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  No matter. After tomorrow, he would go on forever.

  Oh, he couldn’t wait to get his hands on her. Couldn’t wait to stifle that wail, gouge those eyes out, and tear those wings apart. He got hard just thinking about all the nasty things he would do to her. He almost came right there.

  She turned her head for a moment, and he ducked behind the wall. He grabbed a newspaper that someone had tossed in a nearby trash can and hurried out through the lobby doors. It would have to wait until tomorrow. He wasn’t prepared for her yet. He didn’t have all his tools with him.

  Then he stopped and went back inside the lobby.

  He stared at the statue for a moment. He had heard rumors, but he wasn’t certain.

  Was that the way?

  Better safe than sorry, he decided.

  He walked back outside, down a dirty side street, and found a hobo. He paid the man handsomely with a wallet he had discovered at Jason’s place.

  He couldn’t wait to see the look on her face.

  Chapter 42

  I locked eyes with Indigo. “Go get Cerberus,” I whispered.

  The tiny dragon whipped around and flew off into the night.

  Slowly, I turned around, hand on my sword.

  Lamia’s yellow eyes were glowering at me. “Tissssssissssphone. We meet again.”

  “Lamia. Shouldn’t you be tied to a rock in Tartarus?”

  The monster slithered toward me, her thick serpent’s tail slapping the ground as she moved. “I was growing tired of the dark. Don’t you ever grow tired of it?” She spoke in long, trailing notes, dragging out the vowels of every word as if they had tails attached to them.

  I stayed my ground. Lamia bared her teeth at me.

  “Actually, I prefer the dark. Tends to keep the rats in their holes.”

  Come on, Cerberus. Come on.

  She advanced on me again, swerving her body as if to cover every inch of the sidewalk with her tail. She thumped it against a metal trash can, crushing it.

  This time, I took one step back.

  All I had was my sword and my wings. Lamia should be weak, having not fed in so long, but I had no idea what she had been up to since she had traveled to this realm. Perhaps she had used all her power just to escape. Or to make the journey here from the gate.

  I pulled the sword from my belt loop, making quite a show of it.

  She cocked her head to the side, her greasy hair shifting in messy clumps. “My, what a pretty toy you have there.”

  She snapped her teeth and licked her entire head with her whiplike tongue.

  “That’s disgusting, Lamia. Now cut the theatrics and surrender to me. You know I have to bring you in.” I tried to inject an air of confidence into my voice, but, truth be told, she was one of the worst demons I had ever battled, and that was on my own turf. Here, I wasn’t sure what to expect.

  She gave me a disdainful look, flipped her head back, and cackled like a hyena. “I think not, Fury. I have planssssss.”

  She seemed certain of herself. Was she stronger? Had she fed?

  “I know all about your plans, and they won’t work. You will never wear my lord’s crown.” I gripped the sword tighter as she slithered even closer.

  Something caught her eye, and she shifted her head. A mouse scuttled out from the building we were standing next to. She unleashed her tongue, snatched the mouse, and swallowed it whole.

  I grimaced. The monster made me sick just looking at her. Her scales weren’t shiny, like a true snake’s, but flaky, dull, and dripping with a mucus so foul smelling, it invoked a gag reflex in anyone who stood less than ten feet downwind from her.

  She flicked her eyes to me. “My, my, aren’t we the loyal one, Tisssssssiphone.”

  I hated the way she said my name. I darted my eyes around, looking for a place to leap. I could fly straight from the ground, but it expended more energy. If I had a catapult, I could get airborne quicker and fly higher straightaway.

  Lamia scraped her gnarled fingernails along a wall. “You know, I could use a goddess like you when I take the throne. My little plan will be complete tomorrow, the planet Pluto well appeased by the sacrifices I will offer it. Wouldn’t you like to be there by my side when I force Hades to his knees?”

  “You will never take the throne. You had a crown once, remember? You failed to keep it.”

