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“Timetogo,”Itranslated, watching Wild’s hands move without really taking in what he was saying. Someone had lit a candle, illuminating the suddenly pitch-black space. Pitch black, in the middle of the day.
There was no moon, no stars.
Just inky, cold,unnaturaldarkness. It was as though a veil had been pulled across the sky, trapping us in the dark.
Not only that, the lights didn’t work. The faucet trickled dry. The phone signal had abruptly died. We’d gone from watching news coverage one minute to being plunged into the Stone Age the next. Or maybe the Ice Age. It was so cold.
Everyone was panicking.
“Pack your shit!” Vasileios yelled over the clinking sound of the Spartoi’s armor as they shifted around restlessly, encircling the property.
“You’re right,” Bullet agreed, watching Wild’s frantic signing. “People will be freaking out, it’s a good time to move.”
“Yeah, we’re getting the fuck out of here,” Riot muttered, hauling me out of the chair and into the house. My soul bonds were all gathered close behind me, Dare holding a tapered candle he’d snagged from a display.
It was so dark.
Riot immediately grabbed a duffel bag we’d brought with us, filling it with the few clothes we’d acquired before stripping the blankets off the bed. Wild moved to help, folding them tightly and stacking them inside pillowcases.
“So is Gaia’s plan just to kill us all now?” Dare asked, moving closer to them with the light so they could see what they were doing. “We’ll freeze without sunlight. Or starve. Or both.”
“Whatever is happening with the electricity and the phones? That’s Gaia,” Bullet said, leaning against the doorjamb. He was so pale. Had he always been that pale? “The darkness? That’s all Nyx.”
“Nyx has never gotten involved before,” I mumbled, pulling on the wool cardigan Wild handed me without paying much attention to it. We had very few clothes here—a few emergency items Orion’s family kept on hand for guests, as well as a lost-and-found bin that had been thoroughly raided. I’d been wearing the same dress for days, washing it in the evenings and letting it dry overnight. “And I thought… I thought we’d reached some kind of truce with Gaia. After I offered those crocus seeds at the Temple of Zeus, she’s been quiet.”
Bullet accepted a sweater from Wild. “Maybe the truce still holds—Gaia wasn’t responding to you, but the insult of being told she doesn’t exist. And if she responded, then there was no question that Nyx would too. It’s a pride thing.”
“And now we’re living in the fucking dark ages,” Riot muttered, roughly zipping the bag shut and pulling on a black long-sleeved shirt over the t-shirt he was wearing. Out of the guys, only Bullet had a semi-decent sweater, and I didn’t think it was an accident that the three of them gave us the warmest clothes.
“Where are we going?” Dare asked, as I slid my feet into my sandals and crouched down to buckle them. My toes were already starting to ache with cold.
“To the agathos,” I said slowly. “To Sophia. If there’s one thing we need right now, it’s wisdom.”
Sophia had whispered in my ear so many times recently, had watched over me and talked me through what needed to be done… Itrustedher. I wasn’t sure I could say the same about any other divinity.
“If Hygeia was telling the truth about us being safe with Sophia, an agathos stronghold is probably the last place anyone would look on the off-chance anyone still decides the bounty on your head is worth pursuing even while the world falls apart,” Riot pointed out, sounding resigned. “Where is it?”
Riot was looking at Bullet for an answer, and while he knew more about the gods than me, this wasagathoshistory. I’d grown up learning about the pilgrimage sites for agathos since I was old enough to begin Saturday morning lessons.
“Ephesus. The library at Ephesus is one of the few places where all agathos are to visit in our lifetimes to pay tribute to the original noble spirits. There are four statues there, and the agathos from their lines are heavily encouraged to go—Sophia, Arete, Episteme, and Ennoia. Wisdom, Virtue, Knowledge, and Thought.”
I’d never considered going, too convinced that I was a damaged agathos and I’d either taint the sacred space with my presence, or spontaneously burst into flames the moment I set foot there.
“Ephesus is a popular spot for daimons too,” Bullet volunteered quietly. “Not the library where those statues are, but centuries ago a daimon brought down a terrible plague on the city.” He shrugged apologetically. “That’s the kind of thing daimons are into.”
“Wereinto,” Riot amended. “Though I imagine this chaos is about to bring out every daimon’s worst instincts. You’re sure that’s where you want to go, Gracie?”
Yes. No. Maybe?
I knew I wasn’t thinking clearly, it was impossible to. But this is what my gut was saying, and maybe that was worth following.
“To have theoriginalagathos on our side, that might be key in swaying the mortal agathos,” Dare suggested hesitantly, glancing around like he wasn’t sure if he should speak or not. “Surely, they’d have to take the founders of their lines seriously, if the goddess’ rage hasn’t already given them a much-needed scare.”
He frowned, staring out the window at the dark sky. The shadows danced off his sharp jaw, the candlelight illuminating his daimonic eyes, making them glow. “It’s not like this darkness is going to last forever, we need to think long-term. I have less than zero desire to work with the agathos, but there’s only so many fronts we can fight a war on, you know? We need all the help we can get. Sophia guided me to Jack’s place when she had no reason to, except that I was connected to Grace. To the prophecy and everything else that comes with it. That has to be a good sign.”
Even without the bond I so desperately craved with Dare, I could see how much those words cost him. Of all of us, he might hate the agathos the most.
“What makes you think it won’t last forever?” Riot asked doubtfully.
