“Just one,” boomed a powerful female voice. “Stop, hero, and heed me.”
Alena appeared beside him and took his hand in hers. Gradually the light dimmed. Standing before them was a woman as vibrant as the Euphrates, with two horns rising on either side of her dark head, framing a red solar disk. Her arms were raised, as were two colorful wings that seemed to put off their own light.
“Isis,” Alena whispered, voice trembling. She bowed her head and dropped to her knees.
Orpheus thought he’d better show his respect as well and knelt beside her despite the pain it caused his aching legs. He didn’t think it was a good idea to anger a goddess, especially not in the heart of the underworld.
“Rise, Orpheus, Alena. Your selfless love for each other has proven your worth. You have overcome every obstacle the gods have put in your path. You have truly earned this grimoire. Now I must beg you to forgo your prize and leave it in this place where the gods protect it.”
Orpheus felt his shoulders hunch and couldn’t stop himself from speaking out. “Goddess, the gods offered Cleopatra the door. She forced us through it. We cannot go back without the grimoire or she will kill us.”
Alena squeezed his hand, her expression filled with fear for him.
“Cleopatra.” Isis scoffed. “She claims to be a reincarnation of me but is nothing more than a scared narcissist. It is Apopis, the Egyptian god of chaos, who whispers in her ear. Her time as ruler of Egypt is over. If she gets this book, all balance and order of things to come will be thrown into chaos and Apopis will grow in strength. He knows this and therefore revealed the door to Hades to her, knowing she’d leap at the promise of power. Thankfully, up until now the Greek gods have protected this grimoire. Its origins are from Zeus and Hera, you see. You have passed their tests and earned this grimoire, but if you allow Cleopatra to have it, she will stop at nothing until she rules the world.”
Alena sat back on her heels. “As Orpheus said, if we leave without it, she will kill us.”
Isis’s eyes landed on their coupled hands. “The god of chaos started this, but I am the goddess of life and magic. Do not underestimate me. I will show you the way.”
* * *
Orpheus ledAlena through the golden doors and into the room where they had begun their quest. A contingent of soldiers waited for them. He hugged the golden book to his chest with one arm and held Alena in the other. He didn’t plan to let her out of his sight.
When the guards reached for the grimoire, he pulled away. “I can only give the book to Cleopatra herself. No one else!”
The soldiers seized him by the elbow and dragged them to the throne room. Cleopatra’s kohl-lined eyes widened when she saw them. Orpheus watched her fingers bend like claws and all the tiny muscles around her mouth tighten. Beside him, Alena trembled, whether from weakness or fear, he did not know.
“So you’ve survived after all, despite the predictions of my advisors.” She flashed the men by her side a murderous look before her gaze settled on Orpheus and then Alena. “Is that the grimoire?”
“Yes.” Orpheus held out the book to her.
A soldier approached him, intending, no doubt, to carry the book to his pharaoh, but Cleopatra stopped him with a hiss.
“Only I shall touch it,” she snapped. Haughtily, she descended from the dais and approached Orpheus, grasping greedily for the grimoire. Once it was in her hands, her breath quickened and she caressed it like the face of a lover.
Orpheus was relieved to be rid of the weighty tome. Gods, he was exhausted. His mouth was as dry as a stone. “Please, the quest was difficult. Allow us to leave and seek respite.”
Beside him, he heard Alena’s breath rush from her lungs in a shaky exhale.
But Cleopatra did not even look in his direction. She returned to her throne, rested the grimoire in her lap, and reached for the corner of the golden cover, her expression that of a child tearing into a gift. But when she opened the book, the pages were blank.
Orpheus and Alena crept backward.
“Seize them!” she yelled.
The guards grabbed them both again and forced them to their knees. Orpheus allowed his head to roll forward on his shoulders. When Isis had presented them with the decoy book, he’d been skeptical it would work. Now they were paying the price for the folly of the gods.
“What have you done?” Cleopatra seethed. She set the book aside and rushed Orpheus, grabbing his face and squeezing until her nails bit into his flesh.
“He’s done nothing!” Alena blurted. “Let us go. You asked for the grimoire, and we brought it to you. Thatiswhat was on the other side of the door.”
“It is blank. You have tampered with it.” Cleopatra forced the words through her teeth.
“This is what was given to us by the goddess Isis herself,” Alena yelled.
“Perhaps you must use magic to read it?” Orpheus said. His voice cracked from thirst.
“Yes. Orpheus is right. The pages are likely enchanted,” Alena added. “Now please. We’ve accomplished your quest. Let us go! We’ve had nothing to eat or drink in days.”
