Page 37 of Shadow Dreaming

“You know the portals? Well, some of those lead to the domains of the gods. They can travel through them, just like demons can come in from the UnderRealms, just like the Fae can come and go through their portals… Well, you get the drift.” Sophia snapped her fingers and Coco stood at alert, turned, and bounced over to her.

My mind took a sudden turn and I found my thoughts wandering. Had I ever met a god? Had they passed by me on the streets and I didn’t realize it? Did they get offended if people didn’t recognize them? But a moment later, Sophia brought me back to focus.

“All right, I’m going to call on Pythia.”

I had the sudden vision that a goddess was going to appear in Sophia’s living room, and that thought scared me shitless. “Um, should Duran and I be here? Will she mind?”

Sophia laughed. “She’s not going to show up. At least I don’t think she will. She might, if the situation’s complicated enough, but chances are I’ll commune with her and hear her answer.”

She stared at me, and I suddenly broke down, laughing.

“I must sound like a nutcase,” I said.

“No, not considering the situation. If you’ve never encountered the gods, it can be daunting. They’re so much more powerful than we are. And immortal. But remember: they’re not infallible, and neither are they omnipotent nor omniscient. Nothing in the universe is. The universe itself is sentient but on such a vast scale we can’t fathom it. Everything is connected, a vast web of energy points. We make up the universe and yet, it’s more than everything combined.”

“The sum of the parts is greater than the parts themselves?” Duran said. “We’re taught that in school at the magical academies.”

“Right. All right, wait here. I’m going to get my tincture. It helps me go into trance on a deeper level.” She vanished down the hall.

I turned to Duran. “Did you know?”

“What?”

“That the gods can visit us here?” I was still dumbfounded. “You know, I think, in the depths of my heart, I don’t even know if I believed they really existed. I mean, I know magic works, I know that psychics exist, I don’t know why I thought of the gods as some nebulous energy.” I realized that I’d conveniently filed them away and ignored any questions about their actuality. It had prevented me from going down the rabbit hole of what part the gods played in our lives.

“I don’t know if I’ve thought about it, though I knew they existed,” Duran said. “Penelope’s met Hecate, I do know that. So, I guess I knew?”

At that moment, Sophia returned with a small bottle. She settled down on the sofa, crossing her legs, opened the bottle, and used the eyedropper to let three drops fall on her tongue. Grimacing, she capped the bottle again, setting it to the side.

I wanted to ask what the tincture was, but she was already closing her eyes and I could feel her withdraw into trance, so I kept quiet. I could ask later.

“Look,” Duran said.

At first I wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but then I saw it.

A faint, lavender mist was rising around Sophia. As the seconds ticked by, it became thicker, a gentle fog that rolled around her. Sophia didn’t move. She sat there, breathing deeply, and the energy in the room grew dense. While the fog didn’t boil out to encompass Duran or me, we could feel it. It penetrated every corner of the room.

The lights seem to flicker, although when I stared at them, they were holding steady. Everything felt nebulous, like reality was losing its hold. I felt like I should be nervous, but I wasn’t. There was no malignant aura, no sense of the malign. Duran and I waited patiently, keeping quiet so we didn’t interrupt the process.

A few moments later, Sophia opened her eyes. They were glazed over, black as night.

“I am here.” The voice that echoed out of Sophia’s mouth wasn’t hers, and it crackled like an old-time radio program.

“Pythia?” Duran asked.

“Yes.”

A shiver raced up my spine. I knew, absolutely, that we were speaking to a goddess, and I had no clue what to say. I didn’t want to say the wrong thing.

Sophia spoke again, but it wasn’t her—that much was obvious. “I understand the situation. I will speak with the goddess Hecate.”

I glanced at Duran, and he gave me a soft shake of the head, bringing his finger to his lips. At his prompting, I remained silent. I wasn’t sure how much time passed, but after what seemed like a few moments, Sophia cleared her throat.

“I have spoken to Hecate and she has told me that she will visit you, given Penelope is her priestess. Prepare for her visitation tomorrow morning.” Sophia was starting to look a little strained.

Worried about her, I asked, “Is Sophia okay?”

After a brief pause, Pythia said, “I will leave before she’s in any danger.”

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