“Where’s Iliana?” Hypnos asked while struggling to remain standing.
“She is safe; Hermes took her to your cave,” Anubis reassured the gods in the room. He hoped that was where Hermes had taken her, since he hadn’t been specific on the location—just ‘the cave.’
Hypnos’ features relaxed slightly, but his face was still pale. “Those things attacked while I was inside her mind, searching for the curse.” His hands curled into fists. “I had no warning.”
Thanatos cursed. “Not if they came from below. I did not think…I should have—”
“Whoever sent them knew,” Anubis interrupted grimly. “They knew where your wards would be weakest. This was not random.”
Panacea’s face suddenly paled. “Something’s wrong with Iliana.”
Her words burned worse than the worm’s acid.
No.
Panacea vanished.
Anubis followed, moving on pure instinct and terror, praying he wouldn’t be too late.
Chapter fifty-seven
ILIANA
Iliana stood unmoving as dust drifted around her while the worm dragged Hypnos away.
She couldn’t believe what she was seeing—she refused to. The beautiful yurt was in ruins. The wet squelch of the monster’s flesh—
This was a nightmare. It had to be. She screamed and reached for Hypnos. Their hands touched, but the monster wrenched him away.
No. This couldn’t be happening.
Looking across the wreckage, she spotted a broken leg of the coffee table. Useless—but better than nothing.
She lunged for it as flashes of memories brought tears to her eyes: pizza grease on cardboard, bickering over movies, Hypnos beside her in a sun-warmed field—
Strong arms wrapped around her waist before she could reach it, and she kicked and fought. Dream or not, her only thought was getting to him. Helping him. “Hypnos!”
Her feet left the ground an instant later. Her surroundings blurred, shadows and rushing wind replacing the chaotic battlefield.
When everything stopped moving, she faced the familiar door to Hypnos’ home. The one she’d tried to escape through not so long ago. She could only stare, struggling to catch up.
She spun and faced her captor.
Hermes.
For a second, he looked relieved.
Then Iliana shoved at his chest. “Take me back. Now!”
He narrowed his eyes. “No. You’re safer here until we care for Hypnos and fight off the creature.”
“Then why did we ever leave this place if it was so safe?” she asked angrily.
A muscle spasmed in Hermes’ jaw, and he looked away. When he turned back, his eyes were hard, as if he’d decided something. “Very few gods can access this place. Even fewer can enter Hypnos’ home.”
It wasn’t an answer. They both knew it.
“You’re safer here than out there, but safe doesn’t mean invulnerable. And I—” He cut himself off, strain showing at the corner of his eyes. “I need to know you can defend yourself if something goes wrong.”
