Chapter 123

The six of us troop out onto the street, Orion and Anton looking with particular curiosity as Laila spreads her palm out flat in front of her, using only four of the objects from the divination bag this time, clutching them in her fist and asking her question about direction as she pulls on my magic.

I give it willingly, letting her take as much as she wants, and when she drops the four stones from her clenched fist into her waiting palm, the answer is very clear.

“Left!” I call, laughing a little and pointing down the road. “We go left!”

“Holy crap,” Anton says, starting after me. Faiza just scowls down at the squirrel cupped in her palms as she, too, follows along, I think displeased to see her Goddess so thwarted.

“Bye!” Laila calls to the bartender, who comes out on the porch to wave us away. She loops her arm through Orion’s as she shouts and starts after us. “We love you! Thank you so much for your hospitality! I’ll come and see you soon!”

“Oh yeah,” I say, turning around to walk backwards down the street. I bite my lip, turning to Faiza. “Does…gold work here? As currency?”

“Fresh food is better,” she says, raising her eyebrows at me. “That’s the true scarcity. Fruit, vegetables, meat, bread.” She shrugs.

I nod to her and then narrow my eyes at the inn, willing a great deal of groceries to make themselves appear inside, including lots of fish. Because, I mean, even if he did host us for Laila’s sake alone…

My dad raised me right. Sinclairs leave big tips.

I grin, heaving a happy sigh and starting again down the road towards the next intersection, where Laila will ask the stones again. Anton grins and slips an arm around my shoulders, his strides eager and happy.

I glance over at Faiza though, a little displeased to see her so unhappy. “Hey, you’re going to be free soon,” I say quietly, frowning at her. “Shouldn’t you be…perkier?”

She glances at me and rolls her eyes. “She didn’t want you to come to the temple, June. You’re actively defying her.”

My frown deepens even as I don’t check my steps. “Are you going to like…get in trouble? For not preventing me from coming here?”

“No,” Faiza says on a sigh, looking down at Blythe. “It was never my job to keep you away. Just…she had a plan, is all.”

“Well, then why did you let it slip?” Anton asks, frowning over at her, more curious than angry. “We wouldn’t have even known there was a temple, or something to hide in it, if you hadn’t mentioned it to us.”

“I honestly don’t know,” Faiza says, flicking her eyes over to him, shaking her head. “I was just following orders. Maybe…maybe she did want you to know?” She sighs, looking a bit defeated. “I honestly don’t get it.”

My mouth twists a little with sorrow for her, wishing it was better. As trying as Faiza is, I do find that I like her and want things to go well for her.

Which is…much easier to think, now that I know Anton likes me most.

I grin up at him, quite pleased at the thought, and my ghost boy grins down at me.

We arrive at the intersection and I turn to Laila, excited. “Okay, ready?”

“Ready!” She says, raising her fist again, the stones ready. I watch Orion watch Laila as she works, see the true pleasure on his face, the way his eyes move over her.

Yes, my wolf says, turning her head, curious in turn. He does like her. Maybe he…wasn’t bluffing. Maybe he wants her to be our collective bride.

I give my wolf a shove, making her bite out a wolfish laugh. Don’t be creepy, I say, shaking my head internally and externally. We’re not marrying Laila.

Maybe you’re not, my wolf says, trotting in a saucy little circle. But Orion might.

I sigh, frustrated at the thought, wishing I knew precisely what was going on in our big stupid romantic square. But I push all the ideas away as the stones fall into Laila’s palm, all landing far to the right.

“Right!” Orion says, laughing with delight. Laila grins, turning her smile and joy upwards to beam at Orion. He shakes his head at her, marveling, and strokes a hand over her pretty blue-green hair.

“Jealoussss,” Faiza whispers, sing-song, and I snap my head to glare at her.

Anton looks between us with raised eyes. “What?”

“Nothing,” I growl, snatching his hand and pulling him along with me. “Right it is!”

We travel for a long time through the city, but even as the hours pass I can see and feel us getting closer to the temple. For one thing, the vegetation becomes much more vivid, with trees and bushes growing, and people tending to little flower and vegetable gardens in plots outside their homes.

