“You didn’t see that part, did you?”
I am mortified. He shakes his head and touches my hair.
“I should tell him, you know. How you feel, what you just admitted. If nothing more than to see you get all worked up about it.”
Now I want to punch him, but his face softens again and he grows serious.
“But that isn’t what I was sent for. My job was to make sure you were protected from your dark thoughts. I did that. How I did that can be kept between us,” he says kindly.
I breathe easily, and instantly regret my dark thoughts about Sunday.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
Just as I am feeling better, a shadow, shaped like a bony claw, pokes through the earth at my feet. It closes around my ankle. I scream and reach for Sunday. His and Mel’s eyes are both wide in horror.
I’m too far away to grab Sunday and I am thrown back, the sky above me filling my vision for the briefest moment, and then dirt, fire, and darkness surround me...
I know it’s kind of a cliché to be screaming as you’re falling down a seemingly endless pit to nowhere, but I guess I am cliché. I’m pretty sure there should be all kinds of roots and rocks but there aren’t any snagging on my clothes or cutting my arms. Maybe I should be thankful for that? I don’t know. It’s cold, dark, and I am still falling, into an endless void of darkness.
Of course, when I was first sucked into the earth, I thought for sure I would be burned by the fire that engulfed me and that creepy-ass hand. Nope.
Now, I just wish I had a little of that light to help me see what I am tumbling toward. Or who.
“Help!”
Good one, Sailor. I am sure the good ol’ pit monster will “help” you. I can’t help it. I’m really freaking out. I’m really starting to think I’m not cut out for this kind of shit. If I was, I would be accepting all of this as normal, taking it in my stride. And I am far from doing either of those things.
“Help! Somebody! Sunday? Grace?”
Seriously, why have a bunch of hot gods in your pocket if you can’t summon them by name?
A soft orange glow comes into view and I sigh, but before I can clear my head, the rest of the air is torn from me as my bottom hits a hard surface. Ow. Still panting from the hell of a ride I just took, I stand on shaky legs and pat the dust from my jeans. As soon as my hand touches my ass it’s wet and goopy.
“What the…,” I say, turning awkwardly with my ass poked out to see what is coating it—some kind of Middle Earth mud sludge.
“Oh, hello,” a voice says, startling a squeak from me as I jump back.
Whirling around, ready to meet my newest foe, I am not prepared for who is standing right in front of me. Some old witchy grandma lady. Of course, I can’t see her face, but she’s hunched over, holding a glowing orange staff, and wearing floor-length robes. Over her face, she has a very thin but definitely concealing scarf. Honestly, how much more can she scream witchy grandma lady?
She tuts, only reiterating the whole grandma connection.
“You sure do scare easily, human.”
I have to get out of here before grandma decides to pull a Hansel and Gretel on me.
“Yeah, well, I did just get sucked down a hole, flung through all the layers of the Earth, and spit out here before Grandma Gingersnaps. By the way, please don’t eat me. I swear I won’t throw you in the oven.”
She stares at me, and her mouth opens a pinch. I know because her lips make a very distinct “O” against the silky fabric covering her face.
“I have no interest in eating you, Sailor.”
“How do you know my name?”
I take a step back and reach into my back pocket, but my knife isn’t there. One, I was walking to school, and two, I haven’t touched it after that whole demon in the woods thing.
“You know, it doesn’t matter. Look, I don’t know who you are or what you want, or even why the hell you sucked me down here, but one thing I do know is you are going to tell me.”
The hooded woman cocks her head to the side and I try to hide my annoyance. It has to be a nervous reaction, because I am seriously a mixed bag of pissed and scared at the moment, but granny here doesn’t need to know that.
A loud crack rings out like a gunshot and I cover my ears, hitting the floor.
“Okay, okay, what the hell!”
Mystery granny’s staff twinkles at its orange tip. Little sparks of light spill down to the floor, puffing out like the fallen ash from an incense stick. Oddly enough it smells a bit like sandalwood and frankincense.
“Enough of this foolery, Sailor. Come closer. We have much to discuss.”
“I think I will just stay right where I am. You still haven’t given me your name or stated why the hell you abducted me. You know my friends will be looking for me, don’t you? My dad? They will be swarming this place any minute now with police, SWAT, the military, you name it.”
“I highly doubt it, but I digress. Child, I don’t have long to play your games. I need you to listen to what I have to say. As for your questions, you are right. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Nexus. I believe my friends have filled you in about the Avos?”
I nod my head. Okay, so she’s a friend of Rye and the gods. Why the hell didn’t she just approach me on the street like a normal person and tell me that?
She grunts, shifts to one side, and claps both hands on the staff as if to
