Chapter 22

We followed Daisy for nearly twenty miles—Lucy, Malcolm, and I in the jeep and Ronan behind us on his Harley.

My beautiful golden wolf ran like the wind, her paws never quite touching the surface of the road. The jeep's speedometer hovered around forty miles per hour, which was about as fast as we could travel on the narrow, winding road. Daisy kept to the road, as if understanding our vehicles couldn't cut through fenced land and thick woods.

I tensed when we passed vehicles coming the other direction, but either the drivers couldn't see Daisy or they were unperturbed by the sight of a glowing golden wolf flying past them. The former seemed more likely.

As she drove, Lucy radioed in a quick report about what we'd found in Walliston, minus the information about how I'd dispatched the shades. The dispatcher listened to the report, then asked where Lucy was headed.

"I'm trying to find the source of the shades," Lucy said, glancing at the GPS. "Currently heading west."

"Understood," the dispatcher said briskly. "All other Guardians in the area are engaged containing an active ghoul mass rising east of Bakersfield, but we'll request the army set up a containment area and dispatch operatives as soon as we're able. Keep us posted on your location and status."

Lucy signed off and tossed the radio in the console.

"Mass ghoul rising?" Malcolm asked.

"Yeah. That happens sometimes after major magic flares. It's not pretty, but it's not as bad as what we saw in Walliston." She cursed. "I'm going to have a hell of a time explaining all this. They'll find the mausoleum you destroyed, and someone will sense your magic traces." She glanced at me. "Okay, out with it."

"Out with what?"

"When we find that door, what is your plan? And don't say to close it, because I know there's more to it." She slowed on a curve, her eyes on the road. "Ronan's not the only one who can smell a half-truth. Let's hear it."

As far as I could tell, I didn't have much of a choice, because I might need her to cover for me while I was down below.

I drank the last of the water in my Hawthorne's bottle. "I'm going through the door to find a mage named Mariela Diakos and the item she stole from my client. And if we're right and the gravelings and shades came from the Underworld through a door she left open, I am going to bring her back to face justice for the deaths she's caused."

"Did you push Alice to tell you all that?" Malcolm demanded, flitting in anger.

"No, I didn't," Lucy told him. She glanced at me again. "You know I can't let you go through that door."

"Before you decide to get in my way and we have to sort that out, let me tell you the rest of why Malcolm, Daisy, and I are here," I said.

I laid it out as succinctly as I could: Mariela's lost family, the theft of the scroll, why she'd gone to the Underworld, and who she intended to bring back. And then I told her we couldn't get home without the scroll.

Lucy said nothing for a long time.

"This person you were hired to find…she wants to bring back the actual Furies," she said finally.

"Yup."

"Shit."

"Yup."

Suddenly, Daisy veered off the road and disappeared into the trees. Lucy braked hard. "Where the hell did she go?"

"I don't know," I said. Ahead, a narrow dirt road turned to the right. "Try that," I suggested. "She's been staying on the road so far. We'll find her."

As the sun disappeared behind the hills to the west, Lucy turned onto the dirt road. Ronan followed us.

I leaned forward to get a better look at the GPS. "This area is shaded gray. What does that mean?"

"Sacred land." She touched the screen and read the text that appeared. "An ancient burial site belonging to the Chumash people."

I rubbed my prickly arms. "Right on top of a ley line."

"That tracks," Malcolm said. "An ancient burial site on a ley line—there's no better place to try and open a portal to the Underworld."

"But where the hell is Daisy?" I asked.

"Shit!" Lucy slammed on the brakes. The jeep slid to a stop in the middle of the road. I checked my side mirror to make sure Ronan was all right, but the road was empty except for our jeep. Like Daisy, the bike and its rider had disappeared.

Ahead, just before the road ended at the edge of a clearing, a huge man with dark hair and the physique of a Vampire Court enforcer blocked the road. He wore black tactical gear, but no firearms I could see. His eyes were completely black. I'd thought Ronan's poker face was good, but this man had no expression whatsoever. His face was like the side of a cliff.

"Where the hell did this guy come from?" I asked.

Lucy put the jeep in park. Her expression was nearly as cold as his. "Spartoi," she warned. "He can read our lips."

In other words, don't say anything about our companions. I had no doubt Daisy would come to our defense, but Ronan was a question mark. Safest to assume we couldn't count on him.

"What does he want?" I asked.

Lucy's gaze stayed fixed on the Spartoi. "Lots of possibilities. None of them are good." Her hand rested on her door handle. "I suppose it's pointless to tell you to stay in the jeep."

"You are correct, Lieutenant." I opened my door and got out. Lucy followed suit. Malcolm floated out and stood beside me.

Lucy could have nudged me to obey her and stay in the jeep, but she didn't. It didn't make up for her earlier push, but it took a little of my anger away.

I didn't look around for Daisy or Ronan. I hoped one or both were nearby, in case the Spartoi decided to get feisty.

"Lieutenant Lucy Stone," he said, his voice deep and heavily accented, and thoroughly devoid of emotion.

I wondered how he knew Lucy, but I didn't ask, unwilling to either let on that I didn't know the answer or distract her. All my instincts told me he was incredibly dangerous.

"Identify yourself," Lucy commanded.

"Commander Kyrios of the Fifth Division." His dark, unblinking gaze was unnerving. "State your business here."

If Lucy was the least rattled by Kyrios's stare or his presence, I saw no sign of it. "I'm not at liberty to discuss such matters with you, Commander. Why are you blocking our way?"

"This area is off-limits to anyone other than the Brotherhood of Cadmus, by order of the prefect. You will all depart immediately."

"Your prefect has no authority over the League, Commander." The chill in Lucy's voice could have flash-frozen a river of lava. "You're a mercenary. Stand aside. We have business to attend to."

Kyrios didn't move, though he somehow managed to give the impression that he'd just widened his stance. "Final warning, Guardian and civilian." The change of tone when he said civilian implied I was little more than a bug to him. That suited me just fine, because that meant he underestimated me. Being underestimated had worked to my advantage many times.

I took a hesitant half-step back, as if I expected Lucy to back down. Taking my cue, Malcolm flitted. Lucy, however, didn't back down. She also didn't bother to hide her hatred of Kyrios.

We needed to get past him and find the door. Apparently Lucy's thoughts mirrored mine. She reached behind her head and drew her sword out of thin air. She flexed her wrist. The sword gleamed. "I told you to move along, Sprout."

Sprout must have been some kind of insult to a Spartoi—maybe a reference to the legend that they'd been sown from a dragon's teeth. Kyrios's lip curled. He made a sound like the beginning of an avalanche.

And then all hell broke loose.