Solstice

by P. J. Hoover

“You need to leave, Reese,” Shayne says under his breath.

  I glance around; we’ve gathered more than a couple stares. Distance forms between our bizarre triangle and the observers who must not want to get caught in the middle.

  Reese ignores Shayne and keeps his eyes focused on me. “I’ve missed you, Piper.” He steps forward again—or maybe I do—because his hand moves to my lips, and involuntarily I shudder. “Are you busy tonight?” he asks.

  Reese isn’t even looking at Shayne, but I glance at Shayne out of my peripheral vision. His face doesn’t move, but he’s turned so I can see his eyes and the red in them like fireworks.

  “Yes, she has plans.” Shayne’s words catch me. I’ve started to drift. To succumb to Reese’s smell; it’s clouding every bit of judgment in my mind. “Now leave, Reese.”

  Reese laughs. “Leave? Piper doesn’t want me to.”

  My lips part even before I can stop them. I remember the kiss Reese and I shared; god, it was fantastic. The memories and his aroma pour through my whole body. I have to fight every urge to go to Reese; I force myself to take a step closer to Shayne and grab his arm, trying to root myself to him, away from Reese. Reese is screwing with my mind.

  “Never. Touch. Piper. Again.” Each of Shayne’s words is staccato. Not to be misunderstood.

  Reese turns to him and glares. “I don’t think you can stop me.” His thumb brushes across my lips, sending a chill through me.

  In a flash, Shayne swats Reese’s hand away. It flies backward, making a sickening crunching sound like bone on bone. And then Shayne punches Reese right in the nose. The odor of blood is immediate and clears my head.

  I hear the kids around us gasp which further helps erase the memories of Reese’s touch, and I force clarity into my mind.

  Reese grimaces and lets his hand fall to his side. There’s blood running from his left nostril, but all he does is wipe it with the back of his hand. And then he reaches up and touches my lips again. I step back, out of his reach, and lean close to Shayne. For whatever bizarre reason my body is betraying me, I will fight it. “Can we go?”

  “You know Piper wants me.” Reese’s voice is like nails trying to pierce Shayne’s armor. “Her body is aching for me. Just look at her. And it’s killing you.”

  In one step, Shayne moves forward until he’s directly up in Reese’s face. “Know this, Reese. Come near her again, and I will kill you.”

  Reese laughs. “You don’t have the power.” And then he spits on Shayne.

  Shayne doesn’t flinch. “I dare you to test me.”

  Reese takes a step back and smiles. “Sounds like a dare I plan to take.” And then he turns his back on us and walks away, shoving his way through the crowd, leaving only his haunting scent in his wake.

  I’m afraid to move, unsure what Shayne will think. He watches as Reese leaves, and pretty soon, the smell evaporates too, leaving me somewhat in control there in the hallway next to Shayne. And after a few wayward glances, everyone starts to disperse. I don’t know what to say.

  “I told you to stay away from him, Piper.” Shayne’s voice is filled with fury.

  “I have.”

  “Then why does he keep coming back?”

  I spin on him and unleash my own fury. “Because he’s the god of war. You said it yourself. He’ll never give up. So stop blaming me.”

  I kick the nearest locker and then storm toward the doors of the school.

  Shayne catches up to me in seconds. “Wait.”

  I stop. “What?”

  “I’m sorry,” he says. “That’s not fair.”

  I only nod in response. He’s right. It’s not fair.

  “We never got along,” Shayne says. He’s clenching his teeth as he speaks. “Not since the first time we met.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me,” I say. A friendship between Reese and Shayne seems as unlikely as my mom deciding to let me move out.

  Shayne waits until we get outside. The heat hits me, but the misters take over quickly, spraying gel on me until I’ve cooled to a normal temperature as much as I can with the memory of Reese spinning in my head. I stop for a minute and let the gel and my thoughts collect.

  “He’s always hated me. Been jealous of everything I’ve had. He’s trying to mislead you to get to me.”

