before we can cross, and from what I can tell of the terrain that’s still a ways away.”
“Okay.”
He seems to take the hint that I’m not in the mood to talk. Tallon stands and walks off, staring into the distance back the way we came. Heartbeats pass before his soft curse cuts through my haze of fear.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Come see for yourself.”
I jump off the rock and stand next to Tallon, close enough that I’m aware of the heat he gives off but far enough away that we aren’t touching.
From our vantage point we can see two cerberus chasing down a pack of far-off vættir. We’re obviously not the only ones who had the bright idea to use the manticore attack as a chance to escape. If we’d been walking at a more relaxed pace, they would’ve caught up to us instead of them.
I have a feeling Cass and I are next on the menu.
“We need to get going,” I say, my heart in my throat.
Tallon nods. “It’s going to be a hard sprint to the Styx.” There’s warning in his voice, like he thinks I’m the weakest one here.
Unfortunately he’s right.
Cass and Blue come running out of the forest with their arms full of the prickly, purple things. I have to swallow a groan.
Tallon hears me. “They’re kind of an acquired taste,” he says, a glimmer in the dark depths of his eyes.
“Yeah, that’s what Blue said,” I grumble.
“Here,” Cass says, shoving one of the fruits at me. “Eat quickly. We need to get moving.”
“You heard the cerberus?”
“Kind of hard to miss,” Blue says around a mouthful of fruit.
Tallon rips open his fruit and takes a bite while heading down the hill. “Let’s eat while we walk. We don’t have time to sit around like a bunch of blue hairs at lunch.”
I shoot him a dirty look, even though I know he really means old women, not me and my blue Harpy hair. Still. It’s kind of a jerky thing to say.
We start walking. The others eat their fruit without a word, but once again I can barely choke mine down. It isn’t very appetizing, and my belly rebels at every bite. It takes everything I have not to gag.
As we walk, the screams and shouts of the vættir behind us start to fade. We still pick up the pace once everyone has finished eating. I get a stitch in my side after only a few steps, but I don’t say anything.
I’ll survive a little pain in my side. I may not survive staying in the Underworld.
CHAPTER NINE
WITH THE FEAR OF THE CERBERUS MOTIVATING US, WE MAKE GOOD
time. It’s probably because my growing dread that we’ll be caught hurries my steps. The screams of the vættir have faded but haunt my memory. I can’t let that happen to me.
I spend a long time trying to think about nothing, just focusing on keeping my feet moving. Our pace continues to be brutally fast, but no one complains. Even Tallon manages to stop scowling, although I prefer the frown to the worry that now creases his brow. We need to hurry. If I’m caught, I’m dead. It’s as simple as that.
The cerberus will either tear me to pieces or take me back to the Pits. I won’t spend long in the Pits before I’m taken before the Æthereal High Council and executed. I’m not sure what will happen to Cass, but I doubt her fate will be much better.There’s an urgency to her movements that makes me think she doesn’t want to return to Tartarus either.
Deep down I almost want the cerberus to attack. Something inside me wants to take on the demon dogs, to teach them a lesson they’ll never forget. The craving for violence is a strange discovery, like finding out I suddenly have an extra toe. I recognize it as part of me and yet completely separate, a foreign impulse that I know comes from some facet of my personality I’ve yet to discover. It’s a very Harpy response to jump blindly into a fight. It’s also a drive I’ve never had before, and the unfamiliar feeling isn’t welcome. It makes me anxious, and that’s something I don’t need right now. I push the emotion aside and try to ignore
“Okay.”
He seems to take the hint that I’m not in the mood to talk. Tallon stands and walks off, staring into the distance back the way we came. Heartbeats pass before his soft curse cuts through my haze of fear.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Come see for yourself.”
I jump off the rock and stand next to Tallon, close enough that I’m aware of the heat he gives off but far enough away that we aren’t touching.
From our vantage point we can see two cerberus chasing down a pack of far-off vættir. We’re obviously not the only ones who had the bright idea to use the manticore attack as a chance to escape. If we’d been walking at a more relaxed pace, they would’ve caught up to us instead of them.
I have a feeling Cass and I are next on the menu.
“We need to get going,” I say, my heart in my throat.
Tallon nods. “It’s going to be a hard sprint to the Styx.” There’s warning in his voice, like he thinks I’m the weakest one here.
Unfortunately he’s right.
Cass and Blue come running out of the forest with their arms full of the prickly, purple things. I have to swallow a groan.
Tallon hears me. “They’re kind of an acquired taste,” he says, a glimmer in the dark depths of his eyes.
“Yeah, that’s what Blue said,” I grumble.
“Here,” Cass says, shoving one of the fruits at me. “Eat quickly. We need to get moving.”
“You heard the cerberus?”
“Kind of hard to miss,” Blue says around a mouthful of fruit.
Tallon rips open his fruit and takes a bite while heading down the hill. “Let’s eat while we walk. We don’t have time to sit around like a bunch of blue hairs at lunch.”
I shoot him a dirty look, even though I know he really means old women, not me and my blue Harpy hair. Still. It’s kind of a jerky thing to say.
We start walking. The others eat their fruit without a word, but once again I can barely choke mine down. It isn’t very appetizing, and my belly rebels at every bite. It takes everything I have not to gag.
As we walk, the screams and shouts of the vættir behind us start to fade. We still pick up the pace once everyone has finished eating. I get a stitch in my side after only a few steps, but I don’t say anything.
I’ll survive a little pain in my side. I may not survive staying in the Underworld.
CHAPTER NINE
WITH THE FEAR OF THE CERBERUS MOTIVATING US, WE MAKE GOOD
time. It’s probably because my growing dread that we’ll be caught hurries my steps. The screams of the vættir have faded but haunt my memory. I can’t let that happen to me.
I spend a long time trying to think about nothing, just focusing on keeping my feet moving. Our pace continues to be brutally fast, but no one complains. Even Tallon manages to stop scowling, although I prefer the frown to the worry that now creases his brow. We need to hurry. If I’m caught, I’m dead. It’s as simple as that.
The cerberus will either tear me to pieces or take me back to the Pits. I won’t spend long in the Pits before I’m taken before the Æthereal High Council and executed. I’m not sure what will happen to Cass, but I doubt her fate will be much better.There’s an urgency to her movements that makes me think she doesn’t want to return to Tartarus either.
Deep down I almost want the cerberus to attack. Something inside me wants to take on the demon dogs, to teach them a lesson they’ll never forget. The craving for violence is a strange discovery, like finding out I suddenly have an extra toe. I recognize it as part of me and yet completely separate, a foreign impulse that I know comes from some facet of my personality I’ve yet to discover. It’s a very Harpy response to jump blindly into a fight. It’s also a drive I’ve never had before, and the unfamiliar feeling isn’t welcome. It makes me anxious, and that’s something I don’t need right now. I push the emotion aside and try to ignore
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