Apollyon

“Do you want to take a breather?” Aiden asked from behind his cloak as he surveyed the hills. “It looks relatively safe. We could take a—”

“No. I’m fine.” I stepped around him, slowly climbing the first hill, ignoring the dull ache taking up residency in my temples. “Besides, the faster we can get into the tu

“Yes.” Aiden was beside me in a second. His hand came out from the cloak and slipped inside my hood. His palm was warm against my cheek. The gesture was brief, and gone all too quickly.

We traveled on in silence, but worry nagged at me. The headache wasn’t severe, nothing like what I’d experienced before Seth had paid a call, but I had no idea how long it would take for it to progress. The only hope was that we reached somewhere safe—preferably dry—where we could bunk down for the night. Sleep was what I needed, and the sooner the better.

The odd sky darkened with each hill we crested, forcing us to pick up our pace. We crossed a field of narcissus that rose to our knees, petals a luminous white and carrying an incredibly sweet scent. The slate wall drew closer as the flowers gave way to trees.

At least that’s what I thought they were.

They rose into the sky, their branches bare for the most part, like slender fingers reaching for the ever-increasing darkness. Around the lower branches, ruby-red fruit hung in the air. Pomegranates.

Curious to how they tasted, I reached for one.

Aiden’s hand snatched mine in a near painful grasp. I let out a startled gasp.

“No,” he said harshly. From behind the cloak, his eyes were a bright silver. “Do you know nothing of Persephone?”

I glared at him. “Uh, she’s the Queen of the Underworld. I’m not stupid.”

“I didn’t say you were stupid.” His grip loosened as he led me through the trees, toward the last mound. “Though, I’m really starting to think you should’ve spent less time in class sleeping or doing whatever you were doing.”

“Ha. Ha.”

“Persephone ate from the pomegranate trees here. If you eat anything from this world, you can never leave.”

All my smartass responses faded away. Boy, did I feel like an idiot for not recalling that. “Okay. Maybe I should’ve paid attention in class.”

He chuckled.

But all humor left him when he got a good look at the hill. “Gods…”

It was steep, covered with grassy patches, exposed roots, trees with enormous black, teardrop-shaped fruit hanging from their branches, and what I seriously hoped were fragments of pale rock—not bones, like they appeared. At the very top, a ledge butted up to the thick gray wall.

Sighing, I sidled past Aiden. “We better get going.”

We climbed the hill, using the roots to gain purchase and to keep climbing. I don’t know how Aiden did it, carrying the heavy pack on his back, but he moved a hell of lot quicker than me.

Halfway to the top, a twittering sound rose above the canopy of odd fruit. I stopped, lifting my head. The heavy hood slipped back as I stared through the drizzle, beyond the trees, to the now dark-blue sky.

Night had fallen, and I recalled Apollo’s warning.

“Come on,” Aiden called. “We need to hurry.”

Grabbing a root, I hauled myself up. “That noise—do you hear it?”

Aiden said nothing just kept on climbing.

The branches above us began to shudder, rocking the giant fruit. The twittering grew louder. “I… I think… it’s coming from the fruit.”

Above me, a black teardrop the size of a beanbag chair shook—and then it spread open, one… one long, black and hairy legat a time. The center of the mass twitched—and then a row of ruby-red eyes peered down at me.

“Oh, my gods… they’re not fruit.” And I sogot why the souls didn’t travel near the tu

The giant spider dropped from the tree, hitting the ground on six of its eight legs. Its squeal turned my blood to ice. Another smacked onto the grass… and then another and another. Their sick chorus drowned out the sound of everything else.

Aiden slid down the hill, kicking up loose pebbles and bones as he came to my side. He grabbed my hand as one dropped beside us, fangs gleaming, raised two of its legs and made a fingers-on-a-chalkboard screech.

Shrieking, I jumped back, knocking into Aiden as the huge spider scuttled over the ground. Aiden shoved me to the side and whipped out a dagger. Jerking up, he slammed the blade to the hilt into the center of the spider.

I rolled to my knees and scrambled up, catching the sight of thousands of black legs scurrying across the ground.

Weight slammed into my back, pushing me face-first into the loose dirt and wet grass. Sharp pain sliced across my lip and I tasted blood in my mouth, but that was a nonissue when I felt the heavy, hairy weight of the spider on my back.

Its legs dug through the cloak as it hissed in my ear. Summoning the power that rested inside me, I felt… felt nothing.

Crap.

Digging my knees in, I powered off the ground and threw the spider. It landed on its back a few feet away, legs thrashing in the air as it hissed.

“Gods, I hate—I hatespiders.”

Aiden leaned down, hooking his hand around my arm. He hauled me to my feet and pushed forward. “This would be a good time to use akasha.”

Hundreds of beady red eyes stared at us. “I can’t. I don’t think it works down here.”

With his hands on my back he pushed me up the hill, swearing under his breath. “I can still feel the fire element. Can you?”

Lifting my muddy hand, I was surprised and relieved to find a tiny spark. “Yes.”

“Good. At the count of three, we’ll clear a path to the rocks ahead—” He cut off, swiping the sickle blade at a spider that ventured too close. Legs flew in every direction. “See the break in the rock there?”

I saw it. I also saw about a hundred spiders between us and the slim crack. “Uh-uh.”

“On the count of three, light it up and run. Do not stop. Okay?”

“Yeah.”

“One… two… three!”

Concentrating on the fire element, I extended my hand, as did Aiden. Balls of violet-colored flame hit the ground on both sides, spreading rapidly as they formed a wall.

“Go!” Aiden ordered, pushing me upward.

I scrambled over the ground, not surprised when I saw some of the hairy bastards leaping over the fire. Others rammed straight into it, but they fell to the side, hissing in pain. Aiden grabbed hold of my arm as we climbed the last of the rain-slick hill. Behind us, the spiders overtook the flames. The sound of their legs scuttling across the ground would haunt me right into group therapy. Reaching the top of the ledge, my fingers smacked off rock and I almost cried out in joy.

One of the quicker monsters lurched from below, latching onto my leg. My grip slipped and my heart leapt into my throat as the weight of the spider and the heavy cloak dragged me right back over the edge.

I let out a hoarse shout as my fingers continued to slip, but then Aiden was suddenly there, threading his arms under mine. He threw himself back, powerful muscles tensing and popping under the cloak as he pulled me over the ledge, spider and all. Pulling my free leg up, I twisted and rolled, slamming the heel of my boot into one of the spider’s eyes. Letting out a hiss, the spider slipped off my leg and tumbled down the hill, taking out a few of its friends with it.

Staggering to our feet, we slipped through the narrow crevice just as the mass of spiders breached the ledge and hit the wall.

CHAPTER 22

We traveled for what felt like hours through a cramped tu