Sweet Shadows

  Within seconds I see what Sillus has planned. The Hesperian dragon roars loud enough to shake the cavern and starts flailing around wildly. It knocks into monsters on all sides of it, beasts that don’t appreciate being shoved around, even by something as terrifying as a Hesperian dragon. They’re not terrified. They shove back, and shove into one another, and soon the entire line has erupted into chaos.

  Sillus holds on for dear life, and the increasingly furious Hesperian dragon swings its other ninety-nine heads wide, sending creatures all around to the ground, creating a circle in the midst of all the fighting.

  My opening.

  I jump to my feet and take off at a dead sprint. I make a beeline for the circle, trying not to think about the sheer number of blood- and huntress-thirsty monsters around me. I make it to the line just as the gap is starting to contract. Then I’m through, racing on the other side and scanning the area for some cover. I spot a pile of rocks to my right, directly across from where the golden maiden said the Den should be.

  Ducking behind the pile, I press my back up against the rocks and suck in breath after breath. It’s like breathing fire, in and out. My lungs are starting to calm down when Sillus appears in front of me.

  “See,” he says with a giant grin. “Sillus distract.”

  “That you did,” I say, my voice breathy as I work on my recovery. “How’d you get out of there?”

  He shrugs. Needing to witness this for myself, I peer around the rocks and see the Hesperian dragon on the ground, unmoving. Several other monsters are tying its necks together in bunches of three or four.

  Looking across the space I just ran through and back up the hill, I see the faint glimmer of the golden maiden. They’re still watching.

  When I turn back, Sillus is gone and I’m staring at a pair of big, blackened feet that look as though they’ve been soaking in charcoal. Following the feet up the legs, waist, and torso to the hideous face on top, I realize I’m in big trouble. The cacus.

  “Uh-oh.”

  It grins, showing rough, uneven teeth with dark growth along the gums. It bends down, grabs me around the arms, and hauls me over its shoulder.

  Well, at least now I don’t have to figure out how to get into the Den. The cacus is taking me there.

  “Found this lurking outside, boss,” the cacus says as he drags me into what looks like an office.

  The walls are the same black, shiny rock as the rest of the abyss. But ceiling lights illuminate the space, so I have no problem making out the old metal desk and the telchis sitting in the burgundy leather desk chair, his slobbering pit bull head drooling all over his own chest while his seal flippers smack together enthusiastically.

  Nor do I miss the boy sitting in one of two bright-orange fiberglass chairs facing the desk.

  “Nick?”

  All my worst imaginings flash through my mind. Nick being tortured for information. Nick being torn to pieces by a mob of angry monsters. Nick being cast into the fires of Hades.

  But Nick sitting in the boss’s office, casual as can be with a glass of what looks like iced tea in his hand? That never even crossed my mind as a possibility.

  When he sees me, his demeanor changes. He looks scared. Not of the monsters in the room. He’s scared of me. Why?

  “What’s going on here?” I ask.

  “You two know each other?” the boss asks. “How wonderful. You’ve been doing your job well, Niko.”

  “Job?” I echo. “What job?”

  “Gretchen, it’s—” Nick doesn’t finish, but he doesn’t have to. The boss does.

  “Niko here is one of our agents,” he says, sounding like a proud father. “One of our best.”

  “Agents?”

  Everything inside me goes still.

  “Sent to find you, get close to you.” He glances from me to Nick. “Seduce you if he had to.”

  I feel like retching. Right here, on the boss’s desk. If I’d had anything to eat in the last few days, I just might have.

  Betrayal like I’ve never felt before turns my body to ice. There’s nothing to say. I clench my jaw and stare at the rough black wall behind the boss’s head.

  “What you want me to do, boss?” the cacus asks. “Toss her over the edge?”

  “No, you idiot. We need her alive.” The boss pushes himself to his feet, and I see that from the waist down, he isn’t as human as his torso would suggest. On clacking goat hooves he rounds the desk and steps up close to me. So close, I can smell his putrid breath.

