by Linsey Hall
"How about the world? You can play a role in saving it." Maximus leaned forward. "The Titans have escaped. Three of them. We’re trying to put them back, but we need to know where they are. We need to know where the Stryx are, too. Do you know anything about this?"
Tiresias scowled. “The Stryx, you say?"
"You know them?" I gripped his arm. "Please, tell me anything you know.”
"Who said I know anything about that?"
"Don't play coy. You clearly know who they are."
"Fine, I hate those witches. They’re evil. I'm no saint myself, but they're evil incarnate.”
"Then you can help us," I said.
"I suppose I can. But first, tell me who your people are."
"My people?"
"Yes, your people. I need to know who I'm working with. I need to know I can trust you, and the best way to know somebody is to know who they associate with."
Fair enough. “I’m a student at the Undercover Protectorate Academy. My purpose there is to help the world. To protect it. To protect everyone.”
"I'm not sure they deserve it." Tiresias frowned. "After you see the things I've seen, for thousands of years…Well, I'm just not sure."
"I know. There are some bastards out there. But a lot of people are good. And those are the ones I’m trying to help. Can you imagine the damage the Titans would do?"
He nodded. "Yes. In my visions, I've seen them returning to earth. They'll destroy everything good just by existing. Their black magic will pollute the world and suck all the good away."
“Not to mention whatever the Stryx have planned for them,” I added.
He nodded, then turned his blind gaze to Maximus. "And who are your people?”
“I was once a gladiator in Rome, but now I work freelance for the Order of the Magica and the Undercover Protectorate. "
“Oh, another do-gooder, are you?"
"I don't know about that." Maximus shrugged. "I just know I don't want to be an asshole."
"Well, saving the world will help you avoid that fate." He turned to me. "You, girl. You said you work at the Undercover Protectorate like this man here. Well, I'd like access to the libraries. For a full day?”
"Yes, I can arrange that."
"Do it now. I want to hear that you have permission." His wrinkled face twisted with suspicion.
It was nice to have the resources of the Protectorate behind me, that was for sure. I pressed my fingertips to my comms charm and called Bree. It didn’t take long for her to find Florian and gain permission from the night librarian.
Satisfied, Tiresias nodded, and I cut the connection.
“Can you help us now?” I asked.
“I can.” Tiresias led us out of the little cottage, his steps surprisingly spry for such an old man. Then again, he wasn't just any old man. Immortal Greek seers played by different rules. He also had all that energy I’d given him.
The clearing was quiet, with the moon overhead shining a bright light that illuminated the trees. Tiresias went to the center of the clearing, where the remains of a fire lay cold and black. There was a small pile of fresh wood next to it, and Tiresias began to build a fire. It didn't take him long, and soon the crackling warmth lit up the night.
Maximus and I joined him, looking down at the flickering flames.
Tiresias looked up at us, somehow able to easily find us despite his blindness. In fact, his lack of vision didn't seem to slow him down at all.
"You say that you want to know where the Stryx are located?”
“Yes." I nodded.
"Then I will need to borrow your eyes."
My jaw slackened. "My eyes?”
"What precisely do you mean by that?" Maximus asked.
“My two primary strengths as a seer are augury and seeing prophecy in the flames. Both of those skills require eyes."
“Augury?” I asked.
“Reading the future in the movement of birds. You can see how I’d need your eyes for that.” He chuckled, possibly at the bad pun.
I raised a hand to my face, touching the corner of my eye. "Would you need to keep them for long? Will it hurt? Can you even put them back in?" My stomach turned. I was willing to do a lot for this cause. Anything, really. Even this. But it sounded downright awful.
Maximus stepped forward. “I’ll do it."
Tiresias smiled. "Slow down now. I need her sight. She’s connected to the Stryx, so it will make my vision clearer.”
I swallowed hard and nodded. “What do I need to do?”
“First, we will sit.” He lowered himself to the ground and crossed his legs.
I sat next to him, with Maximus on my other side.