  I turn to Shayne. I’ve had secrets and lies and half-truths enough. “It’s not like you’re bubbling over trying to tell me the truth either.” It’s not like anyone is. Not my mom. Not my dad.

  Shayne tries to take my hand, but I pull it back.

  “I want you to know the truth,” Shayne says. His eyes pierce into me, but I fight inside, not daring to let myself sink into them, knowing I want to more than anything in the world.

  “Really?” It’s almost laughable.

  Shayne nods. “Look at everything I’ve showed you.”

  “But all I have now are more questions.” Like why my life was ordinary until two weeks ago, and now I’m being accused of killing mythological birds. And why Greek gods are walking the earth. And why my dad wants custody. I know I’m scowling, but I’m angry at Shayne for not telling me anything. I’m angry at Reese for asking me out in the first place. I’m angry at Chloe for drifting away from me. And I’m angry at myself for letting her. “Everything was fine before. Things used to be normal.”

  Shayne reaches out again, and I let him take my hand this time. “Do you want things to go back to how they were?”

  I bite my lower lip and meet his eyes. “Maybe.” But it’s a lie.

  Shayne’s face falls, and guilt hits me hard in the chest. I don’t seriously mean it, but before, at least I knew what was going on in my life. Now, my best friend has almost died, and I’m pretty sure I’m in love with the Lord of the Underworld. And though I desperately wish Chloe were back to normal, I’d never trade anything for knowing Shayne.

  But I don’t open my mouth and tell Shayne this.

  “I can’t tell you anything else.”

  I’ve been expecting his words, but I still hate them. “Why not?”

  “Because if I tell you, it could kill you.”

  “Then I’ll ask Reese.” My heart speeds up. Reese will tell me what’s going on.

  “No.” Shayne’s words come out like a command, and my face must react because he softens his voice. “I don’t want you to die.”

  “But I need to know what’s going on.” Even to my own ears, I sound like a desperate child. “What if I’m willing to take that chance?”

  A breeze blows through, and Shayne’s dark hair moves across his face. The red has started flashing in his eyes. “I can’t lose you, Piper.”

  “I need to know.” I have to know.

  “I don’t want you to find out from Reese,” Shayne says.

  I ball my hands up in fists. “I don’t care what you want,” I say. “I’m sick of people telling me what to do.” And with that, I turn to run back toward the school. I’ll find Reese and make him give me answers. But before I can move, I find myself face to beautiful face with a winged man—not the same one as from the creek with Chloe. Not the one who came to bring her death.

  The man reaches out, and before I can even cry out or think about running, he touches me. The world spins, blackness clouds my vision, and I fall to the ground.

  Chapter 32

  Charon

  I wake up in my bed, cool cotton sheets surrounding me, fans on overhead. I look down and realize, even though it’s dark outside, I’m still in the same shorts and tank top I wore to school on Friday. I don’t remember coming upstairs or falling asleep, or even the sun setting.

  I sit up in bed and blink my eyes a few times, waiting for them to acclimate to the darkness. The bright green letters of the clock by the bed tell me it’s close to three o’clock in the morning. And then I see the day and realize it says Sunday instead of Saturday. I pick it up, thinking it must be wrong, but unless the geosynchronous satellites rotating around Earth are out of sync, it’s really Sunday morning,
and I’ve slept for over twenty-four hours.

  “Mom?” Her room is only down the hall, so I don’t call too loudly.

  There’s no answer.

  “Mom?” A little louder this time.

  Still nothing.

  I stand up and find my shoes by the bed, right where I normally leave them, and after I slip them on, I open the door and walk to my mom’s room to check for her. Her bed is empty. I stare at it to make sure, but she’s really not home. I have no clue where she is. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I realize I have no clue what’s going on at all. Like how I got to the Botanical Haven. And how I slept for an entire weekend. Something hazy sits at the back of my mind but won’t reach the surface, so I head to the bathroom to wash my face.

