Stomping over to him, I thrust out my right hand.
“Clothes, please.”
Blake’s eyebrows raise in surprise, but he hangs onto them for a beat longer than he should have. His eyes follow the length of my body before I snatch the clothes out of his grasp.
“I uh—” he says, clearing his throat.
“Yeah, yeah,” I say, tugging on my jeans and zipping them up.
He stands like a statue; not moving from where I left him. He also doesn’t turn around—or shield his eyes.
I pop an eyebrow.
“So, Greece, huh?” I say, lowering my eyebrows. “It’s been a long time since I was…”
I stop myself from saying too much. Instead, I scrunch up my shirt and throw it over my head.
“You’ve been to Greece?” Blake says, surprise lingering in his voice.
“Yeah,” I say, trying to sound casual.
Blake takes a step back, his expression bordering on awe.
“Huh, you don’t strike me as a worldly type.”
I snicker.
“Wow. That hurts, man,” I say clutching at my chest the way Ren would.
“C’mon. You know what I mean.”
“No, I actually don’t. What do you mean?” I say, placing a hand on my hip.
Blake takes another step back, running his hand along the back of his neck.
“Well, you know. You’re so young, for starters,” he says, flipping his hand out in front of him.
“Nice save,” I say, nodding as I stick out my tongue.
He shrugs sheepishly.
“Well, sorry to disappoint you, but despite my aversion to flying, I’ve actually traveled a helluva lot. Thank you very much.”
His lips tug down as surprise flits through his face.
“So, has Aiden sent over any more details? Do we know where in Greece we’re headed? I know the place pretty well. I might be able to get a clear read on things if I have some more specifics. It could narrow down our search. Well, assuming you don’t get in the way.”
“See, this is why I have a hard time fully believing in the whole psychic thing. There’s always the convenient out,” he shakes his head, “Anyway—yeah, the traffic cams and facial recognition caught them en route to Mount Parnassus—out by Delphi, I guess. Do you know where that is? We’re not sure if they’re using the ancient sites out there as a cover for a meet up and exchange, or if there’s something else out there drawing them. Aiden seems to think there are a number of caves out that way they could be using to smuggle the girls.”
I nod, “There are.”
I cast my gaze to the floor, shaking away the bizarre sense of déjà vu. The hairs on the back of my neck and arms tingle.
Being lost in one of those very caves is the first memory I have of my life as I now know it. You don’t know darkness until you’re lost inside a cavern with no source of light and no way of knowing how to get out. It’s utterly petrifying.
To be brought back there now—for this—I dunno, it means something. The universe is rarely so lazy.
A shiver runs up my spine and the memory of me stumbling out of the Korykion Cave, as it’s known now, penetrates my mind. It’s been centuries since I was last in Greece—centuries since I even considered my origin story.
Suddenly, despite the proximity to Blake, visions of green lights flash in my mind and the memory of the cavern shifts from me then, to present day. I watch as four girls are herded into the innards of the cavern system, led by a single flashlight held by a man much older than they are.
Fear permeates the atmosphere—they know they’re on a death march, of sorts, with no way out.
“Shit,” I mutter, shaking away the remnants of the vision.
“Whoa—your eyes. Uh—they just went completely white. What the hell—were you just—?” Blake stutters.
I wave away his question—there’s no time.
“I know where they’re taking the girls. We need to leave. Now,” I say, slipping my feet into my shoes and grabbing my carry-on.
“Okay, look I need a minute to process—” Blake says raising his hands and shaking his head. “I mean, was that a thing you do? Do you roll your eyes for that effect or—?”
“Blake for the love of God, just trust me. This is why we’re here—it’s why you agreed. My abilities don’t need to make sense to you right now. You just need to take the leap. If we sit around here wasting time, the girls are gonna vanish—or worse. We have to move quickly. They’re already there and it’s gonna take us half a day to get there.”
“Where’s there?”
“Korykion Cave. It’s within walking distance from the ruins at Delphi, but it’s still a hike.”
Blake nods, finally turning around. He grabs his cup of coffee, downing the contents and grabbing his coat.
“I hope you’re right about this,” he mutters, shaking his head.
“Only one way to find out—”
The urgency from the vision tells me we’ll need to plan this down to the minute. The time it’s going to take us to get to Greece from Rome is far too long for my liking—but I wouldn’t have been given the information unless there was a chance we could do something about the situation. That’s one thing I’ve learned for sure.
As soon as Blake reaches for his carry-on, I head for the door and walk out.
We’re gonna need to haul ass to catch another flight.
Catching the 10:40am flight from Rome to Athens just as it was boarding is more than simple coincidence—it was providence. However, the two hours in the air is still pure torture. Sitting mostly in silence, I continuing to stay with the stillness, so I can check in with the cave and the girls. A compulsion has taken hold of me—I need to maintain a read on them and their whereabouts. Luckily, the lack of booze has cleared my head and allowed me to use
