Page 63 of The Shadow Gods

This had contained their power. It had made this seal, and if it came from them, it had to be good.

“Nothing is happening,” Achilles said, lifting his gaze to mine.

I must have been wrong.

* * *

There had to be a color blacker than black and a temperature colder than cold.

My footsteps echoed, reminding me of walking along the stone floors at Oxford. Short, decisive clicks. A thousand clicks of a thousand echoing feet.

“Hello?” I whispered. My voice, like my footsteps, echoed.Hellohellohello,until the words disappeared and there was only sound. This was different than the other visions.

Holding out my hands, I reached for something solid, but there was nothing but air. I shouldn't be here alone. Where was Achilles? Or Pollux? Or Hector and Paris?

“Orestes?”Orestesorestesorestes.The “s” hissed through the air, over and over, but no one answered.

“Achilles?”Achillesachillesachillesssssss.The sound went on and on, filling my ears, like the hissing of snakes. I touched my head, expecting to feel their smooth heads and quick tongues, but no. It was my curly hair.Mine.Not Medusa's. The locks were a little damp from my earlier shower and short. My bangs tickled my forehead.

I was me.

“Pollux?”Polluxpollux…on and on, and no one answered me. Wherever I was, I was alone.

I sidestepped, hoping to find a wall or something to guide me, but no matter how far I went, there was nothing. I tried the other direction. Nothing.

Oh my god. I was alone and stuck. There was nothing here. No one.

I called out again, louder this time. “Paris?”

Like a switch being flipped, the world illuminated.

In front of me, blurred and hazy, were five tall, rugged figures. I didn't need to see their faces to know who they were. They stood shoulder to shoulder. A vibration went through the air, right into my belly, reminding me of the way I could feel music through the floor when my neighbors played it too loud.

Something stood between us, making the scene in front of me distorted, like looking at the bottom of a pond from the water's surface. Holding out my hand, I stepped forward. My fingertips brushed against the something, which despite being see through, wasn't permeable. They were stuck on one side, and I was on the other.

“Paris!”

They moved, shifting from where they stood, but not to come closer to me. My voice, loud and shrill, bounced back at me.

With both my hands, I pressed against whatever was keeping us from each other. I had to get through it to them. I had to see them.

As if wanting it made it happen, the vision wavered, flickered, and then cleared.

There they were—the same, but this wasn't the version of them I knew. When Hector turned, revealing his profile, his expression was one I'd never seen. And all along his body were bright red scars, raised and angry looking. He reminded me of Frankenstein's monster, sewn back together.

“Hector!”

His blue eyes flicked toward me, but then back. What was he looking at? “What is happening?” I asked into the void.

Turning slowly, I saw...nothing. No walls, no floor. There was no reflection of anything and no space beyond what was directly in front of me. Panic welled up at the idea of being caught in this place where no one could see me or hear me, but I pushed it down. This was different, yes, but there was a reason for it. I'd asked Achilles to put the shards of the seal together, and if this is what happened, then I needed to pay attention.

“I won't panic.”I won't, I thought, repeating it over and over.I won't panic.“Okay.” Talking aloud made me feel minutely better. “What is happening? What do you see, Leo?”

Hector walked closer to me. I put my hand on the wall between us and pushed, then my other hand, because why not?

Not a crack. Not a groan. I wasn't getting through.

Hector's lips were moving, and the expression on his face grew stormier. The veins along his neck stood out, and then he whirled toward the others. Their backs had been turned, but when Hector moved, they faced him.

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