Covenant (21 page)

Troy breathed harder. Her vision swam.

“It must be so hard,” Python continued, “to always live at the service of others. Keeping them happy and alive at your own expense. How much better to be Queen and turn the tables for a change.”

Troy leaned over Juno. She saw Hecate dying. She saw her own mother starving to keep her alive. She didn't want the cycle of death to continue on and on, pitifully unchecked. And worse still, Sariel continued to escape her. Troy reached out and touched Juno's neck.

“All it takes,” Python said, “is one twist of the wrist. Just one.”

Juno rustled in her sleep. Her legs shuffled. “Auntie,” she hissed softly.

The word scorched like lightning through Troy. She snatched her hand away from Juno and rounded on Python.

“
No deal, snake,
” she growled and flapped her wings violently.

Troy leaped for Python's neck. He dodged out of the way, leaving the nails of her hands and feet to scratch powerfully into the rock. Troy unhitched her nails from the stone.

She dropped back to the ground and raced for Python.

“You'll be sorry for your arrogance, you ragged crow,” Python spat at her. “An idiot's refusal demands an idiot's reward.”

Before Troy could slice into his face like last time, the purple mist surrounded Python's body and he disappeared. His orange eyes were the last thing to vanish.

Troy skidded to a stop among the jagged pebbles.

Fury had awakened and flew to Troy's shoulder, screeching in anger. Behind her, Troy could hear Juno and Nina awakening. They began to shout and begged to know what was happening. Juno galloped to Troy's side and growled out into the darkness, her miniature hackles raised, and her wings stiff.

“The snake returned, just as I warned,” Troy said, turning to face Nina.

Nina stared at Troy with wide eyes. “And?”

Troy breathed hard. “And I told him he wasn't wanted here.” Troy growled furiously at her. “Enough questions!”

“But—”

“
Silence,
” Troy hissed dangerously. She slumped to the ground, folding in her wings. She gasped for breath as if she'd fought for hours, gritting her teeth and staring into the darkness. Her wings shivered, then her entire body. No one dared to come near her for a while. At last, Juno crept closer.

“Auntie,” she whispered.

Troy ached to swat her away. Sariel had been so close yet again. Now that chance was gone. Troy's people were at the brink of disaster, and here she was stuck in a cavern with an injured Revenant human and a Jinn chick who couldn't catch a spider properly. She clenched her teeth and tried to keep herself from doing something rash.

“Auntie,” Juno hissed, “whatever happened, it is over now. You are safe.”

Troy relaxed a little, still shivering with anger.

“Thank you,” Juno said. “For whatever you did.” She clasped Troy's leg.

Troy grabbed Juno's arm and made to fling her violently aside. She relaxed and let go at the last second. “Come,” Troy said to no one in particular. “We will leave now and go forward. It is no longer wise to stay here.”

No one spoke. But they obeyed and either hobbled behind or followed Troy to the only opening available to them in the cavern. The path was extremely dark, lit only by a few embers every one hundred feet. Nina would have immense difficulty in seeing, but she never complained. Troy led them in silence and refused to answer tentative questions put to her about what had happened. Yet the more she walked with Juno by her side, the stronger she felt, and the more a pride she'd never experienced before worked its way down to her soul.

It would be difficult. But there was no doubt inside her anymore.

Troy had made the right decision.

 

Nina read signs when they appeared, Troy did her best to catch and follow her cousin's scent, and after a while the journey settled into some kind of odd routine as they wound down, deeper into the labyrinth, probably closer to Lucifel with every step. Juno and Fury knew enough to stay in the background and communicate with each other through silence rather than words.

That left Troy and Nina to walk side by side through the long darkness.

Troy couldn't express the fear she felt inside. There was no proof, but she knew that Angela was in trouble and that they had to hurry. But the pace couldn't grow any faster with Nina injured and weak.

Nina often fell silent, her face taking on a grim expression that could have foreshadowed tragedy.

The lack of any other living presence in the labyrinth was troubling.

The demon who had lured them inside enjoyed the cruel game of seeing his victims struggle in his maze. Any period of relative quiet now seemed like the prelude to a grand trap. Troy's wings quivered nervously as they exited a low and excruciatingly narrow passage. It dumped them into a cave that was more like a room with smoothly carved walls. The ceiling was so high that the torches set in its reaches resembled the stars. Troy knew that the labyrinth had to be connected at some point to the demon city of Babylon, and now she and the others appeared to be coming closer. Hieroglyphs covered the walls.

