“Oh, sorry!” My cheeks flame as I scramble off him andonto the train floor beside him. “I didn’t mean—”
“It’s fine.” He climbs to his feet, then reaches a hand out to help me get to mine. “Now, let’s get you out of here, okay?”
“More than okay.”
He sits down on one of the benches running along the walls of the train, stretching his legs out in front of him before nodding for me to take the seat next to him.
But I’m too busy patting myself down to sit. The last thing I want right now is a stray snake hitching a ride on me back to campus. In fact, if I never see another one in my whole life, it will be too soon.
Way too soon.
“You won’t find any.”
“Any what?” I ask, surreptitiously running a hand under my still wet blazer.
“Snakes,” he answers with a shrug. “They can’t ride the train in that form.”
He says it so matter-of-factly that for a second it almost makes sense. Almost. “Exactly what form are you talking about? They’re snakes.”
“Are they?” he asks, leveling his emerald-green eyes on me. For the first time, I realize they’re surrounded by the longest, inkiest black lashes I’ve ever seen in my life. And while that shouldn’t matter to me—at all—the knowledge does something weird to my stomach. But I’m too busy trying to figure out what he’s talking about to pay much attention to it.
Besides, my stomach hasn’t felt right since I fell onto that ridiculous slide. I’m sure the hollow, queasy feeling insideme right now has way more to do with that than with the fact that this Hades boy really does have the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen.
Not that that matters. I’ve got bigger things to worry about right now. Which is why I deliberately look away when I ask, “Can you cut the cryptic act and just tell me what’s going on here? Where are we?”
“Where do you think you are?” he counters.
“Seriously? That’s the way you want to go here? I nearly drowned in a pile of snakes and all you want to do is give me more questions instead of answers? Thanks a lot.”
“Hey.” Now he looks insulted. “I rescued you, didn’t I? And now I’m getting you out of here. What more do you want?”
“Um, first of all. I’m pretty sure I rescued myself. I’m the one who jumped. All you did was break my fall when I came crashing onto this train.” I’m not sure that’s strictly true—his voice sounds too much like the one I heard inside my head to be a coincidence—but he’s being so irritating right now that I don’t care.
At least not until he starts grinning at me, those green eyes of his shining way too brightly for my peace of mind—or my peace of stomach.
“What?” I demand, sliding onto the bench across from him just because he’d nodded at the spot beside him earlier.
Something about this guy just brings out my need to be contrary.
“Nothing.” He shrugs. “I just like your attitude. You’re going to need it to get out of here.”
“Out of here? You mean off this train?”
“I mean out of Anaximander’s,” he says with a laugh. “But I guess the train works too.”
I start to argue with him about Anaximander’s, but I stop because part of me thinks he’s right. Gods know I’ve had my share of rough spots here.
I don’t say that, though. Instead, I look around, searching for some clue as to where we are. But this looks like any other subway train I’ve ever been on. It’s even got an electronic display mounted at the top of the wall next to the door. Right now it reads Acheron Station: Twelve Minutes.
“Where’s Acheron Station?” I ask, because the name Acheron sounds familiar, but I just can’t place it.
His smile drops so fast it feels like I imagined it. “Nowhere you’re going to go.”
“How am I supposed to avoid it? I’m on the train, and I can assure you I’ve done all the jumping I plan to today.”
Several tense seconds go by when he doesn’t answer. Instead, he just stares at me like he’s trying to figure me out. Then again, I’m looking at him and doing the exact same thing. Too bad I’m not having any luck.
“What’s your name?” he finally asks.
