The pain was gone.
A quick glance down had me blinking at brilliantly green grass, in shades of khaki and gold.
Whoever the goddess controlling this path was, she was clearly a little insane.
But hey, weren’t we all.
The singing grew louder, and it was definitely Jessa’s voice. She had this beautiful rasp at the end of her words that was sexy and sassy at the same time. I’d recognize it anywhere.
I couldn’t see her, but as the singing grew louder, I figured I was heading in the right direction. When the singer hit a particularly high note, a smile split across my face as I sang along. When the song ended, it didn’t start again. The silence bothered me, and since Jessa might be looking for me too, I continued to sing.
I grew weak and tired as time went on—it had been hours—days?—since I’d rested or eaten. My mouth dry and parched, I’d have killed for some water, but I didn’t stop running and singing. I couldn’t stop until I got to the end of the path, until I made it into the underworld.
I had to be strong enough.
Out of nowhere, Jessa appeared in the distance, her face filled with terror as she sprinted toward me. My boots skidded to a halt, heart thundering in my chest. Where had she come from? And what was chasing her?
Jessa didn’t strike me as the kind to fear anything, so this was most unnerving.
Not Jessa.
I blinked, mulling that idea over in my mind.
Maybe this wasn’t her…?
The Jessa running toward me was close now, arms out like she was gonna throw them around me. I prepared myself to fight.
“Maddison!” fake Jessa trilled, voice trembling and ... empty. “I finally found you.”
Yes, you did, pod person.
“Where have you been?” she asked, launching herself at me.
I didn’t let my guard down for a second, even when she hugged me tightly and smelled exactly like Jessa.Not her.
“What were you running from?” I asked.
“Follow me,” she said quickly, not answering my question.
I shook my head. “No, I think we should continue moving forward on this path.”
Jessa tilted her head, examining me with those blue eyes that matched the real Jessa but were vacant in a way hers weren’t. I sensed I wasn’t supposed to know this about her—that her imitation usually fooled everyone.
I knew my friends better than that.
“Don’t you trust me,” Jessa said suddenly, her moods as variable as the landscape here.
As I opened my mouth to answer, a shimmer of light flashed across “Jessa’s” body, and for a split-second I saw another being superimposed over her.
It was gone in the same heartbeat, but I’d definitely seen another female, unnatural in both her beauty and appearance. She’d had hair down past her feet, whiter than the purest snow I’d ever seen, spread out on the ground behind her. Her eyes had been huge and white too, cold and empty.
Was that … Heptashia?
“What are you?” I snarled, reaching out and wrapping my hands around her wrists. I was at a disadvantage here, not having any powers to access, but I was pissed off enough not to care. “And where is Jessa? If you’ve hurt her…”
There was a moment where our eyes remained locked—she was examining me on a deeper level. I knew it. I could feel her probing beneath the surface, searching…
I couldn’t return the favor, but as uncomfortable as it made me, I didn’t let go.