The people of this city watch us pass, quite interested, murmuring as we go by. I frown at that, looking around at them, wondering how they’ve identified us as anything worth their attention.

But then I remember that I’m walking with a ghost, a super-hot Prince, two priestesses and a squirrel. And I scowl, realizing that I’m probably the least interesting one here.

There’s no time to dwell on it, though, as we finally turn the final corner up the last hill and the steps of the temple come into view. I gasp, delighted to finally see them, and rush forward towards the glowing white steps, honestly captivated and a little outdone by the sight.

I mean, we’ve been walking for hours, and sometimes it felt like we were never going to get here. But now that we’re here…damn.

“Wow,” Tony says, standing next to me with his head tilted back like mine. “That is…beautiful.”

I nod, not blinking as I take it all in – the palatial temple, all tall columns and white, glowing marble, lighting up the night sky like a beacon. “Yeah,” I whisper. “I…think I understand pilgrimages now.”

“Gonna switch teams?” Faiza asks, arriving on my other side and giving me a grin. Blythe also looks up at me from her hands, interested. “Not a Moon Goddess Girlie anymore?”

“How dare you, I would never betray my grandmother,” I say, shaking my hair back over my shoulders.

Laila squeaks with excitement, rushing over to us, tugging Orion along. “Oh, it’s so pretty! This is so exciting!”

I grin at her for a moment, but my smile falls when I look at Orion’s drawn expression. “Are you okay?”

“I’m exhausted,” he confesses, glancing at me with a little bit of embarrassment. “I’ve never actually been here either. I think it’s…messing with me.”

“Poor dark Princie,” I coo, stepping closer and giving him a side-hug, resting my head against his arm. “Overwhelmed by all of this Life.”

“Yes, I miss the realms of death,” he says dramatically, looking up to the darkness of the sky, a corner of his mouth quirking up and making me grin. “I need some Shadowroot liquor to restore my connection to my magic.”

I grin and push him away, starting up the steps. “Come on!” I call, all eagerness. “Let’s go!”

To my surprise, no one makes any move to stop us as we climb up the stairs to the temple’s entrance. There’s also no one else here. I frown as I look around, I guess expecting more pilgrims and supplicants. But then I shrug, continuing on my way, putting the thought behind me.

When we do get close to the top, a priestess clothed all in white – including a gauzy white headdress that flows all the way to the ground – peaks out the door and then gasps, ducking back inside.

I turn to Faiza, interested. “Was that a Priestess?”

“Yup,” she says, giving a steady nod, not showing any distress at the rather steep climb. I pant a little.

“How come you don’t wear the garb?” I ask, pressing my hands to my side, feeling a stitch coming on.

“Because I have taste,” she says, dry, moving her eyes slowly to my face. “I had full control over my wardrobe written into my contract.”

Laila gasps, excited, and hurries up a few steps to grin at me as Orion pants behind her, struggling with the last few steps. “Do I get garb!?”

“You get garb if you want it!” I say, laughing and grinning back at her. She beams at me, excited at the prospect.

By the time we get to the door, though, all of our laughter fades.

Anxiety starts to thrum through me as I peer into the temple itself.

Honestly, I had expected our entrance to be more dramatic than this. I watch as a few priestesses rush around at the far end of the temple, moving around the feet of a gigantic golden statue of a woman pressing a lily to her chest. My eyes move up the body of the statue and I blink with surprise to find not a demure, sweet expression –

But rather a cold, judging glare – the harsh gaze of an Underworld Goddess indeed.

“Yes,” Faiza says, coming to my side, crossing her arms over her chest as she, too, studies the statue of the Goddess. “Life has its cruelties as well, doesn’t it?”

“I suppose it does,” I say, reaching for Anton’s hand. He squeezes my palm in his, giving me a small encouraging smile. “You ready for this?”

“I am,” he says, nodding.

I exhale a long breath, looking around at my group. “Where do we…start?”

“It’s your party, little Goddess,” Faiza says, giving me a wicked smile and bowing low. “You tell me.”

I take a deep breath, raising my chin. Then, hand in hand with my ghost boy, I step into the temple.