THE SHADOWS THAT had chased after Jimena and Veto with such fury stopped suddenly. The following silence was more terrifying. It hung heavily around them with the promise of something worse to come.
Jimena glanced up. Overhead she could see the crack in the earth’s crust.
“The rumbling must have been the earth opening,” Veto said.
Jimena felt hope rising, but just as suddenly her optimism vanished. Maybe the Atrox had opened the earth to allow them to escape because there was more to its plan.
They continued up a narrow path through rocky terrain covered with silt and sliding mud. The soft glow of moonlight shining through the rip in the earth illuminated Veto’s ghostly image. He seemed to float more than climb as he led the way up.
Then they heard a crash of thunder.
Jimena looked up. The earth closed over them. All hope was lost. In the pitch-black darkness that followed, Jimena tried to climb forward but she lost her grip and slid down over craggy outcroppings, ripping her palms. Finally, she caught herself on a slab of stone. She waited in complete darkness, trying to capture her breath.
“Don’t worry,” Veto whispered beside her.
She hadn’t even been aware that he was with her until he spoke.
“I’ll show you how I’ve been sneaking out of Tartarus to see you.” His words sounded sure.
He started forward again, up through a cramped cavern. It was dark and misty inside. A pale greenish light seemed to emanate from the churning mists. Jimena crawled after him. She kept imagining movement in the darkness around her. Something brushed against her cheek and then was gone.
A terrifying shriek filled the passageway.
She stopped, her heart slamming against her rib cage. The cries sounded like three dogs howling in terrible distress. Their wailings pierced her ears and filled her with an uncanny fear. She had never been afraid of dogs before.
“What is it?” she asked Veto, her voice shaky.
“A dog guards the entrance,” Veto explained.
“That’s only one dog?” she asked and started to turn her head.
“Don’t look back,” he cautioned. “You don’t want to see.”
She didn’t look back. She didn’t want to know what kind of dog could make such a terrifying sound.
A few minutes later, they crawled from the narrow passageway and stood.
“Careful now.” He led her along the thin and crumbling bank of a vast underground river.
Veto’s body seemed more dense now. He took her hand to guide her, but his flesh felt too soft and she had the strange feeling that if she grasped his hand too tightly she would press completely through it.
They edged along the bank. Mud and dirt gave way beneath their footsteps and fell into the water below.
The murmuring flow of the underground river was starting to make Jimena drowsy. She pulled away from Veto, cupped her hands and scooped them into the water.
Veto pulled her up and away. “What are you doing?”
“I was getting sleepy,” Jimena answered. “I thought some water would wake me up.”
“Not here.” Veto nudged her forward. “The souls of the dead drink these waters to forget their lives on earth.”
She stared down at the water, her tongue dry and her desire to lap the waters huge.
A channel of gray light struck her eyes. She squinted. She was sure it wasn’t an illusion, but light from the outside.
“Stay here,” Veto ordered. He pulled himself up. Dirt spattered down on her, then his hand reached for her. She took it. His skin felt warm and solid now.
She scrambled out after him, surprised to find herself standing in the middle of MacArthur Park. Traffic moved slowly down the wet streets surrounding the park, headlights reflecting off the pavement. She gratefully held her face up to the rain and let it wash the dirt from her face.
“See, easy.” Veto smiled triumphantly.
“Too easy.” She shook her head sadly.
His smile fell.
“Our escape was too easy,” she warned him. “It has to be part of some larger plan.” She sensed that the Atrox was still planning to use Veto to destroy her. They stood in the rain, trembling and unsure.
“If it’s still planning to use me,” Veto said, “then let’s show it that it can’t. Risk it all, Jimena. The Atrox hasn’t won yet.”
She clasped her moon amulet, thinking. There had to be a way to free Veto from the Atrox, but how?
“We need to find someplace safe.” She grabbed Veto’s hand and pulled him.
“What?” He followed after her. “Where are we going?”
“We have to hide,” she answered.
They ran across the park, sloshing through rain-soaked grass. She thought of heading to Maggie’s. Maybe she would know how to protect Veto, but that journey required the use of a bus and she felt intuitively that they didn’t have that kind of time.
“There,” she said suddenly and pointed to a church.
Veto rushed ahead of her up the wide steps and reached for the door. When his fingers touched the metal handle, a bluish flash of lightning struck his hand and he tumbled backward.
Jimena understood at once. Veto was denied entrance into the church because he was still animated by the Atrox, the primal source of evil.
“Go inside. Protect yourself,” Veto ordered.
Jimena dropped to the ground beside him. “I can’t abandon you.”
The air around them changed. The rain stopped suddenly, and she knew the Atrox was coming.