The Secret Fire by Whitaker Ringwald Page A

reopen it,” she said. “But the guests do not know that. They believe they have been invited to attend a grand ceremony of significant importance. They are influential people—wealthy museum donors, foreign dignitaries, even the mayor and chief of police are coming. My father will use this event to increase his power.”
    Of course. The guests would gather in one room, Ricardo would open the urn and voilà—instant minions. With a mayor and chief of police under his influence, he’d quickly take over Philadelphia. Then move on to the next city, and the next. He’d amass wealth, destroy all traces of Zeus, and set up his New Mount Olympus.
    Pyrrha took my hand. “If you still want to escape, I will take you to the entry gate and set you free.”
    That was a tempting offer. To be free. To catch a bus home to Chatham and hug my mom and sitin my backyard and never think of Ricardo again. But for how long? I knew the truth. So did Tyler and Ethan. Ricardo would come after us.
    â€œI’m not going anywhere.”
    â€œAre you certain?”
    â€œNo,” I said. “I’m not certain. And don’t ask me that again because if I think about it, I mean, really think about it, I’ll probably change my mind. So, what is the plan?”
    â€œBefore you agree to help me, I need to tell you something.” She ducked into a shadowy alcove. No one was around. Pyrrha stood real close to me. She still smelled like peeled oranges and mint, just like the first time I met her. I could practically count the freckles on her nose. She was so pretty, with her long glittery red hair. And her perfectly tan skin that looked really nice against her blue tunic. I thought her eyes were brown, but now they seemed violet. Were they changing colors? “There is much you do not know.”
    â€œWhat don’t I know?” If I’d asked Ethan that question, he would have recited all sorts of facts to me. His long answers usually bored me. But I missed him so much, I even missed his factoids.
    â€œAfter you disabled the security system in theMuseum of Fine Arts, Ethan found the urn of Love. He carried it out of the museum.”
    â€œThat’s the best news I’ve heard in a long time.” I smiled. Great-Aunt Juniper would be proud. So would my dad. But Pyrrha wasn’t smiling.
    â€œWhen we left the museum, I was going to take the urn of Love back to my realm. But my father kidnapped you and that changed everything. So I told Tyler to deliver the urn. I gave him the key to the portal.”
    â€œWhoa!” I said. “Are you kidding? Tyler’s in the Realm of the Gods?”
    â€œI cannot be certain, but I expect he followed my directions.”
    â€œOf course he followed your directions,” I said. “You could tell Tyler to jump off a bridge and he would. Well, maybe that’s going too far but he’d do mostly anything for you. He has a huge crush on you.” Had I said too much? She didn’t look surprised. She’d have to be blind not to have noticed the way he looked at her.
    This latest news was almost unbelievable. My geeky cousin who’d been creating a game based on the world of the gods had gone into their world . “Then that means the urn of Hope and the urn ofLove have been destroyed,” I said. “That’s even better news.” Except it meant the boys wouldn’t be able to trade those urns for me, which kinda sucked.
    Pyrrha’s frown deepened. “They have not been destroyed.”
    â€œWhat?” I didn’t understand. “But you said—”
    A small group of followers walked past. They were carrying more decorations for the fake ceremony. We all bowed and declared our commitment to the one purpose. I don’t think any of them actually looked at my face. I was just another blue suit I guess. As soon as they’d entered the building, Pyrrha continued. “I told you the urn of