  She flicked her tongue at me and glowered. She hated to be reminded of her lost regal status.

  “Don’t be so sure. You have no idea what I am capable of, Fury.”

  She moved forward once again, and I moved backward. I noticed some steps behind me that led to a fire escape. If I could just get to those steps.

  “I know exactly what you are capable of. Why do you think I locked you up in the first place?”

  “Yesssssss, you did, didn’t you? Perhaps I’ll do the same to you when Hades’s crown is on my head, hmmm?”

  She seemed more powerful than I had thought she would be. All those years of being locked up in Tartarus should have drained her. Had she fed? Was that it? Had she stolen a child? Or was it something else? Whom was she working with?

  Then the most terrifying thought entered my mind. What if I was wrong? What if she couldn’t be killed here? I knew her weakest spot to be her midsection, where her snakeskin met her once-immortal skin. If she were sliced in two at just the right angle, she could be killed in my world.

  But here, on this plane, did it have to be so specific?

  There was only one way to find out.

  “Why would you lock me up, Lamia? I didn’t kill my children.”

  She screamed the cry of a thousand tortured souls. “Liessssss!”

  I shuffled back, jumped onto the stairs, and leaped.

  I flew to the top of the building, but before I could land, Lamia wrapped her tongue around my ankles, binding me.

  She slammed my body into the side of the building, and I felt my forehead tear open.

  I folded my wings so they wouldn’t break. Then I bucked my feet up, whipped my sword around, and severed her tongue.

  She screamed as I fell to the ground.

  I scrambled to my feet, sword at the ready, and lunged at her midsection. She managed to slap me away with her massive tail, but I cut off a chunk of it. Then she grew her tongue back, thicker than before, and lashed my hand, forcing me to drop the blade. She grew her tail back too and smacked it into my back, knocking me to the cement.

  I reached for the sword. Just as my fingertips met it, she batted it away, and I heard it clank against something. I couldn’t see it.

  I was defenseless. I had no choice but to retreat.

  My wings expanded to their full girth, and I leaped.

  But Lamia was faster. She whipped her tongue around my left wing—the damaged one—so tight that I could barely flap the other one.

  Not my wing!

  She left me dangling there in the air, nearly out of breath. I could hear her hissing, could feel her hunger.

  By Hades! She was going to eat me.

  “Lamia, put me down!”

  “I think not, Fury. I feel like a snack.”

  She coiled me toward her.

  Chapter 43

  I heard Lamia scream before I smelled the smoke, but she held fast to my wing anyway. Her tongue squeezed tighter, and I felt my lungs constrict. My bodily forces—my breath, my organs, my blood—were all connected to my wing bone, and I feared she would suffocate the life from me. I was hovering just in front of her snapping jaws. I could smell the fear of the children she had killed, the rot of her own soul.

  Indigo fluttered around her, searching for another good spot to set her on fire without harming me. She blew a flame at the demon’s hair, but the slime covering it only doused it out. Indigo sputtered in frustration, diving this way and that, snapping her dragon jaws. She got close enough to bite Lamia. The monster cried out once more and snatched the little dragon from the air with her clawed hand, clamping Indigo’s mouth shut.

  The dra
gon grunted and kicked, enraged.

  I reached out, trying to punch and kick the demon with all my might, but every time I did, it only inspired Lamia to squeeze harder.

  Cerberus roared from somewhere. Judging from Lamia’s scream and the way her body bucked and twitched, I guessed the hound had sunk his teeth into her torso. He likely held her there too, for she steadied a moment. I didn’t hear another bark or snarl. I suspected Cerberus was deciding which was the best strategy—continue to maul her or hold her steady.

  “Tisiphone!”

  I lifted my head to see Archer standing there, a twisted look of dismay and concern on his face. He was holding his gun, aiming it at Lamia’s head.

  “The middle! Shoot her in the middle,” I said.

  He fired off six rounds, one after the other.

