one rule.”
“Oh, believe me. I am well aware of your card tricks.”
Her hazel eyes glinted. “Fighting with Dad and the old man is useless. Think about it. Dad already feels guilty because our mothers are both trapped in the Underworld. He will never, ever, not in a million years, agree to let us face the same fate.”
This seemed like a pointless conversation. “Then what do you suggest?”
“That we go anyway,” she said simply. “Without telling them.”
Not tell them?
The idea never even occurred to me.
Riley laughed at my stunned reaction. “Always the good daughter, perfect Sheridan. The thought of disobeying Dad must truly rattle your brain.”
I scowled. “Stop saying that.” Had she forgotten that I stabbed her with a pair of scissors?
“My point is, there is no need to argue when we can just take what we want for ourselves. We don’t need permission.”
I swallowed, thinking of Petra’s message. All the stones were falling into place. “You’re right.”
“Of course, I am.”
I stared at her, dazedly. “I should have realized it would come to this. It’s already been seen.”
Riley crooked a brow. “Meaning?”
I debated for several moments, wondering if I could trust her. Then I nearly laughed at the thought. Absolutely, no. When it came to trusting Riley, the answer was always no. I was pretty sure I’d have to keep my guard up for the rest of my life. But that still left me in the position of needing her cooperation. I didn’t have to trust her, but I needed to work with her.
So, I revealed that Petra and I had been communicating. I told her about Selena’s premonition. After I finished, Riley let out a shaky breath and leaned back against the stall door. Even she hadn’t expected it to work out so perfectly. “That settles it. We’re going to the Underworld.”
“When?”
She gave me a look that made me think the answer was obvious. “At the start of fall. That’s when Persephone went.”
Fall. She was right, of course. If we were going to do this, really do this, we needed to mimic Persephone. Fall was symbolic of death. And spring, rebirth. We would give six months in exchange for the rest of our lives.
“Talk to your mom. Tell her to make the arrangements.”
I nodded. “I will.”
“Until then, we tell no one. We go on as if everything is normal.”
“You mean, we go on torturing each other?”
She grinned. “Exactly.”
19
Ione paced across our small dormitory, holding a piece of paper, her cheeks bright red. “How could he,” she said, seething. Preoccupied by whatever the paper said, she hardly even noticed that I walked in. But when she did—she furiously waved it at me. “You—did you know about this?”
I shut the door and pressed my back against it, afraid to find out.
Her gaze combed over me. “I can see by how quickly you’ve gone pale, you can guess.”
“Is it from Xander?” I hadn’t seen him all day. Anywhere.
She nodded. “My wretched, soulless brother left me a goddamned note to say he’s leaving me alone at Arcadia. No goodbye, no explanations, just this—” She crumpled the paper between her palms, threw it on the floor, then she stomped on it. “That’s what I think of your note, Xander!”
I stood there dumbly, shock turning my body numb. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be real.
After several more stomps, Ione suddenly looked up. “He really didn’t tell you anything about this?”
I shook my head, my messenger bag sliding off my arm to the floor. “He didn’t even leave me a note.”
She scowled at the crumpled, shredded paper. “It didn’t say much,” she said, her tone full of disgust. “Just that he’s sorry and he has to go. He doesn’t mention to where or when he’ll be back.”
“Has he already left?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. This only came about fifteen minutes before you arrived.”
I chewed the inside of my cheek. “Last time we spoke, he acted strange,” I admitted. “But he never told me he wanted to leave Arcadia.”
“Did anything happen before that?” she pressed. “That would make him do something this desperate?”
Like the way I outed him to Riley?—I winced. God, I hoped that wasn’t the reason.
Then it occurred to me. The Hollowed Guard.
Slowly, I walked to my bed, sitting on the edge. “A few nights ago, we encountered three swordsmen. He told me they were members of the Hollowed Guard and,” I swallowed, “he suspected your father sent them.”
Ione lowered herself into the chair behind her vanity. “On Zeus’s grave,” she breathed, staring into space.
“What does