21. Chapter 21
“You lied to me.”
A cold silence settled over the Underworld. Zoe trembled at Shadow’s gaze, his eyes burning with darkness like jewels of obsidian. She’d expected him to shout. To roar with fury. But his icy disdain was ten times worse.
An Arctic wind howled through the Underworld, tearing the delicate petals from the newly emerging flowers, until they shivered in its wake. As Swindleton and his drilling machines assembled by the motel gates, Zoe remained on the porch, alone with Shadow. Her heart sank as she glanced inside the darkness of the motel, where Spooks glumly stowed away his jovial decorations, while Misty wept in the arms of the Phantom Fiestadores.
“I’m sorry.” Zoe blinked back her tears as she pleaded with Shadow. “I didn’t want this. I didn’t want to hurt any of you…”
“You never cared about this town.” Where once Shadow’s eyes had gleamed with light, now dark storm clouds bloomed within. “You never cared about us. And you never cared about me. You used us all, so that you could gain power.”
“It’s not like that.” Zoe looked at Shadow beseechingly. “When I first arrived, I thought I could use the Underworld’s power for myself. To take it, so that I could get everything I once wished for. But all that changed when you opened my eyes to the Underworld’s magic. When you opened my heart…”
“And why should I believe you now?”
“I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you, truly, but… I was scared of losing you. Of losing the magic we shared.” Zoe drew a breath to steel herself. “But I can put this right.”
“Look around, Zoe.” Shadow’s eyes remained cold and unyielding. “How can you put this right?”
Zoe followed his gaze, and looked at the army of workmen and machines gathered by the motel gates. The drilling machines scuttled across the icy terrain on their metallic legs, like a horde of spiders ready to feed on the life-force of the land. Her heart sank as she acknowledged the truth. The Underworld would fall. And it was all her fault.
“There’s a reason our worlds don’t belong together, Zoe. Mortals are ruled by their ambition and greed.” Shadow’s jaw clenched, while the darkness rippled beside him. “And I should have known that sooner or later, you would betray us.”
“Shadow, wait.” Zoe searched her heart for the right words to say. But where the magic within was once able to guide her, now it remained out of her reach. “Please, I…”
“I thought you would breathe life into the Underworld. That you would help protect its magic. But you were only interested in using its power for your own gain.” The darkness fed from Shadow’s fury, slowly taking shape into thorny vines, just like those in the maze. “And it makes you no different to Charon.”
“Shadow, no.” Zoe tried to take his incorporeal hand into hers, desperate to hold on to the magic in her life. “You said the Underworld was a place where people could make up for their past mistakes. Well, let me find a way to make this right. To fix this–”
“Do you know why I let you stay in the Underworld? Because I thought you were a lost soul I could save. I thought I could open your eyes to the magic in the world. That I could show you what it meant to live. But I was wrong.” The tendrils of darkness grew from Shadow’s anger, ensnaring everything in their path. “You’ve sold your soul to your greed. And you’re beyond saving.”
Shadow’s words cut through the air like a blade of ice. Zoe staggered backwards, stung by the force with which he spoke. But as thorny vines ruptured through the earth and ensnared the walls of the motel, Zoe realized his fury was only just beginning.
“You will leave this town.” Shadow’s eyes gleamed with malice as the vines entombed the motel in their darkness. “And you will never return.”
“No…” Zoe trembled at the fearsome sight before her, but held her ground. “This is my kingdom too. It’s a part of me, remember?”
Zoe placed a hand to her heart, searching for the melody of the Underworld. But Shadow watched her knowingly as silence greeted her.
“Not anymore.”
Zoe blinked back tears of anguish as the Underworld’s magic remained out of her grasp. Where once, she had been perfectly in tune with its harmonies, now she was greeted with an eerie silence. A silence that told her she was no longer welcome in these lands.
“No, I’ll find a way to make this right.” She shook her head, and balled her hands into fists. “I won’t leave.”
Shadow’s eyes narrowed, his gaze cold and unyielding. The vines gathered power, feeding from his anguish, until the very foundations of the earth trembled beneath their feet.
“You don’t have a choice.”
Zoe gasped as deep cracks formed in the ground beneath her. Dark tendrils burst forth, slithering across the frosty ground, ensnaring everything in their path. She watched in horror as they crept through the motel windows, the walls, the doorways, until every surface lay wrapped in their thorny grasp. She cried out as they blocked her path, and tried to fight them as they sealed the Underworld from her. But no matter how hard she fought, no matter how much she begged for forgiveness, she was powerless to fight it.
“Shadow, please!”
Zoe thrust her hands through the gaps in the vines, desperate to reach Shadow. As the tendrils enveloped the building, only his eyes remained visible in the gloom. They narrowed into a cold glare, before he retreated into the darkness.
“Goodbye, Zoe.”
“No, please!” Zoe tried to force her way through the vines. “I don’t want to lose you…”
The tendrils forced her backwards, until she stumbled to the ground below. She staggered to her feet, only to gasp at the sight of the motel. An impenetrable wall of gnarled vines loomed before her, their tendrils armored with spikes that warned off trespassers. She searched for a gap within the vines, or for a weakness she could exploit. But her heart sank as she realized there was none.
“Shadow! Spooks! Misty, please…” Zoe sank to her knees as she was greeted with silence. “I… I’m sorry.”
Her tears struck the ground below, freezing into droplets of ice as the Arctic winds returned to the Underworld. The earth shivered beneath her, while the life that had once awakened now returned to its slumber. The sun set, bathing the landscape in darkness, until the magic that had once bloomed now faded into the shadows. And Zoe knew it was all her fault.
Zoe drew a startled breath as a slow clap filled the silent landscape. She turned to see Swindleton approach, his face etched into a sneer at her fate.
“Bravo, bravo! That was quite the moving performance, Zoe.” His lips curled into a smile as his tracker emitted a series of shrill beeps. “But I’m afraid I won’t fall for your theatrics. There’s enough energy here to keep the city powered for centuries!”
Zoe turned to him, aghast. “But you can’t!”
“Oh, I think you’ll find I can.” Swindleton chuckled to himself, delighting in Zoe’s misery. “And it will take more than your hysterics, and those vigorous weeds, to stand in my way.”
With a click of his fingers, the workmen and their machines approached. Zoe’s blood turned cold as she eyed the array of gleaming chainsaws and drills warily.
“No!” Zoe turned to Swindleton in horror. “I won’t let you do this.”
“You don’t have a choice.” Swindleton turned to the workmen and clicked his fingers. “Boys?”
Zoe gasped as Gus and the workmen approached like a mob. She yelped in fury as firm hands roughly dragged her away from the motel, and towards the trucks.
“Get off me!” She thrashed beneath their hands as they hauled her into the cargo container of a truck. “Let me go this instant!”
“You could have had it all, Zoe. Everything you ever dreamed of. All you had to do was follow your head.” Swindleton shook his head sadly as Zoe stood within the gloom of the container. “But now you’ll be left with nothing. Take her away, boys!”
Zoe gasped as the truck engine roared to life. With a final sneer, Swindleton slammed the doors of the truck closed, plunging her into darkness. She cried out for help, and pounded against the doors to no avail. But as the revving of the drills filled the air, she knew that she, and the Underworld, were doomed.