Solstice (33 page)

Only then do I remember the payment. My face falls, and I shove my hands in my pockets, trying desperately to find some kind of coin. But my pockets are empty.

“I can’t pay you.”

Charon takes a step back and bows so low to the ground I see the bald spot on the top of his head. “I could never take a single drachma from you. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

Relief floods through me; everything is falling into place. For a second, I feel like a co-conspirator. “Does that mean you’re really alive?”

Charon stands back up, and his face creases into the smile I love. “It’s been up for debate many times.”

“And…?” I step into the boat.

He unties the rope, and I sit down, in the middle this time, near enough to Charon so I can talk. After we get out on the water, I plan to ask him my questions. To see what I can learn.

Charon shrugs and picks up the pole, already shoving it in the water to move the boat forward. “Let’s just say I don’t think I’ll die anytime soon.”

I see my opening. “Will I?”

Charon looks at me, and our eyes catch. The smile sinks away, and then finally, he looks out toward the water. “The monsters are a bit restless these days.”

He’s trying to avoid talking. But I’ve got him pinned like a mouse in a labyrinth with no exit, and I’m not going to lose my opportunity, even if he is poling faster, trying to reach the shore sooner.

“Do you know who I am, Charon?” I figure I can’t get much more direct than that.

Charon looks back at me and nods. “You’re Piper.”

Before I can say anything else, a monster bumps into the side of the boat, sending a spray of water up and drenching me. At the touch of the water, a wave of sorrow overcomes me, and I break down crying. I’m sobbing though I don’t expect Charon to come near me or comfort me, and he doesn’t. He’s probably seen this a million times before.

“It’ll pass, Piper. I promise.”

“I just want the lies to go away.” I’m still crying, but as the water drips off me, the sadness slips away with it.

Charon doesn’t say anything, and we cross in silence. Before I know it, I’m jolted when the boat bumps into the dock. But I don’t stand up.

“Aren’t you getting out?” he asks. He’s hopped out ahead of me and has already tied the rope, holding out a hand to help me.

I sigh, but it comes out mixed with a sob. Am I destined to never know anything? “Maybe I should just go back home.”

Charon purses his lips. His eyes flicker around—at the shore with the giant trees towering above, toward the empty tunnel in the rocks ahead, then back at the water. The wails of the sorrows tear at me, and each time I hear one, I see a monster jump up out of the reeds and snatch it from the air.

“Piper.”

I turn back to Charon. “What?”

He’s not looking at me. His eyes are still focused on the tumultuous water. Overhead, the crows call out their song, echoing around from one tree to the next. “Things in the Underworld haven’t always been this bad.”

I hold my breath. Maybe he’s going to tell me what I want to know. “In what ways?”

Charon points to the water. “The monsters are vicious now. The realms are getting out of control. Even the Elysian Fields. There’s talk of other gods gaining entry. Not to mention the overlords are seizing more power every day.”

I think of Minos. Of Ares appearing in Asphodel, if only as a shadow. Of Hell not working correctly. “How long have things been going wrong?”

Charon turns, and his milky white eyes meet mine. “Eighteen years.”

When he says it, it’s like I’ve been punched in the stomach. It’s the same amount of time my Earth above has been in the Global Heating Crisis. A Hell of its own with a sun which only gets more powerful by the day. Eighteen years. There’s something connecting my Earth above and this Hell below. Eighteen years. It echoes in my mind.

It’s the same amount of time I’ve been alive.

Are the secrets I crave somehow tied to the physical sufferings of the worlds both above ground and below? And am I somehow involved?

I open my mouth to respond, but I can’t think of anything to say.

“Please be safe,” Charon says.

I snap out of my thoughts and see him reaching back into the boat. I stand up and give him my hand so he can help me out. And no sooner am I on the dock, walking away from the boat, than I know it’s already slipping away through the reeds and the swampy water behind me. And just like everything so far, I only have more questions and still have no answers.

I
stare at the ten tunnels. I don’t know which one to choose. I don’t even know where the others go. And Cerberus is nowhere to be found. I think he would have led me in the right direction.

The sixth tunnel is the one we took last time, but when I walk up toward it, I’m hit with hatred. A red fungus suddenly covers the edge of the cave’s mouth. I turn from it because the thought of taking that path makes me want to vomit. I step in front of the tunnel to its left, and the nauseous feeling is replaced by happiness. Green ivy covers the opening.

I stare through the illusion of ivy down the dark path. I count my heartbeats.

I don’t need happiness. I need answers.

This tunnel must lead to the Elysian Fields, but after Charon’s staid words, I know Rhadam won’t tell me much either. No one will. I focus on the ivy, which I think is an illusion, but I feed my anger into it until it bursts into flames. I watch it burn. And then I locate the tunnel with the hatred again and take a step inside.

Voices greet me.

Come to us.

Visit us.

I cover my ears and close my eyes but soon realize they’re inside my head, like specters floating around, trying to latch onto something real.

We need you.

Each word is a chorus, beckoning me. I haven’t moved since my initial step inside the tunnel, and I want them to go away. I turn, thinking I’ll leave. Knowing this is a bad idea. But the opening where I came from is no longer there.

Piper.

They know my name. I shake my head and take another step forward, trying to move as far away from the haunting sounds as possible.

“Stop!” I say it aloud, but the voices ignore me.

Piper. It’s only fair.

We want to see you.

When they say it, I know where they’re coming from. The one place in Hell I haven’t been. Tartarus. Hearing the sounds helps me realize why Shayne didn’t want me to go there. They’re tearing at my insides, devouring my brain. I can’t get them out.

Visit us.

It’s been so long.

We miss you.

You belong with us.

