Page 45 of Queen of Serpents and Shadows

I set down the items in my hands, then dropped to my knees so I could help pull. The two of us struggled, yanking on the aged bronze with all we had.

Just as I thought we’d need to inquire about help fromsomeone stronger, the door lifted, nearly throwing the two of us across the room as it released.

A cloud of dust billowed up from the opening, making us cough. When it cleared, Laera and I stared down into the darkness. I could see the first few rungs of a ladder against what appeared to be a stone wall, but beyond that, it was too dark to know.

“I’m getting really tired of being in tunnels underground,” Laera said.

I tucked the abandoned dagger into my waistband, then grabbed the torches from the ground. I lit them both in the fire of the oil, then passed one to Laera. “Come on, before I come to my senses about how stupid this is.”

“Be careful, Gina,” Cora called.

“We’ll be listening if you need us,” Sophia said.

“May Athena watch over you,” Daphne added.

I wasn’t sure any of the gods bothered with us. Maybe Athos was a forgotten land. A place where the gods didn’t wander. Perhaps that’s why we were in this position in the first place.

I climbed down carefully, holding the torch with one hand while I used the other to ease down each rung. Mercifully, the ladder held our weight and we made it to the bottom.

By the light of the torch, I looked around the room as I waited for Laera to join me. It was a dark, damp space lined with stone bricks against the walls. Whatever this place was, it had been created very intentionally.

“What is this place?” Laera asked, her torch adding more light to the dark space.

“I’m not sure.” I walked a few steps forward, quickly reaching the end of the room. It wasn’t a tunnel; it wasn’t much of anything. Dirt floors and walls made of gray brick. “Maybe it was just a storage room. Probably for wine or meat. Something they wanted to stay cool.”

“I don’t think so.”

I spun to find Laera standing at the opposite wall. Her torch illuminated it, showing dark stains I hadn’t noticed before. “Is that…”

“Blood,” Laera finished. “Lots of it, from the looks of it.”

“Could have been for sacrifices before they built the temple,” I suggested.

Laera moved her torch, revealing another portion of the wall that was free of the bloodstains. In the center of the wall was a strange, circular brick.

I walked over to where she was standing. “Look at that.”

Laera noticed the odd addition and reached for it, pressing her palm to the stone. The whole room shook as the wall began to move.

17

Ara

“Dion!”I started shouting as soon as the house was in view. “Dion, where are you?”

I didn’t stop running until I burst through the door into Dion’s house. Several women were lounging on the couches where I’d sat with my friends not long ago.

They squealed, then scattered in a frenzy of gauzy peplos and petals, flowery crowns falling as they fled.

“Sorry!” I called. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I was looking for Dion, have you seen him?”

They were gone before I even finished asking. Frustrated, I cursed, then turned, nearly colliding with the god. I jumped, making a startled squeaking sound.

Dion laughed. “You act like it’s a surprise that you found me after all that screaming.”

“I thought maybe you left the island.”

“I wouldn’t be a very good host if I did that, now, would I?” he asked.

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