But we weren’t a part of the Vale, so we traveled on, able to do what these poor souls had been unable to do in life and death. We moved on, past the wants and needs that never had come to fruition, beyond love that had been lost, or never had been theirs to hold.
Some of the weight lifted along with the mist, and before us was a cobblestone road that honestly came out of nowhere as the skies cleared to the odd burnt orange. But we weren’t alone. Hundreds, if not thousands, of souls traveled the same path as us. All kinds of people—young and old, pure and half—traveled toward their Judgment. Picking out the Sentinels and Guards was easy, even though their uniforms weren’t covered in gore like they had been when I’d been in limbo. These souls all had been buried.
Aiden and I stuck out.
Very few of the souls traveling wore cloaks of any kind, since obviously that wasn’t the fashion trend above ground. If anyone had passed away in a cloak, I’d be curious to as how and why. Most were in street clothing. Some even had ball caps on, and maybe we should’ve stashed away some of those. Someone was even rocking a cowboy hat.
Anyway, this wasn’t good.
Hades’ guards were posted along the road, atop their black warhorses. They kept the travelers in order and the path moving. It was probably an endless, boring job.
We moved toward the center of the group, hoping to get lost in the masses of tall Sentinels. Some of them passed cursory glances at us, but no one spoke to us. At the sound of a low nicker and approaching hoofs, my heart tripped up as I placed my hand on the dagger under my cloak. I felt Aiden move to do the same thing.
But the large warhorse blew past us, the guard riding low over the back. People darted out of the way; if they hadn’t, they’d have been trampled under the powerful hooves.
Unease blossomed in the pit of my stomach, but it wasn’t like we could turn back now.
Nearing the Plain of Judgment, it was hard not to notice the low reddish glow spreading across the horizon, and the further we traveled, the larger the… the firegrew.
Tartarus.
Whoa, I so didn’t want to be anywhere near that place. And I really hoped that we wouldn’t get caught and tossed into Tartarus.
My heart was throwing itself against my ribs by the time we entered the open plains of Judgment. The mass of people crowding the crossroads was enormous and guards were everywhere, positioned just in case someone doomed for Tartarus tried to make a run for it.
Aiden stayed close to my side. “You don’t happen to see Caleb?”
I laughed dryly as I scanned over the people. The crowd was so thick I had no idea how I could see anyone in the throng. And I had a hard time not staring at the palace, which seemed way too close.
More of a medieval fortress than a home, Hades’ palace rose like the mountains we’d traveled through, casting a dark shadow across the Plain of Judgment. Four turrets reached into the orangey sky, one from each corner of the stronghold.
Although I hoped Elysian Fields offered better scenery, I couldn’t imagine waking every morning and looking out one of the many windows to see… all of this.
Focusing on the important stuff, I joined Aiden in the search to find the familiar blond head. There were a lot of blonds, but none of them were Caleb.
“What if word hasn’t gotten to him?” I asked Aiden, afraid to say Apollo’s name down here.
“He has to know,” he assured me, scanning the rapidly increasing pile of people. “Gods, how many people do they process here in a day?”
Thousands, it appeared.
Proceeding forward, I realized I was pretty useless in the search for Caleb. Being so short, all I could see were backs of heads. My unease grew unchecked. The longer we were here, the more dangerous it was. I thought back to the guard who had raced ahead. My mouth went dry. We needed to find Caleb and we needed—
A heavy hand landed on my shoulder.
Sucking in a sharp breath, my fingers twitched around the handle of the dagger as I spun around, ready to use the blade if need be.
“Geez, don’t stab me. I think we’ve had enough of that going on between the two of us.”
I stumbled back as the familiar voice sunk in. He wore a baseball cap pulled low and a hoodie tucked over it, but wisps of blond hair poked around the edges. A wild grin shone from underneath the shadow of the cap.
“Caleb.” My voice sounded hoarse.
Seconds away from tackling him to the ground, I was stopped when Aiden gripped my shoulder. “I know you want to,” he said in a low voice, “but it would draw attention.”
“Yeah, it would.” Caleb nodded. “So let’s keeping the hugging and crying to a minimum.”
I was already on the verge of crying, so thank the gods the hood hid that. Stepping away from Aiden, I stopped in front of Caleb. “I am so glad to see you again.”
“And I’m happy to see you…” He lifted his hand, as if he would touch me, but stopped. “It’s also good to see you back to normal.”
I winced. “Yeah, about that… sorry?”
Caleb chuckled. “It’s all good in the hood. Come, we’ve got to do this quickly.” He gestured toward the road leading to Hades’ palace. “I’m surprised you guys even made it this far without getting caught. The whole Underworld is in a tizzy over what’s been going on topside.”
“I imagine that’s why they’re so busy down here,” Aiden commented.
“Yep.” Caleb shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. “A lot of Sentinels and pures coming through here. Sort of blows, you know?”
“Yeah, it blows real bad. So why would we—?”
Without warning, the ground trembled violently and a great, terrible roar cracked overhead, shaking me to the bone.
I turned, as did everyone else, toward Tartarus. The smell of sulfur grew until it was thick and choking. Fear exploded in my gut. Aiden was beside me in an instant, his hand pressing into my back. “What’s happening?” I asked.
“You’ll see,” Caleb responded, totally nonplussed.
I shot him a look, but then a ball of fire flew straight into the air over Tartarus, twisting and churning as embers flew in every direction. The fire shifted, morphing as it continued to stream into the sky.
The funnel of fire stilled for a moment.
On each side, the fire grew, spreading into giant wings that seemed to reach all corners of the Underworld. In the center, a dragon’s head appeared. The mouth opened, omitting another bloodcurdling scream, and then it swooped down. The impact shook the ground as the fiery tail whipped through the air.
Then it quieted.
“Holy Hades,” I mumbled.
“It’s like the welcome party for those sentenced to Tartarus,” Caleb explained. “Happens every time a group arrives in there. You get used to it after a while.”
“What the hell…” I muttered. There was no way I’d grow used to seeing that.
“Come on, we’ve got to go.” Caleb slid in front of us. “It could take years to find Solaris, but I knowjust the thing that—”
Four black stallions parted the crowd, their riders tall and imposing, garbed in leather. Swords—freaking swords—were leveled out from their sides. They surrounded us in seconds, herding the three of us until our backs pressed against one another.
Aiden reached for his dagger and ended up with the business end of a sword pointed at his throat. The look on the guard’s face screamed he was neither afraid nor above using it.
“Crap,” I muttered.
We were so screwed.
CHAPTER 25
The guard’s arm didn’t tremble. “Move, and you will not move again.”
Aiden froze, and I don’t think I breathed. I was pretty sure Caleb wasn’t breathing either, but then again, he didn’t need to breathe, being that he was dead. But that didn’t mean he would go without punishment. We were caught. Hewas caught, and all I could think of was the dragon we’d seen. Guilt tore through me like a wildfire.