I pulled away from him. “I have to go. I have to make sure Sophie is okay. She doesn’t have anyone but me.” Tears welled in my eyes, but I wouldn’t let them fall. I refused to appear weak in front of either of them.
Demeter pushed off the wall, grabbing me by the upper arms. “Listen to me, Melany. There is nothing you can do for her by going to Pecunia. The best thing you can do is to stay here and complete your training. Your training is more important than you can even imagine.”
It was obvious she was keeping something to herself. The Gods weren’t known for their forthcoming nature.
“Tell me why it’s so important, and I’ll forget about leaving.”
She stared me for a long moment, then sighed, dropped her hands, and took a step back. She looked at Lucian. “Talk some sense into your girlfriend.” She reached behind her ear, pulled out another joint, and lit it up. “I’d get back into the school before curfew.” Puffing, she walked away toward the maze.
I wanted to go after her and demand to know what was going on, but I knew she wouldn’t tell me the truth. The Gods worked in mysterious ways, my ass. They were just jerks.
“C’mon, let’s go back,” Lucian said.
When I didn’t walk with him immediately, he grabbed my hand and pulled me with him to the main doors. He opened the door for me and we went inside. He took my hand again and I let him. It felt good to be touching him. It grounded me a little.
As we walked up the stone staircase to the dorms, Lucian stopped and turned me to him. “I might know a way out.”
“How?”
“I need to know that you understand the consequences. That it is worth it to you.”
“I have to know that Sophie made it out. She sacrificed a lot for me. I need to be willing to do the same for her.”
He nodded. “I heard there is a network of deep underground tunnels under the academy leading to the mainland.”
“Where’s the entrance?”
“In the forge.”
I frowned. “You mean in Hephaistos’s lair?”
“No, like literally in the mouth of the dragon forge.”
“Through the fire.”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“This just gets better and better.” I rubbed my hands over my face. “Is this reliable intel? I don’t want to be risking everything and find out I’m just going to set myself on fire.”
“Dionysus mentioned it one night.”
I grimaced. “Dionysus who makes poisonous potions and drinks them to see how they taste? That Dionysus?”
“He mentioned it one night when he was hanging out with some of the guys in our dorm. He told us it’s how he gets out to visit his lady friends.”
I shook my head.
“Hey, I wouldn’t suggest it to you if I thought it wasn’t going to work. You have to remember the Gods are trapped here, too. Of course they’re going to know secret ways out of here.”
“Okay, but I need to talk to him. I need to know exactly how to get out. Do you know where I can find him?”
Lucian shook his head. “I have no idea. He’s not—”
Music suddenly blasted from the corridor leading to the great hall.
When we stepped into the hall, we were bombarded with the loudest, most heart-thumping bass. It actually brought tears to my eyes. Dionysus rolled toward us on one of Hephaistos’s serving robots. He was perched on top of it like a crazed vulture with a black Mohawk and black eye-liner running down its face.
“Lucian!” He wheeled around us, laughing manically. “Melany!” He said both our names in long, drawn out syllables.
“I need to ask you something.” I had to yell to be heard over the music.
“What?”
“Can you turn down the music, so we can have a conversation?”
“Sure.” He snapped his fingers and the music died. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Is there a way out of the academy through the forge?”
His gaze whipped over to Lucian. “I thought we were bros. I told you that in confidence.”
“It’s important. I had to tell her.” Lucian set his hand on my shoulder in solidarity.
“You know leaving the academy will get you an automatic expulsion.”
“I know.”
He eyed me for a long moment, rubbed at his nose, and then shrugged. “Fine, I’ll tell you. But when you get expelled, I want your boots.” He gestured to my feet. “They are rad.” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small, dark purple glass vial. He handed it to me. “You’ll need this.”
After I got the directions from Dionysus, I wanted to stop at my dorm room to get my jacket and my backpack. Jasmine and Georgina ambushed us the moment we walked into the room. It was obvious they had been waiting.
“What’s going on?” Jasmine asked. “Someone told us you were running out of the school.” She eyed Lucian, as if he’d driven me to do something crazy.
I grabbed my bag and packed it with my stuff. “I’m leaving.”
“What? Why?” Georgina grabbed my bag, so I couldn’t pack anymore.
“There’s something I need to do.”
“You’ll be expelled.”
“I’m willing to face that.” I yanked the bag back from her.
“Is it about the earthquakes?” Jasmine asked.
I didn’t know how she knew, but obviously the rumors had been flying around. I nodded.
“Then I’m coming with you.”
“No you’re not. You’re not risking your—”
“My family lives in New Athens. If they’re…” She swallowed, not wanting to voice what we were all thinking since we heard the news. “I need to know.”
“Give me your address. I’ll find out for you. There’s no reason for you to risk everything, too.”
Georgina snatched the bag from me again. “If you want to truly sneak out, you can’t take your bag with you. You have to go light and quick. And you can’t go now while everyone is awake. You have to leave in the middle of the night. That way you’ll have at least six hours before you’re missed in class.”
“Georgina’s right.” Lucian nodded. “It’s too dangerous to go now.”
I looked around at everyone then my eyes landed on Jasmine. “Fine. We’ll go at midnight.”
She nodded, leaving our room to return to hers. It was almost curfew, and Pandora would be doing her rounds soon.
I turned to Lucian. “You need to go.”
“I’ll meet you at the bottom of the stairs before the entrance to Hephaistos’s foundry.”
I shook my head. “You’ve already done enough, Lucian. I can’t ask you to risk anything more.”
“You don’t need to ask. I’ll meet you down there. I’ll be your diversion if you need it.” And he left before I could respond.
Sighing, I sunk onto my bed. Georgina sat on hers, opposite me. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
“No. But I have to go. I can’t stay here, not knowing what happened. Earthquakes have never occurred in or around Pecunia before. Ever.”
“You think it’s something unnatural?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, but if something happened to Sophie and I could’ve done something about it, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”
She nodded, chewing on her thumbnail. “Do you think you can go and come back without being discovered?”
“I have to try.”
She climbed off her bed, dropped to the floor, and pulled out a box from underneath. She opened it and took out a small wrapped bundle, handing it to me.
I unfolded the handkerchief to reveal a small, round, green mass, almost as big as a golf ball. The strong odor wafting from it made me wrinkle my nose. It smelled like moldy cheese. “What is it?”
“A pick-me-up. It’s like drinking ten energy drinks without all the sugar. It’ll give you a burst of energy and strength when you need it most.”
“Did you make this?”
She nodded. “With Demeter’s help. She says I have a real knack for handicraft.”
“You definitely have a gift, and I thank you for this.” I rolled it back into the handkerchief and stuffed it into my pants’ pocket.
Georgina jumped onto my bed and hugged me so tight I couldn’t breathe. “I’m scared for you.”
“I’ll be fine, Gina.”
She pulled back and stared me in the eyes. “I had a vision during prophecy class. I realize now it was about you.”
“What was it?”