  Disgusting. Dog head, human chest, flipper arms, and goat legs. That’s one messed-up family tree. Or should I say family zoo?

  “We need her and her lovely sisters to open the door,” he says, taking a loose chunk of my hair between his fingertips. “Then we can kill them.”

  I let the saliva build in my mouth for a second before spitting in his face.

  His fingers clamp down on my hair and yank. Hard.

  “Ow!” I can’t stifle my scream.

  Nick lurches out of his chair. “Don’t—”

  The boss smacks a flipper against Nick’s chest, keeping him at a distance.

  “This is between me and the pretty huntress,” the boss says. “You stay out of it.”

  “I don’t need a rescuer,” I say, forcing myself to show more boldness than I feel at the moment. “I can take care of myself.”

  I can’t—won’t—look at Nick, but I sense him backing off.

  “I’m sure you—”

  The boss doesn’t finish his sentence before the door to the office flies open. Sillus appears in the doorway. With about half a dozen monsters at his back.

  “There,” he says, pointing at the boss. “Him.”

  I don’t know what Sillus told the beasts, but they all lunge for the telchis. The guard releases me to protect his boss from the onslaught. Sillus jumps on the guard’s head, just as he did with the Hesperian dragon in the line.

  “Go!” he shouts, pointing at the door.

  I nod.

  I grab Nick, holding his upper arm in a death grip, and run. I’m not leaving the traitor to commiserate with his handlers, to tell them any more than he already has about me and my sisters.

  I want the chance to interrogate him myself.

  Sprinting from the office with no real idea of what I’m going to do once I get outside, I’m stunned to find the pegasus waiting for me.

  “Get on, cousin,” he says, looking nervously over his shoulder toward the line. “The portal is about to open.”

  The pegasus curls his front leg back, holding it like a step, and I shove Nick toward him.

  “Get on,” I say in a tone that is intended to let him know there is no other option.

  It must, because he places his foot on the curled leg, swings onto the winged horse’s back, and reaches an arm down to help me up. Ignoring his arm, I grab a handful of mane and yank myself up in front of him.

  Sillus comes running out of the office looking very pleased with himself.

  “Hurry!” I shout, holding out my hand to him.

  He takes a leap and grabs my hand, and I settle him on the horse, right in front of me.

  “Let’s go!” I shout.

  The pegasus spreads his wings out wide and, with one strong flap, draws us into the air. It is a strange sensation, to be flying through the air on the back of a horse. But as the monsters below notice us, I’m glad to have several feet of space between us and them.

  Soaring over the monsters, toward the front of the line, the pegasus glides for the portal cave. As we get closer, I see the cave start to swirl and glow with a bright sky-blue spot in the center.

  Just like the black portal in my world, this one grows and expands to a size large enough to accommodate the largest monster. Or, hopefully, a Pegasus with a full load.

  The monsters below point and roar, and the one at the front of the line turns just as we fly by. He reaches for us but misses.

  Then we enter the portal and the abyss disappears beh
ind us.

  CHAPTER 25

  GRACE

  From a distance, the portals into the abyss always looked pretty dull. Big, boring black splotches in space. Like a piece of contemporary art or a flaw in an old photograph. But up close, staring at one right in front of me—and about to walk into it—they’re a little terrifying. A great vacuum, an emptiness that makes me feel despair just looking into it.

  I squeeze Greer’s hand.

  We step forward together, ready to face whatever shadows await in order to save Gretchen.

  Before we get close enough to step inside, there’s a low rumble—like the sound of waves crashing against rocks. Greer and I exchange a look, surprised by the sudden change. Then, before we can move or speak or do anything, a giant silvery horse flies out of the portal.

  “Whaaa!” I scream, shoving Greer to the side as I jump in the opposite direction, out of the path of the flying beast.

  “Whoa!” a girl’s voice shouts.

  I stare up at the horse, his giant wings thumping against the ceiling as he lands. Sitting on his back, looking a little gaunt but otherwise safe and whole, is my sister.

  “Gretchen!” I shout.

