From the moment he opened the door at Grace’s apartment and his dark gray eyes looked into my silver ones, our connection has been undeniable. I know I’m safe as long as it’s within his power to protect me.
We emerge from the tunnel, and the group huddles up before proceeding.
“We move in silence,” Gretchen says. “Nothing above a whisper from here on out.”
Now why is she looking straight at me as she says that? Grace is the one with the tendency to talk too much. I choose to ignore her implication.
“Keep close, in tight formation.” She scans her gaze over the entire group. “Use the buddy system. I’ll pair up with the golden maiden. Sillus and Petraie, and Greer and Thane. Keep track of each other. Whistle if there’s a problem.”
My eyes roll instinctively.
Gretchen scowls. “Problem, Greer?”
I want to say, This isn’t kindergarten, but I don’t think she’d appreciate the snark. Besides, the statement is all too true. This isn’t kindergarten. This situation is serious and dire. Extra precautions are warranted.
I swallow the attitude. “No,” I reply. “No problem.”
“We go without pit stops,” she continues. “Until it’s an emergency, keep moving.”
“How long?” I ask. “How far is it to Mount Olympus?”
Gretchen looks to the golden maiden for the answer.
“There is a shortcut,” she says. “We can reach the entrance in perhaps a dozen hours, if we encounter no trouble.”
No trouble? Only if our luck improves.
You are good to be cautious, a voice echoes in my mind. Trouble seeks you.
Did I just hear that? I blink and shake my head. Perhaps it is a side effect of the hellebore. Thane said it would be hard on my system.
I keep the voice in my head and my cynicism to myself as Gretchen turns and starts walking, the golden maiden at her side. The monkey and the oceanid take the middle, while Thane and I bring up the rear.
“Twelve hours,” I mutter.
“Can you make it?” Thane asks. “If you’re still too weak—”
Gretchen cuts him off with a glare over her shoulder. I glare back, but she’s already turned back around and begun marching on.
“I’m fine,” I reply with a whisper. “It’s just a long walk.”
“It is,” Thane says, not whispering, but somehow still quiet enough to avoid Gretchen’s wrath. “We’ll make it.” He glances sideways at me. “Together.”
“Together,” I whisper.
I can handle that.
Our hopes of traveling without trouble evaporate in the first hour.
We’re just rounding a big black rock formation that looks like any of a dozen we’ve passed since starting out when Gretchen pulls to a sudden stop. There, not twenty feet from our path—not that there is an actual path to see, just a general direction we’re heading in—at the shore of the inky black river we’ve been following, is a pair of ugly beasts splashing themselves with water.
We all shuffle to a stop behind her, trying to be as quiet as possible.
Following Gretchen’s motions, we tiptoe around the outcropping, pressing ourselves as close to the rock as we can, staying deeply hidden in the shadows.
I even hold my breath, as if the rasp of air from my lungs will somehow alert the creatures to our presence—although I’m not entirely certain why we are bothering with stealth, considering some monsters obviously already know we’re in the abyss and these two wouldn’t be much trouble to take care of.
Still, I don’t voice my opinion. I think the idea that our venom actually kills the monsters in this realm really bothers Gretchen. Not that she’s said anything, but I don’t imagine she likes being a killer. Huntress, yes—a mythological bounty hunter, so to speak. Killing is different.
But arguing with Gretchen is like arguing with a brick wall, and just as effective. For the sake of traveling in peace, I keep my mouth shut—and my breath held—until we are well out of range of the bathing beasts.
Besides, I suppose the last thing we want is to draw any unnecessary attention. Our goal is to travel through the abyss quickly and quietly. My recovery period has already set us back several hours. We want to avoid any more delays. Our real mission lies beyond. We don’t need the distraction of fighting two random monsters.
I sneak a glance at Thane, walking silently at my side. He’s been stealthy as a mouse since our first steps into the abyss, whether there were monsters around to hear or not. It’s unnatural how quiet he is.
After a quick check to make sure Gretchen isn’t watching, I whisper, “You’re like a ghost.”
He scowls at me. “What?”
“You’re so quiet,” I explain. “How do you keep from making any noise?”
Even in my soft-soled sneakers, I can’t quiet my footfalls entirely. They still scuff and squeak against the stone. He’s wearing work boots but not making a sound.
He shrugs. “I just am.”
“You just are?” I repeat. “That’s not an answer.”
He cuts me a glance. “If you had spent time on the street, you’d know how to be quiet, too.”
I blink several times. He lived on the street? Grace has never said much about his background—nothing, really. Why would she? I know he was adopted, like her, but I didn’t know he’d been old enough to have lived on the street. I suppose I just assumed he was adopted as a baby like my sisters and I were.