The demon roars, slamming down its fist, and the invisible shield shatters like glass.
Okay, never mind.
“Weak,” the demon growls, throwing its hands out and pushing Rook back with a glistening rush of power.
I turn to help him, but before I can blink, claws clamp around my throat. The demon hoists me into the air and slams me against the curve of the dome.
Holy shit, that hurt.
The others are screaming as the demon repeats the attack again and again. I hear asnapandcrunch, and I don’t know if it’s my bones or the plaster. Pain flashes in the back of my skull, over and over, until it blurs into numbness. I’m close to passing out or maybe dying when the dome starts to groan under the assault. Cracks spider across the plaster.
I see what will happen next like a prophecy.
On the next strike, the dome gives. With the last of my strength, I hook my arm around the demon’s neck, wrap a leg around its waist, and as the dome collapses, I fall backward into the temple below, dragging the demon with me.
Twenty
The Eleusinian Mysteries refer to a secret and sacred rite of initiation for the followers of the Cult of Persephone.
This may seem random, and I know it comes at a bad time, but I have a point, if you’ll stick with me.
Each year, the Cult would gather for ten days during the late summer. They would perform some rites, have a festival, and then, on the third day, begin a procession from the Athenian cemetery to Eleusis, waving branches, shouting obscenities, and making dirty jokes. Sounds like my kind of party.
Once in Eleusis, you’ve got an all-night vigil, some more sacred rites, a few plays. Then, on the final night, they…
Well, scholars don’t know what happened on the final night because anyone who even hinted at the secret of the Eleusinian Mysteries was swiftly murdered. They just know it had something to do with life after death and a drink, which many believe contained some kind of psychoactive drug.
The truth that scholars don’t know is that Persephone was one of the first people to access the Afterlife. By drinking a mixture of barley and a type of fungus that brought her body so close to death, her soul was temporarily tricked across the veil.
Once she returned to her body, she became aware of the magic she brought with her. So she made trip after trip until she became immortal and godlike. And so did many others. Hecate, Thanatos, all the other Titans. They all developed followers and shared their secrets with those they held close.
I know what you’re thinking:But none of the syndicates are run by Persephone.
No, they’re not. Not all the Titans survived to modernity. In fact, Persephone died so long ago, she’s been relegated to the status of legend, even among syndicates and heaven hoppers, leaving us with one final mystery.
If all the Titans knew the secret of the Afterlife, then what was Persephone revealing to her followers during the Eleusinian Mysteries that they had to keep so hush-hush? What was so arcane and volatile that it led to her death and the fall of her Cult?
And why don’t the syndicates want anybody to know about it?
When you’re falling, you’re supposed to protect your head at all costs, even at the expense of other body parts. Landing on your feet protects everything necessary, but you’ll probably shatter both your legs.
I would like to avoid that.
I have less than a second to act, so I release the demon as soon as we start to fall, twisting my body and kicking away to aim for the display case. It’ll lessen the fall by about five feet and absorb some of the impact. I remember that’s it’s made of glass a second too late.
Shit.
Well, here goes.
I tuck my chin, keep my arms by my face, and brace myself.
This was such a bad idea.
My left shoulder takes the hit, pain spiking through me. I roll with the momentum to distribute the impact, glass shattering beneath me as I tumble off the podium and onto the floor.
The breath leaves me, and I think I lose consciousness for a moment. The next thing I know, I’m on my back, several feet away from the smashed display case. Every part of my body hurts, but the pain in my left side isunbearable.
Someone is calling my name, and I know I have to stand. The demon won’t be as affected by the fall as I am, and I have to fight.
