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I gasped, rushing to catch him as he tipped off the stairs and collapsed on the pillows. He defeated the sphinx he faced, but not before she left a parting gift by way of three nasty gashes raked across his abdomen.
“I... got one of the riddles... wrong.” He cringed. “So fast, I didn’t have... a chance.”
“Shhh,” I crooned. “Just rest. Breathe.”
“We don’t have time for either,” he got out. “The council is going to raze this place... to the ground. We have to keep going.”
“You’re not going anywhere.” Ionna dropped down beside him. “Not like this.”
“He’s right,” Jason said. “We have to keep moving. The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we get him to Healer Helena.” Jason took the key from Tycho and held it up. “Look. It’s the symbol Athena. We’ve gotten this far. We can make it to the end.”
“But he can’t walk like this,” I argued.
Ionna tipped her head, eyes glazing. “He won’t have to. Tycho, if you’re okay with it, the future has an idea.”
WE TOUCHED DOWN INa ballroom.
I wished there was another way to describe it, but the soaring, sweeping ceilings, crystal chandeliers, and wide-open dance floor were found in every ballroom I’d seen on television, so my guess was a safe bet.
“At least we’re together this time,” Daciana said, though she swept the room with her back to us, taking in everything. “The last god was Athena. Who do we have left?”
“If we assume the gods who created this are the same gods represented in the atrium, then we’ve got Aphrodite, Apollo, Hestia, Ares, Artemis, Hephaestus, Hera, Poseidon, and Zeus left,” Theron replied. He was circling the space like Daciana.
“If we don’t assume that?” Tycho asked.
He stretched out on a Sphinx’s back, letting the dead monster be his legs. We bound his wounds with strips of our clothes. Tycho claimed he was fine and could carry on, but we needed to get him to a healer—fast.
“Then Dionysus and Hades could’ve left traps for us too. They are also officially among the twelve main Olympian gods, but history likes to switch them out.”
“I don’t want to imagine what a Hades trap would be,” Ionna said.
“There will be no trickery from Hades or Dionysus.”
I glanced down at the bracelet. Not only had Tycho been allowed to keep his companion, but Selene reappeared on my wrist. What did it mean that we were allowed to face what was coming together?
“Neither were present when I was captured and locked away. You will face the traps of the nine left, but I cannot tell you who is responsible for this one.”
“That’s something at least.” A thought occurred to me. “Ionna, can you see anything? Even bits and flashes of possible futures could give us a clue to what’s next.”
She shook her head. “No. I’m surprised I even got that vision of Tycho riding a sphinx.” Ionna brushed my shoulder, lowering her voice. “Normally I can’t see anything when you’re involved.”
I sighed. “How long have you known?”
“I didn’tknow.I guessed.” She pretended to inspect the ceiling. “I also guessed why you’re hiding it.”
“It’s not because I don’t trust you guys. That was it at first,” I admitted, thinking of Kylie and Dina, “but not anymore.”
“Aella, it’s okay. The reason why you didn’t say anything is the same reason whyIdidn’t say anything. It’s the reason the Hell Boys won’t tell everyone the full extent of their powers. There are some powers that no one wants to have, because it’s a powereveryonewants to have.” She pinned me with a look. “I hate my random, confusing visions. But I’d hate them even more if they were always true.”
“I—”
“What’s up, guys?” Nitsa came over. “Did you figure something out?”
“I think I did.” Theron waved us over. “Look at the floor. Doesn’t it remind you of something?”
Brown flooring with stripes of black on the left side of the room. It didn’t look like anything. “Um, no.”
“Eighty-eight,” he cried, smiling like that was supposed to mean something. “There are eighty-eight floor panels.”
