Junior pulls me into him, my face clashing with his chest. "Listen," he whispers as he holds me against him. I try to listen, but all I can hear is the drumming of my way-too-fast heart in my ears.
"Listen," he says again, pressing my head harder against him. It's then that I hear the faint, slow, melodic beating of his heart. It breaks through my inner panic, and as I count the beats of his heart, I feel my own start to slow to a normal pace.
"There you go." I feel him nod but I don't want him to let me go. I feel safe with him holding me. He's known, comfortable. I don't want to lose that feeling.
"Don't," I cry out when his arms loosen around me. But he doesn't listen to my words. He pushes me back, still holding my shoulders as my body comes down from the panic inside me.
"You're okay. You don't need me anymore."
"I do," I whisper, not wanting to admit it to him.
"You're so strong. I believe in you."
"I don't believe in me."
"Then fake it. Make them believe in you and then that's all that matters. We all trust you. No matter what, you have me."
After composing myself, I find Cece with Atee sitting in the exact spot I left her. I sit beside Atee and, absently, he places his arm around my shoulders. He doesn't even stop his conversation, yet he welcomes me without thinking.
"I hope I can get them past the swamp, but I just can't guarantee it. I haven't made a portal to the Underworld in hundreds of years."
"If you visualize it, doesn't that make it easier?" Cece asks him.
"It does. But, it's just hard to remember."
"We have to do whatever we can to give these kids an edge," Cece says.
"What's the problem?" I ask to them both.
"There's no problem," Atee quickly answers, turning and facing me. "I'm just trying to get you guys as close to the castle as possible."
"But, I don't want to land close to the castle. I have to get to the blood, right? I have to find the Originals' blood first or else Hades will know something is up."
"That's true. You're going to have to split up then." Atee thinks out loud. "If you don't, he'll notice you all go to the blood. Do you know where it is?"
"Linus and I know the room. We can split off, get the blood and meet them in the courtyard where the altar is."
"Okay. I'll drop you right after the swamp, that way you don't have to deal with taking the ferry. From there, you can split. Who from your group knows how to get to the courtyard?"
"Ollie does." I look across the gym at Ollie surrounded by people. Dimitri and Magdelina crowd him, laughing as if they're just on a lunch break, not traveling through a portal to save the fate of the world. I know he can lead the group to the courtyard.
"Ari will go with you and Linus."
"Why?" I ask back to Cece.
"You need someone to protect you."
"What about Linus?"
"You and Linus both have visions. You need an actual protector, and honestly, I don't think both your men should be together. Ollie is the leader of the army, and Ari will lead you and Linus."
"Okay," I answer, nodding my head.
"It's time," Atee states, rolling his neck in a backwards circle and cracking it. "I've got the image in my head. I'm ready to make it now. I can hold it indefinitely, but I don't want to lose my thought."
I nod and run to my friends, gathering everyone.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
traveling
"We're going now," I tell my group of friends as I approach them at the end of the bleachers near the door. Lisa comes to my side and takes my hand, an unusual display of affection from her. I look down at our joined fingers and smile, but it's short lived.
"We've got this," Mikey says as he and Carter teleport behind me, as if proving that they can fight. Each of them places a hand on my shoulder in support. Martin and Shane walk forward, their heads bowed as if they're afraid to make eye contact with me.
We all stand together near the door. We wait for Kara as she says her final goodbyes to Junior. I look over, and Junior has her head in his hands, their foreheads touching, their eyes shut. I can't hear what they're whispering, but I don't want to. I think my heart would crumble into thousands of pieces.
Kara unglues their heads and kisses Junior on the mouth. He kisses her back, using so much force that she bends backwards and clutches to his chest to hold her up. She giggles as they separate, but it's empty. Her voice is hollow. She looks up at him, runs her hand along his jaw and then walks towards us.
