There’s a chill in the air, and I break out into goose bumps, the stones around us leaching any warmth away from my body. We haven’t passed a single soul since reaching this particular level, and I can’t fight the dread warning me of what’s to come.
Finally, we stop in front of two large, imposing doors. Gemini lets go of my wrist, and I puff out a small sigh of relief while I watch him push the doors open with a small grunt, the curve of his neck flexing with the exertion.
A great, cavernous hall appears on the other side, and before I even step into the room, I’m hit with a strong wave of familiarity, as if a dormant part of me remembers being here before.
Strange.
“What is this place?” I ask Gemini, hoping, this time, he’ll answer me.
But he does nothing of the sort, yanking me inside by the arm instead. I pick up my pace, following him in. His fingers are back around my wrist, his rings’ sharp edges digging into my skin. My attention falls on the flex of his toned arm, his sleeve pulled up to his elbow, before I snap my eyes back up to observe the lofty hall.
Sweeping my gaze across the room, I question the nagging feeling of familiarity that still tickles my stomach. In the very middle sits a vast, circular platform. It appears to be made entirely out of black obsidian. And even at a time like this, I wonder how much such a thing would cost to make.
Gemini stops us just a few steps away from the platform and turns us so we face the doors.
“Now”—Gemini smooths his hands over his shirt, brushing out the wrinkles, his attention straight ahead—“let me do all the talking.”
My tongue burns with another question, but I swallow it down. The silence settles between us as we wait for what I’m assuming issomeonewhile the flambeaus on the walls flicker as if dancing with an undetectable breeze.
A woman appears not long after. My heart batters at the sight of her, an inexplicable pull tugging my chest forward, as if I were seeing a long-lost kin.
She’s older, her long white hair delicately fluttering behind her as she steps inside the hall. With every slow step she takes, her bare feet peek out from underneath her long gray tunic. Her pale blue eyes are lined with painted gold, and my mind turns hazy when her gaze slams into mine, the feeling akin to a live wire making contact with water.
“Good,” she states dryly when she approaches, stopping a healthy distance away from us. “I see you’ve found her.”
Her words ring in my ears, something about her intonation prickling against my skin.
You’ve found her?
Gemini splutters—a reaction I’ve rarely seen him do. “Meaning?” he croaks out, seemingly much more serious than usual.
She must have some power over him to have him standing straight, like a dutiful schoolboy.
Tucking her hands into her opposite sleeves, she flicks her eyes from Gemini to me, then back.
“The seventh heir, of course.”
The stone beneath my feet turns into quicksand. My knees buckle, and I feel nauseous.
Gemini rakes his hands through his hair as he begins to pace around in a circle before burning me with his accusing stare. “I knew it.”
Blood rushes into my ears, but I somehow will myself to stay standing. I don’t understand what’s happening, the words hardly sinking in, but I continue listening. The woman and Gemini speak about me like I’m not even in the room.
“But the gods chose her as my sacrifice. How could that be?” Gemini says with a small hiss.
“She’s alive, isn’t she?” the woman intones, clearly unfazed by Gemini’s question.
“Because I let her go.”
“As the gods had known you would.”
They both fall quiet and stare at each other. I can almost hear the unspoken conversation coursing between them.
“What do you mean, theseventh heir?” My voice is weak, barely a whisper, as nausea roils in mystomach.
The woman turns to me. “The gods are ushering in a new epoch. The existingdamnatio memoriaehas been dissolved. You are the sole survivor.”She gives me a curt nod. “Welcome home.”
I struggle to comprehend what any of this means, but the weight of her declaration is not lost on me. I think I’m going to be sick.