Tiresias held out his hand, and I took it, wincing at the cold of his flesh. He turned his blind gaze to meet mine. “This will be temporary, but unpleasant. I won’t be taking your actual eyes, but your ability to see.”
I really hoped he was telling the truth.
“Okay. Do it.” My voice was firm, at least.
Magic sparked around our joined hands, pale blue and bright. Under the glow of the moon, it looked like fairy lights. I could feel the animals in the forest around us, their heartbeats echoing in my ears and their footsteps growing louder as they moved closer to watch.
The blue glow traveled up my arm, and my heart began to pound. It was getting closer to my eyes. Soon, it was up toward my neck. The glow was bright, nearly blinding. I clenched my jaw, determined not to make a sound.
Maximus gripped my other hand, and I clung to him. I didn’t want to rely on his support, but I wasn’t strong enough to resist it.
The light glowed brighter and brighter around my body, until finally, my vision went dark.
I swallowed hard. “It’s working.”
“Excellent.” I could hear the grin in Tiresias’s voice.
Oh, fates.
I really hoped I hadn’t been taken for a ride. Would he just get up and run off with my vision? I couldn’t even properly race after him. I’d seen blind people accomplish incredible things. But that took practice. And right now, I was floundering as the world went dark beyond my eyes.
“Is it working?” I asked. “Can you see?”
“I can.”
“You are fearless,” Tiresias said. “Most would not give up their sight.”
“A worthy cause.” I’d seen worse things and kept going. I wasn’t going to be held back. Not after so long in captivity.
“He’s moving his hands over the fire,” Maximus narrated. “Red magic is flowing from his palms into the flames.”
“Thank you.” I squeezed his hand.
Maximus continued to narrate as Tiresias made the flames dance. I felt the flicker of heat, and slowly my hearing seemed to become even better. When Tiresias shifted next to me, I felt like I could imagine exactly how he moved.
Even so, I felt my lack of sight keenly. Anxiety crawled across my skin as I waited for answers. All around, I could hear the animals as they sat at the edge of the clearing. Their feet shifted on the leaves, their hearts pounded, their fur rustled.
How many were there? Were any dangerous?
I so wanted to see them.
But I could feel them, at least. A connection that I couldn’t deny. It was stronger than it had ever been. Even stronger than when I’d been with Artemis.
“The flames are flickering higher,” Maximus said. “Twelve feet. Fourteen. The smoke is curling and black.”
Oh, how I wish I could see.
The connection with the animals strengthened. Rabbits, foxes, wolves. I could feel them as if they were one with me. As if their hearts beat alongside my own. As if their breaths flowed with mine and their muscles moved as mine moved.
I blinked blindly.
What the heck is happening?
Because something was definitely happening. I could feel the magic between the animals and me.
My heart began to race, thudding violently in my chest. My breath heaved, and I tightened my grip on Maximus’s hand.
“What is it?” he whispered, clearly able to feel my distress.
“I don’t know.” Then my soul left my body.
Or something.
It was impossible to describe. But one moment, my consciousness was within my own head. Then, in the next, I was joined to something new. Something feral.
I blinked, suddenly able to see.
My vision was strange at first. Colors looked different. I was lower to the ground. And damned if I wasn’t looking at myself.
I could see myself sitting on the ground between Maximus and Tiresias, the light of the tall fire glowing red upon our faces.
Holy fates!
What was I?
I looked down, spotting big furry paws. They were gray, with long, sharp claws. I turned around and looked behind me, spotting a gray tail. The world smelled different, too. Earthier. And my thoughts were slower.
Don’t stress out. Romeo’s voice sounded from beside me.
I looked over, spotting the little racoon, along with Eloise and Poppy. The badger and possum stared at me with big eyes.
You’re joined with the wolf. Romeo grinned toothily. I can sense you in there.
I tried to speak, but couldn’t. This had better be temporary.
Romeo patted my leg. You’ll be fine. Just don’t eat us, okay?
