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“I don’t know.”
“Who or what could be so dangerous?” Theron spoke up. “I mean, the gods let monsters, demons, and the gods of suffering, doom, and carnage run wild. Why did this goddess in particular have to be locked away?”
“I don’t know that either.”
“Well, that’s reassuring,” Nitsa muttered, looking ill.
“There’s one more thing.” I sucked in a steady breath. “All of this was fated to be. There’s a prophecy, and it names me, a child of Zeus, and... a wolf that crosses domains.”
Daciana’s head snapped up, eyes huge. “A wolf? As in me? There’s a prophecy that says I was meant to jump in this hole? What does it say?”
“The weaver, the deceiver, and the believer stand guard. Within the eyes holds the gods’ lies. The son of Zeus will break the chains. A wolf will cross domains. On she fights as her mother’s love sustains. But don’t be fooled, the danger stillremains. For within the dark she sleeps, within the dark she hates, within the dark she waits.”
I cut off there, leaving out the part about the child of the Fates. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust them. It had more to do with the hole Sebastian’s hard look was drilling in my head, silently warning me to keep quiet.
I wondered if he’d ever tell me what happened to his mother. I wondered even more if I had the nerve to hear it.
“Last chance to walk away.”
“We’re not going anywhere,” Theron said. “That prophecy doesn’t change anything. We’re with you until the end.”
“Yes,” they agreed. “To the end.”
“We’ll just make sure we get your mom, and only your mom out,” Theron continued. “If the gods thought this goddess belonged in a deep, dark hole, far be it for me to argue with them.”
I bit my lip, the pain stopping me from doing something embarrassing and crying again. “Thanks, guys. All right, I’ll go in first. If it’s safe, I’ll call for you guys to come in too.”
Theron scoffed. “Did I lose my chivalry when I turned coward? I don’t think so.” With that, Theron walked off the edge and fell in.
I swallowed my cry of surprise when I heard athud.
“Theron?” Ionna called. “Are you okay?”
“Fine.” There was a pause. “It’s clear. Jump in, and bring that key.”
One after the other, my friends jumped inside the chamber. I made to go and Sebastian pulled me back.
“We’re not going with you,” he said, gesturing to Jason and Dimitri. “There were things that Drakos knew. Secrets that he was hiding that Maximos Damien cannot discover under any circumstances. Right now, he’s focusing on whipping up suspicion and hatred against you, but as soon as he can, Damienis going to ransack Drakos’s office and living quarters, and steal what he’s after before anyone finds out Drakos is dead.
“We’ve got to get to it before him,” Sebastian said. “It’s a life-or-death situation, I swear, otherwise, I’d help you save your mom.”
“Sebastian, it’s okay. I believe you, and I understand. The last thing Drakos did on this earth was try to protect me from that monster. Maximos doesn’t get to have another victory over him now that he’s gone. Go and do what you have to do.”
He nodded sharply. “Your dad will be with you. If something happens, he’ll find me and I’ll pull you guys out.”
“Sounds good.” I took a step, then stopped. “About Alex. Are you sure that he—?”
“Stop, Vanda.” His voice was hard. Sharp. “Forget about that guy already. You deserve better. No matter the low, and incorrect, opinion you have of yourself and your strength—you’ve always deserved better than Alexander Damien.”
He walked off, not allowing me a reply. Swallowing my hurt, I jumped in the hole.
Short fall. Hard landing.
I smacked down on the stone floor, wincing. Daciana’s head poked around the corner, beckoning me to follow. Rising up, I took it in.
I was in a small, stone, circular space. The walls rounded and curved like a drainpipe’s, reaching only the height of my head. An entrance loomed in front of me, and snaked around a corner. A faint glow emanated from it. I turned the corner, seeing what they were all looking at.
Two ever-burning torches hung from the wall, lighting an ancient oak door.
