Startled, I looked back and found t.i.tus standing there. He rested a hand on my shoulder. I had walked in lonely silence all across the spine. I had forgotten he was following and that I was wearing a rope which bound me to him.

"It's only a few feet, not much wider than the creva.s.se you jumped the other night. And you're much stronger today."

"I could fall."

"You won't," he said confidently.

I looked down and grew woozy, suddenly aware that I was standing on a trail only fifteen inches wide and thousands of feet above flat ground. I felt all my resolve starting to crumble. Tears threatened my eyes again. I bit down hard on my fear and leaped. My right foot landed and kept me moving forward until my left foot landed. I crouched to the ground to keep from falling off the edge.

"Perfectly done," t.i.tus praised. He took a step back and leaped. His foot landed almost exactly where mine had, but as it did the rock groaned and crumbled. He landed his second foot, and there the trail fell away also. Fear shot through his eyes, and I screamed.

I straddled the trail and dug my knees into the rock knowing he would pull me off the cliff when he fell.

t.i.tus threw his body forward as his legs fell from underneath him. I reached out and caught his hand, only to have his glove come off in my fingers. Then he slid. The momentum of the collapse and weight of the pack pulled him down. I braced myself for his weight, but it didn't come.

Shaking, I inched forward, afraid I would further collapse the trail if I went too far. The rope had fallen to the side of the trail. I looked down and found him hanging by one bare hand, trying hard to reach for a foothold.

"Pull!" he yelled.

I pulled. I took up all the slack of the rope and pulled as hard as my arms could. Then I wrapped the rope around my body, leaned back and pulled harder. Below me he grunted, and a second hand appeared on the ledge. He pulled himself around the side of the ledge and climbed the rocks until he surfaced on the trail between me and the cave.

Panting, he wrapped both arms around me and rested his face in my hair until he gathered his composure. "Good thing you pulled off my glove," he said finally. "Let's keep moving." He probably hoped I wouldn't notice that his hands were shaking, and there was a slight glisten to his eyes.

I managed to stand and follow him. It was harder now that the mountain had tried to kill us again. The trail widened slightly, so I didn't have to watch my feet every step. Instead I watched t.i.tus's back as he navigated the rest of the spine. When we reached the end of the trail, the ground spread out and flattened into a long, narrow dale which bowed before the cave. Along each side were waist-high stones that looked too symmetrical to have occurred naturally. t.i.tus surveyed this warily.

"We should just camp in the cave tonight," I said. "Might as well use the shelter."

"Maybe," he replied, dumping his pack on the ground. He looked mostly recovered from his fall, but he was stepping lightly wherever he walked.

I unclipped from the tether and moved toward the cave.

"No, Psyche, wait!"

Because he ran after me, I jogged ahead. I ran a very slow fifty-meter dash and crested the rise to the mouth of the cave only moments before t.i.tus caught me. I pulled in a deep breath and held it. Running at this alt.i.tude was an inch short of downright stupid.

The cave was about fifteen feet deep and equally wide with a peaked ceiling at least double the breadth. At the back was a solid stone wall. There were small hollows in the cliff walls as they rose, but other than that, the entire cave was visible, and it was empty.

I faced t.i.tus and raised my arms in triumph. "I made it with seventeen hours to spare!"

"I knew you could." He smiled as he approached and was about to hug me until he looked over my shoulder, and his immortal eyes saw something that was veiled from mine. His expression fell. He grabbed my arm, pulled me away from the cave's mouth and literally dragged me all the way back to where his pack lay on the ground. "No," he murmured to himself, "it can't be. I didn't want to believe it."

"t.i.tus, what did you see?"

"We can't camp up there. We must stay as far from the cave as possible." He dug through his pockets with shaking hands until he found the satellite phone and used the speed dial to make a call. He paced as he waited, growing more agitated with every step. Finally, he barked into the voice mail, "Where are you? We've arrived, and it's exactly what you feared." With his back to me, he dropped his face into his hands.

