Pinehurst: Book One (A Magical Olympian Adventure/Young Adult Romantic Fantasy)

Chapter Eighteen

“How about that ring too? I think it would look lovely around my wrist.”

“Fine!” I shouted.

“It’s a trade then.” She clapped her hands excitedly. “I should have done it sooner, but it was so much fun watching the two of you struggle.” She clapped her hands again in delight. “I don’t want to be accused of coddling you.”

Two things crossed my mind: First, Kill Havoc. Second, Kill Havoc slowly.

“I vote for slowly,” Antonio groaned, hooking his foot on the limb at last.

“Hold on now!” Havoc pointed her hands toward the ground. “It’s going to get a little bumpy.” She parted them to her sides.

The earth shook below us. A large crack broke through the soil a moment later, opening wider and wider. The Borgons were being swallowed up one by one, screeching in agony as they fell into the fiery chasm of . . . Hell? Oh crap!

“Evie!” Antonio had my wrist and was pulling me up to safety.

We held each other, looking down at the flames that licked the tree trunk, parts of it now catching on fire.

“There,” Havoc announced. “I just shaved a day off your journey. No need to thank me, but I will take my trades now.”

My eyes were wide. I’d heard stories of Hell. I’d even pictured the fires that must engulf it constantly. I just hadn’t dreamed that I’d been right. Pools of lava flowed below us. Tall flames jumped into the air, scorching anything that was unfortunate enough to be in its path. I cringed into Antonio, hiding my face from the heat. He gripped me tighter, as if his strength would shield me from what was to come.

“How are we supposed to get through that?” I rasped. The smoke from the fire was burning my throat.

“Silly me, I forgot the steps!” Havoc summoned the path, hissing words I couldn't understand. Large boulders staggered their way down into the flames, providing a “safe” entrance into Hell. She held her hand out to me—I dropped the promised trades into her palm.

“Home sweet home,” she sighed. A fond expression hung heavy on her face. “Shall we?” She jumped out of the tree and onto a boulder below us. She continued on, going from one boulder to another, skipping as she went. I half expected her to be incinerated on the spot, but hindsight, it wasn’t getting into hell I figured we’d have a problem with; it was getting out.

“I’ll go first.” Antonio held my face for a moment, his eyes, speaking words of caution, and worry, and . . . love? Maybe I was imagining that last part, but there was definitely something in his eyes—my luck it was probably smoke.

He released me and dropped from the tree, also landing on the boulder Havoc had first occupied. His arms extended back up to me. “Jump! I’ll catch you.”

This was it. There was no going back now.

I called out to Havoc. “Havoc! My dad?”

“He’s still alive, Child of Light. I’m not sure for how long. He’s growing weaker by the day.” Somehow I could feel that she was right. Havoc wasn’t joking now or being greedy. She asked for nothing in trade for that information. She was offering the truth, and I could hear the ring in her voice. I believed her.

I jumped into Antonio’s waiting arms.

***

Down, down, down. We descended slowly into the fiery depths. The sky had long since left us. We were now deep into the underground, surrounded by charred rock and ash.