I shook my head, since it was the only way I could communicate, then turned back to the fire. My body looked fine, at least. I was sitting upright and still breathing. Still holding on to Maximus’s hand. That had to be a good sign. Because as cool as this power was, I didn’t want to be a wolf forever.
I wanted to give a little yip and tell Maximus I was here, but I didn’t dare interrupt Tiresias. Now that I could see, it was obvious that he was working hard. I didn’t want to distract him from controlling the flames.
The fire flickered tall and bright, rising almost thirty feet in the air as a narrow column. Bright reds and oranges danced in the night, lighting up the trees that surrounded the clearing.
Tiresias looked up at it, his eyes darting over the flames as if he were reading a novel. Maybe he was, in a way. Seeing the future in the dance of the flames.
Thick black smoke curled up from the fire, and the sound of birds cawing echoed from it. The smoke twisted and turned, forming large black birds that rose into the sky. Hundreds of them. Moonlight gleamed off the tops of their feathers while firelight shined on them from below. They looked like sparkling gems in the night sky, and as they moved, they began to form a shape.
I squinted up at them.
What were they supposed to be?
The shape of a woman formed, and she carried two torches in her hands. Behind her, the shape of two dogs emerged. The birds continued to fly, forming a perfect pattern of the woman. I glanced down toward Tiresias, catching sight of his smile.
He seemed to recognize her.
I took a tentative step forward, wanting to nudge him into explaining what was going on. Maximus was narrating the scene to my body, seeming not to notice that I had left it.
I stared hard at my human self, trying to see if I appeared weird at all.
I didn’t.
“You can come back now.” Tiresias looked toward me.
Maximus eyed him, confused. Tiresias pointed at me, and Maximus’s gaze followed his gesture. I gave a little yip then, and Maximus frowned.
It was time to return to my body. I’d seen what I’d needed to see, thanks to this wolf and Artemis’s ever-growing magic.
I closed my eyes and imagined my consciousness returning to my human body. Though I had no idea if this would work, it seemed worth a try.
At first, nothing happened. I concentrated harder, imagining being human. Seeing through my own eyes. It took a while, but eventually the magic sparked within me. When I opened my eyes, I was once again blind.
My breath caught in my throat, and I turned toward where Tiresias was sitting. “Are we done?”
“We are.”
Magic sparked around my hand, and slowly, a blue light began to glow in the darkness of my missing vision. A moment later, I could see. I peeked over toward the woods where the wolf had been standing. He was still there, but the Menacing Menagerie were gone. Smart.
“What just happened to you?” Maximus asked.
“I joined the wolf’s consciousness. I’ll explain more in a bit.” I turned toward Tiresias, who looked right at me. His gaze was unfocused again, and I felt a bit bad about taking my sight back from him.
He looked content, however. And he sounded pleased when he spoke. “You will need to seek Hecate. The Stryx worship her, and she will know where they are.”
“Hecate? The goddess of magic?” I asked.
“And of the night, ghosts, and necromancy,” Tiresias said.
“She sounds like a load of fun,” Maximus said.
I cracked a smile. “I suppose the Stryx wouldn’t worship anyone nice. But where do we find her?”
“She resides in the Underworld, as Persephone’s companion. But it will not be an easy journey.”
I frowned. The only way I knew to get into the Underworld was through Tartarus, and there was no way we were going to open up that hole again. “Do you know how to get into the Underworld?”
He shook his head. “There are several entrances, though not all are open now. You will have to find one that works.”
“Do you know where any of them are?” Maximus asked.
“There was once one at Lake Avernus near Naples, Italy, and another at the ancient town of Tenarus. A third in the Alcyonian Lake at Lerna. But I don’t know which ones are still open.”
“We’ll figure it out. Is there anything else you can tell us?”
“Best be careful. It is a deadly journey to the Underworld.”
A deadly journey to the Underworld? I just hoped he didn’t mean that literally.
Chapter Five
We used a transport charm to get back to the Protectorate. On the way up to the castle, I explained my adventure with the wolf, and Maximus agreed that my powers were growing.