"t.i.tus?"

He turned around with a forced calm. "We need to pitch the tent and get you inside. I want you out of sight."

I didn't move. I wasn't going to do anything until he told me what was in that cave. My voice was stern and determined this time. "I command you to tell me the truth. What did you see?"

He didn't hide the sadness in his voice. "A portal," he answered, "into the Underworld."

Chapter 26.

We camped in the center of the valley as far from the cave as possible. We didn't know for sure how much of the valley lay on solid ground and how much might be glacial ice. In silence we pitched our tent.

t.i.tus refused to say more until he spoke with Eros, and while I had hundreds of questions, it was pointless to ask them. With the tent standing, we climbed inside. I unrolled both sleeping bags, which seemed futile. I doubted either of us would sleep tonight.

t.i.tus looked too sick to move, until I tried to go outside and get ice for our pot. Then he jumped to his feet and told me to stay put until he returned. I unpacked MREs with little appet.i.te. I wanted to know what lay ahead, but I was afraid that knowing might be worse.

While t.i.tus was outside, the phone rang. The caller ID blinked that it was Eros calling. I pressed the send b.u.t.ton and quickly said, "Don't speak. He's outside. Just wait."

I unzipped the tent and found t.i.tus already coming toward the door. "It's him," I said.

He took the phone from my hand and walked away so I couldn't hear him as he explained what he'd seen. He shook his head, and I could tell by his stance that he was pleading with Eros.

I ducked back inside, where I warmed our frozen water bottles in the cooking pot before heating the meals. While I waited, I sketched the spine the way I had forced myself to see it all afternoon. The two dimensions took depth on the page, so that when I held it away from me, I saw the scene that had inspired so much fear-the steep drops and the jagged rocks on either side of the narrow path. Glad to have the image out of my head, I sketched the valley with the cave above. I was just getting to the formidable stone perimeter when t.i.tus appeared.

He didn't look at me as he spoke. "Your survival will depend on your ability to resist temptation of every kind and follow my instructions exactly. One small mistake, and you will belong to Persephone. You'll be lost forever."

"I'll die." I'd accepted death as a very real possibility, so it didn't sound so terrible now.

"No." t.i.tus's eyes grew moist. "The darklings are immortal. They won't kill you. They'll enslave you."

"I thought the Underworld was the Land of the Dead?"

"Your mythology joined our Underworld to your version of h.e.l.l. It is a place of eternal suffering inasmuch as we live an eternity compared to you. But it is not a final resting place for souls. It's a prison. Hades and his wife, Persephone, are guardians of the prison, but they've become corrupted. They are as wicked and despicable as those whom they punish. The Underworld is filled with suffering beyond imagination. A mere glimpse is enough to give you nightmares, and you will have to travel all the way into the depths of Hades to meet Persephone at the palace."

"How will I know the way?"

"She will send a guide, but you cannot trust him. He'll be one of her subjects. It's clear that the whole purpose of this task is to get rid of you. Aphrodite doesn't expect you to escape Hades."

"What about Eros?"

"He said this is why he sent me with you instead of Aeas. I've been to the palace in Hades. I know what will befall you there. I know what you will see. I'm to prepare you as best I can and give you the knowledge you need to escape their snares."

I tossed him a water bottle and a warm meal. "It's a good thing we have all night. You can start by explaining to me who is in the Underworld and how they got there."

t.i.tus took a long drink before explaining, "When my parents were children, Olympus was a very different place. Robbers roamed the land in bands. They plundered the villages, raped women, murdered people and burned their fields. Then they would retreat into the mountains where they hid and built underground strongholds. No kingdom was immune from their violence. That is when the Council was first formed. All the kingdoms banded together and declared war upon the bandits. They tried to go into the mountains and fight them, but the robbers were well hidden, and each time the armies attacked, they suffered great losses without prevailing.

