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Maddox gazed at the portal, then turned his attention to me. “It’s not like we’re keepers who have years of experience and knowledge to—oh, wait.”
I sighed. “I know, I know. I just need to know you’ll be safe.”
Edmund’s expression softened. “I’m more worried about you. We’re out here. The biggest thing we have to fear is frostbite and a potential demon. Promise me, Elle, if anything happens in there, you will get yourself out.” He paused. “Even if you need to leave one of them behind. They’ve had lifetimes. You’ve not had one.”
I swallowed thickly. Could I really leave them behind? Even after what Raiden had said? His words cut deep. I couldn’t help how I felt. Truthfully, it wasn’t just some moral compass guiding me back into the underworld to get them out before we sealed it; it was more than that. “I’ll get out if things get bad.”
Edmund’s gaze darkened. “Because if you don’t, I will go in there after you.”
“You’ll die.”
His eyebrows raised. “I’m well aware.”
My eyes widened. “Don’t do that.”
“Then don’t get trapped in there.”
Naomi found her voice. “Please, Elle. He’s not worth dying for.”
“I’m not just going in there for Raiden,” I said.
Maddox side-eyed her, then looked at me. “Then why are you bothering going in there at all? We could just seal the underworld now, protect the world from Lucius and the demons inside.”
I inhaled sharply. “I’m bringing Thalia back.”
Naomi shook her head. “This isn’t about her, and you know it. Just be careful.”
I licked my dry, cold lips. “This is it. You have the transfer spell ready?”
Edmund shook his bag, which clattered objects, as an answer. “Let’s hope it works.”
Naomi chewed on her fingernail. “It’s super-advanced magic.”
“I have full faith in you all.” I hugged Edmund first. He was the man who had taken me in, treated me like a daughter, showed me respect, and always did right by me, and he was the wisest person I knew. “Especially you,” I whispered as I pulled away. “I’ll see you all on the flip side. Oh.” From my pocket, I pulled the vial with the orb from Alexander’s body, containing the essence of the goddess of the dead. It shimmered like liquid silver. “Thalia should be the first through if this works.”
Naomi glanced at Edmund’s bag. “If this works.”
“If it works.” I exhaled shakily, then stepped into the portal.
A barren wasteland greeted me when I made it across the creek and into the burned crop field, now a pile of ash and embers upon the dry ground. I kicked a small rock into the crumbles that once were hills. Everything had been destroyed, and none of the gods were to be seen. Was I too late? I sped north and stumbled to a stop. The castle was still intact, but everything was too silent. Thalia had to be in there—and Raiden—if Lucius hadn’t killed them. When things died inside the underworld, they stayed dead, wiped from existence. I shuddered and tightened my grip on the dagger.
I didn’t have much time before Edmund would need to seal the underworld. With the portal open, demons could escape; they were neither mortal nor immortal but simply dark creatures stuck in between the living and dead, feeding off nothing but negative energy as fuel. Two had gotten out the last time I’d ventured into the underworld, more if they realized it was open. Things in our realm could get ugly really fast—and not just our realm but the human realm as well, because demons didn’t need magical objects like we did to pass through the barrier. I prayed the demons remained ignorant.
“You can do this,” I whispered aloud to no one in particular. “Keep Lucius alive, trap him, get Thalia to the entrance, have Edmund transfer her back to the living, then get Raiden and Aziel out.” I gulped, my breath shaky. “Should be easy.”
I squeezed my eyes shut one last time, finding brief solace in the darkness, opened my eyes to the red-orange horizon, and fixed my stare on the obsidian castle. The hot air prickled my skin, and I sweated even as a goddess.
I took off, pockets of warm air hitting me as I sped over what felt like branches and dead twigs crackling under my boots. Stopping at the drawbridge, I looked over my shoulder. The hills were tiny in the distance, the portal miles away.
I trailed my gaze up and over the looming towers, the long bridge, and black doors to the castle. It was Lucius’s home, I was sure.
In the mostly empty courtyard were two stallions, blacker than night, with fiery eyes appearing as if they were forged from the lava running in the moat under the drawbridge. Hesitantly, I stammered forward, finding my resolve weaken with each step. When I placed my hand on the silver handles of the double doors, they creaked open.
Shock stole my next breath. An emerald-green, grand staircase led up to the second floor, where a wraparound balcony ran around the entirety of the castle. To my left were endless rooms. To my right, a void of black.
“Impressive, is it not?” a cold, snakelike voice hissed from behind me.
Shivering, I slowly turned my head. Lucius. He pushed his hands into the pockets of his robe.
