Page 49 of The Brothers Bane

I brace myself, then stop. “Uh… I have no idea where to go. I’ve never been to Las Vegas.”

Alcides harumphs, and I glare at him. “What? I’ve never been anywhere, really. Just my hometown and Bear Island, and a few places along I-90, before I wound up with you guys.”

“It’s okay,” Campe says. “We know our way around the city. Open your mind to me. I’ll show you where to go.”

“This is a bad idea,” Alcides says. “Vesh brought her inside with us to protect her from Chaos. We know Nemea is what Chaos wants. Now you want to venture straight into his territory?”

Campe scoffs. “We’ll be in and out before he can catch our scent. He’ll be too busy with the others to notice.” She turns back to me and rests her hands on my shoulders. “Everyone hold onto us; we don’t want to lose you.”

Erebus and Typhon each grasp one of my hands while Alcides clutches my hips from behind. Campe’s beautiful eyes fix on mine, her irises flickering between every color of the rainbow until they finally land on a brilliant blue.

Instantly an image appears in my mind of an overhead view of a city at night, sparkling with an abundance of neon lights. Not too far ahead of us is a familiar sight, though extremely out of place. But Las Vegas has its own Space Needle, doesn’t it? What do they call it?

“It’s the Stratosphere,” Campe says, answering my question and pulling me back to myself. “That’s where we’ll land. There’s a platform at the top where they have thrill rides, but it’s closed now, so it’ll be unoccupied. Now focus and take us there the way you brought us here.”

“What time is it there?”

“Around 10 p.m.”

I take a beat before I remember the world has time zones and I’ve been in Greece for the past few days, not some alternate universe.

Where we arenowis basically an alternate universe of my own creation, but the real world still exists. It’s still a challenge to wrap my head around, but I’m getting there.

“You’re stalling,” Typhon murmurs. “We’ve got you.” He squeezes my hand, and I meet his earnest gaze, struck yet again by the new look, and even more by the haunted depths in his eyes that so closely reflect my own.

But I need to focus, so I do, nodding at Campe and closing my eyes so she can show me where we’re going again.

It’s like we’re hovering in the air above the city once more, about two hundred yards from the platform at the top of the Stratosphere. That’s where we need to land, so with a deliberate surge of power, I simply will us there.

And the world drops out from under us.

22

Nemea

My stomach lurches into my throat, and three other voices rise in startled cries and curses. It’s dark and the world is spinning far beneath me. Brilliant lights are a strobing blur alternating with darkness. A loud noise cracks the air like thunder, and I’m abruptly caught around the waist in the grip of something enormous.

The spinning stops suddenly and I’m hauled upward, only catching my bearings in time to be set on a hard surface. Three figures materialize before me out of a cloud of utter darkness. I look up into the iridescent fire of Campe’s eyes, only they’re larger now, and set in the face of a massive dragon with tarnished scales and a pair of chipped horns.

Before I can say thank you, I collapse to my knees and retch.

It’s several moments of staring at a puddle of puke before I can find my voice.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what I did wrong.”

Campe’s hand is on my back, rubbing in gentle circles. I glance to the side at her. “You could’ve been seen.”

“No one saw me. My scales are reflective from a distance. I’d blend into the sky if anyone looked up.”

I only nod, then turn to the others. Alcides has his hands braced on his knees, staring fixedly at the ground.

“You guys okay?”

Erebus signs something that I actually manage to understand for once. He caught them.

Then it registers that Typhon’s body has morphed slightly, a handful of small snake heads jutting from his collarbone, and the tip of one dark wing swaying behind his shoulder. But he looks far from frightened.

“What’s up with you?” I ask, wiping my mouth and rising shakily to my feet.

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