Page 13 of Wicked Ties
I wanted to come back to her. To the simple peace she offered me. I shook my head, trying to clear the voices and screams of the future. It was like drowning on dry land with no rescue in sight. Tilly pressed her hand to my arm and moved in closer to me.
“Maze,” she whispered in that sultry voice that always cut me to the bone. “Come back to me.”
I forced the thoughts away. “The descent into madness is a deep one.”
When she met my eye, she gave a single nod, and those long, wild waves fell across her face. “So much going on behind those eyes.”
For a moment I wanted to tell her the things that haunted me, the things that I couldn’t unsee. But how? How do I tell her I saw the fall of us all, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it? Things were coming, things that couldn’t be stopped, and they were coming for us all. Tilly gave my arm a squeeze as though she knew the words I wanted to say but couldn’t. When she stepped back from me, I shook my head again, clearing the fog of visions. We all stood there silently, listening to the sounds of the underworld instead of talking.
Nova made her voice gentler. “But really, what are you guys doing here?”
I didn’t know what to say, so I motioned for Tilly to tell her. “I need to find my soul. To become me again.”
Liesin shrugged and leaned back up against the boulder. “She has a soul.”
Tilly motioned to herself. “Then why am I like this? I have the memories but no connection to them. No feeling about them.”
She was my soulmate. I adored her no matter what state she was in. But she wanted to be who she used to be or at least regain those feelings, and I would be here for her no matter what she wanted to do. I was hers . . . she just didn’t know it. “So, what’s happening to her? You say she has a soul and Tilly thinks she doesn’t. Who’s right? Can we ask Hades.”
“I’m never wrong.”
Nova rolled her eyes. “Let me get a sword to pop that ego.”
Liesin pursed his lips. “Hades won’t help. Not after the last time you all visited. You won’t get back. He’s still pissed.”
Tilly hung her headed. “Then who?”
Nova sighed. “There’s only one. Thanatos.”
“But I’m not dead.” Tilly pressed her hand to her chest.
“Not yet.” Liesin gave a humorless chuckle.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I’m going to hit him. No, I’m going to kill the obnoxious bastard.
“Relax, psycho. All I meant is we all die. It’s the only thing we’re sure of.” He pushed away from the bolder. “Thanatos might have the answer for you.”
“And if he doesn’t?” Tilly, too, looked like she wanted to beat the shit out of Liesin. There wasn’t one of us who wouldn’t like to take a swing at him.
“Then you’re scre—”
“Then we’ll figure something else out,” Nova interrupted him.
A vision flashed through my mine of Liesin crumbled on the ground in total agony, screaming . . . it brought a smile to my face. “One of these days you’ll get what’s coming to you.”
“Is that a threat?” He shoved away from the wall.
“No . . . it’s a certainty.” I wished I’d be there for that moment. Cocky bastard.
Tilly moved between us once more while facing Nova. “How do we get to him?”
“Like this.” Nova waved her hand and a hole opened under each of us.
Before I could grab onto anything, I fell into it and slid from side to side. I’d never been on a water slide, but I thought this had to be it. Like riding through a dark tube of madness. I twisted and turned, then flipped over. This was worse than one of Beckett’s portals. My stomach didn’t know if it was going up or down, left or right. My head spun and swam with each bending turn, and I didn’t know if I could take much more of this wild ride, when a pinprick of light showed at the end of the tunnel. As it grew brighter, the tunnel slopped upward, and I gained speed.
I came rocketing out of the tunnel opening and flew into a cavernous area. Tilly flew out on the other side and opened her arms. We collided midair and the air whooshed from my lungs, and I wrapped my arms around her. She squirmed in my grip, trying to cover me, but I couldn’t let her little body take the impact. We soared toward a jagged wall, about to hit, when another tunnel opened up and we slid into it. The tunnel curved and we slowed our crazy pace. When we popped out, we rolled and tumbled across the hard-packed dirt.
When I came to a stop, the cave was still spinning and Tilly’s hair was draped across my chest and neck, tickling my skin. I laid there for a moment, catching my breath and praying the two cheeseburgers I ate earlier didn’t come back up to visit.
