Child of Hecate:
A Percy Jackson, Night World Crossover
Chapter 1:
The Empire State Building
~Keller~
"Time, Nissa!" I bellowed from the back of the car.
"10:45, Boss!" the vampire in the front answered me, swerving to just narrowly miss a pedestrian. "We have fifteen minutes to get to the Empire State building, go to the top floor, and meet the witches!"
Iliana – sandwiched in the back of the car between Galen and I – whimpered. "I don't see what it is I have to do now. I'm the Wild Power – OK. I'm the Witch Child – OK. That's all been said. Why can't I just go home?"
"We have to meet with the Council of the Witches!" Winnie answered from the passenger seat. "The meeting is at the top floor of the Empire State building – you can't get there without a very special key!"
I swallowed – hard. I knew we had to obtain the key from the concierge to go to the top floor – but I also knew that the Night World wasn't the only secret society that had a key to the dimensions at the top floor of the Empire State building. I'd heard of people that were twenty feet tall that lived at the top floor – and I also knew that sometimes their children went to visit them. But even being Raksha Keller – now the second-most important shape-shifter in the Night World – didn't bring me the knowledge of what dimensions floated in the air suspended above the building. I shut my eyes for a second and took a few deep breaths.
Galen, noticing the furrowing of my brow, reached in front of Iliana to place a hand on top of mine. "Keller? Are you OK?"
I opened my eyes and grabbed Galen's hand, squeezing for the strength and comfort needed to help keep me going. Looking over at his paranoid face, I smiled slightly. "I'm fine. Just got a lot of things on my mind."
Galen gave my hand another squeeze and attempted to fully return my smile just as Nissa skidded around a corner. The sudden, sharp turn caused those of us in the back seat to be flung against Galen's door. Iliana whimpered.
"Sorry, Boss!" Nissa answered – as level-headed as ever. "Try not to do it again!"
As the three of us in the back readjusted ourselves in our seats, I stifled a laugh. Nissa was our getaway girl – if she never tried to do that again, then something would've been seriously wrong with her.
The car screeched to a stop between two taxis. Looking out the window, I came face-to-face with the doors leading into the Empire State building. That same knot that had been constricting inside my stomach for the past few weeks tightened, but I made my best attempt to keep a poker face as we stepped out of the car.
But Galen noticed. Walking next to me, he laced his fingers through mine and squeezed tight. "Something's wrong, Keller. You can't hide everything from me. I'm your soulmate – I can tell when you're worried. It just sucks not being able to figure out why you're worried." He stopped talking and resorted to the soulmate-style communication in my head. Do you want to talk about it?
I attempted a smile, but he looked only half-believing that my smile was genuine. Galen had this way of softening me on the inside – when I was with him, I let down my tough-girl exterior. Not right now, I answered, returning his hand squeeze with another of my own. I don't want anyone to worry. It's just one of my crazy panther instincts – I honestly don't think there'll be anything to worry about. I'm just paranoid, is all.
He returned my attempted smile and held up my hand, kissing it lightly – sending shivers throughout my body at the same time. I may have been in human form, but kisses from Galen still sent my nerves reeling. Noticing my reaction, he laughed quietly. "That's the Keller I know," he whispered.
The five of us entered the building, and Winnie led us to the back wall – back toward the concierge desk. It was a different concierge than the last time Nissa and I had brought Winnie here, and I was unsure if this was the Night World concierge or the twenty-foot-tall-people concierge.
"Unity," Winnie greeted the man behind the desk with a smile.
He looked up at her from the desktop computer he was typing on and raised an eyebrow at her – not returning her smile. My pounding heart leapt into my throat. "Excuse me?" His eyes swept over all of us, but they rested on and widened at a single person – Iliana. "Oh!" The concierge jumped, causing his wireless mouse to fly up into the air. "Daughter of Hecate – of course, of course! They've been expecting you!" His desk rattled as he yanked a drawer open and reached into it to pull out a key. "Here you go – turn the key to the left to unlock the button. Kalí̱ týchi̱!"
Upon hearing the last two words the guard said, I snatched the key out of Iliana's hand. It was gold – expected, all dimension keys here for the elevator were gold – but that wasn't what startled me. What startled me was the black emblazoned omega sign that adorned the handle of the key. I felt the ground drop from beneath my feet, and I must have literally fallen – Galen swooped in and caught me before I hit the tiled floor.
"Keller!" I heard Galen call my name, and I could see his face clearly, but he sounded far away. "Keller – are you sure you're OK?"
I straightened up and shook my head to clear it; Galen was still holding me. "I'm fine," I lied, reluctantly detaching myself from Galen's strong hands. "Here, Iliana." I shoved the key at her. "Come on – we have to get up there to meet the Council before it's too late." She looked at me with both eyebrows hiked up to her hairline, but I averted her gaze. I began walking toward the elevator, and Galen fell into step beside me. He could sense my tension – I knew – but he didn't try to grab my hand.
When we entered the elevator, Iliana slid the key into the keyhole and waited. Rather than a button appearing, a single golden light blossomed from the smooth bronze inside of the elevator, and one symbol was visible against the harsh light: a black omega.
The elevator lurched upward, sending us sprawling to the floor. I fell backwards on top of Galen, and he wrapped his arms around me as the elevator gained speed.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Iliana screamed against the roar of the elevator.
"I DON'T KNOW!" Winnie answered, her voice screeching with sudden, extreme worry. "THIS DIDN'T HAPPEN LAST TIME!"
Rather than yelling anything in reply, I shut my eyes. I never cried, but a single tear trickled down my face and fell onto Galen's. When he noticed, he turned my face towards his – my eyes now open.
Keller –
The elevator slammed to a stop, cutting off Galen. When we were certain that the elevator wasn't going to move anymore, we stood up.
"Boss," Nissa asked cautiously, running her fingers through her short mink-colored hair to smooth any disarray, "what just happened?"
I didn't answer Nissa right away. Instead, I wiped away the tear stain and turned my attention to the button pad on the side of the elevator. The golden light that had been shining earlier was gone, but the black omega was still printed on the bronze of the elevator. I reached out and touched it – instinctively – before jerking my hand back and cursing under my breath. The omega was blazing hot to the touch – almost as if the golden light had burned it onto the surface of the bronze. "Nissa," I sighed, turning to face the other girl, "I think we need to find that out."
With a sharp ding! the elevator doors slid open.