“Ursula,” I say gently, kneeling down at her side. “It’s Gretchen. I’m here. You’re safe.”
She makes a sound.
“What’s that?”
I lean down closer, until my ear is right next to her mouth.
“Not safe,” she rasps. “Too dangerous.”
Yes, the world around us is dangerous and we won’t be safe until we’re home, but I can’t help but take a moment to look at my long-missing mentor. Seeing her in such an abused state hurts worse than the burn of monster venom in my bloodstream ever has.
“Leave,” Ursula whispers.
Warning tingles down my spine as everything falls quiet. Silence in a place like this is never a good thing.
“We have to move,” I command as I unlock her chains. “Now.”
Squatting down, I slip one arm under Ursula’s shoulders and the other under her knees. I stand too easily. She’s lost a lot of weight.
“Why?” Greer asks, panic in her voice. “What’s wrong?”
I turn to face her.
“You hear that?”
She tilts her head. “I don’t hear anything.”
“Exactly.” I hold Ursula a little tighter. “This place just got deadly quiet.”
“Time hurry,” Sillus says.
Without bothering to agree, I take off through the maze, heading for the bridge. I hear the others following me, but I don’t take time to check. If something is happening, we don’t have a second to spare. Someone could be on the way to intercept us right now. With our luck, someone already is.
“Oh noes.” Sillus skids to a stop as he emerges from the labyrinth first.
Stepping out behind him, I see what’s waiting for us on the other side of the bridge: a group of soldiers, heavily armed with golden weapons. There are at least a dozen of them. They carry golden shields and wear golden helmets that clearly mark them as the Arms of Olympus.
I mutter a string of curses.
This is just what we needed.
“Where’s Thane?” Greer whispers.
He stayed behind to guard the bridge, but here’s the bridge being overrun by our enemies, and Thane is nowhere in sight. Did he abandon us? Or did he set us up? I don’t have time to wonder about his loyalty right now.
How are we going to get out of this?
Then, as I’m just about to formulate a plan, I see a flash of quiet movement behind the group of soldiers. It’s Thane, coming out of some hiding spot in the shadows. He takes a strategic position that puts the soldiers between us and him. I know exactly what he has planned. The boy has tactical skills.
I quickly—and carefully—hand Ursula to the golden maiden, who nods in understanding. Stepping up to our end of the bridge, I shout across the moat, “What’s the matter? Afraid to come over here and fight a girl?”
“You are no girl,” one of the soldiers yells.
“Now that is downright insulting.” I squat down and pull daggers from my Doc Martens. “Looks like I’ll have to defend my honor.”
I step onto the bridge, blades at the ready. I just need to draw them forward a few feet.
A deafening roar echoes up into the chamber from the hallway beyond, shaking the very stone I’m standing on. The noise startles the soldiers, who look up and around as if the space has come to life, and I take advantage of their distraction. I rush forward, grab the lead soldier in a choke hold, and pull his back tight against my body.
With a dagger to his throat, he’s not too eager to struggle.
“Looks like I caught the prize,” I call out, taunting his soldiers as I back across the moat.
They turn back around, and instinct—their desire to save their leader—overrides good sense. In a rush, they hurry toward me, out onto the bridge.
Right where I want them.
“No,” their leader shouts.
But it’s too late. With a quick jerk, I spin him out of my hold and send him sailing off the bridge, into the fiery moat below.
His soldiers realize their error and start to turn back, only to find Thane blocking them in from the other side. They’re trapped. Between my daggers on this side and Thane’s sword on the other, we quickly toss most of the soldiers off the narrow bridge. They don’t have much room to maneuver, and Thane and I have the tactical advantage. The soldiers never stood a chance.
Still, Thane’s swordplay is impressive. For an ordinary boy, he is holding his own—and then some—against Olympic soldiers like he belongs in this world. He’s dispatched at least as many of them as I have.
When it’s down to us and the last two, they look at each other before taking a crazy leap, following their comrades into the unknown before we can send them.
Panting with exertion, I meet Thane’s gaze across the span of the bridge. Neither of us says anything; a nod is all it takes to thank him. No question where his loyalty lies now, is there?
No, the question is, where the hell did he learn to fight like that? Not from his and Grace’s parents, that’s for sure. The boy has serious skills, but the interrogation will have to wait.
“Let’s go,” I shout to the group, who are already stepping onto the bridge. “Time to get out of here, before reinforcements show up.”
I just hope Ursula’s up to the task of autoporting us home. She’s our only way out.
“What about Sthenno?” Greer asks.
I freeze in my tracks. I’d been so focused on getting out of here and getting Ursula to safety, I’d completely forgotten our other immortal aunt. She’s somewhere in this horrible prison, too.