Goddess of Spring (Goddess Summoning #2)(21)

It was a young woman, and again Lina found herself thinking that this girl, too, was young enough to have been her daughter. The spirit carried a bundle which she kept hidden and pressed close to her breast, but Lina could tel by its shape that it was an infant. The woman's blank gaze moved from the dark landscape before her and touched on Eurydice without changing expression, but when she noticed Lina, her shadowed eyes widened and her face suddenly became animated.

"Is it truly the Goddess of Spring who walks amidst the dead?" Her voice was thick with emotion. With only a slight hesitation, Lina answered, "Yes, I am Persephone."

"Oh!" The newly dead woman pressed a transparent hand against her mouth as if to contain her emotions. She took a deep, steadying breath and said, "Then this dark journey is not so hopeless. Not if we walk in the presence of a Goddess."

Out of the corner of her eye Lina could see Eurydice smiling and nodding. The whisper of her name passed like a gentle wave through the cluster of glowing spirits that suddenly surrounded them.

"Persephone!"

"It is the Goddess of Spring!"

"She has come to light our drear journey!"

One by one the spirits turned to Lina. They came in al ages and forms, from old men stooped with age to youngsters who flitted between the shapes of the older dead with the exuberance of youth. Some spirits showed evidence of their wounds, with obvious sword slashes painting their otherwise pale bodies in crimson. Some, like Eurydice and the young mother, were unmarked, but no matter the state of what remained of their physical forms, al of them had one thing in common

- the look of delight and newly rekindled hope at the sight of Persephone. Lina was surprised at her reaction to being surrounded by

spirits of the dead. It wasn't scary at al . She could even stand the sight of death wounds, as long as she didn't stare too long and instead focused on the person's eyes. There Lina could see the light that ignited within each soul as she smiled and greeted them with what she hoped was a proper display of caring.

As Lina and Eurydice fol owed the dark path, the number of dead surrounding them continued to grow. Lina could see that Demeter hadn't exaggerated. The spirits obviously needed her. They reacted to her presence like she was rain and they were a desert plain. Parched, they drank in her smiles and greetings. Voices whispered endlessly around her, murmuring words in languages she shouldn't understand, but did. Feeling a little overwhelmed, Lina tried not to think about the multitude of spirits. Take them one at a time, she chanted over and over to herself. Think of them as eager customers and not as the unnumbered dead.

As if sensing her growing unease, Eurydice stayed close beside her, making sure that she kept the Goddess moving forward.

"I can see the marsh just ahead," Eurydice whispered to Persephone. "There we wil board Charon's boat and he wil take us across the lake to the path that leads to the Elysian Fields. The palace of Hades is at the edge of those fields. It cannot be much farther til we reach it." Lina was just thanking Eurydice for the bolstering information when the pathway in front of them shuddered, and with a deafening crack, the black marble broke open, exposing an opening in the ground that gaped like a giant's mouth. With gasps of fear, the souls of the dead scattered, leaving only Lina and Eurydice to face the dark maw.

Chapter 8

" Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!" Lina yel ed, too shocked to remem ber to switch to Italian as the earth at her feet opened. She windmil ed her arms to keep from tumbling forward, then hastily grabbed Eurydice by one cool, transparent hand and began to scramble back, pulling the girl with her. She'd only retreated a couple feet when four ebony-colored stal ions surged from the opening. Snorting fire in an awesome display of power they converged on Lina and Eurydice.

"Goddess, help me!" Eurydice shrieked.

The girl's terrified voice snapped Lina out of her slack-jawed stupor. She dropped Eurydice's smal , pale hand and stepped forward to meet the horses. The lead stal ion chal enged her with a piercing squeal, his ears turned flat against his massive skul . He was the first horse she approached. Mental y crossing her fingers that her gift hadn't been left behind in her body, Lina dropped her voice to a playful level and held her hand out to his dangerous looking muzzle.

"Wel , hel o there you handsome boy."

The horse faltered, mid-fiery snort. His ears pricked forward so that he could be certain to catch every sound she uttered.

Lina smiled. Obviously, her gift belonged to her soul and not to her body. She breathed a sigh of relief. No matter how large or fierce, they were just horses, and like al animals, horses adored her. Lina made soothing clucking sounds with her tongue against her teeth as she caressed the magnificent animal's velvet muzzle.

"You certainly are a big boy," Lina cooed.

"Who dares to disturb the souls of the dead and to touch the dread steeds of Hades!" The voice broke like a whip over her, and Lina jerked her hands away from the smooth muzzle, glancing guiltily up in the direction from which the deep voice originated. Lina swal owed hard. She was such an idiot! She'd been so entranced by the horses that she hadn't even thought to look behind them.

The man stood in a bril iant silver chariot the color of moonbeams, holding a large, two-pronged spear in one hand and thick leather reins in his other hand. His massive body was swathed from neck to ankle in night-colored robes. A cloak rippled around him and Lina's little light il uminated its folds so that it shone with shades of deep purple and royal blue. His long hair was tied back in a thick queue. It, too, was black and the light showed its slick sheen. Lina's eyes moved to his face. His coloring was dark and exotic; his skin was a mixture of gold and bronze that gave him the intimidating look of a statue that had come alive. He was staring at her with eyes that blazed above high cheekbones and a strong, well -defined chin. His nose was hawkish. He was stern and angry and... magnificent.