invisible string | f. zhang

viii. trust

Kinzie opens a large set of double doors and led them into another cavern, just as big as the first.

"The Underworld isn't this big," Hazel complains.

Kinzie smiles smugly, "You admire our base of operations? Yes, our distribution system is worldwide. It took many years and most of our fortune to build. Now, finally, we're turning a profit. The mortals don't realize they are funding the Amazon kingdom. Soon, we'll be richer than any mortal nation. Then—when the weak mortals depend on us for everything—the revolution will begin!"

"What are you going to do?" Frank grumbles, "Cancel free shipping?"

A guard slams the hilt of her sword into his gut. Maribelle moves to help him, but the swords pointed at her neck keep her from doing so.

"You'll learn respect," Kinzie says, "It's males like you who have ruined the mortal world. The only harmonious society is one run by women. We are stronger, wiser— "

"More humble," Percy grumbles. The guards try to hit him, but Percy ducks.

"Stop it!" Maribelle says.

The guards do as she says.

"Hylla is going to judge us, right?" Maribelle asks, "So take us to her. We're wasting time."

Kinzie nods, "Perhaps you're right. We have more important problems. And time . . . time is definitely an issue."

"What do you mean?" Hazel asks.

A guard grunts, "We could take them straight to Otrera.
Might win her favor that way."

"No!" Kinzie snarls, "I'd sooner wear an iron collar and drive a forklift. Hylla is queen."

"Until tonight," Another guard mutters.

For a second, Maribelle thought the Amazons might start fighting one another.

"Enough," Kinzie dismisses, "Let's go."

Finally, they enter a smaller cavern that looks like a combination loading zone and throne room. The walls were lined with metal shelves six stories high, decorated with war banners, painted shields, and the stuffed heads of dragons, hydras, giant lions, and wild boars. An iron-collared male drove each machine, but an Amazon warrior stood on a platform in back, manning a giant mounted crossbow.

The shelves in this room were stacked with cages containing live animals.

Maribelle watches as a forklift picks up a cage with a beautiful white pegasus.

"What are you doing to that poor animal?" Hazel demands.

Kinzie frowns, "The pegasus? It'll be fine. Someone must've ordered it. The shipping and handling charges are steep, but— "

"You can buy a pegasus online?" Percy asks.

Kinzie glares at him, "Obviously you can't, male. But Amazons can. We have followers all over the world. They need supplies. This way."

At the end of the warehouse was a dais constructed from pallets of books: stacks of vampire novels, walls of James Patterson thrillers, and a throne made from about a thousand copies of something called The Five Habits of Highly Aggressive Women.

At the base of the steps, several Amazons in camouflage were having a heated argument while a young woman— Queen Hylla, Maribelle assumed—listened.

Hylla wore a black leather jumpsuit and black boots. She had no crown, but around her waist was a strange belt made of interlocking gold links, like the pattern of a labyrinth. Maribelle could see the resemblance between her and Reyna.