My heart skips around in my chest, and a hollow feeling of dread settles on my stomach. I just want them to go away. Squeezing my eyes shut again, I think of Shayne. Of Chloe. Even of my mom. Anything to make them depart.

We’ll tell you secrets.

My eyes snap open, and the voices stop.

They know they’ve got me.

I don’t even think about what I’m doing as my feet move me. The voices lead me to Tartarus. The ground feels like gravel under my feet, and the farther I get into the passageway, the less I can smell the comforting banks of Acheron and the more I can smell something close to burning flesh. But I don’t care; I need to get there.

I see the flickering redness of the flames and feel the heat long before I round the corner of the tunnel, and when I do come around, the river is on fire. A name rings out in my head from deep in my memories. Phlegethon. The river of fire leading to Tartarus. I tie my hair into a knot, hoping to keep any stray flames from catching it. My mind screams at me to turn around. To run to the comfort of Shayne’s home. But I need answers, and Tartarus seems willing to give them to me.

Like the other rivers, the dock extends into the water, but here it is surrounded yet untouched by flames. I want to turn and run, to get away from the flames at all cost, but the voices beckon. I step forward, forcing myself to move until I’m on the hard wood of the dock. The flames hiss up over the sides of my sandals as I walk on the wood, but somehow they don’t burn me. I wrap my arms around my middle and step into the waiting boat, and before I can change my mind and turn around and leave, it begins to move, and I’m out in the middle of the river of fire.

Burning souls. I know Phlegethon is an initiation into the place of eternal torture. The flames taunt me, but why they don’t touch me, I’m not sure. Even my curly hair seems safe tied up at my neck.

Come to us.

Be with us.

As I move across the burning river, the voices start up again. I open my mind and let them in, wishing I could make the boat move faster. Tartarus holds my answers. I’m as sure of it as I am that there are questions. And that secrets have been kept from me my entire life.

We’ve missed you.

I miss the voices, too. I’ve never known them, but I miss them. They are a part of me. And I wonder if I do belong in Tartarus like Minos said. If I did kill a phoenix.

The boat seems to be on fire as it moves on. The wood is red hot like the embers in Shayne’s hearth, and around me, sparks crackle. But the heat doesn’t harm me, and soon, it’s carried me to the dock on the other side. Ahead, all I see is a wall of flames, and for a second, my stomach tightens, and I wonder what I’m doing. Nothing good happens in Tartarus.

Come, Piper.

A single voice calls out, and I know it. I can’t place it, but it’s drawing me, pulling me through the wall of flames. I close my eyes and walk forward, and then I’m on the other side and immediately the smell of rot and filth hits my nose. I force myself to take a deep breath, and my stomach lurches until I’m on my knees heaving up nothing but bile and emptiness since I’ve been asleep for over a day.

When I stand up, I wipe my mouth on my bare arm and look around. A desert stretches before me, and I start walking straight, knowing I’ll end up somewhere soon. Somewhere besides the rancid smelling barrenness surrounding me.

I walk for miles, and the desert moves by in fast forward, the same way it did in Asphodel, except there’s nothing to see around here, and soon I begin to doubt myself. The voices have left me, and there’s not a soul around. Maybe I should turn and go back.

Answers. We have answers.

The voice comes out of nowhere, and I shift right, moving in the direction I know it’s coming from. Its promises make the ball in my stomach tingle, and with one step after another, I’m soon approaching a mountain range with a medieval castle high on the top. It’s where I need to go.

I start toward the mountain, taking another mouthful of the rot around me, and force myself to take breath after breath until my stomach no longer lurches. But as I take my first step, something grabs my foot from behind, sending me flying face first to the hard-packed sand.

I kick with the other foot, and look down, seeing a skeleton hand clenched around my Achilles tendon. Another hand pops out of the earth and grabs at my leg, and they pull me until I’m up to my knee in the gritty sand. A wave of panic rolls over me when I realize I can’t even kick my leg anymore. The hands grasp harder, and sharp pieces of bone cut into my flesh. I lift my head and spit out the sand in my mouth and try to grab my leg and pull it out myself. They’re cutting and clawing and more than anything, I wish Shayne were here with me. But he doesn’t even know I’m down here in Hell. Not to mention in Tartarus. And I can’t tell him, or he’ll take me away, and I’ll never get my answers.

“Let go!” I scream when I realize I’m thigh deep in the sand. I’m going to suffocate, and no one will ever even know where I’ve been. I can imagine my body hidden beneath the sand forever in Hell.

But at my words, the skeleton hands obey me and let go. I twist around until I’ve yanked my leg free then get up and run for the mountain, trying to get off the deadly desert. Sand is caked on my sweaty face, and I claw it off as I run. I will not die before I get my answers. I need to know what Shayne knows. Whether he wants to tell me or not.

I’m halfway up the mountain when I see a naked man with shoulders so wide, I’m sure he could pick me up and snap me like a dehydrated stick given a chance. But I have no intention of giving him a chance. He’s standing there on the mountainside supporting a boulder nearly as large as he is with only his sheer mass holding it in place.

I move around to the side, trying to hide behind a large pile of boulders. Like my Earth above, there aren’t any bushes or shrubs around. Too much heat must kill them off down here, also. From my vantage point, I see the sweat pouring down his dark naked body, tracing patterns through his hairy chest, and my chest tightens when I realize I have no way to get around him unseen. I’ll have to wait for him to move.

“Come out and play with me.”

His voice is not at all what I’m expecting. Actually, I’m not expecting his voice, but had I been, the sweet, melodic tune is so unfitting the massive man, I don’t even try to pretend I haven’t heard. I lift my head slowly above the rock pile and see the man is looking my way. His face is covered with a smile so inviting, I find my legs carrying me around from my hiding place and over to him.