Pickup Styx (11 page)

“Exploring death to appreciate life…” He slapped his hand on the podium in front of him. “Risky. But so is bringing a vampire to the Underworld. You are obviously brave, but are you strong?” His slimy tongue darted out of his mouth. “Plenty of sin. I wonder how you would fair.”

“Perhaps we’ll find out,” I said, looking up through my eyelashes innocently as I added a little pout.

His lips pulled back from his rotten, decaying teeth in what I could only assume was a smile. “So we shall. I will let you pass without judgment, along with your guide, on one condition.”

“What is that?”

“You have to travel the Road of Perdition. If you can do that, I will allow you in and back out of purgatory. If you cross to Hell, you are no longer my problem.”

“You know that isn’t possible, Minos,” Corbin said. “No one can survive that journey.”

Minos waved him off. “What do you think, little witch? Are you strong enough? Are you brave enough?”

“Do I have a choice?”

His tongue dripped black saliva as it traced his lips. “Of course. You can stay with me and watch Corbin get what he deserves. Another fun option.”

I rolled my eyes. “If I say no to both of those options, what happens?”

“I judge you and put Corbin in the river anyway. We are nothing if not fair.”

I nodded. “And if I say yes and fail?”

“You are mine indefinitely. You haven’t been sentenced, therefore there will be no limit on the time I can keep you before I have to let you move on.”

I wasn’t sure if Minos could keep me when the spirits had plans for my soul, but that wasn’t really my problem. At least he was giving me a chance. He could fight it out with the spirits if I failed to come back. “Has anyone completed this journey?”

“There’s always a first.” He smiled again, making me want to throw up.

I stiffened my spine. I wouldn’t let him intimidate me. “I’ll do it.”

“Wonderful. There is only one rule. Don’t stray from the path. If you do, all agreements are off.” He looked at his watch. “Tick tock, little witch. You know what I expect, Corbin.” He shot Corbin a meaningful look that Corbin didn’t acknowledge.

Corbin took my arm and dragged me away. “What is wrong with you? Why did you come back? I had it handled.”

“I think what you mean is, ‘Thank you for saving my ass, Selene.’ Handled? Really? They were throwing you in the river. I need you with me or I have no chance of making it through.”

“Well, now you have a much worse problem than no guide. We have to travel through the sections of purgatory designed to punish souls for the sins of their lives, and only”—he lifted my wrist to look at my watch—“ten hours and twenty-three minutes to do it.”

Corbin charged past Simon, and I scrambled to keep up with him. Simon fell into step with us. “Where are we going?” he asked.

Corbin growled and then pointed at a desolate path. The sky above it was so bright that it hurt my eyes. To the left, the meager trail led into a seemingly endless desert. To the right, it led into a forest so dark my eyes couldn’t penetrate it. Sand drifted in the air that was already hard to breathe, hot and thick. In front of us, a river of what looked like red-hot embers surrounded by lava boiled and raged.

“Which way?” I choked out.

“Your choice,” Corbin said. “We have to do it all anyway.”

I looked both directions once more before heading for the forest, deciding the evil I couldn’t see was probably worse than the one I could.

“Is anyone going to tell me what’s going on?” Simon asked.

“No,” Corbin said, following me toward the unknown.

“You should go back, Simon.” I tossed him my necklace since I didn’t need it anymore, but Corbin intercepted my throw, frowning. “If he’s going back, he needs the necklace.”

“I’m not going back,” Simon said. “I just want to know where we’re headed. If there’s a chance you can get me out of here, I’m sticking with you.”

“I told you I don’t know how to get you out. There is no chance,” I told him.

“Don’t be modest, Selene. Of course we can help him.” Corbin gave me a meaningful look, but I wasn’t sure what he was getting at.

I glared in reply. Simon couldn’t come back with me, and I doubted Corbin would share his method of return. I didn’t even know what Simon would be if he made it back. I paused before entering the tree line, took my necklace back from Corbin, and held it out to Simon once more. “You should go back.”

“If it’s all the same, I’m staying,” he said with a wink. “This is the most fun I’ve had with a pretty girl in years.”

“One finger on her, redshirt, and your part in this story is over.” Corbin peered into the forest. “Can’t see a damn thing, can you?”

I shook my head.

“We need to stay together. They’ll try to separate us, but don’t let them. The only way out of the forest will be to repent.”

“Repent what?” Simon asked.

“We’ll find out soon enough. Perdition is designed to cleanse. It will be different for every person who enters. So whatever your issues are, they’re about to try to floss them with your intestines.”

“Then how can we stay together?” I asked.

“I don’t know, but it’s better if we do.” His eyes met mine with furious intensity. “We must.”

“Okay.” I glanced at the forest then at my watch as time ticked away. “Corbin, if we start running out of time and it looks like succeeding will be impossible, I want you to…” I didn’t know how to ask this. The words jumbled in my throat.

He nodded, understanding what I couldn’t say. “I’ll take your soul rather than leaving you here, but it isn’t going to come to that, pet.”

I smoothed my hair and straightened my shoulders. He was right. I was definitely going to make it home. “I’ll lead. Stay close.”

“Wait,” Corbin said, grabbing the back of my dress before I could step through. “If we do get separated, don’t wait. Keep going. I’ll catch up with you. Always move forward.”

Simon nodded too, though I was pretty certain Corbin wasn’t talking to him.