Nina ran her hand along the carvings, her face pale in the flicker of unearthly light. She muttered the passages, reading them to herself until she stopped, visibly afraid.

“We're trapped,” she whispered.

Troy stared at her, her ears trying to catch any suspicious noise. “This entire maze is a trap. Do not speak unless you have something more useful to say.”

Nina shook her head violently. “The writing says there's no way out.
We've reached a dead end.
”

“Impossible.” Troy stomped over and shoved Nina out of the way, attempting to read the demonic script herself. Juno hovered by Troy's side, glancing from Troy to the wall and back again.

The words were hardly legible. Surely Nina had made a mistake.

“Stay here,” Troy ordered everyone. She escaped into the blackness surrounding the flickering light and tried to inspect the fringes of the chamber. It was long and rectangular, the walls covered in writing that appeared ancient. Yet besides the narrow passage they'd used to enter, there seemed to be no real door out. Fury soared overhead, examining the areas Troy hadn't bothered flying to reach.

After a few minutes, Troy returned and Nina heaved a sigh of relief.

“You were right,” Troy said. “We will have to turn around.”

Nina shut her eyes, probably unable to imagine retracing that many steps only to get lost again.

Wait! Master!
Fury's thoughts interrupted Troy's with sudden force. The Vapor landed with a thud at Troy's feet, dancing and flapping her large wings.
There is an opening in the ceiling, high above. But it can only be reached by flying. The human . . .

Troy glanced at Nina. The girl would have to be carried.

“Tell me you're not afraid of heights,” Troy said to her.

Nina's face lost the rest of its color. Perhaps she was remembering that night she'd fallen from one of Luz's high towers, and Troy had dived to rescue her from plunging into Earth's frigid sea. “We have to climb?” Nina managed to squeak out.

Troy grunted. “You would never make it all the way. Especially in such a pitiful state. I will fly and carry you.”

“But—”

“Do you suggest that I leave you here?” Troy snapped. “Either way, make your decision. We don't have much time.”

Nina seemed to search the darkness for an invisible clock counting down their seconds. Then she nodded and approached Troy awkwardly. “Won't I be kind of heavy?”

“I've carried trophies twice your size back to the Warrens,” Troy said. “You are little more than air.”

“Oh. Okay then . . .”

Troy wrapped her arms around Nina's chest and waist. With a commanding nod at Juno, she spread her wings and flapped them powerfully, bouncing thunderous echoes off the walls. In seconds they had lifted from the ground and begun to soar upward. It had been awhile since Troy felt the warm breeze whipping back her hair, the miraculous effect of the air buoying her aloft.

Nina's weight barely affected Troy. She ascended faster and faster, aware of Juno and Fury soaring close behind.

They aimed for a pinhole in the ceiling that became larger and larger the closer they approached. Large script circled their exit to freedom. Snakes carved into the stone stared back at them with cruel glittering eyes.

Nina spoke in Troy's ears, her voice shaky with fear. She was reading the words that surrounded the porthole. “
What you thought was Up is actually Down. In this room, a hundred Hells are found
.”

A scorching sense of danger shot through Troy. She spread her wings stiffly, trying to brake.

She was too late. Eerie laughter echoed behind the noise of Troy's wing beats. The stone snakes' eyes glowed brightly.

Troy's own momentum pushed her through. The others followed a moment later.

With a terrifying sound of metal on stone, the porthole closed like an eye blinking shut.

Twenty-four

The more I longed for home, the farther away it became.
—T
ROY

The world tilted and whirled.

Troy smacked into what should have been a ceiling but was actually a floor.

Nina dropped from her arms with a loud cry, and Troy accidentally bit the inside of her own cheek, smarting at the blood filling her mouth. The laughter had faded.

Troy cursed herself anyway. She should have recognized the illusion at some point on her own. Recently, perhaps in the monotonous course of their journey, the landscape had actually twisted upside-down. The effect had been so subtle, even Troy hadn't noticed as she should have.

She pushed up from the floor, spitting out blood. Her injured ankle throbbed painfully.

Juno huddled against her, even more wide-eyed than usual. Fury also seemed entranced as she stared out into the dimly lit room in utter silence. Nina groaned and rubbed at her head as she sat up.

“What just happened?” she muttered, wincing as her leg brushed the floor. Most of the blood on her bandage had dried to an ugly black color, but the wound would continue to ooze for quite a while before decay set in.

