Battle for the Blood Read Free Page B

were unobtrusive, difficult to see with the naked eye, at least from the base of the cliffs or from the stone steps or few roads that had finally been carved out of the rock. I was guessing the Grey Sisters’ cave would be off the beaten path. Otherwise, there’d have been scads of tales about tourists or supplicants going missing over the years. As for the hermits, well, they’d kept to themselves. Who was going to report them missing?
    With family in the nearby town of Kalambaka, I kept up somewhat with local news. I knew the cliffs claimed a few casualties each year, disappearances chalked up to tragic accidents or becoming lost in the crazy-thick fogs that would sometimes roll in, making the monasteries look like castles in the clouds. I wondered now whether the cliffs were truly to blame.
    Viggo had parked in a little visitors’ area, alongside tour busses and a few rental cars. Apollo and I stood outside the vehicle now, contemplating the massive stone formations.
    “We go the rest of the way on foot,” Apollo said. “Their cave is on one of the deserted pillars. There’s a monastery up top, but long since abandoned. There never were steps built for this one. In the olden days, pilgrims and visitors were lifted in a net to the top.”
    My heart nearly stopped just at the thought. “That sounds…safe.”
    “It’s all about faith. Anyway, I’d never let you fall.”
    My wings flared in indignation at the thought that it was his business to let me do anything, but the shirt kept them contained. “I think you’ve got that backwards. I might let you fall, but good luck with the vice versa.”
    The thought should have been more comforting, but I’d lived with the fear of heights a lot longer than the wings, and it wasn’t going to give way quite so easily.
    Apollo led the way to a path that seemed to wind among the pillars, and I followed, wondering how on earth my life could get any weirder. It wasn’t a healthy thought, I knew that. The universe tended to answer such rhetorical questions with a big, hearty belly laugh and an avalanche of irony.
    We stopped before one particular pillar that jutted straight toward the sky. There were small rocks at our feet, indicating some erosion, but at a glance I couldn’t see any decent hand- or footholds.
    “I don’t suppose you grabbed Spiro’s climbing gear?” My brother’s ropes and anchors had come in handy when we’d descended into the underworld, but we hadn’t exactly come out the way we’d gone in, and for all I knew, the gear was still in place.
    “No. We wouldn’t be allowed to use it here anyway. It’s a sacred site.”
    “Well, I can bust out my wings, but someone might notice.”
    Apollo was shaking his head before the words were even out of my mouth. “No, we have to free-climb.”
    I stared. “Come again.”
    “You know, one hand over the other, feet tucked into toeholds.”
    I eyed the sheer cliff in front of us. “What toeholds?”
    “Follow me.”
    Yeah, because I wouldn’t be distracted at all by his fine backside in his tight jeans. On the other hand, hanging on to a slab of rock for dear life might have a way of focusing my attention. I wondered momentarily if having wings was really so bad. I’d get used to them. If the PI business failed, I could always go back to the circus as a sideshow act, assuming the Rialto Bros. hadn’t blacklisted me throughout the circus world…a story in and of itself.
    “You’re not afraid, are you?” Apollo asked.
    He knew very well that I was, but also that I was too stubborn to ever admit it.
    “Whatever, just go. I’ll be right behind you,” I snapped.
    “That’s my girl.”
    It gave me a pang. Armani…Nick…had said the same thing, and where was he now?
    Apollo hoisted himself up, using nothing but the strength of his arms and legs, which, as I knew, was pretty impressive. The muscles in his arms bulged, straining the fabric of his heather-gray Henley, but I forced my gaze away, made