The Broken Curse (25 page)

I shake my head as I finish reading the note. This doesn't make sense. How could she know that we'd make it here to get the blood? She's been gone so long, there's no way she'd know our plans. I don't even know what
see you sooner than you think
means.
 

Suddenly, my vision starts to fade and I begin to fall into a dream. I don't have time right now, but it seems inevitable. I don't fight it. I just let myself fall, and before I know it the light returns.

I know where I am immediately. The smell of bleach is strong. I'm standing in the middle of the crowded room, but nobody notices my entrance. I must be safe, as long as Hermes doesn't show up. However, the last time I dreamt of the room with the draining machine, Hermes was there.

"I have to leave it for them."
 

"You don't know they'll make it here." I notice the people lying on the beds are alive, still breathing. I rush to my mother's side and try to free her from the metal bed, but I have no strength here.
 

She doesn't look hurt, despite the fact that her arm is hooked up to a tube, dried blood caking the skin surrounding the needle. Her wrists and ankles are pinned to the bed with heavy metal clasps that are so tight they cut the blood flow to her fingers. To her left and right are the rest of the Originals, excluding the demons of the group.

"Hades doesn't have Apollo yet, so there's still time. If I can just hide it, I know she'll find it," my mother says. Her voice is hoarse, like she's been screaming for hours or not been drinking water.

"Unless Apollo is working with them."

"He would never."
 

"Hermes said they already have Apollo's blood," one of the men say.

"I know he wouldn't just give them blood," my mother says.

"Maybe he did when Hades and he were best friends," a red-haired goddess says.

"That was thousands and thousands of years ago."

I try to look from face to face, but they blend together. I'm trying to absorb every ounce of information these Originals can give me.
 

"Just cover for me, okay?" My mother easily breaks free from her chains and runs over to the contraption in the middle. Another one of the Originals, a woman with bright red hair, breaks free and runs to the door. She presses her ear against it and listens.

My mother presses a bunch of buttons on the screen and then runs, pulling out a vial from the bottom compartment of the machine. It's the one that we just retrieved. It's full of blood. She runs to the other side of the room and rummages through the closet.
 

She finds the case and locks the vial inside. Before she locks it, she quickly scribbles what I'm guessing is the note that I just read and then hides the silver, metal case in the wall.

"Okay!" She runs back to the bed and straps herself back in. "Hera, come back." The red-haired woman nods and then jumps back on the bed and straps herself in, too.
 

Just after the last lock is shut, Hermes enters the room. The timing couldn't have been closer. The metal contraption is still lit up, and immediately, I think their cover is blown. They all yell at Hermes, swearing and screaming at him, but he doesn't even bat an eyelash.
 

He walks right over to the machine.

"What the hell was that? How did this come on?" He presses a few buttons and it dies, the lights all fading. "What did you people do?"

"Why are
you
doing this? You know Hades just uses you." Hermes bends down and punches the man right in the face. I recognize Zeus on the table next to my mother, looking no different than the time I saw him with Atee.
 

"You won't get his power."

"You won't get anything."

"You're just a follower."

"Would you all stop talking?" Hermes clutches his head in both his hands. He leans against the middle contraption and fights against his head, smacking it with a closed fist. "I'm so sick of all the voices."

"Are you all right?" Ari lifts my chin with his finger, making me look at him. I nod, trying to shake and sort through the images.

"It's been thirty seven minutes." Linus taps his watch again, staring at the exchange between Ari and I. The case is in his hand, looking strangely small.
 

"Let's be quiet. It's dark, but I don't want anyone to know we're coming." Ari lets go of me and walks a few feet down the dark tunnel. He holds up his hand, surveys it and then nods, waving us over to follow him.
 

For a moment, we walk in silence, all walking in a straight line—Ari, then me, then Linus. But, my nerves kick into high gear, and I feel an attack on its way. I can't focus, and I honestly feel like I might throw up, my hands turning sweaty, my heart picking up.

I speed up and walk next to Ari. I take his hand in mine, my left in his right. He looks between us, a smile on his face. Then he nods. His energy enters me, calming me. I look back at Linus and nod at him, too, and he grins.

Linus comes up to us, grabs my other hand and, together, we sprint to the finish line in the distance. Well, I hope this tunnel leads to the black castle. It could be a trap, for all we know, and take us back to the entrance.
 

But, we have to take the risk. Even though we're sprinting, it's taking a long time. Offshoots from the tunnel jut out in random directions, but they're narrower and dirtier, some look like dead ends. So, we continue on the straight path and don't stop.
 

"Is that light?" Ari whispers and slows his pace. At first, I don't see anything. But as I sharpen my gaze, narrowing it straight ahead, I notice a little twinkle of something, far off in the distance.

"I think it's the end," Linus says.

"Hand me the vial. I'll put it in my pocket." Linus opens up the case and carefully takes the blood out of the case and places it in my hand. Luckily, there's a stopper at the end of the needle so it can't spill, but the glass looks thin, and I don't want it to break. I put it in my back pocket, the same side as the opal. They're side by side.

