moat below.
His soldiers realize their error and start to turn back, only to find Thane blocking them in from the other side. They’re trapped. Between my daggers on this side and Thane’s sword on the other, we quickly toss most of the soldiers off the narrow bridge. They don’t have much room to maneuver, and Thane and I have the tactical advantage. The soldiers never stood a chance.
Still, Thane’s swordplay is impressive. For an ordinary boy, he is holding his own—and then some—against Olympic soldiers like he belongs in this world. He’s dispatched at least as many of them as I have.
When it’s down to us and the last two, they look at each other before taking a crazy leap, following their comrades into the unknown before we can send them.
Panting with exertion, I meet Thane’s gaze across the span of the bridge. Neither of us says anything; a nod is all it takes to thank him. No question where his loyalty lies now, is there?
No, the question is, where the hell did he learn to fight like that? Not from his and Grace’s parents, that’s for sure. The boy has serious skills, but the interrogation will have to wait.
“Let’s go,” I shout to the group, who are already stepping onto the bridge. “Time to get out of here, before reinforcements show up.”
I just hope Ursula’s up to the task of autoporting us home. She’s our only way out.
“What about Sthenno?” Greer asks.
I freeze in my tracks. I’d been so focused on getting out of here and getting Ursula to safety, I’d completely forgotten our other immortal aunt. She’s somewhere in this horrible prison, too.
I shake my head. “I thought they were supposed to be in the same cell.”
“In my first vision,” Greer says, “they were, but Stheno was dragged away. When I sought out how to get to Euryale’s cell, I tried to see where Sthenno is too. It wasn’t a clear vision, but I’m sure she isn’t in this part of the dungeon. I think she’s down one of the other hallways.”
I nod. “Let’s stash Ursula somewhere safe, and then we’ll start searching.” Quickly, before our bad luck sends another obstacle our way.
The only safe hiding place is the closet where we hid from the Thespian dragon. I don’t like the idea of leaving Ursula here with nothing to protect her, but we have to find Sthenno. We need her, too, and I’m not leaving her behind.
Besides, as weak as Ursula is right now, there’s no way she’s strong enough to autoport us home. She’s barely conscious. We’re stuck until she regains some of her strength.
I manage to get her to swallow a few gulps of water and one bite of an energy bar. She is already improving.
Eyes bleary but open, she says, “I told you not to come.”
I smooth a hand over her greasy, dirty hair. “I know.”
“Never did heed authority well,” she says with a small grin.
That makes me smile.
“We have to go find Sthenno,” I explain. “Then we can go home.”
Her elegant brow pinches into a frown. “My sister?”
“Yes,” I say. “Haven’t you seen her?”
“No, not—” She hesitates. “I’m not certain. My memory is . . . incomplete.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I insist. “We’ll find her.”
The look she gives me is so full of pride that I almost cry.
“I know you will.”
Emotion tightens in my chest. We’ve never been much for showing feelings, but I’m overwhelmed by a whole bunch of them right now. I don’t have time for that. I need to shove them away until later.
I hand her another energy bar and a bag of trail mix.
“You eat up,” I say. “Get your power back so we can get home.”
She takes the food. “Hurry.”
I nod in silent agreement.
Using one of Sillus’s other keys, I lock the door behind me when we leave. Trapping her in isn’t ideal, but keeping other creatures out—even if only for the space of time it takes them to go find another set of keys—is worth it.
Thane and the golden maiden are standing guard while Greer digs through her backpack.
“Let’s start searching,” I say, repocketing the keys. “Sillus, you go back over every inch of the area where we found Ursula. Check every cell, double-check them, just in case there’s some magic disguising her.”
“Yes, huntress miss.” He gives me a silly salute.
“The rest of us will spread out and search the rest of the dungeon. Those other corridors.” I drop to a squat and pull a handful of flashlights out of my backpack. “Maybe there are other holding cells, other areas where they might be keeping her.”
I don’t like the idea of us splitting up, but I like the idea of wasting time even less. The faster we get out of here, the better.
“I have not seen the gorgon before,” the golden maiden says. “Can you describe her?”
I shrug and look at Greer.
“She looks a lot like Euryale,” she says, “but with blond hair.”
“And she’s wearing a light gray suit,” Thane adds.
Greer’s eyes widen.
I’m feeling full of questions myself, but later.
“Good,” I say. “Anything else we need to know?”
Greer shakes her head, like she’s regrouping.
“We can use these”—she hands everyone a safety whistle on a lanyard—“to signal each other.”
Clearly, she doesn’t like the idea of separating, either.
Thane and the golden maiden slip theirs over their necks, and I do the same. Sillus swings his wide, letting the cord wrap around his waist until the whistle hits him in the backside, then swings it back around the other way. I ignore him.
“Good idea,” I tell Greer. “When you find something, whistle once.” I demonstrate with a sharp trill. “If you find trouble, whistle twice. If you don’t find anything, then meet back here and wait for everyone else.”
Hopefully Sthenno is being held in
Everyone nods. Greer doesn’t offer any argument or suggestion, which I take as a sign that she realizes how serious our situation is. Maybe she’s learning.
“And don’t draw attention to Ursula’s location,” I warn as I hand flashlights to Greer, Thane, and the golden maiden. “If someone or something comes, hide elsewhere.”
I want all of us out of here, safe and in one piece. That includes Ursula.
Then, with my instructions delivered, we separate. Sillus heads back to the maze of cells to start his search. The rest of us each take different hallways. As my boots pound down the darkened corridor, I flick on my flashlight and cross my mental fingers, hoping that the search for Sthenno goes fast and easy. That would be nice for a change.
CHAPTER 12
GREER
As Gretchen and Thane disappear down other hallways, I hesitate before moving. I might as well try to make my power more useful. I need the practice. Eyes closed, I focus, searching for a feeling—anything that will tell me which hallway holds Sthenno.
“Sugar,” I whisper when nothing comes to mind. But then, as I open my eyes, I see a faint glowing light in one of the hallways—one not chosen by the others. It’s just a faint blue glow, but I figure it’s as good a sign as any.
