks.

  “Then …” I hadn’t thought of that. “Then we go in after Gretchen.”

  “Just like that?” Her eyes widen. “We’ll need supplies. Who knows what’s waiting for us in there.”

  She’s being practical. And she’s right, we shouldn’t go in without supplies.

  I nod. We take a few minutes to gather some essentials. I retrieve a long-forgotten backpack from the depths of my closet, and we fill it with bottled water, granola bars, a pair of steak knives, and a handful of zip ties from the household toolbox. When we feel prepared, we return to the basement.

  Grace pulls the backpack onto her shoulders and I grip the knife in my left hand.

  Our eyes meet, we exchange a nod, and I draw the blade over my right palm. I clench my jaw to keep from wincing at the pain. I move the knife to my right hand and repeat the action, drawing a line of blood on my left palm. I toss the knife aside.

  With a little prayer that this works, I clasp my two palms together.

  At first, nothing happens. I stare at my steepled hands. Just the feel of blood against blood. Maybe I read the images wrong, or the images were about something else, or—

  “Omigosh,” Grace gasps.

  I look up and see a black spot right in front of me. As we stand there, watching, the spot grows. It looks exactly like the portal Sthenno was dragged into, just like the one Gretchen dived into. It grows until it is nearly as tall as the ceiling and as wide as a set of double doors.

  I take an instinctive step back.

  Grace steps up to my side.

  “Ready?” she asks.

  Am I? I have to be. “Yes.”

  She takes my hand in hers and, together, we take a step toward the portal.

  CHAPTER 24

  GRETCHEN

  We set out through the crack, a group of six, leaving the brightness of the cave for the darkness of the cavern. The golden maiden and I are accompanied by another pair of those obsidian-like guardians, Sillus, and a winged horse, a pegasus. The unicorn, whose name I’ve learned is Lex, stayed behind because the light from his horn might draw too much attention. Apparently, where we’re going, staying under the radar is mission critical.

  The pegasus is a majestic thing. Sleek and silver gray, his wings fold tight against his body as we walk. I remember enough of Ursula’s mythology lessons to know that the pegasus is also a descendant of Medusa. This creature’s ancient ancestor was born of the blood of my ancestor. I’m not sure I understand how it happened, but according to legend, when Perseus chopped off Medusa’s head, Pegasus flew out of the blood that dripped from her neck. It is amazing that something so beautiful can rise from such an evil act.

  “You were traveling in the correct direction,” the golden maiden says. “The Den is far downstream from here, at the place where the dark river falls to a great depth at the edge of Abyssos.”

  “The edge?” I ask. “There’s an end to this thing?”

  She pauses before answering. “Of a sort.”

  “What—”

  “Quiet,” one of the twin guards says.

  We all freeze and drop low to the ground. The pegasus moves close to my side and lifts his wing, urging me into his protection. I’m not usually one to accept help, but when I hear the footsteps, even I know it’s best to stay out of the way.

  They are countless. Like the sound of an entire army marching by. The echoes draw closer and closer until it sounds like they are walking right over top of us. The protective wing tightens around me.

  But
I manage to push forward and peek out around the pegasus’s chest. The mass of bodies, walking in tight formation, is huge. There must be hundreds, at least. I watch in silence as they march upstream, disappearing around a bend in the canyon. None of us says anything until the last of the echoes dies down.

  “Clear,” the guard says.

  Everyone exhales and returns to standing positions. As we get moving, I ask, “What was that?”

  “Nychtian Army,” Sillus says.

  “Army?” I echo.

  “The Army of the Night,” the golden maiden says. “The force that plans to take over Panogia.”

  “What do you mean?” I ask.

  “The dark creatures of Abyssos wish to have free, unregulated access to the human realm,” she explains. “The only way to do so is to attack the guardians once the seal is broken.” She gives me a sad look. “They train now to overtake you and your sisters, to kill you so the door may remain open wide for eternity.”

