“Because our map is nasty business. It’s one of the Erinyes. One of the Furies. And she’s not going to be pleased when we bait her here. She’ll be even less pleased when I drink her blood.”
“What?”
“A little vampiric, I know. But the Furies belong to Hades. They’re his favorite daughters. His most loved pets. They always know where he is, and their blood will sing the song to me.” He paused. “Like a really gory GPS.”
Cassandra willed her stomach to be still. She was the killer of gods. Losing her lunch in front of Thanatos wouldn’t do.
“So where is she?” There didn’t appear to be anyplace in the basement to hide a Fury. It was one room with no doors.
“I don’t know. But we’re about to summon her.”
Summoning. The word sounded ominous. Dangerous. Cassandra glanced at Calypso, but she didn’t seem the slightest bit concerned. She barely seemed curious.
Maybe I’m an idiot for using her as a litmus test. Maybe I’m stupid for thinking she might care about what happens to me at all. She hasn’t really cared about anything since Odysseus died.
But those were paranoid, unfair thoughts. Calypso had taken care of her, fed her, counseled her. Brushed her hair and tried to make her laugh. And she asked for nothing in return except for one good death, when everything was over.
“You can help by lighting candles.” Thanatos tossed her a box of matches. He didn’t tell her which candles to light, so she began to light them all, each tiny flame adding yellow to the brown and gray room.
“Is this just for ambiance? Or are we about to do some”—she made some ridiculous flourish with her hands—“magic?”
“You get very sarcastic when you’re nervous.” He moved toward the back wall and bent down, feeling the packed dirt with his hands. “Calypso, will you help me with these?” They knelt together, and Cassandra watched as they pulled a massive set of chains with cuffed ends out of the ground. The chains were fixed somewhere down deep. Maybe to the bedrock. She swallowed. Nothing disturbing about that.
“Can you handle these?” Thanatos asked, and Calypso tested the chains’ weight in her hands.
“Yes.”
“Don’t even give her a chance to speak, when we bring her in.”
The sight of Calypso with the chains made everything suddenly real, and it was moving too fast. They were about to summon a thing, a Fury, that was strong enough to need to be bound by chains with four-inch-thick links. It could be a trap. A lie. Thanatos could be summoning one of his own pets. A quick vision of her insides splashed against the wall and soaking into the dirt of the floor popped into Cassandra’s head.
Not a real vision. Just the product of too many horror movies with Andie.
She closed her eyes. This time something flashed behind her lids, in the dark part of her mind that always felt open. Just a glimpse of a leathery wing, claws, and an eye so red all the vessels must have burst.
She stepped back and sucked in cool air through her nostrils. That was a Fury?
Calypso had better be goddamn fast with those chains, or Cassandra’s insides really would end up splattered on the walls.
Comforting heat curled into Cassandra’s fingers and soothed her stomach. Anger followed so quickly behind fear these days. She made a fist and gripped the heat like a handful of sand, ready to throw it into a bloodied eye.
Anything that kills me, kills itself.
“Thanatos,” Cassandra said hotly. “What else have you used those chains for?”
“All manner of underworld beasts. A couple of Furies, a Gorgon.” He leafed through a book she hadn’t noticed him pick up. “A volleyball player from UCLA.”
“What?”
“Relax. It was voluntary. All very Fifty Shades.” He looked up and nodded at Calypso. “Once I read the incantation, the path opens. So. Who do you want? Any preferences? Now’s the time to make requests.”
“Requests for what?” Cassandra asked.