"This went on for several annum. Whenever the armies would retreat, the bandits would fall upon a poorly guarded village, kill every person in it and burn it to the ground after stealing the stores of grain and gold.

"It was Zeus who devised the plan for conquering the robbers. The kingdoms brought every soldier they could find and surrounded the mountains. They spent all winter piling wood and hay around the foot of the mountain range, a circular barricade to cage the robbers. The bandits thought they were merely trying to hedge them in and believed they had supplies to outlast the soldiers. When summer came, Zeus ordered the captains to set fire to the barricade and burn the entire mountain range. It would be the equivalent of the U.S. burning all the mountains between California and Colorado. He ordered legions of soldiers into the air, and they showered burning arrows down upon the rugged land."

t.i.tus paused for a moment and downed half his meal, then continued, "Olympus lost sixty percent of its timber in that fire. The entire face of the continent was covered with haze from the smoke. When the robbers realized there was no place for retreat, they gathered themselves into one body, fought their way through the fire and attacked the nearest kingdom. They were greatly outnumbered, but the battle lasted two weeks before their leader was slain and they finally surrendered. The ones who survived were cast into the depths of the earth as punishment for their crimes. Hades was appointed ruler of the dominion. Since that time, all criminals from Olympus have been sent to Hades for punishment.

"Zeus became the Ruling Judge of the Council of Olympus. Your world knows the council as the Olympian Household, which is only partially correct. A few of his children do sit at the heads of kingdoms, but the council is not a single family with Zeus as patriarch. Aphrodite, however, is his daughter. Eros is his grandson."

"Eros is part of the Council?" I asked.

t.i.tus shook his head. "Eros's kingdom was made up of portions of two existing kingdoms. Plus, he was just a child. He was offered a place at the council as an advisory vote, but not a ruling vote. Everyone expected him to marry into a kingdom with a ruling vote. His mother encouraged this most of all." He crumpled up the foil from his dinner and stowed it in the pouch were we kept our trash.

"And instead, he fell for a mortal."

"Eros doesn't care for power as long as the Council is ruling in fairness and doling out justice in equity."

"If Hades is a place for criminals," I asked, "why have you been there?"

He shrugged off his coat. "I know you don't like me touching you, but would you mind?" He motioned me to sit between his legs. "I need to use my hands. It helps me relax."

Reluctantly, I slipped off my coat and moved toward him.

He started rubbing knots out of my shoulders. "Five ages ago Aphrodite became enamored with a mortal named Thomas. She took him as a lover. She would steal away from the kingdom to visit him, and on one occasion Eros followed her. When he found them together, he demanded she give Thomas up, or Eros would tell her husband."

"Hephaestus?" I asked, testing my knowledge of Greek mythology.

"Yes. Aphrodite agreed, but she had no intention of leaving Thomas alone for good. Knowing that his youth wouldn't outlast Eros's resolve to reform her, she opened a portal for Thomas so he could collect the sacred fruit."

"She immortalized him?"

"But that wasn't enough for Thomas. He traveled to her palace and sneaked in during the night with the intention of removing from her the obstacles that kept them apart-her husband, her son and her other lover."

"He knew about Theron?"

"No, but he knew she had another. Theron and the palace guards realized there was an intruder. They searched everywhere for him. Thomas stole into the forge. My father was Hephaestus's bodyguard. Thomas murdered my father and stabbed Hephaestus before Theron and the others caught him. Thomas was tried before the Council and sentenced to the Underworld. Because he tried to kill Hephaestus, a member of the Ruling Council, Zeus himself travelled with armed guards to deliver Thomas to Hades. I was nearly fifteen, and Zeus had me accompany the party as a witness to my family that justice had been served."

"You made the journey, and you survived," I said optimistically. "So, I should be able to do the same. There are lots of stories about mortals who travelled to Hades and returned. Odysseus and Aeneas..."

