Eight, what do you think you’re doing?” a male Sombra asked, marching up to her. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one watching the woman don the Pearls
“Lay off, Four,” the woman, apparently called Eight, said. “The fairy brought them to me. Tell me how many sets of Pearls you recovered?”
“None,” Four admitted.
Though I couldn’t see her face, Eight’s posture suggested surprise. I realized I could figure out their emotions without seeing their faces. I pulled a leaf out of my back pocket and muttered, “Runap sunqunman chayayta atisun.”
I focused on the male Sombra, imitating his stance. He had his hands on his hips like he was trying to intimidate her. I locked in much faster than I expected, and a red and orange aura appeared around him. Anger and . . . fear?
“Do you really think you should be the one to present it to One? Be honest.”
“No,” Four said, his emotional aura flashing green—joy? Pleasure? Then it reverted to orange with a faint tinge of red.
“Then stop harassing me and get the others ready to leave. Unless you want to leave Forty-two and Sixty-five here.”
Four backed away, his aura turning green as he returned to the other Sombras.
“It’s happening,” I said, realization hitting me.
“What is?” Hen asked.
Eight approached us, wearing the pearls proudly over her hood. “I’ll deal with you three shortly.” Then she cackled. “Shortly! Get it? Because you three are-”
“Yeah, duh we got it,” James said.
“You sure know how to kill a party, don’t you, blond one?”
“You can’t kill what was never alive.”
Eight looked like she might retort but turned back to the Sombras, giving orders.
“That Sombra there,” I whispered urgently, “He’s falling under her control. If she keeps bossing them around, she’ll soon have all of them.”
“How do you know?” Hen asked.
I pointed to my mouth. “She has the Pearls on. Every time he obeys her, his joy spikes. It makes doing what she says . . . feel good.”
“If they can do that, why didn’t you just use them to send them home?” James asked.
“I don’t want them addicted to listening to me! It’s wrong!”
“So is them abducting us,” James retorted. “What do you think you’re doing here?”
I turned to see Corbyn hovering sullenly over us.
“I’m so-so sorry!” Corbyn whispered.
“Fat lot of help sorry gets us,” James said. “I bet you let that harpy into our room, didn’t you?”
“N-n-n-no sir, that wasn’t me. That was Miss Mist–” he stopped.
“Misty?” I repeated.
“That girl sounds like a real piece of work,” James said.
“She really is,” Hen agreed.
“At least she didn’t pretend to be our friend,” James said.
“I didn’t-didn’t have a choice. They said if I didn’t help them, they’d get my whole family consigned.”
“Who?” I asked.
“After you went to the Pop Shop, a Sombra caught me. At first, I didn’t believe him, but then they got Ash’s family consigned. I was afraid they’d kill you all if you didn’t give them the Pearls.”
“Arnold let me take a decoy,” I said. “It’s in my back pocket. I was going to give her that instead. She might have left us alone.”
“I’m so sorry!” Corbyn said, his little face scrunched up in pain and I felt my stomach twist. What would I have done if they’d threatened my family?
“If you’re really sorry, do something about it,” Hen said. “Don’t just fly around looking pathetic.”
“What can I–”
“Now what shall we do with you three cuties?” Eight asked, returning to us. Corbyn gave a nervous yelp and disappeared into the dark.
“You could hand me the Pearls and let us go,” I said, hoping my voice didn’t sound as nervous as I felt.
The woman cackled—yes, cackled—maniacally. “You’re so cute!”
She kept laughing long past the awkward point. Even some of the other Sombras looked uncomfortable.
“You know, I’m sure One would love to have a Seer working for us.”
“He’d die first!” Hen said with far too much enthusiasm.
“Thanks, Hen,” I said. Did she really think I’d start working for them?
“We can make it worth your while, you know,” she said. “We have another Seer, but she’s not very good. Join us,” she offered.
For some reason, I wanted to say yes. It seemed appealing. They’d definitely make it worth my while. Maybe they could protect me from having my memory erased. And I might even be able keep an eye on the Pearls better if I was close to them.
The Pearls.
The thought slapped me back to reality. Had I actually been considering this? Or were the Pearls affecting me like they did Four? Gosh. And I knew beforehand what they could do. I’m such an idiot.
“I don’t think I’d fit into your group,” I said, feeling like I had to drag each word out of my mouth.
“You’re right, sweetie pie,” Eight said. “I don’t think you’d fit in well with us at all. What about you two?”
Maybe because she worded it as a question instead of as a demand, or maybe I’m just weaker than James and Hen, but neither of them seemed to spend any time at all considering it.
“No thanks, I’d rather not grow up to be some old creeper,” Hen said.
“Is there a polite overlander way of saying I’d be happy to once perdition freezes over?” James asked.
“I thought you might say that. I’m afraid that big scary man over there isn’t as nice as I am, and he might have to use a big mean knife on you.”
