Diana swallowed hard. Should be fine. Her life expectancy was now should be fine. To think that only weeks ago, her biggest concern had been whether or not she got her promotion.
“Any one else have any ideas?” Diana asked. Because she certainly didn’t.
“Aye,” Cadan said. “Doona do this. Let the Praesidium handle it.”
She scowled at him.
Cadan held up his hands. “Just giving other options here.”
Ha. It was a subtler expression of his control issues. “I was reborn to do this. If anyone else on the planet could have, I wouldn’t have been reincarnated. And it’s my best friend trapped there. No matter what possible evil could come of ignoring this threat, there’s definite evil in leaving Vi there.”
“She’s right,” Warren said.
Diana nodded at him, grateful that he backed her up, yet annoyed that he’d had to. “I think we should try it. How am I supposed to get Vi back?”
Esha bit her lip. “Well, she’s not supposed to be there in the first place, since she doesn’t practice that religion. Presumably. It’s been dead a couple thousand years, after all. So I think it’s the spell that’s holding her there. I can’t guarantee that when Paulinus dies and the spell is broken that she’ll wake from her coma. But at least her soul will escape. Try to grab her arm or something if you can, see if you can drag her out with you and back to earth. That way her soul could maybe reunite with her body. Otherwise her soul will go to whatever kind of afterworld she believes in. And mind you, this is just me guessing. It’s the best I can do.”
Diana nodded. She had to believe it would work.
“I want to go with her,” Cadan said.
Esha shook her head. “I can’t send two. It’s too difficult.”
“Then—”
Diana’s glare cut Cadan off. She wouldn’t object to him coming with her, but she wanted him to talk to her about it first. But it seemed it didn’t matter. She’d be going into hell alone.
Two hours later, the four of them stood in the chambe
r that held the portal. Two Mythean Guardians who’d been stationed in the chamber to guard the portal stood with them. Diana eyed Cadan suspiciously. He was shifting back and forth on his feet, clearly anxious and wanting to take control of the situation.
She wanted his help. She wasn’t stupid. With him, her odds of success were higher. But only if he didn’t try to take control and do this for her. She really believed that she was the only one who could do this. She had to believe it in order to go through with it. And she didn’t want him dying for her, especially if it wouldn’t accomplish the end goal. He’d had thousands of years being himself, living according to his code of ethics. He wouldn’t change overnight. But he was trying.
“Are you ready?” Esha asked.
Diana gripped her sword and nodded. Esha had needed to make a stop at a Mythean bar to refuel her power from other Mytheans’ souls. If this was ever going to work, it would be now, when Esha had as much power as possible.
Esha approached her and took her hand. Cadan and Warren stood to the side and Diana could almost feel Cadan’s anxiety.
“Don’t let go of my hand,” Esha said. “I’ll link our vision, so you can see what I see. Then I’ll try to project part of your soul.”
“Will I feel it when it splits?” Why hadn’t she thought to ask that before?
“No, because it’s not really tearing in half or anything, because it’s not a physical object. I’m just sending part of it in, and you shouldn’t feel it.”
Diana nodded. It sounded so simple in theory. But when Esha squeezed her hand and a cold frisson shot up her arm, she realized that it wasn’t simple at all. The frisson turned to heat. Then darkness. She shook her head, and realized that it wasn’t darkness, but shadows. She had to stop herself from stepping backward as they pushed out, writhing and clawing from a space at the edge of the chamber.
Their minds passed through it, and again they passed by the river Styx, through the fields, and into the forest. At some point, she felt Esha’s presence fade. She was alone. The sword felt almost natural in her hand, and for that she was grateful. It was an extra sharp security blanket. Her fist clenched around the hilt and she crept through the woods, certain that she was near the clearing that held Paulinus and Vivienne.
“What have we here?” The rough feminine voice cut through the silence.
Diana jumped and spun around to see one of the red demons bearing down on her with a sadistic grin on its birdlike face. Great wings flared from its back. Recognition dawned.
A harpy. Of course. This was the Roman underworld. On earth, they must hide their wings with magic to avoid attention.
She lunged at it with her sword and caught it in the arm below the fall of dark hair.
It shrieked and yanked a sword free of the sheath at its belt. “You’ll pay for that.”