"They are all fiction. Aeneas never existed. Eros is Aphrodite's only child. Only one mortal has been to Hades and lived to write about it. You might have read his work. He was Italian."

"We don't read Italian writers," I replied, "except Dante."

t.i.tus squeezed my shoulder.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" I exclaimed.

"He embellished a great deal. Some of the other myths contain elements of truth also. You will descend far into the earth until you reach the river Styx. You have to pay a toll to get across. I will give you the Olympian coins that you need, one for the toll in and one for the toll out. Put the coin under your tongue, and Charon, the boatman, will take it from your lips." t.i.tus smoothed down the fabric of my sleeves. "It will be hot in Hades, but it's best if you keep your skin covered. The inhabitants of Hades are immortal, but they're cold. If they feel your warmth, they will a.s.sume you're Olympian. Do not tell anyone you are mortal. I a.s.sume your guide will know what you are, and so will Persephone, but no one else. See that it stays that way. There is a hierarchy among us. We, Olympians, are above the demons, but any immortal considers himself above you. There are guardsmen and punishers in Hades. In their kingdom they are basically free men, and they dole out violence to others. If one of them figures out you are a red-blood, they will fight to claim you. Death is merciful compared to what they will do to you." t.i.tus shivered and wrapped his arms around me. "I'm afraid for you," he whispered.

I was afraid for me, too. "Tell me more," I prompted.

"You'll have to pa.s.s Cerberus, the three-headed dog. He likes treats, so you feed him and slip by while he eats. Then you must walk all the way down to the palace. All around you will be scenes of torture and suffering. See as little as possible. Keep your focus on your guide. He will take you through the gates of the city to the palace. In the city, speak to no one. It will go against your nature, but do not be fooled into trying to help someone who seems to be hurt or starving. The demons can transform themselves. A frail old woman might actually be a guardsman, and your mercy would be punished. Once you reach the palace, don't a.s.sume you are safe. The men at court are just as dangerous as any in the kingdom, and the palace guard more so.

"When you meet Persephone, you must remember two things. First, she is the queen of deception, so you cannot lie to her, and you cannot a.s.sume she tells the truth. Second, never anger her. In everything you say, be meek and polite. Be grateful if she's generous and humble if she's not. Remember that of everyone you meet in that forsaken place, Persephone is the most dangerous of all." t.i.tus moved to face me and took my face into his hands. "Of all the things I tell you, this is the most important. Do not eat anything or drink anything while you are in Hades. To partake of their feast is to become a part of the kingdom. No matter how hungry you get, no matter how thirsty, do not let one drop of wine touch your tongue, not a single crumb of food. Do you understand?"

"I understand. Don't let them touch me. Don't help anyone. Don't eat or drink anything. Don't believe their lies. Be polite. Feed the dog. Pay with a coin from my lips. Don't let them know my blood is red. Anything else?"

"Just one more thing. Persephone is big on seduction. Life with Aphrodite is a cakewalk compared to Persephone's household. Don't have s.e.x with a demon."

"Not going to happen," I said emphatically.

"Her attendants are well-schooled in their arts. Submit to one, and she will own your will and your body." Sheepishly, t.i.tus admitted, "She nearly caught me. One of her maids came to me in the night. I didn't know why she was there, but I allowed her to tempt me. Luckily, the guard outside my room awakened, put a sword to my neck and commanded the girl to leave. Afterward he explained what I had almost done. It was perhaps the most terrifying moment of my life. Right up there with almost falling off a cliff."

"I'm not going to let anyone to touch me, right?"

"Your guide-the one man who knows you're mortal-he'll be the one you need to watch. He'll try to get you alone, and he'll try to tempt you. Resist him no matter the cost. As long as you say no, you remain free."

"You mean, even if he rapes me?"

"That's what I mean."