  Blood like black oil spurted fountain-style out of the serpent beast. She wailed and bounced me on the ground a few times, her tongue still wrapped around me. She was frothing at the mouth, her bile dripping on my head every time her tongue slackened. Finally, I felt her loosen her grip around my wing. I wiggled around to punch her again and again, before she finally released Indigo and me.

  I unfurled her tongue from around me, watching as her piss-colored eyes lost their hue. Her tongue slackened, and she opened her mouth to say something.

  But nothing came out.

  She was still breathing as I untangled the tongue from my wing. I flapped it a few times to make sure it was still functional. It seemed to be working properly, although severely weakened, and I with it. I would need to find a source of power soon.

  I scanned the dark street, searching for my sword to end her, but I couldn’t find it.

  “My sword, Archer. Help me find my sword.”

  The lawman was still a bit stunned, but he tried not to show it. We searched the area, all four of us, until Archer finally spotted the glint of the blade in a sewage drain. It took some doing, but we managed to free the sword from the space between the grates, and Indigo stationed herself at the grip.

  When I turned to slay the monster, she was gone. All except the portion of her tongue I had severed in the beginning of the attack.

  I sent Cerberus off to scout the area, but he came up with nothing.

  Archer put his hands on my shoulder. “You okay?”

  I nodded. “I think so,” I said, a bit short of breath.

  “Let’s get you home, Sassy.”

  On the way back to the palace, I asked Archer how he had found me.

  “It’s not every day you see a blue dragon riding a black horse down the Strip. That caught my attention. I followed them.”

  I smiled. Archer had grabbed some paper towels from a nearby restaurant, and I was dabbing the cut on my head. I had already wiped the muck of Lamia from my hair and face.

  “You’ve got a pretty good-sized lump there.” Archer gingerly lifted my hair away from my face. “You sure you don’t want to visit a hospital? You might have a concussion.”

  “No. I’m fine. I just need a pain reliever.”

  “I don’t know what you use back home, but I think we can find some aspirin at the hotel.”

  “That would be wonderful.”

  As we walked, Archer explained that the address listed for Jason Helm turned out to be a dead end. “Sex offenders are supposed to update the information in our database when they move, but that doesn’t always happen.”

  “Don’t the authorities track them?”

  “They should. Hey, watch your step.” He guided me around a broken beer bottle. “But the parole officers are usually overworked and underpaid. Things slip through the cracks. Don’t worry, though—I asked around, and according to one of the neighbors, he moved to the same apartment complex Tommy used to live in. I plan to visit him first thing in the morning. Flash Helm’s picture. Maybe Tommy does know the son of a bitch after all.”

  Cerberus was keeping pace at my side while Indigo was sleeping soundly on my sword. Every so often, she would kick her tiny feet, mew, and blow out puffs of smoke as if she were dreaming.

  We stopped to get Cerberus two slabs of ribs, three baked potatoes, and an order of green beans. He ate everything on a bench near the Bellagio hotel.

  “I can’t believe he didn’t show.” Archer poured extra barbecue sauce on his pork sandwich. “I’ll kill Sam if he tipped him off.”

  I sipped my Gatorade. I didn’t have much of an appetite after losing Lamia. “I don’t think that’s the case. Perhaps Jason Helm misunderstood the message. Perhaps he thought the meeting was tomorrow.”

  Tomorrow. I had until 5:55 tomorrow to find Alecto. After that, I had no idea what was going to happen, but my instincts told me it would spell disaster for all of us.

  “Maybe,” Archer said, although he seemed doubtful of that explanation.

  Cerberus finished his meal and went off into some bushes. Archer picked up the empty food containers and tossed them in a nearby garbage can. I watched as he handed a dirty man with torn clothes some currency.

  Something twittered in my chest, and another electric jolt ran through my body.

  I was losing my heart to this man—I could feel it. I sighed and tilted my head back to look at the inky sky. I cracked my neck and stretched my legs, yearning to take flight, but my wings were retracted and resting from the battle.

