The Shadow Prince

“Yes,” Dax says.

 

Tobin nods, anger ringing off of him, as he accepts the terrible truth. His mother had not only traded Abbie like Joe had traded me—but she had done it knowingly.

 

“If Abbie chose to run away rather than fulfill my mother’s end of the bargain,” he says, “I can see why my parents act like she’s dishonored our family. My mom must be in pretty deep with the Underrealm because of it. But what I don’t get is how she even got involved in all of this in the first place. I mean, this is all just so insane. I’ve been searching for the psychopaths responsible for what’s been going on in Olympus Hills, and it turns out I’ve been living with one of them all along? How does that even happen? How did she get hooked up with Simon in the first place?”

 

“You see,” Dax says, “centuries ago, all humans worshipped the gods of the five realms. But as those selfish gods kept warring against each other and decimating the earth in the process, humans started to turn away from them in favor of softer, friendlier versions of deities. Instead of a vengeful Sky God, they wanted more of a divine father figure. Most humans lost faith in the realm gods, but there are still select groups who worship and serve them. Secret societies who keep their dealings very private. They’re rewarded with fame, fortune, power, or whatever they desire in return. Your mother was sought out by Simon, the leader of one of these groups—of Hades, the god of wealth, worshippers, because she had something the Underrealm wanted. Your sister.”

 

“You mean there are more people who’ve made deals like Joe and Mayor Winters?” I ask.

 

“Yes,” Dax says. “Olympus Hills is home to many of their members.”

 

“Wait!” Lexie calls from where she stands on the stairs. I didn’t realize she’d been listening in on this conversation. “You mean, like more of my neighbors could be involved in this sort of stuff … maybe even my parents …?”

 

“You’re Lexie Simmons?” Joe asks from the table. “Your father is one of the owners of the Crossroads Hotel, right?”

 

She nods.

 

“There are all sorts of stories about people making deals with the devil down by the crossroads,” he says. “That’s why I played at the Crossroads Club all those years ago. I had some silly notion something might happen, but never thought it really would. Only it wasn’t the devil who came knocking.…”

 

Lexie sits heavily on one of the steps, as if the weight of realizing she may not be immune to all of this is too much for her at the moment.

 

“So the Court wanted Abbie,” Tobin says, bringing the topic back to his sister.

 

“Abbie was chosen by the Court because they thought they could use her to reinvigorate the bloodlines of the Underlords,” Dax says. “They wanted to use her for prime breeding stock for the Court.”

 

“That’s disgusting.” Tobin balls his fists like he wants to take his rage out on Dax.

 

“I agree,” Dax says. “I fell in love with your sister, and she fell in love with me, and the thought of her being used by the Court in that way … I knew I couldn’t bring her back there. We found the Oracle and she gave us instructions. Sarah told Abbie to find a place to hide until I could come back for her.…”

 

“But why did you leave her in the first place?” Tobin asks.

 

“Because that was part of the bargain I made with the Oracle. I had a role to fulfill before Abbie and I could be together. I’ve been trying to find her since I returned—doing research, and sneaking off to check out our old haunts, and searching some of the hiding places we’d discussed. I thought I had a line on her about three weeks ago, the night of the festival, but it turned out to be a dead end. I was beginning to think I might never find her. No wonder. She’d found the best hiding place in the world. It seems as far as the Skylords and the Underlords are concerned, Ellis Fields doesn’t even exist.”

 

I can’t help wondering if CeCe—I mean, Abbie—had been bound by a similar oath not to talk about all this stuff. Otherwise, she would have told me. I considered her as much my real sister as Tobin did. A pang of guilt hits me. Over the last couple of months, I’d been so hurt by the thought that she was trying to cut me out of her life, I hadn’t stopped to consider that she might really be in trouble.

 

“But it sounds like someone did find her,” I say. “She’s missing again.”

 

“Marta,” Joe says. “It could have been her. She might have recognized Abbie when we were here.”

 

“Marta is in on this, too?” I ask.

 

He nods. “She’s one of Simon’s lackeys who’s supposed to keep an eye on me.”

 

“But it could have been the Skylords, too,” Dax says. “If Marta spooked her and she ran from town, they could have gotten to her. They’ve wanted her back ever since they found out the Underlords were after her.”

 

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