"Are you okay to sprint?" Ari asks, his hand squeezing mine with encouragement as he looks between Linus and I.

"Yes."

"Yes."

And off we go. In just under a minute, we make it to the light. There's no door at the end of the tunnel. Instead, it just ends. We're dumped in what seems like a dead end room.
 

"There," Ari says as he notices an opening to the right of us. It's another tunnel, but it's our only option at this point.

"What do you want to do?" Ari asks us both. I don't think we have a good option, so I just look to Linus for direction.

"I think we have to go that way. We don't have much of a choice. At least it's just one option. There were so many tunnels back there," Linus says, completely right. We go through the small tunnel, walking slowly incase someone is patrolling in there.
 

It's a short tunnel. We walk for only two minutes, and we're left with a staircase in front of us. Strangely enough, it's all white, with pristine, clean steps. It's out of place in this dark, black Underworld.
 

The three of us stand in front of it, hand in hand in hand, in silence.
 

"You ready?" Ari looks down at me.

"As ever," I reply.

"Don't forget to use that rock. Keep the vial safe at all costs." Linus taps my shoulder, looking down at the two most important things in my possession.
 

Ari steps first, me in the middle, and Linus behind me. They're protecting me, and for the first time, I don't mind it. The stairs bring us to the castle. I know the second we step onto the floor where we are.

We're on the main level. The stairs drops us into the hallway, the one I walked down in countless dreams and the one time I was in the Underworld.
 

I flashback to the time I was hiding out in a dream. My dream self stormed into the castle crying, because both Ari and Ollie found her. She loved Hades and Persephone, or at least it seemed like it. She trusted them. And they looked worried, too.

But, I push those thoughts aside. We're here to take back control. Hades can't curse me anymore. He doesn't control my fate. And, if it comes down to it, I would kill him in a heartbeat.
 

We step into the main dining hall. I expect to see Hades sitting down for dinner with his wife, but it's vacant. Not even a fire in the fireplace. I let my finger trail along the dark wood of the dining room table, when his voice rings through the black castle.
 

"Welcome, lovebirds. Your presence is requested in the back courtyard. Your friends are already here." His voice is deeper, more intimidating than I remember, though I have tried to forget it.

"Let's do this," I say with as much determination as I have.
 

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

underworld

Hades and Persephone stand at the end of the courtyard by the altar. As Ari, Linus, and I step out from the castle, Hades claps at our arrival. All of my friends' and supporters' heads turn towards us, their eyes strained, their eyebrows pinched together.
 

I try to survey my surroundings with each slow step towards the altar. It's exactly like my dreams, with the exception that before Hades wasn't here yet. I guess that changed when we decided to get the vial in a small group. I look behind Hades but don't see Persephone either.

"Welcome," Hades says again, his voice projecting in the cavernous yard. At the sound of his voice, the walls shake. Crumbles of rock fall, creating craters in the desert-like ground. Linus lets go of my hand and stands beside Alexius and Lex, both the dark haired beauties' faces drawn down, refusing to look at me.

The ground here is flat, no large rocks in sight except the ones that have fallen from Hades's voice. There's a slight slope that leads to where Hades stands. As I look up at him, Persephone steps out from behind Hades, stopping beside him and placing her hand on his chest. Their position above us almost making it seem like they're looking down on all of my friends.
 

I pass Heron, Myron, Nikon, and Nikias. They don't sneer or make fun of me now. Instead, they nod with me and Ari's passing. Beside them is Magdelina with Professor La. Even Magdelina doesn't have it in her to belittle me here.

I pass Professor Orntean and Elytis with two beautiful women beside them. I nod in greeting, since I've never met them, and they bow their heads back with respect.

Ollie breaks off from my friends and walks on my other side, taking my hand in his. He doesn't make eye contact with me. He stares straight ahead, almost through Hades, and walks at the same pace as Ari and me.
 

Lisa and Kara hold each other, while Martin, Mikey and Carter circle them almost protectively. Mikey holds up a fist as I look at him. He pounds it in the air, and I can't hold back my smile. Leave it to him to make this less serious.
 

The closest to Hades and Persephone is Shane. I know what he's doing. He's in this for the kill, to avenge his girlfriend. And I can't say I blame him. I would be doing the same thing if it wasn't for my curse.

Ari, Ollie, and I stop just a few feet in front of Hades. The altar is in front of us. It's smaller than I imagined, but I guess I had some elaborate idea that it would be a large, marble statue that blood seeps into and pours out like a fountain.

Instead, it's a wooden platform. Figures and symbols are carved into the four-foot tall base. A snake travels from the middle up to the top, its head poking out, its fangs sharp. It's elaborate and beautiful, especially the animals carved into it. The top is like a bathroom sink. The middle is curved down, and there's a small red stain in the center.

Words are written around the perimeter of the top, but it's in a different language, so I don't understand a thing. There are accent marks and symbols entwined with modern day letters. Despite it being wood, it's very smooth looking. I have to resist the urge to run my fingers along it.