  So many battles. My energy was draining, I could tell, and I feared that if my power faded any more, I would be of no use to anyone. There were ways for me to refuel, however, and I just might have to indulge in them if I was going to save my sister.

  Archer said, “What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing. Why?”

  “You’re grinning.”

  “Oh. Just thinking. How do you feel about Texas Hold’em?”

  “I like it.”

  “Wanna play?”

  “Now? You want to play poker now?”

  “When I use my brain, it energizes my body.”

  Archer bent to put his hands on my thighs. He had a mischievous look on his face. “And what about when you use your body?”

  I leaned my head toward his. “That works too.”

  He wrinkled his nose and smiled.

  “What?”

  “You stink.”

  I pulled my hair forward and sniffed. He was right. “Lamia. She smells worse than the giants. I guess I’ll shower first.”

  We took the side street off the Strip to enter Caesars Palace. We received a few odd stares as we descended the escalator. I must have looked a wreck.

  Cerberus trotted back to the room while we inquired about a Texas Hold’em table. One was beginning in two hours.

  I said, “Archer, before we go up, I’d like to visit the Graces statue. I have yet to hear from Thalia, so I thought I’d try to connect with her.”

  “Sure. Why don’t you try calling her on the phone first?”

  I did. No answer.

  When we got to the lobby, instantly I realized exactly why neither Thalia nor Molpe had made contact.

  There were policemen in the lobby, questioning a few people. Staff were milling about, trying to calm customers, and the maid service was sweeping the floor all around the statue.

  All of the eyes of each Grace were knocked out. There was a hammer lying on the ground where the vandal must have dropped it.

  The portal had been destroyed.

  Thalia couldn’t return.

  And neither could we.

  Just beyond the café to the right stood Rumour. She was staring right at me.

  Chapter 44

  I lurched forward. “I’ll kill her!”

  Archer grabbed my elbows and forced me to look at him. “Whoa, Tisi, Tisi, calm down. There’s cops crawling the place. Let’s not get you arrested. Who are you talking about?”

  “Rumour,” I spat, my eyes locked on her. “She did this. She did this out of sheer spite because she has no gifts.” I raised my voice. “I see you. Come over here!”

  “Tisi, shhh,” Archer sa
id. A few uniformed heads swung our way.

  I looked at him. “You don’t know her like I do.”

  Archer said, “I’m sure it wasn’t her. I’m sure it’s just a punk kid.”

  “You have that badge. Can’t you find out who did this?” I asked.

  Archer frowned. “I can, but what if they know I’m dead? I know one of the guys.”

  He turned his back to the officers.

  “What’s the worst that could happen? You tell them you’re a ghost.”

  Archer rolled his eyes, pulling me farther away from the statue. “Oh, that should go over well.”

  I glared at him and lit the flame in my eyes.

  Archer grumbled and said, “Fine. But stay right here. And don’t give me that look.”

  I extinguished the fire and thanked him. After he left, Rumour sauntered over to me, her curved hips sashaying as she walked. “Tisiphone, my hero.”

  “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t kill you right now.” I glanced at the statue.

  She pursed her lips and put her hands to her hips. “What? You think I did this? Are you crazy?”

  I was getting there. I hated this case—hated this damned city—but I said nothing to my cousin.

  She blew out a sigh and flicked her gaze to Archer for a moment. “All right, look. Your words got to me, okay? Everything you said made me a tad nervous, so I thought I’d go home. At least until things settled down.”

  “Coward.”

  “Oh, very cute. Easy for you to say. You’ve got Cujo, Dirty Harry, and Puff the Magic Dragon to defend you. Plus your powers. What have I got?”

  She stared at me for a minute.

  Finally I had to ask. “Who is Dirty Harry?”

  Rumour rolled her eyes. “Lords, Tisi, you really need to get out more.”

  “Well, did you at least see who did this?”

  “No. I arrived after it happened.”

  We stood there in silence for a moment. Then she asked, “Can I stay with you?”