Swan Song

I Have Waged Both Life And Land

It didn't take Lily long to return. Once she did, Lock, inconspicuously enough to be noticed by everyone on the streets, waved at her, letting her know where he and Crispin were hiding.

"What the hell?" the girl said as soon as she got into the alley with them. "Why're you here?"

"Sebastian took my uncle."

"Sebastian was here?" Lily looked over her shoulder, seemingly worried. "Then why are we here? Let's bolt."

"We learned where aunt Charlotte was. Ali will be here to take us there soon."

"Why did Sebastian take your uncle, anyway? You're his goal, no?"

"To use him as a hostage and a bargaining chip."

"Sometimes, the similarities between you two are creepy."

Lock cocked his head to the side, confused. "I'm not all that like him. We both know how to fake manners, but that's about where it ends."

"Oh, please," Lily said, waving him off. "You blackmailed me, got a group of people to follow you, turned a guy to stone... You may not have those weird psycho switches of his, but other than that, you're basically a younger Sebastian."

Gabriel landed in front of them before any further discussion could be had, Alice on his back. "Someone call a cab?"

"There are no cabs in Pandora," Lily reminded.

"Whatever. Just hop on already. Climbing that damn mountain is hard enough as it is. I better not keep Gabriel out longer than necessary." She turned toward Lock. "Sorry about your uncle, by the way."

"We'll get him back."

"Yeah."

"We'll get him back."

Exchanging a worried glance with Lily, Alice extended her hand, then pulled her friend up on the giant rabbit. Crispin and Lily had no trouble climbing it themselves. The rabbit traveled a lot faster this time, already getting used to the rocky terrain. Within a few minutes, the group was up on the mountain, at the outskirts of an Olympian village.

"Any clue where the house actually is?" asked Lily as they got to the ground. "I'd hate to have to search every single village."

Lock's gaze swept over the few houses that were in his line of sight. "I'm pretty sure her family is rich, so I doubt we'll find them in one of these. Crispin, what are the biggest houses outside of your castle?"

"Castle?" echoed Lily, interest suddenly peaked. "You mean an actual castle?"

"Yes."

"Not even you live in one, preacher man." She locked her arm with Crispin's. "You just got a lot more fun."

The look on his face, which was really just his neutral expression at that point, did not look fun. "What's that on your neck?" He pointed at Lock, who blinked in confusion.

"Come again?"

"Your neck - there's something on it," he reiterated. "It wasn't there before."

Moving his collar a bit so the others could get a closer look, Lock said, "There wasn't anything there when I took a shower. What is it?"

Lily leaned in closer. "A tattoo? You got a tattoo?"

"No, I didn't get a tattoo. When would I have gotten a tattoo?"

"I don't know what you do in your free time."

"Crispin literally just said nothing was there before."