  I turn on the cold water full force, ignoring the ration rules, and splash it on my eyes, trying to clear the fog moving around in my brain. I look up into the bathroom mirror and reach for the towel. And when I do, I see the red line on the side of my neck, near my ear, and remember Minos in Asphodel. He threatened to send me to Tartarus. For killing a phoenix. Shayne promised me I hadn’t killed anything. That I wasn’t responsible for Randy Conner’s death.

  And then it all comes back to me. We were at school. Shayne wouldn’t tell me anything, and he didn’t want me to ask Reese.

  “Sleep,” I say to my reflection in the mirror. Shayne put me to sleep because he didn’t want me to talk to Reese. He didn’t do it himself but had summoned a winged man to do it instead.

  I feel wetness on my toes and realize the sink is flooding over. I turn off the water, undoing the stopper so the water will empty. I watch it as it goes down, swirling faster once it gets near the bottom. Shayne asked me not to talk to Reese. And now, being far away from Reese, I don’t want to find out anything from him anyway. He makes me think of a hyena searching for scraps of meat.

  I walk out of the bathroom, back down the hallway, and head into the darkness of the downstairs. The steps seem to last forever, taking me from the emptiness of our upstairs to the forest that is our home below. Two places so near to each other, but so different. Among the plants, I’ve always lost myself. Like it’s another world.

  As soon as my feet hit the cold tiles, I know what I need to do. Shayne asked me not to talk to Reese. But he didn’t mention anyone else. I need to go to Hell and talk to someone there. Maybe Charon. Or Rhadam. One of them might tell me something. Minos enters my mind, but I shove him aside. His brutal eyes had caught mine and accused me, and I know I can’t go back and see him again. Not alone, and hopefully not ever.

  But I will go to Hell. Alone. Without Shayne. And I will get my answers.

  I call to the Underworld because I can sense the river of silver skimming under the surface of Earth. It almost seems to reach up and pull me to it, like it could seep into my veins and make me part of it. I’m not sure if it will work, if I’ll be able to go without Shayne, but the earth opens up for me. It recognizes me and accepts me, swallowing me whole and holding me close on my journey to the Underworld. Silver liquid fills the void around me, and then I’m there on the banks of the River Acheron, and I see Charon by the docks, waiting. He’s got his eyes closed—like he’s taking a cat nap, but when I look in his direction, they flip open and grow wide. I guess he wasn’t expecting to see me. I’m not sure I was expecting me to make it here either, yet now that I’m here, everything feels as it should be.

  I walk to the dock, trying to pretend I belong here. Trying to play my part. I’m not sure if Charon will take me across the river based on his reaction, but he recovers well and waves. Relief floods through me when I see his familiar face, and I know he’ll help me.

  “I wasn’t expecting you.” He pulls the boat up against the dock and moves aside so I can get in.

  Only then do I remember the payment. My face falls, and I shove my hands in my pockets, trying desperately to find some kind of coin. But my pockets are empty.

  “I can’t pay you.”

  Charon takes a step back and bows so low to the ground I see the bald spot on the top of his head. “I could never take a single drachma from you. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

  Relief floods through me; everything is falling into place. For a second, I feel like a co-conspirator. “Does that mean you’re really alive?”

  Charon stands back up, and his face creases into the smile I love. “It’s been up for debate many times.”

  “And…?” I step into the boat.

  He unties the rope, and I sit down, in the middle this time, near enough to Charon so I can talk. After we get out on the water, I plan to ask him my questions. To see what I can learn.

  Charon shrugs and picks up the pole, already shoving it in the water to move the boat forward. “Let’s just say I don’t think I’ll die anytime soon.”

  I see my opening. “Will I?”

  Charon looks at me, and our eyes catch. The smile sinks away, and then finally, he looks out toward the water. “The monsters are a bit restless these days.”

  He’s trying to avoid talking. But I’ve got him pinned like a mouse in a labyrinth with no exit, and I’m not going to lose my opportunity, even if he is poling faster, trying to reach the shore sooner.

  “Do you know who I am, Charon?” I figure I can’t get much more direct than that.

  Charon looks back at me and nods. “You’re Piper.”

