“So we really do not have much choice, then, do we,” Saint-Germain said.

“There are always choices,” the hooded man said quietly. “Some are just harder to make than others. You can come with me and live, or stay here and die.”

“Those are not great choices,” Palamedes said.

“They are the only choices you have.”

“And on Danu Talis, we must fight?” the knight asked.

“Yes. You will fight-in the biggest battle you’ve ever fought.”

Palamedes looked over at the Bard, and Shakespeare smiled and nodded. “I’ve always wanted to see a mythical land. I’ve got this idea for a play-all it needs is a setting…”

“And I think I would like to see my birthplace before it sank,” Scatty said, a strange note of urgency in her voice. She looked even paler than usual.

The hooded man’s eyes crinkled again. “Yes. And you might get to see your parents.”

The Shadow took a step back, suddenly looking startled. That was exactly the thought that had been in her head.

“I have a question,” Joan said quietly, and everyone turned to look at her. “What is your name? You know us-indeed, you seem very familiar with us-but we’ve no idea who you are.”

The hooded man nodded. “I have had many names through the centuries, but the one I prefer is the one I was first called on Danu Talis: Marethyu.”

Scathach gasped and the immortal humans turned to her. Joan laid a hand on her friend’s arm. “What does it mean?” She glanced over her shoulder at the hooded man.

“Tell them,” he said to the Shadow.

“In the language of Danu Talis, it means ‘death.’”

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

Wednesday, 6th June

Sophie Newman knew the moment she awoke in the tiny cramped bedroom that something was wrong. There was a vague fluttering in the pit of her stomach and a dull ache at the back of her head, and she was painfully aware that her heart was pounding. Wrapping her arms tightly around her chest, she attempted to control her suddenly frantic breathing. What was happening to her: was this a panic attack? She’d never had one before, but her friend Elle in New York has them all the time. Sophie felt light-headed and just a little sick, and when she rolled out of bed and came to her feet, a wave of dizziness washed over her.

Stepping out into the hallway, she stopped and listened carefully. The little guesthouse was quiet. And it felt empty. With her left hand brushing the wall, she walked down the corridor into the kitchen. The night outside had started to pale toward dawn. Perry had told her that Prometheus kept his Shadowrealm in synch with earth time and it had a regular cycle of day and night.

The crystal skull sat in the center of the kitchen table.