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“What the fuck are you doing here?” Nitsa blurted. “Have you been stalking us the whole time?”
She bristled. “I wasn’t stalking! Even if I was, I damn sure wouldn’t be following in the wake of your manure droppings.”
Annoyance welled up in me fast and hot. Being saved from a forced marriage did not sweeten this woman in any way.
Selene clung to Alex’s arm. “When you jumped into the chamber, I changed into a fruit fly and followed you. I’ve been on your back this whole time, protecting it. I wasn’t about to let you throw your life away for”—she flapped a hand in my direction—“that.”
“I would give my life for Aella a million times a day,” he replied, winking at me.
I ridiculously blushed.
“But thank you, Sirena,” Alex continued. “We wouldn’t have made it without you. The queen of the skies flies among us.”
Sirena blushed too. Even though she wasn’t in love with him, it was easy to see how Alex inspired such devotion, his friends jumped into death traps to protect him.
I opened my mouth to speak when something dropped between my feet. A gold key stamped with a peacock.
“Thank goodness.” Daciana was the one to pick it up. “We need to keep going, Tycho’s breathing has changed. He’s struggling.”
“Oh no, Tycho.” I dropped down next to him, resting my head on his chest. Her wolf senses were horribly right. His breaths were slow and labored while his heart was the opposite—fluttering fast and wild.
“There’s the door,” Ionna cried, pointing over my head.
Theron and Jason lifted Tycho up, rushing right on our heels for the exit.
“Agh!” Jason ripped away, falling face-first in the dirt and dragging Tycho down with him. Muscles seizing, Jason twitched and spasmed—limbs curling in like they wanted to be close, cradling him till the last.
It was eons, but more likely seconds, till the fit passed. He pushed up on shaky arms, chest heaving. “I’m okay,” he croaked, holding up a hand to keep us back. “Let’s go on.”
“We’re almost through,” Ionna said, moving him to help lift up Tycho. “Hephaestus, Hestia, and Zeus left. We made it this far. We won’t fail now.”
Our growing group held onto those words as we passed through.
We dropped down in an enclosed room made of metal—the force jolting my shoulder. Hissing, I forced down the pain. I was too close to Mom to be slowed down by a mere arrow wound or deadly poison. Both would have to fuck off and kill me another day.
I looked around. I wished there was more to say to describe the space. Shining metal walls, metal ceiling, and a monochrome metal checkerboard floor.
Directly across from us, the ancient wooden door leading out loomed tall and proud for all to see. Hanging on a tiny hook behind it, was the key.
“The key?” Nitsa said. “The key’s right there? As in, all we have to do is walk over there, get it, and open the door?”
No one moved.
“It can’t be that simple,” Theron said slowly, scanning the space.
“Ionna, can you see anything?” Daciana knelt beside Tycho, holding his twitching hand. Or maybe it was her hand twitching. “Is it that simple?”
Ionna did a simple headshake, then lost control of it, wrenching her chin roughly to the side. “No,” she gasped, falling to her knees. “Sorry... I can’t see anything.”
Theron inhaled a deep breath. “Well, there’s only one way to find out.” He took a step.
Spikes shot out of the floor panel—merciless and lethal. Theron threw himself back, falling flat on his back with a shout. He grabbed his chin and pulled away, blinking at the blood staining his palm.
That close. The spikes were that close.
The metal chamber came to life. Floor panels disappeared in one place and appeared in another. Spikes shot out and retracted with no rhyme, reason, or pattern. The panel before me suddenly engulfed in flames, tossing me yelping back.
We weren’t in a metal chamber. We were in a death trap.
