Of course, we had to live first.
The step-through disappeared, and I knew Louis would not be welcome back here. We were on our own. My hands snaked out and grabbed Asher on one side, Connor on the other, and the three of us faced off against the gods.
“Now what?” I asked.
“Now you follow us,” Sonaris said, darkness seeping into his words. He was staring at my hands joined with the boys’; he was not happy about it. My energy swirled inside of me, responding to his, and I hated that even a small part of me felt tied to this fucker. I had to figure out how to break that. I had to figure out how to destroy them all.
I’d already made up my mind, the moment my friends were threatened, to bring forth the Hellbringers and kill the gods. If it destroyed Earth … well, it was better than the alternative. If these gods had all the power of the mother of all, the world was ending anyway.
“Move it,” Lotus said, turning and striding away. She didn’t go back to where the fighting was; she wove through the underside of the seating in the stadium until we eventually ducked into a small tunnel and ended up in the middle of the sunken stadium. I felt uneasy, because Sonaris was at our back, making sure none of us did anything stupid.
Like try and stab Lotus in the back.
I was thinking pretty hard about it, my hands itching for a trident. I’d grown quite fond of those big forks.
Lotus spun, knocking my hand from Asher’s. My power shot through me and smashed into her, knocking her back, but not before she managed to prick me with her razor-sharp nails, splashing my blood around.
Unlike hers, mine was not gold, but it did look very dark, almost midnight purple as it splattered across the white stone of the floor. Asher snarled, and then his power joined mine in smashing her against a far pillar. His eyes were pure gold, as I knew they would be, and I wondered if this would call his mother over here. Right now, she was about our only hope to stop this doorway from being opened. Shame she also wanted to kill me so I wouldn’t touch her precious son.Tomorrow’s problem.
My blood sizzled, and steam rose from where it hit the ground. The marble started to disintegrate, until eventually there was a large opening in the ground. A long, winding staircase, black as night with gold flecked through it appeared, descending into the earth.
The stairs are long and narrow.
The words of the verse from the book crossed my mind. What else had it said…? Something about the Hellbringers being in another realm. Freeing them—that made sense now, because we were clearly the ones from two worlds. The Hellbringers would return the balance. And something about the mother and father of all.
I’d let Axl copy the words, thinking he’d be around. The book was in my satchel, but I didn’t want to pull it out in front of the gods. Like it had heard me, heat flared in my pocket and I dug into my jeans, wondering what the hell was burning me.
A piece of paper came free, and written across it was the verse … in Axl’s writing.Holy shit.Somehow he’d known I would need it, and I was really, really grateful for my friend.
The demons that bind them.
The freedom of all.
Atlantis is our gateway, and it will always hold the secrets.
The stairs are long and narrow. The path is short and windy. The end is near when the breath of frost brushes down spines and souls.
Tap three times. Bleed for the cause. Open the doorway. Destroy the gods.
Before anyone noticed,I shoved the paper back in my pocket and watched Lotus. Even as those words ran through my mind.Bleed for the cause. Destroy the gods.
I’d already bled once … how many more times before this was over?
Lotus clapped her hands in delight. “Down the stairs,” she said. “The doorway should be at end.”
We didn’t argue, because I had no doubt she would kill our friends if we didn’t cooperate. I went to descend first, but Asher had other plans. He plucked me up and dropped me behind him. Not wanting to show any cracks in our armor to the gods, I didn’t punch him in the back like he deserved, and followed his broad shoulders down the narrow stairs, Connor right behind me.
It was definitely narrow. Asher had to turn sideways in some sections to fit, and it grew darker as we moved lower, darker and cooler, with the feel of water around us. It took forever to reach the bottom, descending a lot further underground than there should have been actual land beneath the floating island. This was definitely something magical in nature.
“Watch your step,” Asher whispered as he moved into a tunnel.
His arms came around me. “I have a plan,” he whispered, pulling me back and letting Connor exit as well. The gods were right behind us, so there was no time for me to ask about this “plan” of his.
Under here, everyone but me had to crouch, and my head was just about scraping the stone roof. The path was dark, but my powers gave me pretty decent vision, so I saw the end of theshortpath as we approached it. It was a door. A single door with gold filigree and detailed carvings across it. There was no handle or lock though, no visible way to try and pry it open.
“More blood,” Lotus called, unable to push forward because it was only wide enough for a single person in here. “From all three of you.”
Yeah, we already knew.Bleed for the cause.We got that memo from the cryptic gold book, thanks. Asher crossed his arms, and I could see the stubborn look on his face. He was going to refuse.
