Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X, #1)(136)

“What was her name?” asked Tessa. “This goddess?”

“Death and darkness and war,” murmured Olaf.

Darius shook his head. “I’ve never heard him say a name in all the times he’s told the story. He either doesn’t know or won’t say.”

“What about the man who kept visiting?” asked Tessa. “Was he the one saying they’d take Ilias back?”

Olaf’s eyes grew moist. “He warned us. He tried to persuade Ilias to join them when he was older, but he wouldn’t. He was a good boy.”

“Did the guy who threatened Ilias have a name? Do you know anything about him?”

Darius answered when his father wouldn’t. “No name, but he was one of us. Blond. Not much Cain.” He frowned. “No, there wasn’t any Cain. He was like Ilias.”

When it became obvious Olaf would say no more, Darius made motions to leave. He gently helped his father get into bed, and the old man fell asleep almost instantly.

“Can you help us?” Darius asked once he and Tessa were outside again. “Can you find these people?”

“I told you…I’m not part of this.” She put her camera back in its bag. “But I’ll tell the people I’m with that—”

Her ego rang with a call, and she saw Mae’s name appear. Tessa answered.

“Is everything okay?” asked Mae immediately, her voice hard and tense.

“Um, yeah,” said Tessa. “They’re just weird. Where are you guys?”

“I’m at the rooftop bar in our hotel.” There was a long pause. “I don’t know where Justin is.”

“Okay. I’ll meet you there. We have to…talk.”

Tessa disconnected and turned to Darius. “I’m going to see one of my friends right now, but it’s my other one who’ll really be able to do something.” If there was anything to be done. For all Tessa knew, she’d just listened to the ramblings of a madman.

Darius nodded eagerly and surprised her by clasping her hands between his. “Will you call me when you find out? Please? I have to get justice for Ilias.”

“Sure,” she said. They synched their egos to trade contact information, and she wondered if she could expect hourly calls.

After an outpouring of thanks, Darius went his own way, and Tessa returned to the hotel. It was after midnight, and she was exhausted, but she still found her way up to the rooftop bar. The place was busy with late-night socializing, and the terrace had a nice view of the park. From the way people were starting to disperse over there, the band must have been wrapping up. She found Mae sitting alone, gazing off into the distance. There was a rare expression on her face, troubled and forlorn, though it immediately vanished when she noticed Tessa.

“Hey.” Tessa sat down opposite her.

“Hey.” Mae had an untouched mojito in front of her. “What’s going on that’s weird?”

“It may be nothing…but I just got accosted by a guy who thinks he has information about that murder you guys are here for.”

Mae straightened up. “Accosted?”

“I’m okay,” said Tessa swiftly. “And it was more of a request, I guess. A very emphatic one. But I had my camera and—ahh!”

She screamed as an enormous black bird suddenly swooped low over the deck—and landed right on their table. Tessa sprang up in panic, backing into a chair behind her. Mae remained where she was, but her eyes were wide. The bird paced around on the table a little and then stopped, staring directly at Mae. Weirder still, Mae seemed totally transfixed. She met the bird’s gaze unblinkingly and seemed to be holding her breath. Then, without warning, the bird gave a croak and lifted up on strong wings. It flew across the deck again, frightening more patrons, and then paused on the railing of an emergency staircase. It glanced briefly back at Mae and then flew down.

Mae stared after it for a few seconds, and then, without a word, she tore off after it down the stairs.





[page]CHAPTER 31





AVENGING VALKYRIE





Mae was fully aware of how crazy it was. And as she sprinted down the stairs three at a time, she wondered if she was soon going to feel like an idiot. But in that moment, when the bird—no, raven, she somehow knew—had been staring at her, she’d felt suspended in time. The world had stopped, and there’d been nothing in it but those beady black eyes. Then, most improbable of all, she’d sworn she heard a voice in her head when the bird croaked: Come. An overwhelming sense of urgency had swept her, and without further hesitation, she’d followed the raven.

It was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. Once she hit the ground, it flew off toward a small building next to the hotel, hovered a few moments, and then soared off into the dark sky. Mae looked at where it had paused. Several steps led down to a lit-up glass door in the building’s lowest level. Mae could hear thumps and see some sort of movement within. She jumped down to the base of the stairs and was met with the unexpected sight of a Nordic woman in a copper-colored dress throwing herself at a wooden door. Puzzled, Mae tried to open the outer glass door and found it locked. The woman glanced over at Mae, her face filling with shock.

That was all Mae needed. Fight-or-flight mode seized her, banishing all thoughts of her mysterious winged guide. With little difficulty, she picked up a heavy stone planter sitting nearby and swung it at the door. The glass shattered, and without hesitation, Mae slipped through the jagged opening she’d created, heedless of cuts on her arms. The woman backed up and threw some kind of black knife at Mae. Mae dodged it, but in those seconds as it flew, she saw improbable black flame ringing the blade. It landed on the ground, smoking.