“Enjoying yourself?” he asked, looking down at my hands.
“It was stuck,” I said, tugging the last strap free. Then I sent the harness back up while Demarco leaned against the wall.
“Think the bird’ll come?” he asked.
I didn’t even have to think about it. Tweety had experienced a moment of cowardice, but that wasn’t who he was. “Yep. He’ll be here.”
Demarco froze, staring past me at the water. “There’s something in there.”
Turning, I studied the surface long enough to spot a few ripples. “Most definitely. Hopefully it’s just fish. I’m glad we have this ledge so we don’t have to swim. Now close your eyes so I can refresh your eyesight.”
I didn’t know if I needed to refresh it, but I didn’t want to take any chances. As I rubbed luck on his eyelids, his hands grabbed my waist, steadying us both. The contact spread warmth through my body. When Demarco’s eyes sprang open, his gold flecked silvery-blues took my breath away.
“You have really great eyes,” I said.
“Thank you,” he said, his husky voice making my knees a little wobbly. “So do you.”
I pulled away, suddenly ashamed of the necessary deception. Demarco had never seen my eyes.
As I knew he would, Tweety joined us, looking agitated. “Good thing I’m not claustrophobic or anything,” he complained.
“Tell me about,” Demarco replied. “There were a few places I thought I was gonna get stuck.”
I ignored their bellyaching and packed up my harness and retracted the rope so it’d be waiting up top. Then we once again deferred to Tweety’s hearing to narrow down the direction the crying was coming from.
The tunnel went east and west. To the west, it narrowed and the ledge we currently stood on all but disappeared. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling, almost down to the water, and I was certain I caught the flicker of at least one pair of glowing eyes. In contrast, the tunnel to the east widened and brightened, and probably had cute little forest animals lining up along the ledge to drink.
Tweety pointed to the west.
“Naturally.”
“Are you sure?” Demarco asked. “Seems like a goddess would go the other direction. You know…take the easier route.”
“Not a goddess who doesn’t want to be followed,” I pointed out. “She’s in mourning, remember? Nobody would be stupid enough to follow her down that way.”
Tweety swallowed. “Except for us.”
I chucked him on the shoulder. “I prefer to call it bravery. Come on.” Drawing my daggers just in case, I took a deep breath and headed west with the reassuring footsteps of my companions behind me.
The crying grew in volume, irritating me a little more with each step. After all, my kid had been taken from me, too, and I wasn’t destroying the world’s crops and bawling my eyes out in the bottom of a well. As a goddess, Demeter should be out there showing Hades who’s boss, or at least joining forces with Athena. The goddess of justice would surely be all about helping Demeter’s cause. Hades had made a deal with Zeus, after all. Just because the head honcho was temporarily incapacitated, it didn’t mean the gods should go around breaking contracts.
Except my contract, of course. That one had definitely needed to be broken. For all the good it did me since apparently Zeus was the only one who enforced contracts.
“Uh, Romi…” Demarco said.
I spun around to find him frozen, staring down at the water. Creeping back, I sidled up to him and followed his gaze, finding a set of unblinking, oddly-slanted eyes looking back at us. Straw-colored hair floated to the surface, quickly swept away by a pale hand.
“Is that some sort of mermaid?” Demarco asked, sounding both intrigued and concerned.
Tweety joined us and took a look. “Probably a naiad,” he reported, leering into the water.
I patted my teenage protégé on the back. “Look at you, all learnin’ and crap.”
He grinned.
“What’s a naiad?” Demarco asked, taking an uneasy step away from the creature.
The naiad floated to the surface and rolled backwards, flipping to show off her pert breasts and a petite hourglass figure, naked as the day she was born. Or hatched. Or spawned. Or whatever.
Tweety let out an appreciative whistle. “Very attractive freshwater nymphs.”
“Are they dangerous?”
Snapping my fingers in front of the griffin’s face to waken him from his lust-haze, I said, “Everything’s dangerous. And the more alluring a creature is, the more likely it is to rip out your throat while you’re gettin’ your freak on.”
The naiad surfaced again—this time just her head—and smiled, displaying an impressive row of fangs. Clearly she could hear me and found amusement in my description. Demarco shuddered and took another step away, but Tweety rubbed at his neck, as if weighing his chances of survival against the possible pleasure.
I shoved the griffin in the direction we needed to go. “Don’t. We’ll find you a nice girl someday.”
“What if I don’t want a nice girl?” he asked.
“Can we settle for one that doesn’t feast on your flesh?”
He gave one more longing look over his shoulder before taking the lead. Demarco tailed me, but closed the gap between us. I felt the heat of his hand on my back as he leaned into me and whispered, “So you must be really dangerous then, huh?”
His breath tickled my neck, making me pull away from him as I registered his compliment. Nobody had ever called me alluring before. I whipped my head around to determine whether or not he was messing with me, but his smile was genuine, showing off his dimples again. Heat flooded my cheeks as I turned back around and tried to think of a witty response. Since everything I could think of fell under the category of either cheesy or bitchy, I kept my mouth shut and focused on not falling into the naiad-infested water.
