“Last?” I repeated.
Icarus nodded. “He has power to command the angelic beings, but he isn’t an angel. He’s a hyper-breed. Created for one thing and one thing only.”
“What?” I asked.
“Manipulation and war.”
“Aphrodite?” I whispered.
Adonis sighed. “My sister.”
“Right.” I laughed. “Well, that’s just great. I’m stuck down here with some alien who used to be my best friend but thought it wasn’t necessary to tell me his origin of creation, a fallen angel, and a Phantom. Perfect.”
“Let’s not forget the millions of dark fairytales lining the walls,” Seth chimed in.
No one ever said Seth was helpful.
I sighed and continued the descent.
“Thena, wait.” Adonis gripped my hand. I jerked back.
“You want me to trust you with my life, when you can’t even tell me who or what you really are?”
His eyes were sad. He licked his lips and turned away. “You’re right.” He continued walking next to me and said nothing more.
Honestly, it explained so much. The angels weren’t stupid enough to give me another Seeker. How had I not pieced this together sooner? Adonis entered into my world when I was almost fully grown in form. All it took was for him to spew some tale about being a child in the Fall, and I assumed his story was just as tragic as mine.
But I wasn’t even close. If he was from a different race altogether, it meant we had nothing in common. It also meant that he wasn’t an angel, though a few minutes ago that had been exactly what I was thinking.
My foot slipped on the next stair. The last thing I needed was to fall down the stairs and find myself with broken bones in the presence of all the Titans. Nothing was making sense. I suddenly felt like I couldn’t trust anyone. I felt lonely, and for the first time in my existence, truly afraid.
“I would feel afraid too, my love. After all those years. To be betrayed, it seems unfair, does it not? Think of how the angels deceived you, how Michael did not even trust you.”
I shook my head against the treacherous words. The voice was the same as before, only this time it seemed stronger.
“I would never betray you, Thena. I love you.”
I clenched my teeth and kept walking.
Seth fell into step beside me. “You’re either losing your mind, have a bug in your ear, or something is up.”
I bit my lip. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not,” Seth said immediately. “You’re upset.”
“Clearly you’re a genius.”
Seth cursed and ran both hands through his golden hair. “I’m just trying to cheer you up. It would hardly be fair for me to betray you in front of all the Titans when you’re not even up to par.”
“Your words are a balm to my soul,” I fired back sarcastically.
“There, she is.” Seth laughed. “No, but seriously, you need to get it together, like now.”
“Why? It’s not as if—”
A shriek broke through the mountain, causing it to tremble. The stairs suddenly ended. Nothingness stretched out below me. I half-expected Seth to push me, but he looked just as freaked out.
Icarus stepped around us and out into the nothingness. I reached out to stop him, but Adonis pulled me back. I wanted to close my eyes. I didn’t want to watch Icarus fall to his death.
But instead of falling, he was walking, across the air as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Once he reached the other side of the wall, he ran his hands across the rock in a circular motion.
A red light broke through the dark surface creeping around the giant wall and then shooting out toward our faces, illuminating the path Icarus had just taken. Slowly, I stepped out and made my way to where he stood. Seth and Adonis followed.
“So do we just go in?” I asked.
Icarus laughed. “It would be kind of a waste of a journey if we didn’t, don’t you think?”
“Right.” I didn’t budge.
Icarus pushed against the wall. It slid slowly to the right. I expected it to be the size of normal door.
It wasn’t.
There was nothing normal about this door. It stood around three hundred feet tall and two hundred feet wide. More red light escaped the entrance. It was only pushed open far enough for us to step through.
Great. We’d officially just switched from high and low places to small confined spaces.
Adonis went in first. I went in behind him, then Seth, and finally Icarus. Torches lit the narrow hallway. Big shock, but there were steps leading further down. We were probably going to be at the earth’s core any minute now.
I counted the steps.
Ninty-nine of them, to be exact.
It was the only way I could keep my mind focused on the task at hand. It’s hard to use wisdom in situations where all you can focus on is the darkness around you. I was trained to ignore it. But darkness like that, the kind that chokes you, was kind of hard to ignore.
Finally, at the bottom of the stairs the room fanned out.