Curse of the Sphinx Read Online Free Page B

greet her aunt.
    Priska Metcalf wasn’t really her aunt, but she was the closest thing to extended family they had. She looked the same age as her mom, perhaps even a few years younger, but Hope knew she’d helped raise her grandmother, the first Sphinx, thousands of years ago.
    Where Hope and her mom were gold and honey, Priska was onyx and ivory, not only in physical appearance but emotionally as well. She was calculated, decisive, and fearless. She didn’t mince words, or blow smoke.
    “Are you almost ready to go?” Her aunt’s angular features were pulled into a scowl. “I followed him to Pine Square, but all those shadows around Demeter’s temple—”
    “Stop!” Leto’s eyes darted to Hope.
    The dark-haired woman looked at her, then back to her mother. “What? You haven’t told her?”
    The silence that settled between them was thick with tension.
    “Are you still trying to protect her?” Priska’s eyes narrowed. “You can’t hide her from the world. She needs to know.”
    The pressure in the room rose. Hope’s eyes went back and forth from her mother to her aunt. “What’s going on?”
    Priska shook her head and turned to face Hope. “Skia.”
    The word was like a bomb. “Skia?” Her heart stuttered with fear. “Here?”
    “Maybe. I think . . . I went shopping this morning . . .” Leto paused.
    “Just tell her.” Priska’s angular features accentuated the harshness of her words.
    Leto’s shoulders slumped. “This morning. I don’t think he saw me, but we can’t take any chances. We need to move.”
    Skia. Shadow monsters. Her mother incessantly worried about them —demigods and Skia, the two immortal races that could kill them.
    Hope was stunned. “Are you sure?”
    Priska nodded. “I chased him off, made sure he saw me. I promise, he won’t be looking for you two.” She sat down on the couch and patted the cushion next to her. “You’ll be fine.”
    “So we’re safe?” Hope looked back and forth between the two women.
    Leto shook her head. “I’m going to go finish packing the kitchen. We’ll leave in an hour.”
    Hope’s aunt produced a wan smile. “Safe is a relative term.” She pulled a pillow into her lap. “How was school today?”
    Fear and confusion made it impossible to focus. She sat on the edge of the couch and stumbled over the words, the classes she was taking, what they were studying.
    “Have you made any friends?”
    Priska’s stare settled on Hope’s shoulders, and she shrugged as if to dislodge the weight. “It’s hard to make friends when you move all the time.”
    “Yes. That’s a challenge. But not impossible. Maybe you should put some effort into it.”
    Really? She rolled her eyes. “Hades in—”
    “Speaking of Hades,” Priska cut her off and changed the subject. “How much do you know about Skia?”
    “Don’t you do it!” Leto appeared in the doorway.
    Hope drew back into the couch, her mother’s words stinging the very air.
    Priska’s face was granite. “If you will not tell her, I will. Her life is in danger, too. You’ve shared only the barest of information with her. It is not enough to keep her safe.”
    Safe. It was like a mantra in their home—elusive, and yet the prize they constantly searched for. Is it safe? Are we safe? Trying to keep us safe. All the effort, and it was never, ever enough.
    “Tell me.” Hope sat up. “I want to know. I… I need to know.”
    Priska appraised her, then turned back to Leto. “It’s your choice. You can tell her, or I will.”
    Her mother shook her head. “Fine.” She looked at her watch. “Twenty minutes.”
    Priska nodded, her focus shifting back to Hope. “What do you know about Skia?”
    “They’re Hades’s minions, shadow monsters that kill immortals.”
    “Well, that’s a start.” Priska took a deep breath. “When the elements were divided, Zeus and his offspring got the earth and sky and all living things therein. Poseidon received the water with its creatures