Underland(47)

Alice bobbed her head excitedly.

“Why would you do that? You don’t know me.”

“It’s the same thing Warrick said. We need to make strong friends to survive. I want to help you.”

The girl seemed so earnest and hopeful. Kira chewed the inside of her lip, weighing her options. Her decision would impact—not only her but— the young and na?ve girl.

“Sure. Why not?” Kira stuck her hand out and waited for Alice to shake it in agreement, but she didn’t take it. Instead, in another puff of smoke, the girl disappeared from the chair and reappeared on the bed next to Kira, giving her an all-encompassing hug. Alice practically crawled into Kira’s lap and buried her head into her shoulder, like a small puppy seeking solace. Except that where Alice’s skin touched Kira, she felt a slight pressure and a breeze.

Kira wasn’t prepared for the close contact, but instinct made her wrap an arm around the girl. It felt so foreign to be holding someone, offering comfort after years of neglect. But at the same time it felt right.

In that one moment, this small girl had found a chink in Kira’s armor. Kira, hardened by life on the street, knew right then she would do everything she could to protect the child.

Tears started to form in her eyes, and her heart ached from the pain and regret of all she’d been missing in her lonely life. That one action gave Kira, even though it was a small one, a reason to live.

“I’ve got to go. It’s almost time.” The ghost disappeared without giving her anymore answers and didn’t return. Kira tried to get out of bed, but she was too weak. Her body was still healing, and she was wracked with coughs.

***

Kira ached, still. Her body felt like it had been through torture—it basically had. She’d been asleep for only an hour when Olympus Tower guards in white uniforms burst into her hospital room.

“That’s her.” The guard pointed, and they hauled her out of bed.

“What’s going on?” Kira asked the guard twisting her right arm. “Where are you taking me?” She tried to see through his reflective facemask.

“You’ve been summoned by the Underlords. Since you’ve ignored those summons, you are under arrest,” the shorter guard answered.

“What? No, I didn’t know. I’ve obviously been ill!” Kira tried to explain.

The guard on her left yelled. “Silence.”

As they dragged her through the compound, she saw Remus shouting at a third Olympus Guard. Her legs burned, and her head pounded from the jostling.

“This can’t be. I own that human. You can’t just march in here and take it from me.”

“Are you disobeying the orders of the Underlords?” the guard challenged.

Remus’s face paled. “Why no, but I—”

The men stopped suddenly, and Kira swung forward, jarred. Their gloved hands squeezed her biceps until she thought she’d lose circulation. They held Kira a few feet from Remus, while the third guard tapped his tablet.

“I’ll have to report your insubordination to Hermes.”

Sweat broke out on Remus’s forehead, and he steadied himself against the wall. “But it’s just a human. What could they want with a human girl?”

“Who are you to question them?”

“I didn’t mean—I don’t—This is the first I’ve heard of any summons.”

The guard speaking to Remus lifted his visor. The manticore’s mouth pulled back to reveal his sharp teeth.

“Do you deny their direct order?” His scorpion tail arched above them, the barb glistening with poison.

Remus’s shoulders sagged. “No, no. Never. Bring it here. I’ll release it right now.”

The two guards with iron grip dragged Kira over to Remus, and the guard on her right yanked her arm up in front of him. He punched a few numbers into her brace, and she heard a beeping. Something powered down. Her tracker maybe? The guards quickly moved her away from Remus and toward a white van with the Olympus Tower on its side.

“I’ll be expecting compensation.” Remus smiled at the manticore. “That was one of my most prized fighters.”

“Yet you’ll receive none. After all, this is a gift, because you refused the gods.”

“No, no. I told you. This is the first I’ve heard of the summons. I didn’t know.” He stomped his feet, and the guard beside her shook his head.

“Not my problem.” The manticore waved at Remus, did an about face, and marched to the driver’s side of the vehicle. The guards shoved Kira into the back and the two guards stepped up after her, slamming the door. The engine turned over and they drove off.

How could this day get any worse? She stared at the two guards. Maybe if she knew what kind of monsters they were, it’d be easier for her to calm herself down. Exhausted, head pounding, she laid her head against the side of the cage and prayed for swift healing while she tried to hold back the tears. She hadn’t gotten to say goodbye. She’d just been taken.

They went over a rib-cage rattling bit of road. She coughed, and when she pulled her hands away, she saw a few spots of blood.

“What is that?” the guard hissed, finally talking to her. “Are you bleeding?”

“No,” she lied, tucking her hands into her sleeves. She might be honest if they’d tell her what was going on.