We followed the crying into another cavern where there was no walkway, but the water was shallow enough that we could see the bottom. Stepping from the ledge into the ankle-deep water made me glad I wore my boots.
“It’s shallow,” I said.
Just then my feet slid out from under me. A scream ripped from my throat and my hands flailed to find purchase. Strong arms circled my ribs, righting me.
“What is it?” Demarco asked, reaching for his hammer. “Did something grab you?”
Again my cheeks burned as I admitted, “Nope. The ground is uh…slippery.”
Tweety chuckled. “I thought you were supposed to be some sort of graceful cat burglar.”
Glaring, I replied, “That’s what you get for believing the hype.”
Tweety joined me and Demarco in the water, and we continued on a few steps before Demarco grabbed my arm.
“The crying,” he whispered. “It stopped.”
I listened, and then looked to Tweety for confirmation, hoping it hadn’t moved further away.
The griffin nodded. “I don’t hear her.
Before we had time to decide what to do, a woman in a black dress appeared, hovering inches above the water. Demeter had taken on the form of a woman somewhere in her late forties to early fifties. Hair mostly silver, eyes and forehead lined from age, power radiated from her like heat from a fire. The air crackled with a spark as she took one look at my two companions and flicked her wrist, sending them flying to smash into the dirt and rock wall behind us.
“Your kind is not welcome here,” she spat, turning to go the opposite direction.
All righty then.
“You two okay?” I asked, torn between running over to check them for injuries and hurrying after the fleeing goddess.
“My pride hurts,” Demarco replied. “And what does she mean by our kind?”
“Judging by the fact you two got thrown and I didn’t, I’m guessing she’s not a huge fan of guys right now. What about you, Tweety? You good?”
He gave me a crooked thumbs-up and a lopsided smile. Great. All we needed was a concussed griffin. “Keep an eye on
him, Demarco.” I said, turning.
“Wait, where are you going?”
I gestured down the hall. “I have a message to deliver.”
He stood, pushing himself off the wall. “It’s not safe for you to go alone. I’ll come with you.”
I sighed. “Your kind’s not welcome here, remember? I’ll be right back.”
Then before he could argue, I took off after the goddess.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“HEY, WAIT UP!” I shouted, splashing through the water behind Demeter.
The goddess ignored me and levitated on. No matter how fast I ran, the gap between us didn’t seem to shrink or widen. It felt like she was trying to lead me somewhere, so I followed.
“Demeter, please, I have a message for you from the Pythia.”
She was too close not to hear my shout, but she ignored me and turned down a corridor, disappearing from sight. Swearing, I hurried along, chasing her down the corridor. The ground changed, turning into mossy rock steps which led up to the dirt floor of what appeared to be some sort of underground greenhouse straight from a nightmare. The place smelled of moldy mulch and death. Overhead lights flickered, alternating between illuminating rows of plants and flowers in various stages of dying and casting horrifying shadows across the bleak stone walls. I couldn’t tell if it was a dystopian horticulture experiment gone wrong, or some sort of plant purgatory where naughty vegetation was sent to suffer.
“Whoa, what happened here?” I asked as I stepped inside.
Demeter rounded one of the rows and leaned over, inspecting what appeared to be some sort of anemic aloe plant. “Love. Love happened here.”
I don’t know what kind of answer I’d been expecting, but that sure wasn’t it. Was she speaking metaphorically? Maybe saying strong emotions trapped people between life and death? Or had someone seriously loved the life out of these plants, because if so, that person needed a strait jacket and some strong medication.
“Some twisted sort of love, if you ask me,” I said, inspecting a daffodil drooping down so low its cup and petals brushed the dirt of the…table? I’d originally thought the elevated plants were on tables, but upon closer inspection it appeared to be strategically molded dirt. They had no access to sunshine, and the dirt looked bone dry. “Maybe they need some water?”
“All love is twisted,” Demeter replied, ignoring my diagnosis and focusing back on what I suspected had to be her least favorite emotion.
She headed down the row, closing the distance between us, and the flora seemed to awaken from its suffering long enough to reach for her, as if Demeter was the sunlight and water it craved. Unfolding her hands and stretching her arms to the sides, she caressed the plants as she passed. They reacted with various degrees of quivering before settling back into their near-death state.
Was this supposed to be a real-life demonstration about how twisted love could be? For the first time in my life, I felt sorry for plants.
“You said you have a message from the Pythia?” Demeter asked, holding out her hand expectantly.
I tugged my backpack down and retrieved the scroll, offering it to the goddess.
She examined the waxy seal for a moment before popping it off and reading the note. I felt her gaze land on me more than once before she finished and the note disappeared into the folds of her black dress.
“Do you know where my daughter is?” Demeter asked, drawing my attention back to her.
Based on her behavior, I had a pretty good idea, but I hope she wasn’t insinuating that I had anything to do with Persephone’s disappearance. “Should I?”
Her lips pulled up in a sneer. “Yes. Everyone should know. They should feel my pain, knowing my precious Persephone is in the hands of that filthy, perverted demon. Hades has broken his oath and plans to keep her trapped in his hell forever.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I replied. And I was, but not enough to help out.