Troy slammed her fist against the floor and gasped for breath.

She rounded on Fury. The bird broke from her spell just in time.

Troy swiped at the crow angrily, and Fury skittered aside, screeching.
Forgive me,
Fury begged in her whispery little voice.
You know I cannot read! I didn't know—

Forget it
, Troy snapped. She stood and rubbed at her hand, stroking her nails.
I will deal with you later.

Fury shivered but wisely dropped the subject.

Troy stretched her wings and folded them inward again as she glanced at their surroundings. There were embers and the soft blue-green luminescence covering some of the ceiling that Troy recognized from her own home in the Underworld. But everywhere, obsidian as smooth and reflective as glass jutted from the floor in a new maze of mirrors. Juno had fixated on one of her hundreds of reflections and began to approach it cautiously. She tapped at it and retreated back to Troy's side, whimpering.

“What is this?” Nina said, wincing again as she tried to stand. Beads of sweat dotted her dirty forehead.

Troy looked to her right and left but found nothing besides more mirrors.

Somehow, there was probably a way out. But finding it in this mess of illusions would be dangerously time consuming.

She sniffed. Sariel's scent was now completely gone, though they were actually deeper in Hell, which would be better for finding Angela.

Troy examined herself in the mirror. The bluish tinge to her lips looked faded and dull in the equally bluish light. Far from looking intimidating, Troy appeared as ravaged as she felt. Her hair was more knotted than usual, and her wings had only started to grow back the missing fourth of her feathers. Old scars somehow looked more prominent and monstrous. There seemed to be little left of the High Assassin who brought so much terror to the Underworld.

“There will be an exit,” Troy said, turning away from her pathetic reflection. “The demon would be bored otherwise. So we must find the way out. Now.”

Their little group was alone and terribly vulnerable. Troy dropped onto her hands and feet and prowled cautiously around their perimeter.

The room was smaller than the mirrors made it look.

Troy found the first corner to turn easily enough. There were even more mirrors here. The others followed and cautiously fanned out, their footsteps slower and more tentative the more they walked away from one another. Troy licked away at the blood inside of her mouth, her stomach growling pathetically. Nina wobbled and leaned against one of the obsidian mirrors.

“Are you all right?” Troy said, examining her keenly.

Nina straightened, but the tired look in her face didn't change. “Would you mind if I just stayed here until you found the exit? I don't think I'll be much help as I am anyway . . .”

That was reasonable enough.

Troy nodded. “Juno, come.”

“But, Auntie, I think—”

“NOW
,
” Troy said.

Juno scampered to Troy with Fury hopping behind at a safe distance.

“She will be fine,” Troy muttered to Juno as they rounded another reflective corner. “The more you haunt her with your presence, the less she will heal. She needs to become stronger, and without relying on the fickle compassion of a Jinn chick.”

Juno's ears flattened, but she said nothing. Silently, she watched as Troy untied bones from her hair and dropped them at key areas to use as a path back to their starting point. The silence continued as they wandered in relative circles. Yet the more they wandered, the more Troy's impatience grew, and an evil sense of being watched oppressed her.

She stopped abruptly next to a bone on the floor that she didn't recognize. Juno smacked into her legs and plopped onto the ground, shaking her wings.

“Auntie?” Juno whispered.

Troy ignored her, trying to think, staring at the bone. Her mind had been working on a faint memory. Now it came back to her with crushing force. A rumor had been passed down among the Jinn that the demons had chambers like this one sprinkled throughout Hell, especially their city of Babylon, and that they used them not only as a way to punish transgressors and enemies, but as a battleground for two equally matched opponents.

Amid these mirrors, they would drop two Jinn and starve them before forcing them to battle each other to the death.

There was no reason to think this demon would ignore tradition. But he hadn't even bothered to have an opponent attack Troy or Juno.

That left Nina.

Troy broke away from the bone of her ancestor in revulsion. “Hurry. We must return!”

Without any further explanation, she galloped as swiftly as she could. Her feet slid across the stone floor, its chill leeching upward through her palms and spreading throughout her body.

The demon couldn't kill the girl. Angela would never forgive Troy for letting Nina die so easily, and besides, it was now a matter of pride for Troy to keep her alive.

At least that was what Troy told herself. Why else would she be acting so foolishly?

This time, the laughter that followed her sounded loud and clear.