Page 45 of Salt & Blood

“If this thing has multiple heads, then it won’t have a blind spot,” Pandora pointed out.

“Under the belly,” Mona and Midas said together.

Pandora looked at Mona as ifshehad grown two heads. “Who are you? How do you know all this?”

“I read a lot,” Mona said with an embarrassed chuckle.

An earth-shatteringcrashechoed through the room as something large shoved through the ceiling. Rocks and dirt fell around them. Mona lifted her arms over her head, and a magical dome of protection surrounded her and Pandora. Squinting through the particles in the air, she looked up, and her stomach roiled.

A gray, clawed foot protruded from the ceiling. It was half the size of Mona’s entire body. Her pulse quickened, and she suddenly felt like she might be ill.

“It’ll bring the whole cavern down!” someone shouted.

Mona’s eyes widened. Without another thought, she stretched her arms toward the creature’s foot andpulled.

Soil and rocks fell, but Mona’s magic absorbed it all, catching each piece before it fell to the ground. The hole around the monster widened, and the chandelier shattered. Mona widened her shield so the shards bounced off it. Sweat beaded along her brow, and then a hand was gripping her arm.

Pandora. She offered Mona a sure nod before stretching her other arm toward the ceiling, pulling the creature down.

“What the hell are you doing?” Midas roared.

Mona couldn’t see him through the dust around her, but she shouted back, “If I can control its descent, I can ensure the rest of the cavern remains intact! Once it’s dead, we’ll rebuild it! This way is safer.”

She interpreted Midas’s silence as assent, so she continued drawing the earth downward. Her magic swept up each piece of dirt and dust that fell, but the strain of controlling so much falling debris made her arms tremble.

“A little further,” Pandora assured her.

Mona’s vision darkened, but she nodded, gasping for breath. She struggled to focus, to home in on that beast’s gray, scaly flesh as it sank lower and lower. An almighty screech filled the air, making the walls tremble again.

At long last, the hole was big enough, and the hydra fell to the earth before them. Mona tugged Pandora backward before they were crushed by it. Goddess above, it wasmassive.Bigger than Mona’s home back in Krenia, the beast had five heads, each one resembling a large snake. The scaled body stretched behind it on four legs, with a long, barbed tail swishing on its end.

“Seal it in!” Mona cried.

She and Pandora sent their magic toward the gaping hole in the ceiling, filling the gap with the powers of the earth. The energy shifted around them as the hydra whipped its heads toward them, drawn in by their magic. Crimson eyes flared wide with interest, locking onto the two sisters. Mona pushed and pushed, even as the beast drew closer with another screech.

Then Evander was there, sword slicing into the creature’s side. Black blood oozed from the wound, and the hydra staggered backward, its heads now craning toward Evander.

“No!” Mona screamed as the beast drew nearer.

Evander dropped his sword and stretched his arms wide. Something silver and transparent flared behind him, and Mona’s breath caught in her throat. Even the hydra staggered backward in alarm.

Behind Evander, spreading outward from his shoulder blades, was a gleaming echo of the dark wings he used to have—like a translucent replica of his demonic form. Mona’s eyes widened as she recognized the small horns atop his head, also silver, like a ghost.

He looked just like when he and Typhon had merged, only this time, his wings and horns and claws were sheer like glass.

Evander’s wings beat, and he rose into the air, hovering until he was at eye level with the beast.

“Is that—” Pandora whispered, following Mona’s gaze.

“It’s Typhon,” Mona breathed, jaw slackening in shock. “But… a ghost.”

INSTINCTS

PANDORA

Having grownup in the Underworld, Pandora had seen all manner of demons. She’d encountered ones with horns, tails, fangs, claws, scales, and skin of varying shades of color.

But the hydra was something else entirely.

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