We looked over and indeed, there was a large figure holding a very sharp knife.
“I’ve seen his work before. He knows how to make it happen very slowly.” Even without seeing her face, I could tell she was smiling broadly at the thought. “He’s dying to prove himself.”
“What better way to prove yourself than knifing three unarmed children in the dark,” James said dryly. “Your mommy must be so proud.”
Then we heard a loud noise clattering down the chute. I braced myself for more Sombras. What I wouldn’t have given to have Valentine bring his team of memory-wiping goons along with a platoon of Constables right about now.
Then I noticed that the Sombras seemed unnerved by the clattering noise too. Whoever it was, wasn’t expected.
“Don’t just stand there!” Eight snapped. “Get ready!”
The Sombras hurried over to the chute, surrounding it. James, Hen, and I looked at each other, then I grabbed my backpack and we started retreating. One of the Sombras noticed us but didn’t seem to care much. We were cornered, after all.
I knew the Pearls were leading me to the back of the room. Did they know a way out? Or were they just trying to get me as far away as possible? Maybe it was a lost cause.
James pulled out his lit leaf, figuring, I supposed, that since the Sombras knew we were here, it’d be better to use it to find an escape than scrounge around in the dark.
Then I remembered what Arnold had said about the decoy Pearls leading to his favorite toilet or something. Maybe they could lead us out of here.
I withdrew the decoy Pearls, thinking it couldn’t hurt to try, and held them up.
At that moment, something emerged from the chute. Several Sombras raised knives or other weapons, but what came out was a chair.
“It could be a distraction,” one of the Sombras said.
“Eight, I made a mistake,” Corbyn said from across the room.
“What?” she snapped.
“Those Pearls—they’re decoys. The Seer has the real Pearls.”
She looked across the room at me, holding the decoy Pearls by the bluish purplish light of James’s leaf.
I must have looked stunned. It was, after all, how I felt. I stuffed the Pearls in my pocket as I heard a great clattering of what sounded like several dozen marbles slamming into the ground. This confused me until I realized it was the sound I’d heard when Arnold had thrown the necklace onto the floor. Eight had thrown the Pearls down. But how would I get back there?
All the Sombras looked towards us. None of them ran. We were cornered, what was the point?
“I found it!” Hen said.
I looked over. I don’t know how she discovered it, but Hen pulled open a hatch door from the ground and sunlight leaked into the room.
“I’ll take back everything I’ve ever said about you if we get out of this,” James said. We gathered at the trapdoor only to find that the ground was more than 50 feet below us. It looked like the top of a building.
“That can’t be right!” Hen said, poking her head down and looking all around. “Why put a door here that leads to nowhere?”
“Oh crap,” I said.
“What now?” James asked.
“Arnold said something about an invisible ladder with rungs that show up only when you’re touching them.”
“You’ve gotta be joking,” James said.
“Go,” I said, unzipping the backpack and grabbing a stun bomb.
Hen started waving her hand around through the hatch door until she found something. She dropped down immediately, a rung appearing out of nowhere, her legs swinging down, dangling wildly for a moment.
“It’s not a ladder!” she yelled. “I can’t find any more rungs!”
“What if it’s like monkey bars?” James said. He reached down himself until his hand landed on something. “Here’s another bar!”
Catching on, Hen started swinging from bar to bar, making her way away from the trapdoor.
Glancing back, I saw that the Sombras, seeing us escaping, had begun running. It wouldn’t take them long to catch up to us.
“James–”
“I know I know,” he said, dropping his feet into the hatch. “Do the ridiculously dangerous thing.”
To his credit, he didn’t delay long, leaving only me. The Sombras were less than ten yards away. I debated going back for the real Pearls but figured that Corbyn’s gambit would only work if I tried to get away with the fakes.
The last thing I saw before dropping through was Eight reaching for something on her hand. I hurled a stun bomb toward her but it soared over her right shoulder and hit a different Sombra.
I swung down from the hatch door before I saw whether it worked.
Whoa. I didn’t realize how it was going to feel to be dangling in the middle of the air. I looked around and saw the roof of the Hall of Judgment fifty feet below us.
Fifty feet.
Taking a deep breath, I grabbed the rung ahead of me. Then the next. And the next. Nothing quite makes your hands immediately tired quite like making your life dependent on them.
I caught up to James as I heard the first of the Sombras arrive at the trapdoor behind us.
“Today is proving to be gym class from Hades!” James groaned.
If I’d thought moving across the rungs was hard, waiting for James to painfully lunge for each new rung was ten times worse. I could feel my muscles tensing up each time I stalled to hang there.
“Can someone explain to me . . . how we went up into the judgment hall . . . before going down at least 50 feet in a slide thing . . . then went out a hatch in the floor . . . and ended up above the hall.”
“It’s portals, dude. They mess with your head,” Hen said, sounding perky as ever.
“I hate you all over again,” James said.
