“All right, we're home,” I said.
Alex warily opened his eyes, then let go of me and stood back. I went to take his hand, but he was already running out of the tracing room.
“Mommy! Daddy!” Alex shouted.
“Son!” Machar's response came immediately. “Alexander!”
I stepped out of the tracing room to find a group of people waiting for us. Among them were my husbands and the Squad. The entire Squad. Machar and Slainidh were at the front of the group, already wrapped around their son.
Machar looked up when I approached. He kissed his son, then stood up to face me. “Your husband told us he was found in New York City.”
“That's right. Someone has been tormenting us. It started small and then escalated. They took Hades's friend,Persephone's dog, then Viper. Alex is their latest victim. I'm so sorry.”
Machar nodded. “I will join the hunt.”
“Machar,” Slainidh said as she clutched their son close.
Machar looked at Slainidh, meeting her red eyes with his own dark stare. “I will join the hunt.”
Slainidh grimaced, looked at Alex, then nodded. “Come, honey, let's go home and have some hot chocolate.”
“Where's Daddy going?” Alex asked.
“To find the bad people who took you.”
“Someone took me?”
Slainidh paused. “You don't remember?”
Alex shook his head. “I was playing outside and then it was cold, and I was under a big tree.”
Slainidh looked at me.
“It's been the same with all of them,” I said. “Alexander should be fine. No one seems to have suffered any other side effects. Just a hazy memory.”
Slainidh transferred her stare to her lover. “You know what to do.”
Machar nodded.
Slainidh took their son home, and Machar stretched his neck, preparing to do what he had to do to protect his family. Blood dripped from his cap and ran down the side of his face.
Soon, there would be more blood to soak his cap in.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
We were in the bird room. It had a name but I couldn't remember it. I just called it the bird room because of the giant aviary in the center of it. Maybe it was the Bird Room, who knows? My mind couldn't focus on stuff like that at the moment. It was swirling with confusion, trying to figure out how the trickster was tricking us. But then I focused on the birds.
The birds were fey, and they weren't caged. Not in that aviary, at least. Beyond the gilded bars, the floor fell away and opened to the world beneath the citadel. The birds were lured to this upper level with bowls of food and water, but they were free to fly away at any time. They often stayed though, hanging out on the perches even after they'd eaten their fill. Fey birds are braver than those of Earth and they're more curious. They watched us as we watched them.
But I looked beyond them, contemplating the shaft below. Could someone use it to gain entrance to the maze? They'd have to get past the enchanted bars of the cage first and through the citadel before that. But the trickster had proved themselves capable of a lot. The shaft below the birdcage let out somewhere near the entrance of the maze, and guards were posted there. The Elemental Well should be safe. Still, I madea mental note to have Azrael install a grate over the opening so that only birds could pass through.
As if a grate could stop the trickster.
What could? That's what was bugging me. How were we going to stop this person? And how were they doing this? I was baffled. And, to be honest, frightened. I'd spent so long feeling superior, and maybe this was payback for it. Sure, there had been enemies who had come close to triumphing over me, but I always won in the end. I won because it wasn't just me. I had the support of my family and friends, and we had some powerful allies to call on if necessary. But even individually, I felt superior. Terrible word, but true. Analyzing myself, I realized that I had gotten cocky. I think it may have been Jerry who tipped the scales. Defeating him had made me feel as if we could take on anyone.
But we had to face our enemy to defeat them. And this enemy remained faceless.
“Azrael,” Odin said.
