I sit against the wall again. We’re just missing Donnie now. With him, we could almost pretend our most important piece isn’t missing forever.
“What is that?” Tristan says. I hear something rustling. “A letter?” Oreo brought a letter? I narrow my eyes, paying attention to the sounds. It looks like Tristan’s touching a piece of paper, his fingertips scratching over the surface. “Guys,” he calls out, his voice suddenly rough.
“What is it?” Apollo leans closer. I hear Tristan pressing something to his bars. Apollo’s eyes go round in shock. “Holy fuck.”
“What?” Shit, this is not the time to be the only one who can’t see Tristan’s cell! I try to squeeze into the space between bars, but it’s impossible. “What?”
“A note,” says Apollo. “Did Oreo have it?”
“Yeah,” Tristan replies. “It was in his mouth. He gave it to me.”
“What’s in the note?” For fuck’s sake, why don’t they say it?
“‘Burn my body,’” Apollo reads.
I gape at his face in disbelief. “What?” This can’t be real. What does it mean? Who...?
Mei swallows audibly next to me. I turn to face her. She’s gone ashen. “Is Oreo a hellhound?”
I arch an eyebrow. “Yeah. Why?”
“He’s a protector of the souls, right?”
“I guess.”
She clutches my shirt near my shoulder, shaking me. “He might have traveled to the Underworld.”
My brows shoot up. No way. I turn to Apollo,and he nods once. “Does this mean...?”
“Cassandra...” he starts, and he has to stop and clear his throat. “Cassandra wants us to burn her body.”
CHAPTER15
CASSANDRA
The closer we get to the threshold into the Abyss, the quieter Zaki grows. We descend the side of the hill and make our way to the road in such a gloomy mood I can’t help but grow anxious. My skin ripples with goosebumps, and not because of the cold. The darkness of a barrier rises in front of us, an all-devouring emptiness, sucking what little light there is in this place.
I slide a glance at Zaki. He’s still shirtless, of course. With a body like that, I understand his desire to show off, but something has changed. His shoulders are taut, his biceps rigid. I follow the line of his arm to his hand, fingers clutched tight into a fist, his knuckles bleached. Zaki isn’t happy about going back. But why? The Abyss is where he belongs, the place he was born in.
And there’s more. The tattoos stretching fiery flames over his shoulders to his chest have changed, too. Earlier, in the cave, I thought they shimmered, and I was right. It’s like every step closer to the Abyss makes them a bit brighter. The shimmering doesn’t diminish how handsome Zaki is, though, even with the horns and everything. Then again, maybe I’m so broken I am attracted to a freaking demon.
The sound of hooves thunder ahead, and I snap my gaze in that direction. Tall creatures race closer, having crossed the barrier a moment ago. I gasp in surprise, but the sound lodges itself in my throat as I notice they’re coming too fast. My heart jumps, muscles tightening, then fingers close around my arm and Zaki pulls me out of the way in the nick of time. I stumble, my jaw hanging at the sight of the animals galloping past us.
A pair of the strangest horses I’ve ever seen gallop away, pulling a carriage behind them. The creatures are bigger than the horses I’ve seen, their skin lit with orange,as if they havelava running in their veins. The front hooves glint as if they were metal, but their hind legs are those of a much crueler creature, with long claws and what I can only describe as spikes jutting out of the back. White horns curl away from their skull-like faces, teeth exposed in a permanent grin.
Something truly out of the Abyss. They’re both wicked and fascinating. My stomach twists at the sight of them, even as the distance between us grows. My gaze slides away from the horses to the black carriage they pull, and locks with several people inside. All bearing horns. All watching us with confused glances. Before they get too far, one of them juts a head out of the carriage window, mouth moving in words I can’t hear. As if he’s checking on us.
I narrow my eyes. What were they looking at? There was surprise and maybe a measure of disbelief on their faces as they gaped at us. But why? Is it that uncommon for people to walk on foot here? Or is it because Zaki is walking about with a human soul?
“Shit,” Zaki murmurs next to me. I snap my head to look at him, and I don’t like how hard his jaw is set.
“Shit? What’s shit?” He’s been so full of himself up until now. I hate to see him hesitating. “Who were those people?”
He swallows and tugs me forward by the arm he’s still holding. “They know me. We might be running short of time.”
“Why?” We’re close to the barrier now, and I don’t even know what we’re supposed to do. “Zaki.” And I dig my heels into the ground until he’s forced to stop and look at me. His yellow eyes burn like jewels,and I’m lost in his gaze for an embarrassinglylong second. “Were you not supposed to be in the Underworld? Did you run away or something?”
“No. On the contrary. I am supposed to be here for the Council, and my father won’t like that I’m going back without permission.”