I ignore him. “Don’t wait for me. Help each other, and if I can catch up, I will.”
Zai looks behind him to Meike, who, after checking my expression, gives a reluctant nod. With no warning, he wraps his arms around me in a hug. “You make it through safe, okay? I don’t need another death to feel guilty over.”
My heart squeezes so tight it hurts. He feels guilty leaving me, and he’s hugging me to make me feel better. How is it even possible? My curse should make him…indifferent at least. I soak it up like a dry sponge finally hitting water.
“I will. You be safe, too,” I whisper and hug him back.
With a grin for me and one for Meike, he goes inside.
Two minutes later, the door opens to an empty room.
58
Artemis’ Labor
I am the last to walk into the cave for the next Labor.
I pass through the doorway onto a damp rock surface and pull up short when Diego steps out of the shadows. He went right before I did, so he hasn’t been waiting long, but…
“Why are you still here?” I ask, eyeing him warily. He swore, same as the others. No harm or hindering.
Except his gaze is as warm and kind as his smile, which soothes a bit of my tension. “We haven’t had a chance to talk much, but did anyone tell you I’m a father?”
I stare at him, then shake my head. He’s in his mid-forties, though, so I’m not surprised.
He nods. “Two. Marisol and Gabriel. They are ten and twelve years old, and they are my life.”
And I can’t help the twinge of liking starting to grow for this man who is my competition.
“Even though they may never find out what happened to me…” His shoulders go back. “I want both of my hijos to be proud of their papá, no matter what. I will play these Labors with integrity.”
My heart twists. Because to yank a father away from his children, one who clearly cares for them… How could Demeter have done that when she’s recently lost her own?
“You earned the right to start this Labor before me,” he says. “That’s why I waited.”
Oh. He really, really means it—about competing with integrity. “I know they are proud,” I tell him. “You are a good man.”
“Muchas gracias.” Then he grins. “But you only think that because Demeter’s blessing for me is charm.”
She made him likable. Must be nice.
I shake my head. “I know when people are good versus likable.”
He sobers a little bit and offers me a sincere smile. Then he takes a deep breath and steps back, ushering me ahead of himself.
Which is when I finally get a good look at the start of Artemis’ obstacle course. What I see is a cavern lit by lanterns hanging from stalactites, illuminating a series of tiered balance beams. I glance down to see that it’s only about a twenty-foot drop, but it’s onto thousands of stalagmites that look like teeth.
No Daemones in here—not that I can see, at least—but that doesn’t mean much.
“Pretty sure that fall would end me,” I murmur to myself, but Diego laughs.
“Don’t take too long,” he says. “Bats. That’s what comes for your flags in here. Small ones and some nasty-looking larger ones that could knock you off if they wanted.”
So I get to dance with Dracula-makers? Shudder. “Great.”
I look down again.
“Did anyone else—” I cut off the question. I don’t want to know. I just won’t look down, so I don’t have to see a body if anyone did fall.
“Not on this part,” Diego says. “But I’ve heard—”
A howl of pain shoots out of the other end of this cavern, and I’m pretty sure it’s Samuel. What on earth could make him sound like that?
“Screams,” Diego finishes. “From the next part.”
This just gets better and better. I blow out a long breath and take the first step. The beam doesn’t move and is solid. It’s also only about six inches wide.
Don’t think about that.
If I pause, I’ll trick myself into falling, so I try to be quick across the beams, doing my best to handle the sharp turns right and left and the changes in height. Only a few wobbles and one windmilling-arms maneuver, but I’m still up here. Footsteps right behind me tell me Diego’s keeping pace easily.
We’re about halfway across the cavern when a distinctive squeak is followed by another, and another, and the sounds of flapping, and then Diego shouts, “Pick up the pace!”
My heart is pounding in my chest as I glance to my right, and I make out a swarm of bats blocking the light of one of the lanterns. Then another lantern, closer. And another. And the squeaks of their echolocation fill the room.
I go. I go as fast as I can, only having to pause once or twice to not fall during transitions between beams. We’re almost to the end, where the last beam stops at a ledge that leads to a small, round tunnel.
