“I’m sure you—”
The boss doesn’t finish his sentence before the door to the office flies open. Sillus appears in the doorway. With about half a dozen monsters at his back.
“There,” he says, pointing at the boss. “Him.”
I don’t know what Sillus told the beasts, but they all lunge for the telchis. The guard releases me to protect his boss from the onslaught. Sillus jumps on the guard’s head, just as he did with the Hesperian dragon in the line.
“Go!” he shouts, pointing at the door.
I nod.
I grab Nick, holding his upper arm in a death grip, and run. I’m not leaving the traitor to commiserate with his handlers, to tell them any more than he already has about me and my sisters.
I want the chance to interrogate him myself.
Sprinting from the office with no real idea of what I’m going to do once I get outside, I’m stunned to find the pegasus waiting for me.
“Get on, cousin,” he says, looking nervously over his shoulder toward the line. “The portal is about to open.”
The pegasus curls his front leg back, holding it like a step, and I shove Nick toward him.
“Get on,” I say in a tone that is intended to let him know there is no other option.
It must, because he places his foot on the curled leg, swings onto the winged horse’s back, and reaches an arm down to help me up. Ignoring his arm, I grab a handful of mane and yank myself up in front of him.
Sillus comes running out of the office looking very pleased with himself.
“Hurry!” I shout, holding out my hand to him.
He takes a leap and grabs my hand, and I settle him on the horse, right in front of me.
“Let’s go!” I shout.
The pegasus spreads his wings out wide and, with one strong flap, draws us into the air. It is a strange sensation, to be flying through the air on the back of a horse. But as the monsters below notice us, I’m glad to have several feet of space between us and them.
Soaring over the monsters, toward the front of the line, the pegasus glides for the portal cave. As we get closer, I see the cave start to swirl and glow with a bright sky-blue spot in the center.
Just like the black portal in my world, this one grows and expands to a size large enough to accommodate the largest monster. Or, hopefully, a Pegasus with a full load.
The monsters below point and roar, and the one at the front of the line turns just as we fly by. He reaches for us but misses.
Then we enter the portal and the abyss disappears behind us.
CHAPTER 25
GRACE
From a distance, the portals into the abyss always looked pretty dull. Big, boring black splotches in space. Like a piece of contemporary art or a flaw in an old photograph. But up close, staring at one right in front of me—and about to walk into it—they’re a little terrifying. A great vacuum, an emptiness that makes me feel despair just looking into it.
I squeeze Greer’s hand.
We step forward together, ready to face whatever shadows await in order to save Gretchen.
Before we get close enough to step inside, there’s a low rumble—like the sound of waves crashing against rocks. Greer and I exchange a look, surprised by the sudden change. Then, before we can move or speak or do anything, a giant silvery horse flies out of the portal.
“Whaaa!” I scream, shoving Greer to the side as I jump in the opposite direction, out of the path of the flying beast.
“Whoa!” a girl’s voice shouts.
I stare up at the horse, his giant wings thumping against the ceiling as he lands. Sitting on his back, looking a little gaunt but otherwise safe and whole, is my sister.
“Gretchen!” I shout.
Jumping to my feet, I feel a smile take over my entire face. She beams down at me.
“Grace?”
“Hello, Gretchen,” Greer says from the other side of the horse.
Gretchen slides to the floor, pulling a body down with her. Nick. He looks unconscious, his arms bound by a pair of sturdy zip ties. There’s a red mark, about the size of a fist, on his temple.
Gretchen tosses him aside like a bag of garbage. She looks up at the winged horse—a pegasus, I realize. “I wish I could let you stay.”
The horse whinnies. “I understand. A horse wandering the streets of San Francisco wouldn’t get far.”
My jaw drops. Not at the talking horse—I’ve seen a lot of crazy stuff since Gretchen found me in that nightclub, so an animal capable of perfect English isn’t too shocking—but at Gretchen being nice to a creature from the abyss.
The pegasus lowers his head, offering his neck to Gretchen. She hesitates and says something quietly into his ear before giving him a quick bite right below the mane. In a flash he’s gone.
A little monkeylike creature that had been sitting on the horse’s back crashes to the ground. He jumps up to his feet.
“Sillus stay,” he says. “Sillus help.”
Gretchen looks like she’s considering, like she really doesn’t want to send him back with the pegasus. The Gretchen I first met a few weeks ago wouldn’t have hesitated. But in the end she shrugs. “Okay, but the first sign of mischief and you’re back in Abyssos.”
“Abyssos?” I ask.
“Abyssos is the true name of the abyss.” Gretchen turns to me. “I missed you two.”
Her silver eyes cloud over, as if a thick bank of fog has rolled in and shadowed her inner sunlight. I know how much it must have taken for her to admit that. I step forward and wrap her in a hug. She may not want one, but she clearly needs one.