As the four of us walked through the compound, heading down toward the realm gate room, we explained to Sky what had happened back in England, and how we believed that Abaddon was involved.
“My father spoke of her once or twice,” Sky said. “He told me she was not someone to cross. My mother thinks she’s about as evil as anyone has ever been. I think they both met her once or twice, although by that point the Olympians were in total control, so I’m not sure how much power or influence Abaddon actually had. Even so, my mother grew up with Hera in her life, so if there’s one thing she knows, it’s evil. If Abaddon is involved in these attacks, what’s to say the other six devils aren’t involved, too?”
“That’s what we need to talk to Hyperion about. We need to know how likely that is, and why they would attack now,” I told her.
“How are you doing, Nate?” Sky asked with some concern.
“I’m as okay as possible, thanks,” I told her.
“Good, and you, Selene?”
Selene shrugged. “My brother, Helios, is involved in all of this. I don’t think I can protect him any further. This will be his last time to hurt those I care about. I am both saddened and angry about that fact. He is my brother, after all.”
I reached out and took her hand in mine, squeezing it slightly. She squeezed back.
“And you, Zamek?” Sky asked.
“I’d like to go home, back to my own realm. I’d like to see my friends again. I’d like to save my people. I’d like to kill every single blood elf I can find. But I can’t do those just yet, so I’ll just keep on fighting whoever needs to be fought.”
“I’m sorry about your friends,” Sky said as the group entered a lift, and she pressed a button on the control pad to take it down to the realm gate room. “I’m sure you’ll see them again.”
“Oh, I know I will.”
The lift doors opened, and we were greeted by several heavily armed personnel. After the compound had been attacked a few years earlier, Hades and his people performed a complete overhaul of the security. It meant a lot more guards. The realm gate room had been a target during the last attack, so Sky and Cerberus had made it their mission to ensure anyone trying again would have a hell of a time.
Sky said hello to the four guards, who all nodded toward the rest of us without comment. They wore specially designed body armor that stopped magical power from having too much of an effect, and helms that combated psychic abilities. I wasn’t sure who had designed the items, but whoever had done it would be in high demand with every Avalon office on the planet.
“So, you’ve made this place a lot more formidable,” I said to Sky as we walked down the ramp to a lower level, where a guard at a second checkpoint waved us through.
“Only people who don’t get searched are Cerberus, my parents, and my siblings, and even those get checked if they haven’t been here within the last three months.” Sky sounded proud of what she’d achieved at the compound.
We entered the realm gate room, and Cerberus walked over toward us as I started to look around. The last time I’d been here, I was in a fight for my life against two assailants and had pretty much totaled the place. It had been completely rebuilt since then with new computers and workstations for everyone monitoring the comings and goings through the realm gate that sat at the end of the room.
“Good to see you, Nate,” Cerberus said. Cerberus was a werewolf of exceptional power. Over six feet tall, and more than 280 pounds of pure muscle, he was not a man to cross if you liked keeping the use of your body parts. He didn’t carry a gun—one of the few in the compound along with Sky who didn’t need one. I’d once seen him throw a car at someone. A gun on his hip would have looked kind of silly after that.
“You shaved your head,” I said.
He ran his massive hand over his baldness. “I felt it was time.”
“You kept the beard, though.”
He stroked the graying, chest-length facial hair and smiled. “Of course.”
I left Cerberus with Sky and Selene and walked over to the realm gate, where Zamek stood.
“Magnificent structure, isn’t it?” Zamek said from beside me. “Thousands of years old, maybe tens of thousands. Who knows? The ancient dwarves weren’t exactly forthcoming with dates and information about their creations.”
The gate itself was a large archway with dark-green runes etched all around the side facing us that sprang to life when activated. While the colors differed depending on the gate, each of them looked similar in design. Realm gates were all made from a mixture of wood, rock, and metal, although no one really knew how the realm gates had been made, nor how it was that they managed to repair themselves from damage.
“So, you want to go to Tartarus?” Cerberus said as he walked toward them. He spoke to a middle-aged woman beside him. “Meet Rhianna—she’s one of our guardians.”
Guardians were the only ones who could activate a realm gate. They were immortal so long as they stayed within a certain distance from the gate, and were imbued with magical tattoos that adorned their bodies, linking them to one specific gate.
Rhianna shook my hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said with an accent placing her from the US South, although I couldn’t identify the exact region.
“You, too,” I said. I stepped away while Rhianna spoke to Zamek, and found Sky and Selene in deep conversation. “You two good?”
“We’re discussing her father,” Sky said. “He can’t come out of Tartarus. You know that, right?”
“It’s come up before, yeah,” I said. “We just need him to tell us about Abaddon.”
“We’re ready when you are,” Cerberus said.
The realm gate activated, and we stepped through into Tartarus.
CHAPTER 9
Mordred
Basingstoke, England
The helicopter lifted off from the roof of Tommy’s building with Morgan, Diana, Fiona, Remy, Nabu, and Mordred aboard. They sat three opposite one another, and no one said anything for several minutes. Mordred knew that everyone was worried about Nate and Irkalla.
It was twenty minutes into the flight when his phone vibrated in his pocket. It was a message from Tommy: Nate and Irkalla are good. Stay safe. Mordred showed it to everyone inside the helicopter’s cabin, and he felt the mood ease almost immediately.
“Does anyone have any idea what we’re meant to find here?” Remy asked. Everyone in the helicopter was wearing a headset that allowed them to communicate. Without one, the sound of the wind would be far too much to hear anything.
“This is where Elaine went just before someone grabbed her,” Fiona said. “That’s pretty much all we know. We went to check the house out but found the place ransacked.”
“So, we’re meant to find something that the people who trashed the house couldn’t find?” Morgan asked.