Daughter of Wine

Leo

Frank follows my gaze. The Americans' faces are angry and confused, like they're sleepwalking through a very annoying nightmare.

"Leo Valdez," calls the guy in the ROMA shirt. His voice has changed. It's hollow and metallic. He speaks English as if it's a second language. "We meet again."

All three tourists blink, and their eyes turn solid gold.

Frank yelps. "Eidolons!"

The manatees clench their beefy fists. Normally, I wouldn't worry about getting murdered by overweight guys in floppy hats, but I suspect the eidolons are dangerous even in those bodies, especially since the spirits won't care whether their hosts survive or not.

"They can't fit down the hole," I say.

"Right," Frank agrees. "Underground is sounding really good."

He turns into a snake and slithers over the edge. I jump in after him while the spirits begin to wail above, "Valdez! Kill Valdez!"

One problem gets solved for us. The hatch above us closes automatically, cutting off our pursuers. It also cuts off all light, but we can deal with that. I just hope we don't need to get out the same way we came in. I'm not sure I can open the tile from underneath. 

At least the possessed manatee dudes are on the other side. Over my head, the marble floor shudders, like fat touristy feet are kicking it. I suddenly worry about Calli. She's up there on her own. What if the eidolons decide to go after her since they can't get in here? 

No, I can't think about that. Calli is smart and strong. She'll be okay. 

Frank must have turned back to human form. I can hear him wheezing in the dark. 

"What now?" He asks. 

"Okay, don't freak." I tell him. "I'm going to summon a little fire, just so we can see."

"Thanks for the warning."

My index finger blazes like a birthday candle. In front of us stretches a stone tunnel with a low ceiling. Just as Hazel predicted, it slants down, then levels out and goes south. 

"Well," I say. "It only goes in one direction."

"Let's find Hazel." Frank suggests. 

I have no argument with that suggestion. We make our way down the corridor, me going first with the fire. I'm glad to have Frank at my back, big and strong and able to turn into scary animals in case those possessed tourists somehow break through the latch, squeeze inside, and follow us. I wonder if the eidolons might just leave those bodies behind, seep underground, and possess one of us instead. 

Oh, there's my happy thought for the day. 

After a hundred feet or so, we turn a corner and find Hazel. In the light of Hazel's golden sword, I can see she's examining a door. She's so engrossed, she doesn't notice us until I say, "Hi!"

"What are you doing here?" Hazel demands. 

"Sorry. We ran into some angry tourists." I tell her what happened.

Hazel hisses in frustration. "I hate eidolons. I thought Piper made them promise to stay away."

"Oh..." Frank says, like he's made his own daily happy thought. "Piper made them promise to stay off the ship and not possess any of us. But if they followed us, and used other bodies to attack us, then they're not technically breaking their vow..."

"Great." I mutter. "Eidolons who are also lawyers. Now I really want to kill them."

"Okay, forget them for now." Hazel shakes her head. "Leo, this door is giving me fits. Can you try your skill with the locks again?"

I crack my knuckles. "Stand aside for the master, please."

The door is interesting, much more complicated than the Roman numeral combination lock above. The entire door is coated in Imperial gold. A mechanical sphere about the size of a bowling ball is embedded in the center. The sphere is constructed from five concentric rings, each inscribed with zodiac symbols-the bull, the scorpion, et cetera- and seemingly random numbers and letters.