"I'm ready," she says as she takes my lonely hand in hers. I watch as Junior retreats to the bleachers and sits beside my dad. He wraps his arm over my dad's shoulder and nods at me in a silent understanding.
I take a deep breath—one that travels deep into my lungs and fills me to the brim with anticipation. And then I let it all out, pushing my worries, my insecurities and my fear out of me. I nod to myself. I can do this. We can do this together.
We turn as a unit and walk towards Atee. Along the way, we pick up the rest of the people who stand on the edges of the gym. The teachers walk behind Ari, Ollie, Cristos, and Dimitri. Behind them are the group from Louisiana and the siblings. It feels like there are a lot of us, all grouped together in one room—but I'm not willing to lose a single person, including Nikias and Nikon, despite their crap attitudes.
Linus huddles by Atee with Cece near the middle of the gym, and I feel like the air was kicked out of my lungs. I want to say goodbye to Cece and thank her again for everything she's done leading up until this point. But at the same time, I don't want to intrude on their personal moment.
She must sense me watching her, like she always does, because she turns back and sees me. She waves me over, and I look at my two friends by my sides, Kara and Lisa. They nod and urge me to go to her—Kara shoves me forward with her hand. So I do, stumbling over my trembling legs.
"I just wanted to say goodbye. In case…you know." I stop about a foot away, not wanting to linger. But the urge to hug her takes over, and I close the distance quickly, tears beginning to blossom, my chest constricting.
"There will be no 'you know.' I've always believed in you. You are wonderful." She brushes her fingers across my cheek bone, and my heart feels like it melts from her warm gesture. "You will be perfect, and I know you will come back whole."
"Thank you. I don't know how to thank you enough. I promise when we get back, I'll tell you every day for the rest of my life how grateful I am to have you in my life."
"I just want to hear it one more time." She shushes me, grinning, her violet eyes shining. "But not until you get back. I'll be here waiting, and as long as you come back safe, I can die a happy woman."
"You're not dying anytime soon."
"Sweetie, it's okay. I'm ready. As soon as you're safe, I will be fulfilled."
"I love you," I tell her as I hug her one last time before we go.
"I love you, too, strong, beautiful, magical Eurydice." She pushes me back from my shoulders and looks me up and down as if trying to memorize the way I look. I take a moment to do the same, engraining her image in my mind and using it to fuel me through my journey.
"Let's go," Linus says as he takes my hand and pulls me from his mother. I want to object, but I know we have to go. And if I say goodbye to her one more time, I won't want to leave.
I sneak a glance over my shoulder as we come up to Atee, and Cece is staring at Linus and I, tears streaking down her face. Her sisters step behind her and hold her, lending her comfort she needs. I quickly turn away, not wanting to see her so torn up. It hurts me.
"I've got it ready. Step back," Atee says a little briskly. Everyone opens up backwards into a semi-circle around my brother. Linus doesn't drop my hand, and I reach for Kara, not wanting her out of my sight.
Suddenly, a small, black circle appears and expands in the middle of the floor. At first, it's just about a foot across in each direction. But the longer Atee doesn't move, the larger the hole becomes. In just a
few minutes, it's at least six feet wide.
"It's done," Atee bites out, gritting his teeth, his face pinching together. I look from my left to my right at a bunch of scared faces widely staring at me. I know in that moment that I have to be the leader. I have to do this for them. Before I do it alone, Ari and Ollie walk up to me from behind.
I nod to them each in thanks. Linus must recognize their presence because he lets go of me and walks backwards. Ari stops on my left and takes my hand, Ollie on my right. We step up to the portal, the tips of our toes hanging over the side of the blackness.
"Let's do it," I say.
And then we drop.
The fall is identical to the last time I fell into the Underworld. Only this time, it isn't just Ari and me. Ollie clings to my hand, and I've never felt safer. The opal in my pocket feels like it weighs a hundred pounds, the gravity of its power dragging me down through the black hole.