  Jumping to my feet, I feel a smile take over my entire face. She beams down at me.

  “Grace?”

  “Hello, Gretchen,” Greer says from the other side of the horse.

  Gretchen slides to the floor, pulling a body down with her. Nick. He looks unconscious, his arms bound by a pair of sturdy zip ties. There’s a red mark, about the size of a fist, on his temple.

  Gretchen tosses him aside like a bag of garbage. She looks up at the winged horse—a pegasus, I realize. “I wish I could let you stay.”

  The horse whinnies. “I understand. A horse wandering the streets of San Francisco wouldn’t get far.”

  My jaw drops. Not at the talking horse—I’ve seen a lot of crazy stuff since Gretchen found me in that nightclub, so an animal capable of perfect English isn’t too shocking—but at Gretchen being nice to a creature from the abyss.

  The pegasus lowers his head, offering his neck to Gretchen. She hesitates and says something quietly into his ear before giving him a quick bite right below the mane. In a flash he’s gone.

  A little monkeylike creature that had been sitting on the horse’s back crashes to the ground. He jumps up to his feet.

  “Sillus stay,” he says. “Sillus help.”

  Gretchen looks like she’s considering, like she really doesn’t want to send him back with the pegasus. The Gretchen I first met a few weeks ago wouldn’t have hesitated. But in the end she shrugs. “Okay, but the first sign of mischief and you’re back in Abyssos.”

  “Abyssos?” I ask.

  “Abyssos is the true name of the abyss.” Gretchen turns to me. “I missed you two.”

  Her silver eyes cloud over, as if a thick bank of fog has rolled in and shadowed her inner sunlight. I know how much it must have taken for her to admit that. I step forward and wrap her in a hug. She may not want one, but she clearly needs one.

  Gretchen awkwardly pats me on the back. Then, in an uncharacteristic moment of emotion, she gives me a brief squeeze. She’s stepping away before I can squeeze back.

  “I take it you learned something about him,” Greer says, indicating Nick’s unconscious lump. “Or did someone else land the punch that knocked him out?”

  Gretchen’s scowl says everything.

  “He’s no protector,” she says. “He was sent by the monster side to watch us, to help us until we open the door.”

  “And then?” I ask.

  “Then, I assume, he’d help them kill us.”

  Greer frowns, twisting her head to the side. “Are you certain?”

  Gretchen doesn’t respond, but the set of her jaw indicates the end of discussion. “How long was I in?”

  “An entire week,” Greer answers.

  “We were just about to come in after you,” I say. At Gretchen’s confused look, I explain, “Greer figured out how to open a portal.” I’m proud of her even if the prospect of stepping into the abyss nearly scared me to death.

  “Where are we?” Gretchen asks.

  “In Greer’s basement,” I answer.

  “No one comes down here,” Greer adds. “Not anymore.”

  “Good,” Gretchen says. “I need a chair. Something I can tie this traitor to while I interrogate him.”

  I’m a little shocked at the venom in Gretchen’s tone. Then again, she doesn’t trust easily, but she was starting to trust Nick. She thought he was someone she could rely on, and Gretchen doesn’t rely on many people. I’m sure his betrayal cuts deep.

  “How about a bar stool?” I suggest.

  Gretchen shakes her head. “I want to be able to tower over him. I want the physical advantage.”

  Greer says, “I’ll get one.”

  While Greer goes to get the chair, I ask, “Are you okay?”

  “Fine,” Gretchen says. Then, as if she remembers that we’re sisters, allies, she softens. “Hungry, actually. Haven’t had a thing to eat in days.”

  “Of course.” I can’t begin to imagine what she’s been through. Hopefully one day she’ll tell us. Now isn’t the time. “I’ll get you something.”

  I turn to head upstairs to the kitchen.

  “Grace,” Gretchen calls as I reach the door. When I turn back, she says, “Thanks.”

