I counted down the hours until the solstice, and when that didn’t help I counted the minutes and seconds.Training was both my saving grace and the bane of my existence since Apollo and Helios seemed to be under direct order to keep me distracted until it was time to attend the party.While I was tired of being pulled back and forth, it did keep me from thinking about how terrified I felt. Considering my family survived the trip and all of us survived this solstice party, there would be one hell of a reckoning for me to face. In all my years, I never thought I’d make my mom this mad.Dad would be disappointed, that’s for sure. He’d purse his lips, shake his head, and then leave me to stew in my thoughts. His method worked on Zack, who would spend the afternoon sulking. I used it as an escape, which mom knew all too well.She was the one I wanted to avoid, the one who would corner me and demand answers to questions I’

The anteroom as Alexandria Russo called it, was just a big empty room with minimal furniture and decoration. We followed the siblings through an arched doorway, down a hall that opened into a small room.This one was unfurnished as well, but the moment I looked up, I understood why. The room itself was a work of art, all culminating to the mural on the arched ceiling. Rectangular with polished marble floors and pillars that lined the walls every five or so feet, the pale blue walls were blemish free and quickly changed into the colors of the sea as it reached twenty feet high.Churning waves were painted across the sloped ceiling, crashing against the rocky shore of an island. Lush vegetation covered everything, and even crawled up the sides of a castle painted far off in the distance. A big, round sun hung in the sky, making the different shades of green glow. The longer I looked, the more I could smell the tang of salt in the air.Against the far wall, at the

‘I’m on the dance floor…you led me there—well, whatever was wearing your face did.’‘Stay exactly where you are, Rachel. I’m going to find you.’ The gritty promise in his voice would’ve flooded me with relief, but I could feel the air beginning to thicken again.I shook my head, forgetting he couldn’t see it. There were too many people, all dancing and writhing as they bumped into me. Eyes too glazed to even tell I’d been standing there, let alone wonder why I was the only one not dancing. When my thoughts began to fumble and slow, panic set in.‘I can’t stay here, Dain. There’s something—there’s something wrong with the dance floor. It’s messing with my head; I have to get off.’ I said in a rush, shoving past a couple that looked on the verge of having sex as they danced.The moment I stepped off the dance floor, I could breathe

I had my hand against the marble wall, contemplating whether I should demolish it when a little boy’s giggle echoed down the hall.It was a sound I used to find obnoxious, especially when I was knee deep in calculus homework and Zack only had his times tables to work on. Half of the time Dad would steal the sheet and sit hunched over at the kitchen table, mumbling about how math was different in his day. He’d quickly work through the problems himself, and Zack would pretend to listen while Dad explained how he got his answers. His squeaky laugh made it impossible to focus on my own work.It was a sound I never thought I’d hear again.My heart skipped a beat when I turned around and caught a glimpse of dark messy hair and a toothy smile that belonged to my little brother.He was peeking around the corner twenty feet away, only half of his face visible. Another giggle and he vanished. The fading patter of his feet made my adrenaline spike,

I sat straight up, and my eyes snapped open as awareness zapped me like a jolt of electricity. My hands went from grasping the silky comforter to clutching my throat, which was no longer being crushed but had a soreness that reminded me all too strongly of being strangled.Several deep breaths later and I realized I wasn’t in just any bed. The onyx sheets and pillows made of pure silk and softer than anything I’d ever felt before belonged to one person alone. Even his scent lingered in the room, but the traces of it I picked up were faint and quickly fading.The illusion of Dain’s bedroom was spot on, down to the cart of crystal decanters that sat beside the balcony doors.I wasted no time and pulled myself from the bed, wrestling with the blankets for a few seconds when my feet became tangled. His bedroom door was the same, and still creaked around the halfway mark.What wasn’t the same was everything else.The pale stone t