We land in just a few seconds, and I bend my knees to take the brunt of the landing. I quickly move out of the way as people start to drop at random times, nearly squishing me with their dead-weight bodies.
I walk forward, both guys clinging to my hands, and feel around the dark room, trying to decide where we are. There's a short hallway that leads to a lit-up area, and I know that that's the way we need to go. I pause, my men beside me, and wait as people drop.
"Did we all make it?" The room is dark, so it's hard for me to see past Ari and Ollie. I step into the hallway, my eyes adjusting to the darkness. All three professors of mine stand in a circle in the back with two other people with them. They must have just come in, because I don't recognize them, nor have I seen them before.
The Louisiana family is already scouting out the area, the mother and Nikias together and the father and Nikon together. They have a strategy; that much is clear. They push past me and go through the hallway, stopping in the next room.
Linus is with Alexius and Lex, and Magdelina behind them. Linus's eyebrows are knitted together, his pointer finger and thumb pinching his chin. It's almost like he's looking at a map in his head and navigating his way. My friends huddle around me, their faces eager, but also worried.
"Do we have a plan?" Martin asks out loud from behind Shane. All heads turn towards him, and then to me, as if asking me the same question. They want to know the plan, or if I even have a plan. I know some of the new people doubt me. I'm about to prove them wrong.
"Follow me," I say and lead the army towards the brighter area. It's open, the edge of the swamp colliding with the dark brown ground. The army funnels in, and we all stop and circle up.
"To get to the castle, we should be able to just follow this narrow path straight. We're going to split up into two groups, though. I have to find the Originals' blood and take a vial so Hades can't block me from protecting his curse."
"Split up?" Ollie barks out. "That's a terrible idea."
"We have no choice. Linus and I are the only people who saw where the blood was being held. Ari will escort us. I need you to lead everyone else to the castle." I stare deep into his arctic eyes, praying that for once he'll just listen to me and do what I need him to.
"I don't want to leave you," he whispers, his voice breaking at the end. He stops in front of me, our moment turning private.
"I need you to do this for me." He takes my hands in his.
"Okay. I'll do it. But if you take longer than one hour, I'm coming to find you." I smile, but Ollie doesn't. His face is drawn down in a scowl. "I'm not kidding. You have one hour to find the vial or we all do a man search and ditch the entire curse thing."
"Got it." I smile again, and rise onto my tiptoes. I kiss Ollie on the cheek, noticing the tint of redness over his cheekbones, and then return my attention to the large group of powerful people in front of me once he steps away.
"You will all follow Ollie. He will lead you to the altar. and we will meet you there shortly. Hades won't do anything until I get there, so you have nothing to worry about."
Nikon and his father turn to each other and whisper. Lex mutters something to Magdelina. Everyone branches off into smaller groups and discusses what I've just told them. Ari narrows his gaze on me, questioning why he's been chosen to be our watcher, but it wasn't my doing at all. That was all Cece.
Ollie looks over his shoulder one final time before the crowd swallows him up as they begin their march towards the castle. They move just to the left of the path and then quietly walk towards the blackness that I know isn't too far off in the distance.
"We have to hurry," I tell Linus and Ari.
Both nod, and then we sprint in the opposite direction.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
originals' blood
Linus is faster than I thought he would be. From the way Cece said we needed a protector, I thought that he would be useless and slow. I never got a good chance to watch him in the training center, so I'm going into this blind. But he's just as fast as the rest of them, if not faster than me. A few minutes pass as we all sprint shoulder to shoulder along the dirt path in a heavy silence.
The air is filled with our regrets. I can feel the sorrow and nervousness tainting the air, and it hurts me. Linus stops sprinting all of a sudden, and I run right into his back, slamming my face against his shoulder blade. Ari's arms catch me from falling backwards, and the three of us freeze in our places.
In front of us is a short black fence with a narrow gate, half the height of the fence at Demi God Academy and somehow even darker. The metal gate looks like only one person can fit through the gate at a time. Inside of the gate is a small, black building. It looks like it only has one room in it, and it's only one level high.
