felt him die.”
I give a sympathetic nod. “Before he passed away, he told me to find you, and tell you the berries of Elysium were sweetest when we were children playing in their fields. He said you would know what that means.”
She doesn’t respond at first and then, she smiles, but it is one touched with sadness. “It means that you had his trust,” she says. “But as Prometheus, you already have mine.”
“Thanks.”
Her smile turns bitter at my response. “I’m not sure it’s a cause for thanks. It seems those I befriend and aid of late have met untimely ends. I am more of a curse.”
She stares at me, still astonished, but Ladron diverts her attention. “How did you end up here?” He points a toe to the ropes. “And tied with Arachne’s enchanted silk?”
“Persephone betrayed me,” Artemis replies tightly.
“Persephone?” I’m shocked. Sort of. Mostly sickened that my budding suspicions were correct. This is one time I didn’t want to be right.
“She’s being controlled,” Artemis says grimly. “By the same methods that almost broke me: the lives of innocents. But we’ll discuss all this later.” She begins to look through the chests around her. “Help me find it. We don’t have much time.”
“It?” I ask. Ladron looks as puzzled as I feel.
“The Portal Stone,” she says, beginning to flip the chests open. They’re filled with rocks. All shapes, sizes, and colors. “They’ve been trying to get their hands on it. They’ve been so close. Too close. I can’t believe how close. We’ve got to find it. Fast.”
“I don’t know how to help you.” I cast a quick glance around the vault, at all the boxes, chests, and sealed clay jars. “There’s so much here, it’ll take days to look through it all. And what does it even look like?”
Artemis doesn’t stop or even look my direction. “Think, Lily. You already know. You saw it once before as Prometheus.”
I knit my brows into a frown and search my memory. The answer pops up, flashing as images of a small box with golden hinges and a green peacock on the lid. Artemis holding the box up to the moonlight. Artemis opening the lid, showing me a speckled blue stone that reminded me of a glowing robin’s egg.
“Randomly looking for it is going to take years,” I say, closing my eyes. If only, somehow, I could sense it, or at least the general vicinity to narrow down the search. When I open my eyes, I see both Artemis and Ladron watching me closely. I frown. “Sorry. Nothing,” I say, disappointed.
Artemis shrugs. “Keep at it,” she says, resuming her search.
I don’t feel anything specific, but I do feel attracted to the opposite wall. It’s probably just the chests and the decorative jars, but it’s as good a place as any to start.
“What am I looking for?” Ladron asks, striding to my side.
“We’re looking for a small box with green peacocks.” I hold out my hands in the rough dimensions of an invisible shoebox.
He cocks a skeptical brow at the stacks around him, but he doesn’t say what he’s thinking.
“Let’s get started,” I say, wedging the torch between the chests as high as I can to maximize the light.
We dive in, opening chests of precious silks, golden trinkets, coins, ancient manuscripts, and finely crafted weapons. But there’s no boxes with peacocks in sight.
“There,” I tell Ladron, pointing to something sticking out from behind a large black chest pressed against the wall. “What’s that?”
He grunts a little as he shoves the chest aside and pulls out a shield.
My stomach drops. The shield is old, rusty, and doesn’t look like much, but I know what it is. I can feel it. “That’s Aegis,” I gasp. “Zeus’ shield.”
“Aegis?” Ladron’s gaze turns dubious as he turns the shield over in his hands. “This was lost long ago.”
I take the shield and the instant my fingers touch the aged metal and leather, every fiber that is Prometheus sings in recognition. So, this is what called me. The shield. I wipe the center with my palm and look down upon the face of the Gorgon, the snakes curling around her hair.
“It is Aegis,” Ladron breathes in wonder. “How did it end up here, in Hades’ vault?”
“Curious,” I say, slipping my arm through the leather straps.
“Eureka!” Artemis’ voice rings through the air.
I wheel around to see her holding the box, sucking in a huge breath of relief. She unlatches the lid and pulls out the speckled stone. “We must hurry. I don’t