I couldn’t make that promise. I’d brought Corbin here and Simon had only come because he thought I could help him. How could I just leave either of them? Besides, Corbin was my ultimate backup plan, and I didn’t intend to lose that either. I didn’t want to spend an eternity in Hell or in that cemetery.

“Selene?”

I didn’t say anything. He glared at me, neither of us willing to give an inch.

“Don’t be slow,” I finally said. Then I stepped into the darkness. Visibility was next to nothing. The outlines of scorched trees nearly in front of my face were the most I could see. Corbin grabbed my arm. I took tiny steps, my free arm stretched out in front of me. My watch ticked loudly in the silence, reminding me once again of the time slipping away.

Corbin’s hand gripped tighter, shifting me to the left. I squinted, trying to see better, but it looked no different than the direction we had been facing.

“Can you see?” I whispered because it seemed wrong to speak in normal tones.

I was met with silence.

“Corbin?”

A cool trickle of doubt spread through me, and the hand holding my arm warmed. I pulled away, but the grip tightened. Blisters rose and burst on my arm. “No.” I fought harder against the scorching hold of whatever was following me. “Corbin!” I shouted.

Silence rang out around me. I had to get away. That was the only thing I knew. I planted my feet and yanked as hard as I could. My flesh peeled away as I lurched free. I fled blindly, paying no heed to what lay before me, my lungs screaming for air, adrenaline pumping my muscles. Welcome to Hell.

“Blood’s not going to work,” Devin proclaimed after an hour of deliberations.

Great, we still have no leads.
I paced the room. The killer couldn’t have just vanished. There had to be a way to find him.

“But we have an idea,” Katrina said. “If you want to do it.”

“I’m listening.”

“We can’t use your blood because there’s no way for us to follow it,” Edith said. “Only Selene could have done it because she is a half-elf and could have transported herself to the location. However, we could use you as a conduit.”

“How?” Sebastian asked.

“We could cast a spell on Cheney that would show him where his family is,” Leslie said.

“Show me?”

“It will be like a vision. It will happen fast and you’ll need to remember exactly what you see, which is harder than it sounds,” Devin said.

“And that will be all I have to go on?”

“At least it’s something,” Jessica said, though she didn’t look pleased either.

I looked at Sebastian and he shook his head. I turned back to the women. “I’ll do it.” Ten minutes later, I was prepped and ready to enter their circle.

“You have a responsibility to the kingdom,” Sebastian said.

“And I’m fulfilling that by keeping them safe,” I told him as patiently as I could.

“You’re doing this for Selene.”

I flashed a smile. “She’s part of the kingdom.” Part of me was doing this for Selene. Another part of me was doing this for my father. While it made sense that he was tied up in all of this, I still had hope that he wasn’t. That I would find him and everything would be explained. “Let’s do this.”

The women cast the spell and I cleared my mind, ready to focus on whatever I saw. It felt like needles were being jabbed into my eyes. I flinched and flashes of images filled my mind: a forest, a city street, a casino, a stone room, and darkness.

I opened my eyes and everyone stared at me. “Give me paper.” Sebastian handed me a paper and pen and I wrote everything I saw from each location.

Forest: cedar trees, bryidae, moderately dense canopy, and unique triangular shaped tree cluster.

City street: narrow, cobbled stone, broken tobacco sign on left, and door with single light bulb on right.

Casino: gold carpet, red chairs and curtains, chandeliers, and oak paneling.

Stone room: gray stones, bare wooden table, and no windows.

Darkness.

“That’s not much to go on,” Sebastian said.

I nodded, reading over the list. “I think the forest is Southbend.”

“What makes you think so?”

“It was the same spot you took me to today. I recognized it.”

“So he was there?”

“Possibly.” A new idea filled my mind. “Or something related to me was there.” It made me dread the truth. “Did you release the bodies?”

“Not yet.”

“Don’t.” I looked at the girls. “Can you tell if someone specifically is related to me?”

Katrina nodded. “That spell wouldn’t be too hard.”

“Great. I need you to come with me,” I said.

Sebastian folded his arms behind his back. “You think we’ve found siblings.”

I nodded. “Obviously, my father isn’t in five locations.”

“Let’s figure out the rest of the locations and then we’ll split up. Each of us can take one of the witches to verify the relation. We’ll do this in half the time,” Sebastian said.

I shook my head. If my father was on some murder spree, I had to be the one to go to all the locations because he might be at one of them. He was old, but powerful. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill Sebastian or a human witch. I couldn’t be positive that he wouldn’t try to kill me, but I assumed he’d at least have a moment’s pause. “No. I’ll do it.”

“Cheney—”

I held up my hand. “This isn’t up for discussion. I know my father better than anyone. I have to be the one to confront him. I can’t risk sending any of you to him.”

“I’ll go with you,” Katrina volunteered.

Sebastian’s face hardened, making me wonder exactly how much he cared about her. Not that I would ever object, but if he loved her, there were problems to consider. “No,” he said stiffly.

Katrina’s eyes flashed and her jaw tightened. “Why not?”

Sebastian didn’t answer, but Jessica did. “That’s okay, Kat. I’ll go. It should be me anyway.”

“No. I’m more familiar with this world than you. I’ve been here longer.” Kat looked back and forth between the two of them.

“We’re all willing to go,” Devin said. “But I think Jess has a point.”

“What point?”

“My gifts are better suited for this type of task. I can tell if someone is lying, so I’ll know if whoever we meet is being honest.”