“Maybe Rhea’s suggestion about taking a walk is a good one,” Sky said. “If Cronus had anything from an ally outside of the realm, he wouldn’t keep it at his home. Not where Rhea might find it, surely.”
“He isn’t that stupid,” Rhea said as she rejoined us. “He would have destroyed anything like correspondence from outside the realm.”
I stood and walked closer to the cliff edge, looking out across the ocean. I turned back to the three women, who were still talking among themselves.
“How long is the lake?” I asked, interrupting them.
“Roughly a five-mile radius to get from any point here to the realm gate,” Sky told me.
“How deep is it?”
“Just under two thousand feet,” Lucie said. “Why?”
“I think I know how he managed to get across the lake.”
“You care to share?” Rhea asked.
“Sure, I think he dug himself a tunnel to get there.”
There are people in the world who like to be right all the time. They’re the same people who, when you tell them something, immediately google it to see if you’re right. And if you correct them, and they discover that you’re right, they’ll come up with an excuse as to why they’re wrong. Those people are a real pain in the ass.
I’ve never been all that concerned with being right. If I’m wrong, someone will correct me, and if I’m right, then no one will. Being wrong is how we learn; it’s how every species—human, sorcerer, or otherwise—has managed to survive without imploding. We learn from our mistakes. Saying that, I did feel a slight twinge of pride when Sky, Lucie, Rhea, and I found a hole some distance into the forest, exactly where I thought it would be.
It had been created at an angle; the hole at the surface was only big enough for someone to crawl into and was covered by ferns and branches. Once I got inside and ignited my night vision, I saw that it opened out considerably to allow someone to stand, with headroom to spare, after a few dozen feet in. I’d managed to walk about a hundred feet when I realized that the almost steplike earth beneath my feet had carried me down a considerably steep trajectory.
I tapped the wall beside me, which felt like concrete, and made my way back to those waiting for me; Sky offered me her hand, and helped me out of the hole.
“He dug himself a tunnel. My guess is, it’s steep enough that it goes right under the lake. It must have taken him years to do this. The trial and error alone would have been infuriating.”
“How did he do it?” Lucie asked.
“Like myself, my husband can use earth magic,” Rhea told her. “But how did he keep it from collapsing?”
“And where did he put all the dirt?” Sky asked.
“You’ll probably find that the earth was just pushed around,” Rhea said. “The likelihood is that the lake is now considerably less deep at this point then it was when he started.”
“It looks like he hardened some of the earth to create pillars and buttresses,” I explained. “Some of that earth is a few feet thick. It probably had to be, to stop the water from ruining it.”
“Can I assume you don’t want to walk all the way through the tunnel to the other side?” Sky asked me.
“I’d rather not. Although if anyone just collapses this tunnel without doing it correctly, that lake is going to be a bit less full afterward.”
“Why don’t the griffins fly overhead here?” Lucie asked.
“Because I don’t think anyone ever believed that someone would actually try to tunnel under the lake,” Sky told her. “Besides, even if anyone could have made it all the way through, they’d still have to get through the realm gate, and there’s no one here who will open it. Not after Pandora anyway.”
“Someone told Cronus exactly what time to be outside that realm gate, so when the people who attacked the facility got it working, he was right there waiting for them.”
“And we’re back to Hyperion,” Sky said. “That’s the only external visitor for anyone here who wasn’t working for my fath . . .” She trailed off, pausing for a second. “Oh, shit. My father’s employees come and go all the time. They’re tracked through the gate, but they wouldn’t have been monitored once they’d actually arrived here.”
“So, one of those who attacked the compound today could have been feeding information to Cronus about what time to be outside the realm gate and what was going to happen.”
“Cronus met with Hades’s guards often,” Rhea confirmed. “There’s nothing out of the ordinary about that. It would have been easy to get information from them.”
“We need to get back to the realm gate,” Sky said. “We need to find Cronus, and my dad needs to be told what we’ve found out.”
Lucie and Sky set off toward the town, but Rhea took my arm as I went to follow them, forcing me to stay with her. “Please bring him back to me,” she said. “He won’t have anywhere near his full power. He’s been here for too long. It would take months, maybe years, for him to get his strength back to what it should be. If he tries to hunt Hera, she will kill him.”
“I’ll do my best, I promise. But he won’t come easily.”
“Then don’t give him a choice. If he won’t come back here under his own power, make him.”
CHAPTER 21
It felt like it took ages to get back to the town, find Charon, and make our way back across the lake toward the realm gate. The crossing was done quietly, as Sky, Lucie, and I were all deep in thought. Cronus had escaped to go after Hera. It was something that needed to be stopped. Quickly.
“Nathan,” Charon said as everyone disembarked.
I stopped walking and turned to the old necromancer.
“Be careful. Cronus is not a man to cross without expecting retribution. If you’re going to hunt him down, you’re going to have to make sure you’re on your best. Anything else, and he will kill you.”
“I plan on trying my best to make sure that doesn’t happen,” I assured him.
“He’s gone after Hera, hasn’t he?”
“It certainly appears that way,” I admitted. There was no point in lying—who was he going to tell?
