Page 53 of Wicked Ties
Tilly was beside him in an instant, pressing her body against the gates. They slammed it shut, and he twisted the key in the lock. The gears whirled once more and cracked together, the metal scraped against metal, and I watched as they all ground back together. Bolts clanged into place. The wails of the damned called through the door. Fire exploded between the jagged teeth- like gates. Tilly grabbed Astrid and ran out toward me. We all hit the ground and ducked under the ball of fire exploded out.
Liesin sauntered over to stand over the three of us. He dusted his hands off. “Woo, they are maaaaddd.”
I rose to my feet and pulled Tilly up with me, then offered Astrid my hand. “We couldn’t have done this without you.”
It was over, finally over. She was gone, locked away for good. Yet the moment felt too surreal to even process. Astrid threw her arms around Tilly and pulled her in for a hug. Tilly hesitated for a second, then she hugged her back. “Thank you, Astrid.”
“Sisters are ride or die.”
“I’m so glad we didn’t die.” Tilly chuckled as she pulled away and faced me. “Really glad.”
She threw her arms around my neck and pulled me in close. “Now you get to be free, too.”
Liesin cleared his throat, getting our attention. “Not quite yet. There is the matter of your soul.”
He wagged the book of contracts at the three of us.
Shit.
CHAPTER 23
MAZE
If I never returned to go on a wild ride in the underworld again it would be too soon. I hated Liesin’s underground underworld portal. It was worse than Beckett’s ever were. This was like going on the Teacups ride with a kid who wouldn’t stop spinning the stupid thing in the middle. I just had my soul and power nearly ripped from my body. I’d been beat up, stressed out, physically exhausted, and I hadn’t gotten a milkshake in twelve hours. This shit needed to end. Now. I popped out of his little ride and wanted to deck him, but I was so dizzy there were three Liesins, and one swing wouldn’t do them all in. Bastard.
“Next time, I am just portaling us here. You’re worse than Beckett.” Astrid pressed her hand to her stomach and hunched over. “I’mma puke.”
Tilly grabbed onto my arm and squeezed. “You better not, or I’mma do it, too.”
Liesin stood next to the Phlegethon River. It was beautiful, and the sound of trickling water was something peaceful I was trying to focus on while my stomach fell back into place. Tiny bursts of fire exploded from the seemingly peaceful river. He gazed out over it and smiled.
“This is one of my favorite places in the underworld. It’s beautiful yet incredibly deadly.” He smirked to himself. “Kind of like your friend, Nova.”
Astrid gagged then forced her lips shut. “I am not setting you up. She hates you.”
“For now. But I’ve got time.” He opened the book of contracts and flipped to a page in the middle. “There is the matter of our deal.”
Tilly nodded. “We did make a deal.”
“Wait.” I stopped him from tearing it out and turned to Astrid. “There are two people I want here for this.”
“Say no more.” She opened a portal right next to me and my mother and father stood there with the circus burning down around them.
My father had his arm draped around my mother’s shoulders as though using her as a crutch. His eye was swollen shut and he hunched to the side, babying his ribs. She stood there holding him up.
“I told you he’d come.”
He winced in pain. “Yes, Alba, you’re always right.”
“No, just psychic.” They stepped through and stopped in front of me. She steadied him and then stepped out from under his arm. She rushed to me and threw her arms around my midsection. She tucked her head into me and hugged me hard. “You did it, she’s dead? We’re free?”
“Not yet.” Liesin interjected. “The Crone is alive but trapped away in Tartarus, and no one escapes there.”
My mother stepped back from me and pressed her hand over her mouth. “Then . . . then we are not free.”
Liesin tore the contract from the book and handed it to me. The cream-colored paper was thick and imbedded with gold. At the bottom were both of my parents’ signatures. “While the Crone is alive your contract is still a problem. However, the Phlegethon is the answer.”
I took Tilly’s hand and walked to the edge of the river holding that contract so tightly. “I know I took your life and words can’t express how sorry I am. But you . . . you gave me mine. You are everything, sunflower.”
