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Chapter Twenty-Eight

Hebe

I follow the woman— well, Nymph since she is too ethereal to be anything other than a Nymph— who has become my guide across the grounds. Doing as she says, I don’t turn from the right or the left of the path she leads me on. I nearly stumble off a couple times as I scan my surroundings for others. Just because this Nymph believes me doesn’t mean anyone else will.

I also have to keep glancing back at the wall where I left Atum. Since neither he nor Sia can cross over it— by land or in flight— I must rely on the stalk Atum will shoot up as a warning when he receives word from Sia that Zeus is returning.

“Only where I step, dear,” the Nymph calls in a lyrical voice.

Snapping my gaze forward again, I follow the Nymph up the marble stairs and into the open temple.

A long table fills most of the space and is surrounded by dining couches except at the head. In that space rises a throne larger than any mortal could comfortably use. It looks as though it was formed out of dark storm clouds.

My jaw drops, but I tear my gaze away before I can make a misstep.

“I can’t remember which tower he keeps it in,” the Nymph calls, leading me toward the silver one. “But it’s definitely in one of them.”

I chew my lip nervously. What if we choose the wrong one? I may only have enough time to search one tower . . .

The Nymph leads me into a silver corridor with multiple doors in its domed walls.

“It won’t be in that one, that one, or that one,” the Nymph announces confidently, pointing to three doors. “But it could be in any of the others.”

I tentatively open one of the doors she didn’t point to, revealing a small triangular room that appears to be a washroom. A pool takes up the entire floor, and lily pads float in the water.

“Oh, that’s my room,” the Nymph says. “It isn’t in there either.”

Since I don’t have time to groan, I simply move on to the next room. It is similar in shape and size to the last. Only this one has a solid floor, with a tree growing out of it. There’s a hammock hanging off the tree, and a woman with light green skin sleeping in it. What it does not have is an urn.

That is one thing all the rooms have in common. No matter what vastly different styles the rooms boast or how many oddities they contain, none of them contain the urn. Even the room that somehow stores the moon offers nothing of use.

“Maiden of Zeus,” the Nymph calls from the entrance of the tunnel that leads to the dining area. “Did you notice that weed before? I’ve never seen one so tall.”

Terror slices through me, and I join the Nymph outside.

Sure enough, the warning weed grows over the wall.

I glance toward the golden tower. Is there enough time to search it before Zeus arrives?

The Nymph grasps my shoulders and turns me back toward the weed. “You can clean the urns later. First, you should cut that weed down before Zeus sees.”

“Can’t you? You’re a Nymph.”

“I’m a naiad , thank you!” She sniffs in frustration.

And there goes all the time I had left.

Pulling away, I run toward the wall. After all, if Zeus catches me with the urn, that does no good and I die in vain. If I come back later, though, I have another chance to save my people.

I scale the wall like it’s nothing, and tumble into Atum’s waiting arms. “I-I didn’t find it.”

Atum sets me down and pats my shoulder. “We’ll search again the next time Zeus leaves.”

Sia— once again wearing a mortal-like form again though with a different face from before— uproots the weed. Then the three of us rush toward the cliff face.

Seeing the clouds beneath us, I pull away. “I-I can’t fly.”

Sia glances at me before transforming. This time, he takes the form of a black horse with a still blacker mane that matches its majestic pair of feathered wings.

My jaw drops. “A Pegasus ?”

“Now you can fly.” Atum grabs my waist and sets me atop of Sia’s Pegasus form before I can think. Which is for the best, because when my thoughts catch up, this entire situation might seem become overwhelmingly peculiar.

Atum doesn’t seem to care, though, as he climbs onto the Pegasus behind me. “Hold on.”

I entwine my fingers with Sia’s mane and glance back at Atum to ask him what comes next. That is when I see the dark storm cloud moving toward Zeus’ temple.

My companions must see the same, because Sia suddenly pitches forward.

Choking down a scream, I clutch Sia’s mane so hard that I’m afraid I’ll yank it off.

Then I turn back forward in time to see us rushing toward the ground.