Once inside, it didn’t take long to gather the group for a meeting. Fortunately, Ana was back from her shift guarding the entrance to Tartarus. Though Bree was gone, Jude was at the castle. We agreed to meet in the library, since we had some research to do.
Jude and Ana hadn’t arrived yet, and the library flickered with warm firelight as I entered the book-filled space. It was like a fantastic cavern, full of thousands of beautiful leather-bound books. They were all different colors, each of them lovingly cared for. The squashy armchairs in front of the fire beckoned, but I took a seat at the big wooden table in the middle.
Maximus joined me, looking around at all the books, an awed expression on his face. “I’ll never get over this place.”
“Amazing, right?”
“Truly.”
“Not a lot of books in ancient Rome, I suppose?”
“None at all. Only scrolls. And there weren’t many of those. Not for a slave, at least. I only ever saw parts of an old copy of The Odyssey.”
I nodded, grateful to live in the modern day. I reached for his hand and squeezed, delighting in the casual contact.
“That one might come in handy, though. Didn’t Odysseus go to the Underworld?”
“He did.”
The Pugs of Destruction lazily raised their heads from their spots in front of the fire and stared at me. Mayhem, Ruckus, and Chaos were a staple here, and I loved them from their tails to their horns. Or horns, in Chaos’s case. Wings for Mayhem.
Florian, the ghostly night librarian, drifted out from the shelves, appearing right through the books. His curly white wig rose tall on his head, and his fancy coat made him look like he was about to head to a ball. He grinned widely when he saw me, and I counted my blessings that it was nighttime. Had we come in the day, we would have gotten Potts, the day librarian. True, he was alive, whereas Florian technically was not, but he was also a grumpy old bugger and I liked to avoid him.
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“Here again so soon?” He drifted up to the table, his grin wide.
“Yes, we need some help figuring out which entrance to Hades is still open.”
“Ah, yes.” He nodded. “I’ve got quite a lot of firsthand accounts about trying to reach Hades. They’re quite old, but one of them will have something.”
“We need to meet with Jude and Ana when they arrive, but once we’re done, we can help.”
He waved his hand dismissively. “Oh, I’ve got it under control.”
“Never doubted it for a second.”
He gave a pleased bow and drifted away. Mayhem fluttered up from her spot by the fire, little wings carrying her chubby ghost body high. She yipped.
“Yes, of course you can help, Mayhem,” Florian said.
She flew after him.
I turned toward the library entrance just in time to see Ana enter. Her cheeks were flushed and her hair messy. She carried four paper sacks in her hands.
“Did you find something?” she asked as soon as her gaze met mine.
“Yes.”
“Good.” She sat and tossed a sack to Maximus and me. “Courtesy of Hans.”
My stomach grumbled at the mention of the cook’s name. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was. I tore into the bag as she did the same. Maximus had better manners, but that was par for the course. I didn’t like to let anything get between me and food.
We chomped into the sandwiches—ham and cheese—and chewed silently for a moment. Muffin, Ana’s hairless winged cat, sauntered into the library. A little green jewel gleamed in his ear, a memento of his cat burglar days. Ana handed him a piece of ham from her sandwich.
By the time I polished off my sandwich, Jude had arrived. She looked exhausted, with heavy circles under her starry blue eyes. Her dark braids were pulled back from her face and her clothes looked like they needed a good wash.
Not a surprise, given that we were up shit creek.
She sat with a sigh. “Tell me you have good news.”
Ana pushed the fourth paper bag at her, and Jude looked down at it like it was entirely unfamiliar.
“It’s food, and you should eat it,” Ana said.
“Of course.” Jude unwrapped the sandwich, and I had a distinct feeling that she hadn’t eaten in at least twenty-four hours. The leader of the Paranormal Investigative Team was the de facto leader of the Protectorate when dangerous things like this went down. Even though there were five heads of department, she bore the heaviest burden when things hit the fan. She took it seriously, too. “What have you got for me?”