Charon nodded. “I figured as much. He’s not thinking right when it comes to her. It’s a blackness in his soul that threatens to consume him. He blames her for getting Zeus and the Olympians to rise up against the Titans all those years ago, and on top of that he believes she murdered Zeus. Hell, everyone I know believes she was involved in his murder.”
“Disappearance. There’s nothing to say he’s dead.”
“You don’t believe that.”
“No, I don’t. But there’s no evidence to say Hera did anything wrong. No body, no witnesses—nothing. And until that changes, Avalon won’t do fuck all.”
“Which is why Cronus will do it for Avalon.”
“I’ll bring him back,” I declared.
“Good. I’m not his biggest fan, but I’d rather see him here than know he’s in Hera’s clutches. I don’t think he’d enjoy that visit too much.”
“Take care,” I said and ran after Lucie and Sky. They had ascended the stairs and were standing next to Lorin, who had already opened the realm gate.
The three saw me arrive and stepped through the gate. I paused for a second and looked at Lorin. “Cronus did this himself. I’m guessing if you search the area, you’ll find the entrance to a tunnel he created under the lake. Everything was planned, to avoid alerting the griffins.”
Lorin appeared relieved. “Thank you.”
I stepped through the gate and was descended upon by Hades, who had a million questions, most of which were explained by Sky, Lucie, and myself as we made our way back up to the outside of the facility, only to discover that darkness had crept over the sky above us.
“I assume you’re now involved,” Hades said to me as we entered the still empty mess room.
“Without question. Although we need to know where Hera is so we can figure out where Cronus has gone.”
“I’ll check into t
hat,” Sky said.
“I need to go back to Avalon and make some inquiries,” Lucie said, “You can’t keep this secret. Not now. Kay is going to be the first person shouting from the rooftops that someone escaped here. He might not know it’s Cronus, but I can’t keep that to myself. I have to file a report.”
“I know,” Hades said. “I won’t ask you to delay the report.”
“The thing is, though, Avalon’s a big place. Lots of people working there, lots of rules and regulations. Kay is going to have to take it to Merlin and the rest of the council. That’s going to take a few days. If you can get Cronus back before that happens, there’s going to be less of an immediate need for Avalon to take action. Most in Avalon don’t want this place in anyone else’s hands. Don’t give them a reason to consider it.”
“How long?” I asked.
“Seventy-two hours at most. If Cronus isn’t caught by then, Avalon will intervene.”
“We need to inform Hera too,” Hades said. “I’ll do that myself.” He offered his hand to Lucie, who shook it. “Thanks for your help.”
“Find him. Find him fast.” Lucie turned to Sky and hugged her. “It was good seeing you again.”
When she came to me, Lucie offered me her hand, which I took. “Good hunting,” she said.
I nodded a thanks, and she walked out of the mess room.
“She still doesn’t trust you,” Hades told me.
“She never will. Not totally. I killed her brother. That’s a difficult thing to get over.”
“She understands why you did it,” he said. “She just doesn’t like it.”
I stood and stretched. “I’m going to go try to get a few hours’ kip at the hotel, unless you need me for something.”
Hades shook his head. “I’m going to try to contact Hera, and on the off chance she doesn’t take the threat seriously, I’ll find out where she is and arrange for discrete security. I’ll contact you when I know more. In the meantime, everyone go get some rest. You’re going to need it.”
I said my good-byes and decided to walk back to the hotel. It took about an hour, but it was relaxing, and the cool evening air gave me time to consider all I’d learned in the previous hours.
As I got closer, I saw a commotion outside. Several people appeared to be looking around for something. I wasn’t a hundred percent certain what was happening until I heard one of them call out, “Chloe!”
I began jogging until I reached the hotel’s front door, running inside, trying to find someone I recognized to ask what was happening. Fortunately, I ran into Tommy first.
“Didn’t you get the messages?” he asked, a frantic tone to his voice.
I shook my head. “I walked back from the compound. Why are people looking for Chloe—has she run off? I said no one was to go out of the hotel.” It wouldn’t have surprised me if she had; she’d appeared considerably upset about her mother’s behavior and probably needed time away from her.
“Don’t worry. I told everyone that outside was off limits until the krampus was caught, but she’s missing. She snuck outside with one of the other girls, who turned around for a minute and Chloe was gone.”
“Did she walk off?” I hoped that the answer was yes, but I doubted it very much.
Tommy shook his head. “The other girl doesn’t think so.”
“Where is the other girl?”
“In the bar with a bunch of witches, including Mara.”
“Okay, let’s go talk to her.”
Together, we walked into the bar to find a clearly terrified ginger girl sitting in a chair surrounded by adults, all of whom were either talking to one another, while ignoring the poor girl, or looking very concerned. Emily Rowe held the girl’s hand and occasionally whispered to her. As one, they all turned toward Tommy and me, and their conversations ceased.
“What are you doing here?” Mara demanded.
“I’m here to help find your daughter,” I told her.
She held my gaze for a moment and then nodded, stepping aside for me to talk to the ginger girl.
“Hey,” I said to the girl on the chair. “We met before, right?”