  My stomach churns at the thought of that army taking on me and my sisters. Fighting monsters one or two or even five at a time is manageable. But an entire army?

  “That seems like a pretty big army,” I say, forcing the words out through a dry mouth. “Seems like overkill to send that to take out three little girls.”

  “You are no ordinary girls,” the golden maiden says.

  “More army still,” Sillus says. “Humans fight too. Monsters hypnotize.”

  “Hush, Sillus,” the pegasus says. “You will frighten her.”

  Too late. “Humans?” I ask. “They’re hypnotizing humans to create a second army?”

  The golden maiden nods, a sad smile on her face. Like she can already picture our defeat. She doesn’t know me very well. Or my sisters. We won’t go down easy.

  “What’s the point?” I ask. “Even if they succeed, couldn’t the gods just reseal the door? Couldn’t they wind up just as badly off as they are now?”

  She shakes her head. “The original sealing ritual was very specific.”

  “Only three outcomes are possible when the Key Generation arrives,” the pegasus says. “The triplets open the door and take up the guardianship.”

  “Keys open door,” Sillus adds, “and leave unguarded.”

  “Or they seal the door,” the golden maiden finishes. “For all eternity.”

  There is something about the way she says that, about the third option, that sends shivers down my spine. From my perspective, it doesn’t seem like such a bad idea to seal the door. Makes my job, my life, a whole heck of a lot easier. Clearly it’s not that simple.

  “What happens if we seal the door?” I ask, almost fearing the answer.

  Her golden eyes fill with dark tears. “Every creature in Abyssos dies.”

  The air in my lungs whooshes out and I feel hot and shaky all over. I look around at the creatures who are helping me, who are treating me like a friend and not a deadly enemy—even knowing I can kill them with a single bite. Even knowing I hold their collective fate in my hands. The reality that they would die, all of them, without consideration, is unthinkable.

  If the run-in with the laestrygon taught me anything, it’s that I’m a huntress, not a killer.

  “I won’t let that happen,” I say. “I promise.”

  They look skeptical, but they don’t know me. They don’t know I don’t make promises lightly. If I promise something, then I make sure it happens. My actions will show them the truth.

  “I promise,” I say again. “But right now, in order to get back with my sisters and do whatever we have to do to break the seal, I need to find my friend and get out of here.”

  “Of course,” the golden maiden says.

  As we resume the long trek to the Den, I make a mental vow to do whatever it takes to make sure the door doesn’t get eternally sealed.

  “What in Hades is that?” I whisper.

  We’ve just crested a rocky hill, and on the slope below is a long line of monsters. Every creature known to man and mythology stands like it’s waiting at the DMV or something.

  “Line,” Sillus says.

  I throw him a look that says, I can tell it’s a line.

  Pegasus says, “That’s the line to get out. For the next window into your realm.”

  I close my eyes and shake my head. There are so many. Countless. And they are all waiting to get out into my world, to attack humans, to hypnotize them, to hunt my sisters.

  “How often does the portal—the window—open?” I ask.

  “It used to happen quite rarely,” the golden maiden says. “Perhaps once every two or three days in your realm. But recently—”

  “It’s been more frequent,” I finish. “Yeah, I’ve been facing more and more beasties lately. And more than one at a time.”

  “That is because the time draws near,” Pegasus says. “The Key Generation is reunited, which means the original ritual is weakening. The magic is falling off in preparation for the new era.”

  “In preparation for you,” the golden maiden says.

  “Soon,” Sillus says, “monster after monster get out. Too many for huntress to fight alone.”

  “He’s right,” the golden maiden says. “Unless you and your sisters break the seal and initiate the next stage of the prophecy soon, the veil between our worlds will continue to dissolve away.”

  “Until the day the door is sealed forever,” the pegasus says. “And any creature trapped within will die.”

  “Great,” I mutter. “No pressure.”

