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I breathed hard. The power faded completely now that they were all dead, but the damage had been done.
Philotes was already kneeling over Lorraine, muttering something. Her face was twisted in a mask of sorrow.
“No, no, no,” I muttered, running toward them. I skidded onto my knees and grabbed Lorraine. The bullet had gone into her chest, right into her heart. Her head hung back, and her eyes were closed. She was still—she didn’t breathe, she didn’t move.
Lorraine was dead.
ChapterThirty-Three
Lorraine
Ilooked around me. Where was I? I was standing on the banks of a river I’d never seen before. Everything around it was gray and dead. The stone beneath my feet was smooth, with no proof of life having ever existed here. There was no grass, no vegetation, no trees. Only rocks, towering all around me.
The river’s water was black and churning.
A ferry came toward me, and on it stood a man with a long stick, propelling the ferry forward. When he pushed the ferry onto the shore, he stepped off. He was tall and muscular, with dark skin and eyes that were darker still. He had no hair, and he was hunched over.
“You’re early, child,” he said.
I frowned. “I didn’t realize you were expecting me.”
“I expect everyone, eventually.”
I shook my head. “Who are you?”
“They call me Charon,” he said. “I’m here to take you over the river. Do you have your fare?”
“What fare?” I asked. I shook my head, confused. “Where am I? I’m not supposed to be here.”
“If you don’t have your fare, I can’t take you over. I don’t work for nothing, you know.”
“Where am I?” I demanded again. I spun around. My voice echoed all around me, and everything felt wrong. I wasn’t meant to be here. I was meant to be somewhere else…
I racked my brain, trying to remember where I’d just been. Something nagged at me. There was something important back where I’d come from. I just couldn’t remember what it was.
“Come, child, I don’t have all day. Do you have the fare or not? Check your pockets. Your loved ones would have given you a coin for the road.”
I patted the tunic I wore. “I don’t have any pockets.” As I said it, I found a pocket hidden between the folds of the tunic. I pushed my hand into it. Instead of a coin, I found a piece of twine. When I took it out, it shone.
“Will this work?” I asked, holding it up.
“Oh,” Charon said, bouncing back from me. “You’re not supposed to be down here.”
“Where am I supposed to be?”
“Do you know what that is?”
I shook my head. Nothing made sense. I didn’t know anything. I just knew I wasn’t supposed to be here, but I couldn’t remember where I belonged.
“That’s a bond with an immortal. It stops you from dying. I can’t take you over. Not with that.”
“Where am I supposed to go?”
Charon shrugged. “All I know is that even if I could take you, Hades wouldn’t have you.”
I frowned. “What?”
“Go home, child,” Charon said. “I’m sure your people will be happy to see you.”