She nodded. “You’re Kasey’s dad’s friend.”
“That’s right. My name’s Nate. I want to know what happened to Chloe tonight.”
She glanced behind me at the witches, just for a fraction of a second, but it was clear that they made her uncomfortable.
“Can you get rid of them?” I asked Emily.
She nodded and then spoke to Mara, whose glare I was almost certain I could feel on the back of my neck. But I heard Mara begin to argue before Emily shut her down, and then Mara quickly agreed to leave. Soon after, the only people in the bar were Tommy, Emily, the ginger girl, and myself.
“So, what’s your name?” I asked her.
“Donna Preston,” she said softly.
“You want to tell us what you saw?”
“We snuck outside with some of the boys. We know we were told not to, but Chloe’s mum had forbidden her to go outside, and that was like a red flag to a bull. Chloe was flirting with the boys, being all giggly and stuff.”
“Do you know the boys’ names?”
“We’ve already spoken to them,” Emily said. “They told us they left the girls and came inside about an hour before Chloe was taken.”
“What happened after the boys left?” I asked Donna.
“We sat and chatted. She wanted to talk about her mum.”
“Anything else?”
Donna shook her head too quickly.
“Donna, whatever you say here won’t get Chloe into any trouble. We just need to be able to find her. So, if you’re keeping something back, it would be best if you could just tell us what it is.”
“Well, are you sure she won’t get in trouble?”
I nodded. “Promise.”
“We were smoking,” she almost whispered. “Her mum found out a few weeks ago and went mental, like totally freaked out and everything.”
“But Chloe kept smoking?” Tommy asked.
Donna glanced behind me, at the exit to the bar, before nodding. “Said she needed it to deal with her mum.”
“Did you have any?”
Donna glanced at Emily.
“It’s okay; you’re not in trouble,” Emily told her.
Donna nodded again.
“Do you have any on you?” I asked.
Donna reached into her pocket and pulled out two cigarettes, which had probably seen better days, and passed them to Tommy’s waiting hand.
“Can you track her with those?” I asked.
Tommy took a big sniff of the cigarettes before nodding. “I’d prefer something of hers, though. Something with a stronger scent.”
“You can find her?” Donna asked, her delight obvious.
“I hope so. But is there anything else you can tell us? Did she talk to anyone she doesn’t know? Did you see anyone around?”
Donna thought for a moment. “I didn’t just turn away for a second,” she confessed.
“What did you do?”
“I left Chloe alone for longer than that. Maybe five minutes. I went back inside to talk to one of the boys.”
“That’s okay,” I said with a smile. “You’ve done nothing wrong. Did you see anything when you got back?” The girl hesitated.
“So what did you see, Donna?” I asked again.
“Chloe was gone. I thought she was just messing around, so I looked about and called her name, but I couldn’t find her. I walked into the woods a little.” Donna paused; all of the children had been expressly forbidden to enter the woods without an adult—there were plenty of places in the woods that were dangerous if you didn’t know where you were going, and the denseness of them made it easy to get lost.
“I won’t tell anyone,” I said and turned to Emily and Tommy. “You guys keep that to yourselves, okay?”
Both nodded, which seemed to make Donna happier. “I heard something. Like a bell.”
Ho
rror dawned on me in an instant. “A bell, are you sure?”
Donna nodded vigorously this time. “Definitely, a bell. Although it sounded like there were a few of them all ringing at once. Something about them scared me, so I didn’t go in any farther and just ran back to tell everyone that Chloe was missing.”
I turned to Tommy, who instantly knew the creature that Donna was describing. The krampus was in the woods, and it had more than likely taken Chloe.
“Anything else?” I asked, as the rest of me was itching to sprint out of the hotel and chase down the monster that had snatched Chloe.
“Nothing, I promise.”
“Thanks,” I said. “You’ve helped a lot. I’m sure your teachers will want to talk to you, but we’re going to go find Chloe now.”
Emily took Donna out of the bar, and Tommy’s need to do something immediately became evident. “We need to go—now,” he snapped.
“You need to change first,” I mentioned. “And we’ve only got those cigarettes to go on. We need something of hers for you to get a scent from too.”
“I can help,” Kasey said as she entered the bar.
“How much did you hear?” Tommy asked.
“Everything. I was hiding outside the bar, under a table. And I know you won’t let me go, but I want to help. She’s my friend. I got you this from my room. She left it there from last night.”
Kasey threw a small T-shirt to her father, who caught it in one hand. “I need to change to my wolf to get a better scent off this. Thank you, Kase.”
Kasey smiled and her dad kissed her on top of her head as he made his way past.
“Can you find her?” Kasey asked me.
“Almost certainly.”
“Before whatever has her hurts her?”
I was silent for a heartbeat, but it was long enough for Kasey to realize I might lie to spare her feelings. “The truth,” she demanded.
“I don’t know,” I admitted honestly. “But your dad and I will do our damnedest to make sure she isn’t harmed.”
Emily arrived behind Kasey, who turned and smiled before walking away. “I’m coming with you,” Emily said. “I’ve spoken to the teachers and confirmed we might have an idea where Chloe is.”