“What’s in it for me?” she demanded.
Hel seemed confused.
“Other than freedom?” he asked.
“Freedom doesn’t fill bellies,” Skyla said. “I’ve been free as a bird these last two weeks, but it didn’t put food in my stomach or keep me warm at night. Why should I join you?”
“It’s a chance to get out from under the Elusian’s thumb,” I said, answering for Hel. “We can make a life for ourselves, not one they are dictating.”
She seemed to be considering it.
“I can see where that would be attractive to you, Kataramenos,” she said. “You’re just an Air Mageia. If you don’t bring back enough medallions, you’ll be lucky if you don’t end up back in the House of Eros.”
I winced at the reminder.
She got to her feet, stepping casually on one of the rodent bones. Warning bells rang in my head as I saw a string of medallions hanging from her belt.
“Me, on the other hand, all I need is the medallion from his neck, and I’m set for life,” she said, jerking on a rope I hadn’t seen in the darkness.
I’d pulled an Air shield up between us before she stopped speaking, expecting more fireballs. I made the rookie mistake of failing to completely encircle us. I had only a moment to look up as I heard a cracking sound overhead and felt the timbers crashing down from above, and then there was darkness.
???
The blackness slowly faded as the room came into focus. I opened my eyes to see three women standing in front of me.
We were still in Skyla’s bookstore, but it was like we had somehow gone back in time. The room was pristine, and as I watched, the walls seemed to waver and solidify. There was light, but I couldn’t tell exactly what its source was.
I skittered backwards until my back hit a bookcase. It was full of books and felt absolutely solid. Brand new, too, by the looks of it. Some of the books were in languages I didn’t recognize, but the whole building looked beautiful.
“Where am I?” I demanded. “Where’s Helios?”
“This is a place between,” one of the women said.
The three women looked like they were related. The youngest wore her hair in a single red braid. The oldest had white hair braided and wrapped around her head like a crown. The woman in the middle turned… and the air escaped my lungs.
“…Mitera?” I whispered, my gaze jumping hungrily from the tips of her golden shoes to the braids in her hair. Her hair seemed to shimmer between black and red.
She smiled gently.
“Not… exactly, yios,” she said, her face sad. “But I did lend her a bit of myself for a while. Here, I am called Kate.”
I tried to pull up a shield reflexively. Mitera— or Kate, rather, smiled gently. “You won’t be able to use your powers here.”
I reached for my weapons only to find I had none. No blades of any kind, no bow or pistol. If my powers weren’t working, I’d have to improvise.
I grabbed one of the volumes behind me and held it up.
“Back off,” I said, holding the hardbound book aloft.
“Or…what? You’ll threaten us with the works of Winnie the Pooh?” Kitty said, giggling.
I looked up and saw I held some kind of children’s book, filled with illustrations and large printed words.
Something in her laughter was contagious. I couldn’t keep myself from realizing the absurdity of the situation, and something slowly burbled up from my gut. It took me a fewmoments to realize I was laughing. I dropped the book to the ground horrified at my response.
“Did you drug me?” I demanded, dropping back to my knees. “Is—is any of this real?” I said looking around. “Am I— dead? Or hallucinating?”
“Think of this more like a dream,” the old woman said. “If it makes you feel better,” she sniffed dismissively.
