42

42

Did I Already Lose My Ally?

After bathing and dressing, I grab my tactical vest and slip it over my shoulders, then head out of my bedroom. I guess Hades must have left while I was in the shower. I try not to notice how the house feels quiet and lonely without his larger-than-life presence.

On my way to the stairs, I notice an open door that has always been closed when I’ve come by here, and my steps falter.

Quietly, I enter the narrow, windowless room—almost a closet, really. Painted entirely red, the room has only one thing in it. Well…lots of little things, but they all serve the bigger piece.

An altar.

Buttery sunlight pours in from a skylight overhead to fill the space with air and spotlight the altar itself. My heart constricts little by little, turning to a dull ache behind my ribs as I take in the details. I’ve seen altars to passed loved ones before, of course, but nothing like this.

It’s colorful, with bouquets upon bouquets of narcissus flowers—mostly in cheerful yellows and bright whites but with pops of purples and oranges and reds as well. They surround a torch that rises from the center of the table made of black obsidian. A glittering skull forms the pedestal at the top of the torch for deep-red flames that cast sparks into the air.

Two pomegranate trees on either side bend to touch each other over the altar, like lovers embracing. Dark-green leaves are interspersed with the large red, ripe fruit with their distinct star-shaped tuft on the bottom.

Persephone.

This altar is for her.

She’s been gone some time now. A hundred years at least. Though, I guess in the scheme of Hades’ life, that’s not long. But to have this here for the rare times he visits…he must still be in deep mourning.

Suddenly, I feel like I’ve intruded on something so private, so sacred, that I should never have laid eyes on it.

I bow to the altar, offering a silent apology to the deceased goddess of spring and Queen of the Underworld, then back out and quietly close the door behind me.

But the image and the knowledge of its existence feel like weights I’ve hung on my heart. It drags at me all the way to the gates of Hermes’ house, where I’m supposed to meet Zai.

He’s not here yet, though, so I wait, checking my watch. I’m right on time. He doesn’t strike me as the type to be late. Should I go inside? Except if I bump into Hermes, I might make things worse for Zai.

I shift on my feet, trying to make up my mind. I even consider sending in one of my tattoos to get him. Then the gate opens, but it’s not Zai. A satyr with mint-green fur on his lower goat half and purple hooves and horns emerges and offers me a note before returning inside without a word.

It’s from Zai. A single sentence.

Meet me behind Hermes’ temple. ~Z

Hades’ concern is starting to ring true. This is not a good sign, if Zai feels the need to hide and send notes. He should be safe enough in Hermes’ house, right?

I hurry down the road, looking over my shoulder frequently, like an escaped prisoner. I’m especially careful as I make my way through the Main Street area and only relax when I get to the temple.

But Zai isn’t here, either.

I whistle the signal to come out before I remember he’s not one of my fellow pledges and wouldn’t recognize it. But there’s a rustle to my right all the same, and a head pops up.

“Oh my gods, Zai.” I manage to keep my voice down, but he waves at me to be quiet all the same, then glances around me past the tree.

“Did anyone follow you?” he whispers.

“I don’t think so, but are you—”

“You’re sure?”

I cock an eyebrow at him. “As much as I can be. What is going on?”

He takes another look around, wariness bracketing his dark eyes, then steps out from behind the bushes where he was hiding. The guy looks terrible.

“What in the Underworld happened to you?” I demand quietly.

He makes a face that I think is self-disgust, but it’s hard to tell behind the swelling. “I have severe allergies to…well…Earth basically covers it.”

“So you decided to hide in it?”

“I’ll tell you when we get somewhere I might not die.”

Dire. Fair enough. “So what do you want to do?”

“Get on my back. I have an idea.”

My lips twist as I eye Zai up and down. Get on his back? In his current physical state, is he going to be able to hold me?

“I’ll be fine.” He sounds a bit short. “Just get on.”

I shrug. He knows his own limits.

He grunts when I hop on and sort of stumbles a bit when he catches my full weight, but he doesn’t go down. Then we’re in the air, not just along the ground but gaining altitude quickly. Zai skirts mountains, staying just above the tops of the towering pine trees and against the rocks—so we’re not seen, I’m guessing. The wind whips past us, tangling my hair as we go faster than before. He’s getting even better with the sandals.

I don’t know where we’re headed until I realize we’re well above everything, near the top of one of the mountains. That’s when he rounds a bend and the massively impressive main temple of Olympus rises before us into the skies in brilliant, white-marbled glory.

Up close like this, the heads of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, with their multi-colored waterfalls, are even bigger than I thought. They’re so intricately carved, it’s like looking at a scowling Hades when he’s all up in my space, as he’s prone to get.

Is that where we’re going? The temple?

Sure enough, Zai lands us on the path leading up to it. “No powers work on these temple grounds, including the gods’ and goddesses’,” he explains. Hermes’ sandals disappear. Does he just think them away? “This is the only place in Olympus where violence is forbidden. Even if Dex and the others find us here, they can’t hurt us.”

I’m not so sure about can’t, but it would take them a while to get up here anyway. So I use the opportunity to look up. And up. And up.

The temple itself is… Really, there are no words.

The Temple of Zeus in San Francisco, which is pretty impressive, is like a tiny candle flame beside a wildfire compared to this one. The roof is supported by at least a hundred tall, fluted Corinthian columns, two rows of them ringing the entire space. A pegasus, with its wings outstretched, rears up at the pinnacle of the triangular roof. Lion-head-shaped gutters guard the four corners, and statues of the Daemones loom on either side of the doorway into the inner temple itself.

All of it adds to the overwhelming sense of how small I am in the grand scheme of the world.

“Are we going inside?” I ask.

“We can’t talk in there,” Zai says. “The gods could hear us.”

And we’re discussing strategy, so I get it. I can’t help the way my shoulders droop a tad, though.

Zai heads to a series of stairs that cut over the edge of the mountain and down to what looks like a viewing platform directly above the three waterfalls. Mist wafts up to cover us in a cool sheen, and the rush of the water is a muted roar all around us.

“Nobody will be able to overhear us here,” Zai raises his voice to yell, then starts coughing.

He leads me to a bench with its back at the edge of the waterfall.

“What happened?” I ask, sitting down. “Why didn’t you walk over with me?”

He grimaces. “Dex.”

My eyes go wide. “Did he hurt you?”

Zai shakes his head but holds my gaze. “No. He did something worse.”