From Darkness (Hearts & Arrows Book 3)(25)

That was when the real search had begun. Josie had pounded more pavement, talking to detectives, hookers, and families and friends of the dead girls, trying to find out as much as she could with the hope that something would lead her back to Rhodes. Some detectives had been forthcoming. Some wouldn’t give her the time. A few had been convinced she’d uncovered a serial killer while others just called her crazy.

But Josie never stopped looking.

She spent much of her free time on her most dangerous hobby—tailing Rhodes. She knew him, knew his daily routine. She knew his favorite coffee shop and what time he worked out. If she watched him, she could catch him. If she followed him, she could stop him from hurting anyone again.

But he never put a toe out of line, and on her worst days, she’d wonder if she’d stretched the whole thing together, patched it up with duct tape and bubblegum, and convinced herself he was a killer. It was all she had to hold on to, and she felt it was right, but how could she even be sure?

Most days, she wouldn’t think about it, but the ones when she did were dark.

No one knew how much of her time and energy she put into Rhodes. They couldn’t understand. They’d think she’d lost it, and maybe they’d be right, but chasing Rhodes was the only thing in her life that made sense, and she couldn’t let it go. Not as long as he was walking free.





The wind whipped Artemis’s robes against her legs as she clung to the side of a high rock face with her eyes on a cave opening above her. Her legs strained as she hung on the cliff and pushed off, swinging to another hold, easily finding footholds as she leveraged her way up with grace and ease. She hoisted herself onto the ledge, pausing for a moment to catch her breath at the entrance to Echo’s cave.

Echo was a tree nymph who had been known for telling beautiful tales of love and adventure and would often entertain the gods and nymphs alike. On the day she had been cursed, she’d distracted Hera with one of her stories as Zeus escaped a tryst with one of her nymph sisters, and when Hera had realized what had happened, she’d cursed Echo. From that moment on, she was only able to speak the last words she’d heard. Years later, Echo had fallen in love with Narcissus, a beautiful man who could only love himself, and she’d wasted away, pining after him until nothing was left but her voice.

Artemis was the goddess of all nymphs, the caregiver to all creatures of the wild, and when they’d fled Earth to make their home in the new Olympus, Echo had followed. Preferring solitude, she had made her home high in a mountain cave.

Artemis’s hands were on her hips as she breathed deep, looking out over her realm as the wind swept across her body. Mountains stretched out into the distance, green and lush, and rolling hills and meadows dotted with trees filled the valley below. A waterfall roared from the top of the cliff, misting her with water, and she was thankful for its chill after the climb.

She walked into the cool stone passage, laying her palm against the slate, hearing water rush somewhere above her. When she stepped out on the other side, she was in Echo’s cave.

Water poured in from the skylight of the domed cave, collecting in a topaz pool ringed with myrtles and laurels standing in spring grass peppered with flowers. Near the opening where the sunshine poured in, small birds flitted, tweeting and chirping merrily.

At the far end of the cave were shelves made of stone, filled with Echo’s things. There were pots and paintings, scrolls and wildflowers. The light caught on the mirror, and Artemis was relieved it was still in the nymph’s possession.

“Echo?” Artemis called.

But there was no echo of the sound, an eerie sensation in the open rock where the sound should have bounced back to her. She looked around for the nymph, usually able to see her by the soft sheen of her spirit, but Artemis found her nowhere.

An entrance to another passage lay just beyond Echo’s shelves, and Artemis made her way through it. The path grew blacker with every step she took, and the sound of her footsteps reverberated off the walls.

“Echo?”

The word was absorbed into the blackness.

Goosebumps prickled Artemis’s skin as she followed the trickling sound of water, and the passage opened up again into a smaller chamber, dark and heavy.

“Echo? It is I, Artemis.”

Echo was a wisp, a shimmering apparition. With no light to interfere, Artemis could see the nymph who once was. Echo was looking down into a small pool of water in the rock floor. Her hair hung in loose waves, and her face was like a sprite with wide lips and a dainty nose.

She turned her sad eyes to Artemis and smiled. “Artemis,” she said, her voice hollow.

“Hello, friend.” Artemis took a seat next to her on the cold stone, watching as she shimmered and shone in blues and whites and purples; her soul was the only source of light in the room.

“Hello, friend.” The nymph folded her hands in her lap.

“I hope that you are well. It has been too long.”

Echo nodded, though her face held curiosity.

“I’m sure you must be wondering the purpose of my visit.”

The nymph nodded again.

“I came to petition you on behalf of Aphrodite.”

Echo raised an eyebrow. “Aphrodite?”

Artemis smiled. “Yes, Aphrodite. She has lost Adonis.”

“Lost Adonis?” Her brows knit together.

“She left him, and he drank Lethe.”