Page 56

Didn’t know what that meant, me. Supposed we’d find out soon enough. . . .

Now I eased along the slick road, flurries dancing with the wipers. “Kentarch, how’re we looking?”

“We are heading straight for the spot. I believe it’s near those mountains ahead.” He pointed to a pair of peaks in the distance.

We gradually closed in on those mountains, with our usual stop-and-go maneuverings through the snow—only for my hopes to sink when we arrived. The busted pavement ran straight into the side of a foothill at the base of the mountains. A blasted sign read: Ro d En s.

“Road ends?” Joules snorted. “I’ll say!”

“I don’t understand this.” Kentarch rechecked the navigation display. “We should go back to the last crossroads and come from a different angle.”

“Or maybe the Swords lady was barmy after all.”

Sol surveyed the area. “I sense no Bagmen.” In the past, he’d been able to meld with at least one or two wherever we’d driven. As Snowmageddon raged on, more had frozen, but I’d never let my guard down.

“The Swords might have ridded their territory of them.” Gabe rolled down his window to smell the swirling wind. “No one is close, but a stray scent lingers nearby.” He inhaled deeply, then tensed. “It’s gun oil. I believe we need to go between those mountains.”

I parked the truck, all but shaking with anticipation. The Swords’ lair might be in a valley on the other side. “Let’s follow that scent.”

I was about to reach for my headlamp, but Kentarch said, “The snow is deep. We’ll need Sol.”

I nodded. “You got this, Sunny?”

He preened at his new nickname. “No hay problema.”

Joules had to say, “No problem? You told us that before the last avalanche.” We’d lived through a few of them.

“No time for sniping, people. Let’s move.” For better or worse, we’d soon solve this puzzle.

With Sol lighting—and melting—the way, we tromped up our new trail.

“Colossal waste of time,” Joules grumbled. “I’m telling you, we can’t trust a Minor.”

We rounded a corner, and a sheer rise greeted us, blocking our way. I hadn’t expected that. “Gabe, can you fly up and scout?”

His eagle-eyed vision was already scanning the rise. “I don’t need to.” He strode past us, heading for the sheer rock wall. Then he disappeared into it. From the other side, he called, “It’s an optical illusion.”

I hurried after him, breaths puffing. Up this close, I saw that the two mountain bases met at overlapping angles, making them look like they were joined. Yet a small crack of a couple of feet existed between them.

Sol, Joules, and Kentarch followed me.

On the other side, the air felt several degrees warmer, the snow only a foot or so thick. I turned to Sol. “Shine on, podna.”

With a glowing smile, he did, illuminating a flat area that stretched out between not two, but four peaks. The expanse was the size of a football field, and in the center stood an enormous structure that looked like . . . a hangar. A light flickered from the door.

“This, my lads, is a trap.” Joules twirled a javelin. “And we’re already in it.”

Over my shoulder, I said, “Then it woan matter if we head in deeper.”

27

The Empress

“If you kill me in my sleep, it was still worth it,” Circe told me as she settled into the bed Aric had moved into the pool room.

“I don’t have any plans to kill you,” I said, adding in a foreboding tone, “At least not tonight.”

“Too soon, Evie Dominija. Too soon.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

After the Priestess had showered, changed into some of my clothes, and eaten a hearty meal, I’d shown her to a guest room, but she’d said, “I’d prefer to be in the pool room, if possible. I don’t want to be a houseguest who makes demands, but in this case”—her gaze had darted in Lark’s direction—“it will ease my mind.”

I’d assured her, “No one here will hurt you.”

Sad smile. “We’ll all hurt each other before the end. That’s the way it’s always been.”

Though Aric was concerned about the energy expenditure, I’d convinced him to turn on the pool heater again and bring in additional space heaters. The glass that made up one wall was well insulated, but it would be chilly down here without the extra heat.

Nothing could get in the way of Circe’s healing.

Now I sat beside her on her bed. “Do you need anything else?” The clothes I’d lent her were way too big. She must’ve lost thirty pounds since I’d last seen her.

She shook her head. “Did you know this pool is salt water? And, oh, the bed is so soft. Death was chivalrous to move it for me.”

Before the river outside the castle had frozen, she’d communed with it, and I’d enjoyed sitting on the bank to visit her. Now she was right here beside me. “I didn’t think you’d come.” Surfacing had always spelled her doom.