Hen was moving much faster than either of us, until she crashed into something with a grunt. “It’s an invisible ladder here!” she yelled.
“I detest these on a good day!” James said as he careened to another rung.
“There’s nowhere to go, my sweets!” Eight called gleefully.
I glanced back and saw Eight drop from the hatch, my stomach twisting. For a moment, I feared she’d hit the roof below, but instead, she spread her arms like a diving hawk and swooped back up. She pointed at us, while behind, two Sombras were following on the invisible monkey bars. At least not all of them could fly.
“James– James, hurry!” I urged.
“What do you think I’m doing? Oh, you’ve got to be kidding.” He glanced at Eight flying toward us and sped up, only a short distance from where Hen was descending.
“I’m coming for you, little Seer,” Eight taunted.
She closed in faster than I expected. Summoning my last bit of strength, I pulled myself higher on the bars. Eight cackled as she swooped underneath, grazing my shoes. She shot around, coming back even faster.
James had reached the ladder, but I knew I wouldn’t make it. I was mid-swing when she hit me like a bus. I grunted, losing my balance, barely holding on by my left hand.
“Santiago!” I heard someone yell, which almost scared me more than dangling several stories above ground.
My arms ached, my left hand slipping as the backpack straps bit into my shoulders. Behind me, the Sombras closed in. Worse, Eight redirected herself and was speeding toward me again.
20 feet.
10 feet.
5 feet.
I don’t know if my fingers gave out or if my brain subconsciously came up with and executed the worst plan I’d ever had, but a split second before she intercepted me, my fingers released the rung and I dropped in front of her. Eight’s head rammed into my gut, knocking the wind out of me. Instinctively, I grabbed her waist and held on.
Eight screeched and flapped wildly, trying to shake me off as we spiraled toward an alley between the museum and another building. Eight seemed to realize this and flapped desperately, barely missing the edge of the building.
I let go right before we crashed onto the roof of the museum. I was thrown further than she was, landing painfully on my backpack. I glanced up to see the Sombras still dangling from the bars.
In the distance, I heard rustling. Glancing over, I saw griffins—horse-sized animals with eagle heads and minivan-sized wings—pulling golden chariots. I vaguely recalled someone mentioning griffin races.
I looked back to see Eight hobbling toward me.
I ditched my backpack, scrambled to my feet, then did something stupid. Well, another something stupid. I sprinted to the edge of the roof and jumped. The next building was six feet lower.
Time seemed to slow as I jumped. My heart pounded, and I felt my momentum falter, but my feet hit just beyond the ledge. I stumbled forward, but kept running.
My hope that Eight wouldn’t follow was dashed as I saw her leap after me. I sprinted across the roof, but it didn’t matter. She was too fast—running on all fours crazy fast—like car on a freeway fast. Within seconds, she cut me off.
I turned and ran toward the front of the building where griffins still pulled charioteers. Maybe I could get their attention, but the riders were too focused on the race to notice the red-cloaked woman bearing down on me.
“You can’t outrun me, little Seer,” Eight said. “Just hand over that pretty necklace, and I’ll make it painless.”
“How do you run like that?” I asked, stepping back.
“I’ve got jewelry too,” she said, flashing a ring with a tiny jewel in it. “I imbued myself with a condor and then a cheetah. He’s fast and hungry.” She licked her lips. Ew.
“If– if I give it to you, will you leave us alone?” I asked, wondering if Corbyn had collected the real Pearls.
She leapt at me. I tried to dodge, but she clawed my shoulder, slamming me against the ledge. My head dangled over the edge as a charioteer flew past below.
Then I knew what to do.
Eight grinned. “Just give it to me, little Seer. I’ll get it, one way or another.”
I stood, thinking fast and making a wild assumption. “What does One want it for?”
“How did you know– It’s not my business why One wants something. I make it happen.”
“He doesn’t appreciate you, does he?” I said, moving my hand to my back pocket.
“As if you’d understand.”
“Can you imbue a dog?” I asked, feeling the decoy Pearls in my hand.
“What?! Of course I—”
“Fetch!” I tossed the Pearls over the edge, watching them land in a passing chariot.
“YOU WRETCH!” she screamed, fiddling with her ring before diving off after the decoy.
I walked back to the museum and found James standing over the unconscious Sombras and Hen, a stun bomb between them.
“Is Hen– is she OK?”
“Better than I am. She let those last two thugs get close, then dropped a stun bomb. You can see for yourself it was very effective.”
“Are you OK?”
“Of course not! I’m all alone with a body to move!”
“I don’t think I can jump back up there.”
“Yeah, tell me something I don’t know.”
“Where’s Corbyn?” I asked.
“I’m here,” Corbyn squeaked, descending with a set of Pearls.
I reached up as he set the necklace into my hand. “Thanks, Corbyn.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, looking pitiful.
“Help us get down, and we’ll call it even.”