  I stare out over the endless line of monsters, just waiting their turn to go cause mayhem in my world. They want to build up the greatest army possible, so that once my sisters and I break the seal they can kill us, leaving the door open and unguarded. When we do that, when we open the door, we’ll be attacked from both sides. Overwhelmed by monsters streaming out of the abyss and those already positioned in the human realm, with their hypnotized human army at their side.

  At the moment, I can’t imagine how we might win. Even with help from the good monsters and the Gorgons, gods, and minor deities who want us to succeed, it seems impossible.

  I wish my sisters were here with me. Or Ursula. Or even Nick. Someone, anyone who knows what’s going on and who can guide me through this stuff I have to do.

  I feel a cold palm on my shoulder. I twist my head and find the golden maiden looking down on me with wise, encouraging eyes. “We believe in you, Gretchen Sharpe,” she says. “We have been awaiting your arrival for a long, long time. Whatever we must do to help you succeed we shall do.”

  I feel instantly better. She’s right. I have to get out of my own head about this, I have to keep perspective on the situation. There are a lot of creatures—some good, some bad, some caught in the crossfire—relying on me and my sisters to get our acts together and figure things out. No point in standing around worrying about how I’m going to make that happen. First I have to get home.

  “Right,” I say. “Let’s get moving.”

  “This is as far as we dare go,” the golden maiden says. “To venture farther at your side will only increase the danger. Our numbers make you too conspicuous. And you may need to move faster and with more agility than we are capable of.”

  I glance around at the group, at the maiden’s gleaming golden body, the giant feathered wings of the pegasus, and the massive bodies of the obsidian guards. They are kind of a presence. They don’t look like they could move too quickly, or nimbly either.

  “I go with,” Sillus offers. “I blend.”

  I almost laugh. What is a little monkey monster going to do to help me? But when I see the proud, determined look on his furry face—and the way his arms are shaking at his sides—I can tell how seriously he takes this.

  “Thank you, Sillus,” I say. “I appreciate the help.”

  “The Den is beyond the line.” The golden maiden points to a place where the rocky wall juts out into the cavern. “On the other side of that formation you will find a door. There is usually a
single guard, a cacus.”

  A fire-breathing giant. I’ve taken down at least five in my hunting history. One more shouldn’t be much trouble.

  “Thank you.” I offer my hand and am surprised when she pulls me into a hug.

  “No,” she says, squeezing me. “Thank you.”

  As I turn to walk away, she stops me.

  “You will not fight alone,” she says. “When the day of prophecy comes, you will have help. In this realm and in yours.”

  I nod, surprised by how relieved that makes me feel. My sisters and I won’t be on our own. The knowledge gives me hope.

  Sillus and I turn and head down the hill while the others stand on the crest and watch from above. We keep to the boulders and outcroppings as much as possible, but when we get to the bottom, there is nowhere left to hide.

  I crouch down, hoping my dark clothes blend into the rock around me. The line extends in both directions: to the left for as far as I can see; to the right, it winds around to a small cave opening. That must be the door.

  I can hear the roar of falling water, at the cliff where the river spills off into nothing.

  “How am I going to get through that line?” I wonder out loud.

  Who knows how long it could take to go around? The line could go on to infinity. Time is of the essence.

  “No worry,” Sillus says. “Sillus distract.”

  I look at the monkey skeptically. He is one tiny cercopes, and they’re a whole bunch of big and nasty.

  Before I can voice my concern, he’s taking off toward the line. He whisper-shouts back over his shoulder, “You watch! Take opening!”

  I growl to myself and get into a ready position. I have no idea what the little nut has planned, but if he succeeds, I need to be able to act fast.

  He approaches the line, scrambling up to the biggest, nastiest thing there. A Hesperian dragon. The one time I had to take on one of those, it nearly beat me. They’re crazy strong and just pure crazy, with a hundred heads. They fight like beasts with nothing to lose.

  Sillus sneaks up behind it—drawing the attention of several other monsters that point and laugh—and then jumps on its back. He climbs up the big, nasty body, wraps his monkey legs around one of the necks, and covers the beast’s eyes with his little hands.