“I know that,” I say, my back muscles tensing. “But did you see anything else? Anyone or anything unusual about the portal or your trip back?”
“No, all normal,” he says with another sigh, as if he’s sad to disappoint me. Then he jerks up, nearly knocking himself backward off my shoulders. I wrap my hands around his legs to keep him on. “One thing strange.”
“What’s that?”
“When Sillus go through,” he says, “see other door.”
“Other door?”
“Not one,” he explains. “Many door.”
“Many doors?” My stomach flip-flops. “More entrances to our realm?”
“Yes,” he says. “More.”
“How many?”
I feel him shrug. “Seven, eight, ten.” He shrugs again. “Twenty. More.”
Twenty doors? Twenty portals between my world and the abyss. Sthenno said things are changing now that my sisters and I are reunited. This must be part of that change. I try to imagine what this means. More monsters in our realm? More cracks in the seal? More creatures out hypnotizing a human army to fight us when we finally break the seal?
This is not good news. We’re already vastly outnumbered. The imbalance is only going to get worse. We need to get the gorgons and get home. I don’t like the idea of Grace being back in San Francisco with more and more beasts roaming the streets, even with Nick to protect her.
He’s not completely useless in a fight, but they can’t take on an army on their own.
We have to get back there fast.
I pick up my pace, knowing that my exhausted companions will have to struggle to keep up. There’s no time to waste. We can rest when the war is over.
After a few more hours, my feet are dragging over the stone, and I’m embarrassingly relieved when we round a corner and the golden maiden tugs me to a stop.
“That is the entrance,” she whispers.
Across the open space in front of us is a massive door.
Twenty feet tall and ten feet wide, it glitters gold even in the dim glow of the abyss and our weak flashlights. Every last inch of the surface is intricately carved with mythological creatures and designs from ancient Greece: gods, monsters, and heroes of old. The Olympians couldn’t have put out a brighter This Way to the Home of the Gods sign if they’d framed it in neon and painted it Day-Glo orange.
I scan the area, expecting to see a legion of guards ready to spear us to the spot. This is the entrance to Olympus. It should be heavily protected.
There isn’t a sound, not a sign of another living creature within a hundred yards at least. My sense of smell is muddled by the general stench of the abyss, but I don’t sniff anything out of the ordinary. The door is completely undefended.
“Impossible,” I mutter. This can’t be for real. “What’s the catch?”
“It is not,” the golden maiden explains, “as easy as it looks.”
“Of course not,” I grumble.
What would be the point in making anything easier for us? Half the thrill is in the challenge. Straightforward and simple is so boring—takes all the fun out of saving the world.
“Let me guess?” I venture. “We try to open the door and vats of molten lead dump onto our heads.”
The golden maiden gives me a wry smile. “Not precisely.”
“Then how do we get in?”
“Is there a doorbell or something?” Greer asks, stepping up to my side.
“We wouldn’t use it if there were,” I snap, my exhaustion getting the better of my patience. “We’re not advertising our presence.”
“It was a joke, Gretchen,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest. “Lighten up once in a while.”
Clearly she’s feeling better.
I clench my teeth and contemplate using her head as a door knocker.
“Petraie knows the way,” the golden maiden says before I can lunge for my sister. “She will guide us. Though perhaps we should rest for a short time. You will need all your strength once you reach the dungeons.”
“We will?” I didn’t miss her subtle hint. “Aren’t you coming with us?”
“I am,” she says, “but I do not require rest. I shall stand guard.”
I’m too wiped to even feel compelled to argue.
“Wake me if anything comes up.” I smile at her and then turn to the group. “We’re going to take a short break before we go in. Rest up while you can.”
I don’t deny that I need a nap too. When life gets back to normal, I definitely need to work on my endurance. Dropping my bag on the ground, I quickly find a comfortable position and close my eyes.
Seconds later I feel a warm ball of fur cuddle up next to me. I wrap my arm around Sillus’s little body and am asleep in less than a heartbeat.
“Gretchen, wake up.”
I blink awake in an instant. The golden maiden is leaning over me, a concerned scowl in place.
“I hated to disturb your sleep,” she says, “but a group of creatures approaches. I thought you might want to investigate.”
I nod, shaking the sleep out of my brain.
“Where?”
She leads me up a rocky incline. At the top, she gestures to the canyon below, where nearly twenty monsters are heading our way.
The one in the lead—a woman with hooves for feet—holds a glowing object in one outstretched palm. At first I think it’s for light. It’s dark enough in here that even a lightning bug would help.
Then the hoofed lady turns, taking the group away from our location. The red light in her palm dims. She immediately changes course, heading back toward us, and the red light flashes brighter.
It’s like a compass, only this one doesn’t point due north. It points to huntress.
“It’s leading her right to us.” That must be how they keep showing up. “We need to go. Now.”
We hurry back down to our makeshift campground and get everyone up and ready to continue as quickly and quietly as possible. I can tell the short rest was worth the delay. Everyone is moving faster—with less grouching.
Petraie leads the way to the door.
The oceanid smiles shyly before moving to the rock wall next to the door. She runs her fingertips over the stone, like a blind person reading braille. I can’t tell what she’s looking for. It all looks the same to me—one big mass of rough black surface—granite, maybe, or some kind of volcanic rock. Probably something that doesn’t exist in my world.
“What exactly is she looking for?” I ask the golden maiden.
“There is a hidden entrance,” she explains. “A side door of a sort, one that bypasses the security measures in place to guard the primary door.”
“Lucky for us someone thought to make this,” I reply.
The golden maiden gives me a sly grin. “Lucky for us someone on Olympus wanted undetectable access to the abyss for romantic assignations.”
“Someone?”
She shrugs, her shoulders squeaking quietly with the motion. “Rumor claims that Hera once had an affair with Alcyoneus.”
“The king of the giants?” I sputter. “No way.”
“Ahhh,” Petraie says, interrupting our gossip.
She pauses in front of an unexceptional-looking patch of black. Then, after clenching her hand into a fist, she presses it to the stone and pushes.
At first, nothing happens. I think maybe she’s wrong. Maybe it’s a different unexceptional patch of black. Then—slowly, with a rough scratching sound—the surface behind her hand pushes back into the wall.
I scan over my shoulder to make sure the monster group isn’t within earshot yet. Thane has his back to us, his shoulders rigid and his hands flexing in anticipation. I turn back to the door.
An instant later, a section of stone the size of my car slides silently back into the wall and then to the side, out of sight.
“This way,” the oceanid says, stepping inside the hidden passageway.