Tweety and I sometimes played video games to stave off our underground boredom. Often in the games you’d start off on one quest and then you’d run into someone who’d send you on a side quest that completely distracted you from your main objective. If the Pythia and Demeter thought I had the time or desire to go side-questing, they were both about to be sorely disappointed. Demeter could rescue her own kid.
Demeter turned her attention onto a rosebush, stroking the petals as the entire plant bent to press against her hand, reminding me of a cat arching its back to be petted. Demeter’s affection appeared loving until she lashed out and engulfed the rose head, squeezing. Something screamed in pain. I don’t know if it was the goddess or the rose, but I covered my ears, trying to block out the ear-piercing sound. Demeter’s expression hardened as she continued to assault the rose. Finally, the sound faded, and then died completely. She opened her hand and crushed petals fell to the ground.
“We always seem to hurt the ones we love, Romi.” The goddess’s expression turned sorrowful as she inspected the destroyed flower. “By doing a favor for my lover, I betrayed my greatest love. My poor, sweet daughter. She deserves so much better than the underworld.”
“For your lover? Poseidon?” That was a weird way to refer to the god who’d turned himself into a stallion so he could rape her.
“Don’t look at me with pity in your eyes, child. There is much about him you don’t know.”
I’d spent maybe twenty minutes with the guy and had no intention of getting to know him any better so I kept my mouth shut.
“He created horses for me. I was mourning Persephone when the sea god first made his interest known, and I wanted nothing to do with him. I gave him what I believed to be an impossible task, asking him to make me the most beautiful animal of all. He handcrafted several incredible creatures before filling the mountains with thundering hooves and flowing manes. I knew from the moment I saw the first horse, I wanted to be one. To cast off my worries and concern for my daughter and allow myself to run free…” She squeezed her eyes shut. A look of unadulterated joy swept over her, erasing lines from her face and years off her life. “And it felt amazing.”
I could only imagine. Even though my new contract declared I was free, I would be a slave to this task until I was reunited with Doreán.
Demeter’s eyes sprang open again, looking a little misty. “The books say Poseidon raped me, but he didn’t. We raced through those hills together and I was…very willing.”
Well that was more information than I needed.
“For a while, he even made me forget about Persephone.”
“What happened?” I asked, encouraging her to share more, hoping she’d get to the point and tell me where the essence was.
“Amphitrite,” she spat.
My fingers itched to dig in my pack for my book as my mind raced, trying to recall everything I could about Poseidon’s wife. She was a nereid, a sea nymph, who gave birth to most of the sea creatures. But that’s all the information I had. “What did she do?”
“She went crying to Zeus, threatening to stop bringing life to the sea if he didn’t force Poseidon to go back to her. Zeus never should have interfered. Poseidon created horses. Surely he could’ve created anything that little sea wench made.”
“So Zeus made him go back to his wife?” I asked, trying to keep her on task.
“Don’t call her that. She doesn’t deserve the title.”
“My mistake. Please, continue.”
Demeter eyed me. “Poseidon promised me that once Zeus was out of the picture, he and I could be together, but he broke his word. I think he’s sleeping with that slut, Aphrodite.”
Probably. Wasn’t everyone? My grandmother sure did get around.
“Amphitrite locked me in this well and sent her bloodthirsty little whores to make sure I don’t escape. And now that Zeus is gone, Hades has taken Persephone for good, and there isn’t a thing I can do about it.”
Finally! This was the opening I’d been waiting for. “Sure there is,” I replied. “You can give me t
he name of the god who has Zeus’s essence so I can retrieve it and Athena can uh…put Humpty Dumpty back together again.”
Her eyebrows drew together. “Humpty Dumpty?”
I groaned. My jokes didn’t have the same effect when I had to explain them. “Never mind. Just tell me who’s keeping the essence.”
Her confused expression didn’t change. “And what will you do with that information?”
“I told you…I’m going to go get the essence back.”
“You?” She snorted, patting another flower on the head.
“Uh…yes. Isn’t that what the Pythia’s letter said?” I asked, wondering why she’d just spilled her guts to me if she didn’t know why I was here.
“It says our goals align—nothing more—but you’re just an imíaimos. What makes you believe you can defeat the five powerful gods who hold Zeus’s essence?”
“Wait, five?” My stomach plummeted. “There are five gods holding Zeus’s essence?”
She stared at me, and then laughed. “You don’t even know what they did, do you?”
Clearly I was in the middle of some big joke. “Who? What?”
More laughter. It echoed inside the walls and made the plants cower away from her. And it managed to make me miss her crying. I was on this super important quest to rescue Zeus and get back my son, and the goddess who was supposed to give me the information I needed was laughing in my face. I wanted to strangle her.
When she finally regained enough control to form a coherent sentence, she replied, “They split Zeus’s essence into five. Each is being protected by a different god.”
Five essences from five gods. You’d think Athena would have mentioned that little tidbit. So that was why Zeus couldn’t regenerate…they were keeping him separated. How the freak was I going to steal five essences? Ignoring the self-doubt and sheer panic welling up inside me, I realized I already knew who two of them had to be. “Hades, Poseidon, who are the other three?”
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