“Of course,” said Phillip, and he looked in the direction that must have been up. A strong current caught the three of us, carrying us toward the surface with formidable speed. As soon as the blue sky became visible through the water, the tide dragged us to the side, and I clawed my way toward the surface. Just a few more inches.
“Your stop, I believe,” said Phillip. “Be safe.”
I nodded and mouthed my thanks. I could see James through the water now, and he was grinning at his uncle and giving him a stupid wave. Figured. We’d nearly drowned, and he was smiling.
Finally we broke the surface, and I coughed up an impossible amount of seawater. Somehow my feet found the shifting sand, and I stood shakily, my knees knocking together. But we were out of the ocean and still had a few minutes left before Cronus expected me. That was the important part.
Something flashed at the edge of my vision, and I looked around wildly, my heart pounding. For a split second, I thought I saw a dark-haired figure looming on the cliffs, but I blinked, and it was gone.
Deep breaths. We were out of the ocean, and I had nothing to panic about anymore. Unless an eternal Titan hell-bent on destroying everything I loved counted.
Cool waves lapped at my shins, and James stood beside me, shaking like a leaf. “All right,” he rasped. “I admit that—that asking you to do that without practicing first was a—a mistake.”
“No shit,” I said in a voice that trembled as much as his did. We stood a few yards from the shoreline of Cronus’s island, and the palace loomed above us, a giant shadow against the bright sky. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll live,” he said wryly. “At least until we get inside.”
“How are we getting through the barrier?” I couldn’t see it, but I could feel it, thrumming in my bones like a force field. If Cronus couldn’t penetrate it—at least not enough to leave, even though his reach now extended as far as Cairo—then how were we supposed to?
“We walk,” said James. “The barrier’s meant to keep Cronus trapped, not us. Walter even insisted we didn’t modify it to include Calliope. Until we realized she had you, of course.”
“You mean—” I faltered. I should’ve tried harder to escape. Somehow I could’ve found a way. Phillip could’ve picked me up in the ocean and brought me to safety, or—
I steeled myself against the barrage of possibilities that flooded my mind. Playing what-if wouldn’t change anything. I had tried to escape. I’d done everything I could. And right now, all I could focus on was how to make sure things finally went my way.
“I mean what?” said James, and I shook my head.
“Never mind. Let’s go.”
With my hand still in his and the taste of salt on my tongue, I dug my heels into the sand and pushed forward, trudging out of the ocean to meet my fate.
Unnatural silence settled over the island. The cliffs overlooking the shore stood tall and unyielding, but despite their imposing height, James spent one of the few precious minutes we had left trying to find the quickest way up.
“It’s not going to work,” I said, annoyed. We were wasting too much time. “Let’s just go around.”
“That’s miles out of our way,” said James.
“Then give me your arm and I’ll get us there.”
He snorted. “You really think I’m going to put myself through that again?”
“Do you really have a choice?” I wobbled across the beach, the sand giving way with each step I took. “Walk or reappear, James. It doesn’t matter to me. I’m leaving in ten seconds with or without you.”
Muttering something under his breath that I didn’t quite catch, he hurried over to me. “If we wind up in the ocean again, I’m leaving.”
“You’re the one who insisted I had to bring you along in the first place,” I said. “Besides, stop pretending you didn’t like that swim. I saw you grinning.”
“Yeah, sheepishly. Phillip’s never going to let me live that one down.”
If they were both alive at the end of this war. Taking his hand, I closed my eyes. “No water this time,” I promised.
The air around us changed, the warm ocean breeze replaced with the stale scent of ancient rock. I sighed with relief. We were in the bedroom Calliope had kept me in for nine months, and there wasn’t a drop of water in sight.
“Much better,” whispered James.
I reached for the door. It was locked. “Dammit,” I muttered, but before I could complain or suggest another trip through nothingness, James touched the handle, and I heard a faint click.
“Try again.”
This time the door opened without a hitch. I raised an eyebrow, and he shrugged. “I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.”
Together we sneaked out into the abandoned hallway. It wasn’t nearly as decadent as the one outside the nursery, and I glanced around uneasily. I had no idea how to get there from here.
Each end of the hallway looked identical. Left or right, it didn’t matter, but Ava had pulled me right when Henry had attacked the palace. Good enough place to start.
“This way,” I said, creeping through the darkness, and James followed a few steps behind me. Someone had fixed the damage Henry had done to the castle, making the passageway clear.
“Are you sure?” he said dubiously.
“Aren’t you supposed to always know where you’re going?”