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“Whatthefuck?!”Vasileioshissed, glaring at me in righteous outrage as I used my scarf to bind Grace’s wrists.
“Don’t leave her tied up,” I instructed him, swallowing past the million razors of pain in my throat as I carefully transferred her unconscious form into his arms. “I just need to get to the pit. She’ll wake up any moment now. I can’t let her do it, I can’t.”
Vasileios’ expression softened, all three of Grace’s friends huddling protectively around her body.
“You’re going to go?” Foster confirmed, glancing warily at the giant hole in the earth. Although offerings were being thrown into it,peoplevery notably weren’t. In fact, a few humans looked as though they were acting as guards, warning away anyone that got too close to the edge, though I wasn’t sure whose benefit it was meant to be for.
“I don’t know…” Vasileios said. “I don’t want Grace to go down there either, but the prophecy was for her. What if it doesn’t work? You might break it somehow.”
“You can’t break a prophecy,” I scoffed, sounding more certain than I felt. “Bullet always talked about fate like a long, meandering road, not a fixed destination. Grace will still be the one to fulfill the prophecy somehow, I’m just going to do this part for her. If it’s a test… Well, Gaia can do her test on me.”
I blew out a long, unsteady breath. “Just… Could you tell her I’m sorry? And that I love her more than anything?”
“Of course,” Foster agreed readily.
Grace stirred slightly, and the desire to snatch her back into my arms warred with the need to keep her safe.
“This isn’t goodbye,” I told her quietly as I backed away, not entirely sure if she understood what I was saying or not. “I’m not saying goodbye to you because this isn’t goodbye. This is see you soon, okay? Just in a little while. I love you. I’ll see you in a little while.” I let out a shaky breath. “I’ll be back in time to make you smile. I won’t let Bullet down either.”
“Dare?” Grace mumbled, eyes blinking open.
I was already running.
We could argue all day long about whether or not it was a trick, whether or not Gaia was just taunting us by having our goal so close and yet still so far, or if she was just doing this to further turn the humans against us. At the end of the day, there’d be no resolution until someone made the journey to find out.
It couldn’t be Grace. I loved her too much to let her put herself at risk.
Besides, it was my turn. I’d been here the least amount of time, and I’d always felt like the others had done more, given more, sacrificed more than I had.
It was my turn to take the leap.
I jumped over people sitting on the ground, shoving through the crowds, ignoring the shouts at my back. Only one person could enter that path to Tartarus, and it was going to be me.
Chapter 10
Whywouldanyonebuilda castle and not put any furniture inside it?I wondered, wandering through cavernous stone halls, looking for the exit. Or the entry. Or just a bench to sit down on for a bit and rest my not-quite-solid legs. I wasn’t even entirely sure how I’d gotten here.
My brain was an assortment of thoughts that didn’t seem to fit together properly. A puzzle with only half the pieces. Iknewwhat a puzzle was, but I had no recollection of ever doing one. I knew about the concept of time and that it didn’t seem to be moving the same way here, but I didn’t knowhowI knew that. Had I learned it once? Had someone told me? People had parents—that much I was confident about—but who were my parents? Were they missing me?
Maybe coming here was a mistake. I was confused all the time. I wanted to go back to the warm, hazy place with the laughing baby. Instead, I was in this strange, empty stone castle. Where was everyone? Why was I alone? What exactly had I agreed to with that Persephone lady? She’d seemed so nice when I was talking to her, telling me about the people I loved. I hoped it wasn’t a trick.
Eventually, I noticed a heavy wooden door with a sliver of brighter light underneath it, that fortunately was easier to open than it looked since I wasn’t entirely sure I had muscles. Or maybe I did have muscles? I wasn’t aghostper se, but I wasn’t not a ghost either.
It was deeply unsettling.
The door led out onto a stone balcony, and I walked to the railing to take in the view. Why was the sky purple?Thatwas odd. Or was it normal and my freshly emptied brain had gotten confused? It was bizarre, not knowing what was real and what wasn’t. What I was like before, if I’d been happy, where I’d come from.
It kind of made me want to cry. I decided not to think about it anymore.
Wherever I was, it looked to be an island. Across the strait was a harsh, jagged mountain range in the distance, standing in contrast to the lush greenery and swaying trees immediately around the empty castle. It looked a lot less inviting on the other side of the water.
“Hello.”
I jumped at the voice, spinning around to find an intimidating woman standing a few feet away, observing me with interest. She had dark brown skin and even more ink than me, lines of what looked like writing trailing over every inch of her that I could see in her black Grecian-style dress, even her face. Silver piercings filled the gaps between tattoos, and her dark hair was done in tight twists, pulled up high on her head.
Had I met her before? I didn’t think so.
Was she my love, Grace? Persephone hadn’t given me a description to work from, but I didn’tthinkso. There was something sort of inhuman about the woman in front of me, and there wasn’t a shred of kindness in her eyes.
