It’d be a whole lot easier if he could just flash to Tartarus and look for Gryphon, but he didn’t know where he was going, so that wouldn’t help. Skyla could flash in the human realm, but she couldn’t here, and though he hated to admit it, part of him was glad to have her company.
They crossed from wheat to black rock when they reached the mountains on the far side. The souls stopped, stared after them. Some kind of unseen boundary kept them trapped. Happy to be away from them, Orpheus followed Skyla through the maze of razor-sharp rocks as they began their climb over the jagged mountains toward Tartarus. The gray sky gave way to swirling black clouds and a fire red sky. And the farther they walked, the hotter the air grew until sweat broke out all over his body. Unable to stand it anymore, Orpheus stripped off his shirt and stuffed it into his pack.
Skyla tied her hair on the top of her head. Sweat slicked every part of her skin, casting a sheen that sparkled in the light. Tendrils of damp hair stuck to her neck and the soft skin behind her ear. He tried to keep his eyes on the path so he didn’t fall and slice open his knee on the razor-sharp rocks, but his gaze kept straying back to her. To her compact body in that form-fitting tank and slim pants that molded her ass. To the way she walked. To her soft, soft lips that even now were moving in his mind, singing the tune she’d sung to Cerberus earlier in the day.
Okay, forget the fact that was a stupid move and she could have been eaten. What kept sticking in his mind was that he’d heard her sing before. He didn’t know how or when, but he was sure of it. And that knowledge, coupled with the strange sense that he’d been here as well, left him edgy. Left him wishing they were in Tartarus already so he could stop thinking of her. Stop worrying about her. Stop wanting her.
They passed through a series of rocks that formed a ceilingless tunnel. On the far side, Skyla stopped and pointed down the hillside below. “Look.”
From their vantage point, they could see the five rivers of the Underworld where they converged in a great swamp in the center of the massive valley. Volcanoes rose out of the ground, spewing molten lava, ash, and debris. More jagged mountains rose around the periphery, and everywhere souls screaming for mercy could be heard echoing on the wind.
Skyla dropped her pack at her feet, extracted her water bottle, and tipped her head back. Orpheus watched her lips against the plastic bottle, the muscles working in her throat. Remembered how it had felt when she’d all but swallowed him whole.
Heat coursed through every cell in his body.
She lowered the water. “We should rest here.”
She was right. He knew she was right. But suddenly being alone with her in a confined space didn’t sound like a good idea. Or it sounded way too good—that was the problem. He couldn’t be distracted by her now. Not when he was so close to finding Gryphon.
They found an overhang to sit under. Skyla pulled the blanket from her pack and a bag of freeze-dried food they’d picked up in Crete before entering the Underworld. She plopped down and munched on a handful of trail mix. “Are you okay?” she asked between bites. “You look restless.”
He dropped his pack, braced his hands on his hips, and paced the small ledge. “I’m fine,” he lied. Then to keep her from figuring out what was really on his mind, he brought up the other thought nagging at his gray matter. “Don’t you think it’s weird Hades hasn’t sent anything after us?”
Skyla crossed her legs. “Maybe he doesn’t know we’re here.”
He pinned her with a look. “I have a feeling he sees everything in his realm. Besides that, Charon knew we weren’t souls.”
“What are you thinking?”
He raked a hand through his hair. “I’m thinking, every step along the way Hades has sent his hellhounds to kill us, but now when we’re in his realm? Nothing? Something’s up.”
“Maybe he’s waiting to see what we’ll do.”
“Or he’s springing a trap.”
She didn’t answer, and in the silence he knew she was contemplating that possibility. Fights he could handle. An ambush he could deal with. It was the waiting and wondering that drove him mad.
He kicked a pebble over the ledge. It smacked against rock and dirt and dead tree limbs on its way down to the swirling rivers below. The plastic bag crinkled as Skyla slid it back into her pack. “Stressing over the unknown isn’t going to do you any good right now.” She patted the blanket beside her. “Come over here and sit down.”
His pulse kicked up speed.
“Come on, daemon,” she teased. “I don’t bite.” When he glared over his shoulder, she grinned and added, “Much.”
“No, thanks. I don’t feel like being toyed with right now.” Besides, he didn’t like the way she’d been looking at the element against his chest all day.
“I could sing to you.”
He cut her another glare. “I don’t think so.”