I tried to hide the shudder that shook me involuntarily, but I was sure t.i.tus felt it. Every imaginable nightmare awaited me on the other side of that portal. "I doubt I'll be able to sleep tonight," I said.

t.i.tus forced a smile. "I'll put you to sleep, and I'll watch over you in the night. Tonight, at least, you can rest knowing that you are perfectly safe."

In the hours before dark, I took what comfort I could from a man who was not my beloved. I allowed t.i.tus to ma.s.sage my back, shoulders and feet. He offered lighthearted conversation, and he sang to me softly while I tried to sketch. When night came, he kept me warm and held me while I cried. Then he softly caressed my temples until, unwillingly, I slipped into deep sleep. Without being conscious of dreams, I startled myself awake to find t.i.tus still holding me and awake as he promised.

"Shhh," he murmured. "I'm still here for you." He stroked my face, and lulled me back to sleep.

Thanks to t.i.tus, I slept long and deeply. When I finally woke it was after ten and he was gone. I thought for a moment he abandoned me, then I heard him talking softly outside the tent.

"I can hardly bear to let her go," he said. After a pause, he asked, "What did Zeus say? Will he free her from the contract?"

I stopped moving so I could hear every word now.

"Then I guess we have no choice. I've told her everything I know. I've warned her of all the perils I could think of. I'll wait for her here. The journey to the palace should only take a few hours. With any luck, she will be back by nightfall." He listened awhile, then said, "Goodness, I hope you're wrong. The longer she's gone the hungrier she's going to get."

Realizing I might be facing hours without food and water, I dug through the pack and counted how many rations were left. If I ate two meals, it would leave t.i.tus enough for three full days without me. Hopefully, if I didn't come back by then, he would start climbing down before he ran out. We left some supplies at our base camp, and I was sure he could make that journey in a day, so he was supplied for at least a week. I was also pretty sure I wouldn't be able to resist water for a week if Persephone kept me that long.

I found what ice we had left and warmed it. The pot was heating slower now than when we started. The battery cell was running low. We had a second battery, but we left it on the other side of the spine.

Because I feared thirst more than hunger, I drank as much as I could. If it was hot and I couldn't drink, it wouldn't take long for me to get dehydrated and weak.

All too soon I found myself climbing with t.i.tus toward the cave. Aphrodite's box was in the satchel slung over my shoulders. t.i.tus had added my GPS watch to the satchel, too, so he would see my signal when I reappeared. The bag also contained food for Cerberus and an Olympian coin. Another coin was already under my tongue, so I wouldn't have to dig for it when I reached the river Styx. Outwardly, it seemed that all possible preparations had been made. t.i.tus had wisely kept my tennis shoes in his pack, so I didn't have to wear heavy snow boots on the journey into Hades. All along he and Eros believed this was my destination, and they had planned for it while hoping they were wrong. I wore a long-sleeved undershirt beneath my T-shirt and my own comfortable jeans. Once t.i.tus took my coat at the portal, I would look like I was heading off to school, ponytail and all.

School seemed like another lifetime now. I wondered how many units behind in Calculus I had fallen. This journey had probably doused all hopes I had of graduating in the spring. Failing my senior year of high school might have seemed monumental two months ago. Now it was the least of my concerns. Trying not to be made an immortal slave to some monstrous darkling was foremost in my mind.

Just as we reached the mouth of the cave, the wind whipped behind us. I ducked my face to keep from being sprayed with snow, but t.i.tus smiled into the wind. "He came to see you off," t.i.tus murmured. "He won't touch you. You're to pretend you don't know he's here."

Tears filled my eyes. "The next time you see Eros," I said, "tell him that no matter what happens, I will always love him."

t.i.tus hugged me. "Be brave. You saved my life yesterday. You can save yourself today." He helped me out of my coat and moved me toward the open portal, which I still could not see. "The portal is guarded by two sentries. They are enormous, disfigured, monsters of men. Just walk past them as if they are not there. Your guide is waiting beyond them and... Oh, Merciful Heaven." He clutched my shoulders and wouldn't let me go.