Page 116 of Until the End of Ever
He extended his hand, and after a moment, I reached out to shake it. "Kleos. Make sure she doesn't come here," I said slowly. "This is a trap."
He stood. "I'll do my best to tighten up security, but I don't think anything could stop my daughter from preventing thistravesty. She'll be there Friday."
I would have preferred if he'd come to announce my execution date.My phone was out of battery. Fuck it. How did I warn her away? "Not on the first floor. Never let her anywhere close to the temples. And not alone, at any point."
"I'll do what I can," the politician stated, heading out of the darkening room.
51
KLEOS
Ihad no clue why Cassius made me take gold when everything around me, from the floor to the narrow walls and archways, was made of pure, solid gold. People here only had to reach out to grab some.
"Which way?" Silver whispered.
I could understand why. We'd arrived in a tunnel of sorts, both sides dark, the only source of light coming from the ball of flame Gideon conjured in his hand. It felt like the sort of place filled with rats, monsters, and possibly ghosts. I had no desire to start shouting either."No clue."
"There's running water that way," Lucky said, pointing to her left.
I could feel she was right, but what did it mean for our path?
"I'd say we should go away from the river. Water is a source of life. We're heading towards the gateway to death."
"Right, because that's a logical thing to do," Gideon tittered, taking the lead nonetheless.
We'd only talked in silence for a few moments when a shade flew past us at high speed, translucent and so swift it was already disappearing in the distance.
"After it!" I said, trying to run.
Everyone else overtook me with ease, but the fastest of us, Silver, stopped ahead. "Lost it," she grunted.
"There might be more to follow later. And in any case, this proves we're heading towards the right side."
I had no clue how long we walked, but my legs started to tire, and I could have used a drink.
"Where's Lucian when we need a hamper with snacks and water?" Ronan muttered.
I left in too much of a rush to think of sustenance.
The time worried me for another reason: Cassius made it clear that we only had a day here. Three or four hours must have already gone by. Lucky only tripped eight times.
I made myself walk as fast as I could. I attempted to cast a time spell, but the answer it gave me only served to confuse me. They must not have used the same measures to count the time here.
More shades raced past us, but we stopped trying to keep up, as there didn't seem to be any turns, just this long endless corridor.
"There's a light in the distance," Ronan said, tossing his fancy jacket to the floor.
It was rather warm here, but I didn't want to let go of my shawl. The first gift Lucian ever gave me. Instead, I resized it to the size of a handkerchief and pocketed it. "Let's get going!"
It took at least another hour by my estimation to finally reach the end of the tunnel, but the ever-brightening light made it less depressing.
At the end, Gideon stopped short. "Fuck."
Around his wide shoulders, I could see what had interrupted him: a wide, deep chasm, dark waters at the very bottom of the mile-wide, impossibly deep abyss.
"What now?" Silver said, turning to me for answers.
I was too busy cursing Cassius for his sucky sense of intergalactic direction.