"The blood is in that building." Linus looks over at me as we crouch behind the dark gate, trying to hide in the shadows. "Don't you recognize the outside of it? Can you feel the power vibrating from within?"
"I recognize it." I nod in agreement. I step forward, trying to peek through the fence gaps to see into the building, but Ari's arm catches my elbow, and he pulls me backwards so my back is pressed against his front.
"There are gods patrolling this building." Ari's eyes warn me that if I mess with him, I'll be in serious trouble. I glare back, because the last thing that's on my mind right now is if Ari's mad at me for disobeying him.
"How do you know they're patrolling?" I ask him as I look around the building. I don't see a single god walking around or standing in the gate.
"I saw him walk behind the building when we stopped sprinting. I'm sure there's more. Hades wouldn't leave all his Original's blood vulnerable." Ari looks behind his back, checking in a paranoid way.
"Especially if Hermes knows we're coming," Linus chimes in, agreeing with Ari. I follow Ari's gaze behind us, but don't see anything.
"True." I nod my head in understanding, hoping that nobody jumps out from behind us and scares me. "Let's take them out then. We don't have time to waste."
"You stay right here." I start to object, but Ari continues. "In about two minutes, walk like a human towards the building. Just Eury. Play stupid. I'll take out the guy behind while you distract whoever else is around. Then I'll come help you."
"Are you sure?" I'm worried about him being one on one with a powerful god. If this really is where the blood is, then these guards are going to be strong.
"I am," he nods, assuring me. "I know you don't want to hear this, but, Eury, I love you. I will always have your back."
"I know," I answer.
"You," he says pointing to Linus. "Stay back here and only come out when I whistle towards you. Any sign of a person behind you and sprint towards us."
"I can help," he begins to say, but Ari shakes his head, cutting him off.
"Two minutes starting now," Ari says. Before either of us can object, he sprints away. I feel the wind whip against my neck with his departure. I look out from behind the gate, but I don't see him anywhere.
It feels like the lights have been dimmed in the Underworld. There's always a
reddish yellow haze in the air that just clouds your vision enough to be annoying. It's like a fog emerges out of nowhere, blocking us on purpose.
I realize that I haven't been counting. I start to count in my head, not looking around me anymore, so I don't get distracted. I get to one hundred and twenty.
"I'm going now. Are you okay?" I ask Linus as I start to stand tall and show myself.
"I'm fine. Go!" he whisper-yells, his widening eyes piercing.
I walk out from behind the fence and then walk through the gate. I slowly make my way towards the black building when I notice a man step out from the front door. My heart jumps in my chest, pounding and making my breath short. He leans against the side of the building, his bulky arms crossing over his chest and one of his ankles over the other.
"Hey!" the man yells, noticing me once I'm about twenty feet away. I look behind me and act as if I thought he was speaking to someone else. I continue advancing on him, one step in front of the other, my heart pumping out of my chest. It's my acting debut, and I better pull this off before he beheads me. "What do you think you're doing here?"
"I think I'm lost. I was supposed to be meeting with Hades. I'm a distant cousin, you see. I took this path," I say as I point backwards towards the dirt path we took here. "It was supposed to take me to something called the black castle. But that's a pretty sad castle, if you know what I mean." I force a laugh and step backwards, giving him room so he's not threatened.
The man looks at me skeptically, his eyes traveling up and then down my body with a slight squint. I question my ability to lie when I notice how ripped he is. His veins pop out from his neck and forearms like worms. He's at least a foot taller than me, a few inches taller than Ari, too, if I had to guess. He's downright menacing, from his red eyes to his bulky calves, and my adrenaline spikes as I try to come up with a way to kill him.
"Come with me," the man says, and he grabs onto my bicep hard. Pain shoots up my arm at his touch, hitting my neck like a knife.
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