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“Do we have a deal?” Charon feigned boredom, but he couldn’t suppress the excitement radiating off him.
“What does he want?” Leo pleaded.
“We have a deal,” I replied, ignoring the question.
The demigod grabbed my arm, wheeling me towards him, and I spun loosely, as if my body was a mere empty shell and I had no energy left to stop him. The truth was I did feel used up. This week had taken its toll, and I was running out of the fight that animated me.
“Tallulah, what did you do?”
I lowered my voice and wrenched myself free of his grip, suddenly angry at his tone. “I just promised him my sister.”
The journey across the river was short, almost laughably so considering how long we’d stood on the shore debating our passage. Leo and I boarded the boat, careful not to touch the river’s surface as we climbed over the side.
I said nothing else to either of them as we made the brief voyage. I crossed my arms and leaned against the curved interior of the boat, watching with remote interest as the thick, gelatinous liquid oozed and sucked along the wooden hull. It was attempting to pull us back, yet C
haron navigated forward without any difficulty.
His bony arms held a long oar with which he pushed us over the shallow waves.
As I watched the river sluice by, small glimpses of white became visible beneath the surface. I leaned forward and realized to my horror that dozens of faces were staring back at me. Their mouths opened like those of fish, and their sightless eyes fixated on me. Seemingly aware I’d spotted them, a dozen hands breached the water and made desperate efforts to grab me from the boat.
I jerked back and didn’t dare look over the side again for the remainder of the journey.
Leo, for his part, did not speak to me. The silence between us felt sullen and immature, but I was too tired to try to bridge a peace. I’d get him out alive, and after that he could decide whether or not he still thought I was a jerk.
He probably would. I wasn’t bound to win any personality contests any time soon, unless there was a prize for Most Ornery.
After a surprisingly long ferry, the boat bumped against the opposite shore where Charon bid us farewell with another malevolent cackle. “I won’t forget your promise,” he assured me.
It felt like everyone I met down here was bound and determined to be my new least-favorite immortal.
By the looks of this side of the river, we were in for another long slog up a bony slope.
I took a break halfway up the hill, my face and back slicked with sweat and my lungs screaming for relief. Without thinking about how creepy and wrong it was, I plopped down on the ground, the rounded dome of some poor sap’s skull pressing uncomfortably into my tailbone. It wasn’t enjoyable, but it was a reprieve.
Leo, seeing that I had no intention of moving another inch right then, sat down next to me. His bulk sent a small landslide of bones tumbling back towards the shore. Charon’s narrow boat was already halfway across the passage. It looked like he was speaking to himself, bony jaw wagging, but no sound carried up the slope. The overpowering silence crushed in on us again.
What was it about this place that smothered all noise? Was that a side effect of the dead? The night road had felt much the same.
The landscape in front of us was the only thing that convinced me we’d crossed the river at all, otherwise things were much the same as they’d been on the other side. From here I could see the rising black cliffs that marked the passage we’d taken. Though the sky overhead was still an angry orange storm, it looked as if the worst of the tempest was centralized over Hades’s temple. A small hurricane of fire and death spun in a slow, intimidating circle above the starting point of our journey.
Leo let out a sigh, crossing his arms and resting them on his knees as he investigated the pile of bones at his feet.
“Why did you do that?” he asked, finally breaking the building tension. “I’m not worth it, you know. I don’t know your sister, but if she’s anything like you, she deserves her life a lot more than I deserve mine.”
I couldn’t look at him and offer him fake comfort. “She’s nothing like me. She’s so much better than me. And you’re right, she’s worth ten of you.” Before he could reply with a hurt rejoinder, I added, “She’s worth ten of me too.”
He fell quiet, whatever he’d been about to say vanishing on his lips.
“Then why? Why was this so important?” Leo shook the bracelet at me, and I put my hand on his wrist to make him stop, pushing his arm back down to his knee.
“That bracelet is going to keep you alive. It’s the only reason Mormo couldn’t kill me at your apartment. If anything happens to me, that’s what’s going to make sure nothing here gets to you.”
Leo lifted his wrist again, glancing at the slim band, taking in all its creepy detail. “That’s why you made me take it in the hall. You thought Manea was going to try to kill us.”
I nodded.
“And you gave it to me knowing you could die without it.” His voice sounded weirdly emotional, and I hazarded a glance at him.