  Before I can say anything else, a monster bumps into the side of the boat, sending a spray of water up and drenching me. At the touch of the water, a wave of sorrow overcomes me, and I break down crying. I’m sobbing though I don’t expect Charon to come near me or comfort me, and he doesn’t. He’s probably seen this a million times before.

  “It’ll pass, Piper. I promise.”

  “I just want the lies to go away.” I’m still crying, but as the water drips off me, the sadness slips away with it.

  Charon doesn’t say anything, and we cross in silence. Before I know it, I’m jolted when the boat bumps into the dock. But I don’t stand up.

  “Aren’t you getting out?” he asks. He’s hopped out ahead of me and has already tied the rope, holding out a hand to help me.

  I sigh, but it comes out mixed with a sob. Am I destined to never know anything? “Maybe I should just go back home.”

  Charon purses his lips. His eyes flicker around—at the shore with the giant trees towering above, toward the empty tunnel in the rocks ahead, then back at the water. The wails of the sorrows tear at me, and each time I hear one, I see a monster jump up out of the reeds and snatch it from the air.

  “Piper.”

  I turn back to Charon. “What?”

  He’s not looking at me. His eyes are still focused on the tumultuous water. Overhead, the crows call out their song, echoing around from one tree to the next. “Things in the Underworld haven’t always been this bad.”

  I hold my breath. Maybe he’s going to tell me what I want to know. “In what ways?”

  Charon points to the water. “The monsters are vicious now. The realms are getting out of control. Even the Elysian Fields. There’s talk of other gods gaining entry. Not to mention the overlords are seizing more power every day.”

  I think of Minos. Of Ares appearing in Asphodel, if only as a shadow. Of Hell not working correctly. “How long have things been going wrong?”

  Charon turns, and his milky white eyes meet mine. “Eighteen years.”

  When he says it, it’s like I’ve been punched in the stomach. It’s the same amount of time my Earth above has been in the Global Heating Crisis. A Hell of its own with a sun which only gets more powerful by the day. Eighteen years. There’s something connecting my Earth above and this Hell below. Eighteen years. It echoes in my mind.

  It’s the same amount of time I’ve been alive.

  Are the secrets I crave somehow tied to the physical sufferings of the worlds both above ground and below? And am I somehow involved?

  I open my mouth to respond, but I can’t
think of anything to say.

  “Please be safe,” Charon says.

  I snap out of my thoughts and see him reaching back into the boat. I stand up and give him my hand so he can help me out. And no sooner am I on the dock, walking away from the boat, than I know it’s already slipping away through the reeds and the swampy water behind me. And just like everything so far, I only have more questions and still have no answers.

  Chapter 33

  Sisyphus

  I stare at the ten tunnels. I don’t know which one to choose. I don’t even know where the others go. And Cerberus is nowhere to be found. I think he would have led me in the right direction.

  The sixth tunnel is the one we took last time, but when I walk up toward it, I’m hit with hatred. A red fungus suddenly covers the edge of the cave’s mouth. I turn from it because the thought of taking that path makes me want to vomit. I step in front of the tunnel to its left, and the nauseous feeling is replaced by happiness. Green ivy covers the opening.

  I stare through the illusion of ivy down the dark path. I count my heartbeats.

  I don’t need happiness. I need answers.

  This tunnel must lead to the Elysian Fields, but after Charon’s staid words, I know Rhadam won’t tell me much either. No one will. I focus on the ivy, which I think is an illusion, but I feed my anger into it until it bursts into flames. I watch it burn. And then I locate the tunnel with the hatred again and take a step inside.

  Voices greet me.

  Come to us.

  Visit us.

  I cover my ears and close my eyes but soon realize they’re inside my head, like specters floating around, trying to latch onto something real.

  We need you.

  Each word is a chorus, beckoning me. I haven’t moved since my initial step inside the tunnel, and I want them to go away. I turn, thinking I’ll leave. Knowing this is a bad idea. But the opening where I came from is no longer there.

  Piper.

  They know my name. I shake my head and take another step forward, trying to move as far away from the haunting sounds as possible.