That would be handy. Diana looked around the space. She was so on edge that she felt like someone might jump out at her at any moment, which made her want to search all the corners in the room. But the room had no corners. Large and round, the combined living room, dining room, and kitchen space had many windows.
“What is this place?” she asked.
“My flat, in a tower on the campus of the Immortal University.” The round space was decorated sparsely, with a few pieces of simple, high-quality furniture that suited Esha’s minimalist style.
Diana gratefully accepted the cup of coffee that Esha handed her and sipped, wrinkling her nose when it burned her tongue. She didn’t slow down, though. She needed a clear head more than she needed working taste buds right now.
“How do I get to Vivienne?”
“Can you tell me who you were?”
Diana swallowed hard and stared down into the rapidly cooling coffee in her mug. “I was Boudica.”
“No shit?” Esha looked Diana up and down with an expression of impressed respect.
Diana wished she could appreciate it, but it wasn’t making a dent right now.
“That is badass. You are like the original badass. Cheers to you.” Esha raised her coffee.
Diana raised her mug and cast Esha a strained smile. Sure, Boudica had been a renowned badass, but it had come at a cost. The title was little consolation, really.
“Oh, sorry.” Esha grimaced. “Yeah, it didn’t end so well for you.”
“Nope. Pretty shit end.”
“So, um, what’s it like?”
Diana knew what she meant. What’s it like to remember all the really terrible stuff that happened to you in the past that led you to suicide? “It sucks.”
“Um, can I ask, how did it end?”
Oh, right. Historians still didn’t know whether or not Boudica had died of illness or killed herself.
“I did it. There wasn’t any other choice.”
“Yep,” she agreed, her brow wrinkled. “You’d have ended up like Vercingetorix, or worse.”
Diana winced at the fate of France’s greatest Celtic hero. He’d ended up on a pike in Rome, and that would have been the best she could have hoped for.
Esha paled, then set down her mug “Oh, Diana. What about your daughters?”
Diana’s stomach pitched. “I remember them. Not well, just vague snippets here and there. Their death is one of those. When I first remembered, it felt like being stabbed. It’s faded into memory now, and it’s my memory, but it’s not. I don’t know. I know that it hurts even though it never actually happened to me.” Her body ached, every part of her seeming to throb.
“Even if it didn’t happen to you in this life, I think that it’s something your soul would never forget.”
Diana nodded, lost for words.
Esha changed the subject.
“So you found your sword and that’s how you figured it out?”
“Basically. I’d been searching through books, but that’s something the old Diana would do. Apparently I just had to get ahold of my old sword.” And her new life. A crazy, violent one that she didn’t know how to reconcile with her idea of what her life was supposed to be. Her gaze sought out her sword, which lay on the floor near the couch. The sight of it gave her conflicting sensations of security and horror.
“Anyway,” Diana said. “I need to know more about the portal in the underground. I’ve got to save my friend.”
“I think you’ve got to do more than that.”
“Yeah,” Diana said, knowing that she was right but unable to focus on anything but saving Vi.
“I can take you to the portal in the underground. There are a couple of Mythean Guardians watching it to make sure nothing escapes, but I can hide us from their sight while we look through the portal. I’m able to see in, and with my help, you can too. From there, we can figure out what the hell is going on. No pun intended.”
Diana’s skin prickled at the idea of getting so close to the danger, but she had to do it. For Vi, for Boudica, whose pain and rage still seethed under the surface of her skin. For herself. To take back control of her life.
“Excellent. I say we go now.” Diana went to the couch to put her shoes on and grabbed her sword.
“Good thinking.” Esha nodded at the sword. “We aren’t actually going into the portal, but you never know what will jump out. We’ll aetherwalk straight there, that way you don’t have to walk down the street with it.”
Diana nodded and rose to join Esha. Just before she reached her, someone pounded on the door.
Esha looked at her quizzically, then called out, “Yeah?”
“Open up, Esha.”
“It’s Warren.” Esha smoothed her hair. “Let me get this real quick.”
When she opened the door, Diana stepped backward in surprise. Cadan and Warren strode through. Who had released him from his bonds?
“You.” Diana glared at Cadan.
“Aye, it’s me.”