  I rush back across the room and fling my arms around her again. “I’m so glad you’re back,” I say against her shoulder. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

  She pats me once on the back, and I know she feels the same way. Before I embarrass her by making her emotional, I head for the stairs. As I climb up to the kitchen, I hear her yell at Sillus, “Get off that, you little monkey freak!”

  I smile. Now that Gretchen is back, I know everything is going to be fine. Whatever changed while she was inside, we’ll get through it. We’ll figure it out. Together.

  CHAPTER 26

  GREER

  There is a stack of extra chairs in the storage room off the garage. Mother does not allow even our storage space to have an ounce of dust or clutter, and every inch is perfectly organized, labeled, and accessible. The chairs are in the back, and I weave my way between precisely stacked boxes of cocktail party supplies and winter clothing and Dad’s grad school papers.

  I’m almost near the chairs when a wave of dizziness hits me.

  This isn’t a gentle fuzziness, like if I’ve forgotten to eat or haven’t had enough sleep. This is like a tsunami wave of numbness, and for a moment I think I’m going to faint.

  I brace myself against a stack of boxes. When I close my eyes, I don’t see the darkness of my lids, I see Grace’s brother, Thane. He’s standing in front of a mirror, shirtless. Three jagged lines are carved into his chest, running from one shoulder to the opposite hip. After soaking a cotton ball in green liquid, he dabs it on the wounds. He winces and I reach out instinctively to ease the pain.

  Then, just as quickly as it came, the dizziness is gone. The image of Thane is gone. I’m staring at my own eyelids, leaning against a box in our storage room.

  It was such a strong, clear image. My stomach lurches back into place and my entire body is covered in goose bumps.

  I take a deep breath and try to shake off the unsettling feeling. I struggle to bring myself back into the here and now. When I feel in full control of my brain and my body again, I continue to the chairs. Pulling one off the top of the stack, I carry it out of the storage room and back to the rec room.

  Grace arrives moments later, a plate of leftovers in one hand and the bottle of mandarin orange soda in the other. I want to ask if her brother has those wounds on his chest, but … I can’t. Besides, she might not even know.

  Gretchen takes the food and tucks in, devouring it like a starving animal. I quietly carry the chair to the center of the room and set it down next to Nick.

  I have no idea what happened to me in the storage room, but clearly it
was a vision of some kind. Could my second sight be improving? I can’t be certain what triggered it, but I’ve never had such a clear, realistic feeling before. Maybe it has something to do with the pendant. With its connection to Apollo. Touching it didn’t send me into a coma. Maybe it amplified my powers or brought them closer to the surface. I’m relieved that Grace has it back safely in her possession. Until we can learn more about it, it’s probably best if I don’t come into contact with the powerful object again.

  When Gretchen has cleaned the plate of food and chugged half the bottle of soda, she walks over to the chair. With her superhuman strength, she easily lifts Nick up to the seat.

  “Help me resecure his wrists,” she instructs.

  Pulling a dagger from her boot, she slices through the zip ties. His arms fall limp at his sides. She grabs one and drags it around behind, pulling out a fresh zip tie and strapping his wrist to the back of the chair. She hands me another tie, and I do the same with his other arm.

  Grace watches as we secure his ankles to the front chair legs and step back.

  “How soundproof is this room?” Gretchen asks.

  “Quite,” I say. “Mother had the entire room re-insulated after my first slumber party. The noise was too—”

  “Good,” she says.

  Taking a step forward, she swings her arm wide and slaps Nick square on the cheek. When that gets no response, she repeats the action. This time he groans but doesn’t regain consciousness.

  The dizziness hits me again. I grab the back of the chair to keep from crashing to the ground. This time, the image is of an analog clock face. The hands spin, zooming past hours in mere seconds. When the big hand has made several complete circuits of the clock, the image dissolves, replaced by one of Nick sitting in the chair. He shakes his head and his eyes blink open.

  Then the image and the dizziness disappear.

  “I—” I shake my head. “I don’t think he’s going to wake up for a few hours.”

  Gretchen nods. “Probably not. I hit him pretty hard.”

  Grace gives me a curious look, and I ignore it.