Earthshaker

Chapter 6-2

The ride didn't last long, so I knew we weren't too far underground when the elevator car stopped moving. The door opened, and we stepped out into a vast, glittering ballroom.

Even considering the circumstances, considering what we were there for, I was still blown away when I saw it. Had to force myself not to stare. The place was amazing; all the more so because it was hidden underground, the true secret of Secret Valley.

It looked like something out of a high tech royal palace. The floor was a checkerboard of gleaming squares, alternating between rose and black marble. The mirrored ceiling dripped with great chandeliers of gold and multi-colored crystal or gems. The four walls were covered with flat panel video screens, programmed in such a way that they broadcast a single, continuous image all the way around the room. When we first got out of the elevator, a panoramic scene of snow-covered mountain peaks surrounded us; as I watched, the view changed to an underwater vista, all deep blue sea flashing with dolphins and swooping schools of fish.

The scene in the middle of the ballroom interested me most, though. The nude girl floating in midair above a crowd of applauding, tuxedoed men.

Duke leaned over and whispered in my ear. "I think we've come to the right place, earth angel."

I nodded. I knew the floating girl, or should I say nymph. Her name was Phaola, and she was one of the Hyades. I'd arranged a trip to Argentina once for her and her sister, Ambrosia.

"You need to be extraordinarily careful," said Duke. "These men might have some power over your kind."

"I hear you." I knew it was good advice. All I wanted to do at that moment was go ballistic, rip the place apart till I found Aggie. But I knew it was smarter to watch and wait. Let Duke be the front man, as planned, and keep a low profile. It wouldn't be easy; other than Phaola, I was the only woman in the place.

In the center of the room, Phaola rose higher, turning slowly as low, throbbing music played. Her long blonde hair with its ice-blue highlights hung down like a curtain, gleaming in the light from the chandeliers.

As I watched, Phaola rolled over and swung upward. Hair flowing around her, she reached up toward the ceiling and wove her slender arms overhead. Rocked her hips sensuously from side to side in time with the music.

She began to spin—slowly at first, then picking up speed. Always twining and swirling her arms, flickering her delicate fingers in patterns of increasing complexity. And she started to glow. A sparkling golden halo flowed around her body, growing and brightening with each fresh pulse of light.

The men below were mesmerized, hundreds of them craning their necks to watch every sinuous movement. Their mouths were open, every last one, and their faces were bathed in Phaola's golden glow.

When her dance reached its peak, Phaola was weaving and gyrating and spinning like a dervish. Suddenly, she stopped and cried out; she flung her arms back and held them there for an instant...then swept them overhead and clapped them together once.

Which was exactly when the rain started to fall.

A shower of glittering droplets rushed down from above, from somewhere below the mirrored ceiling. Cascading all around Phaola, all through the ballroom—but never touching the floor. The downpour ended just short of our heads, miraculously disappearing into thin air before a single drop could touch any of us.

The ballroom exploded with cheers and applause. What Phaola had done was a true spectacle, true magic. And the whole time, she'd never once stopped smiling.

The thing was, from where I was standing, I couldn't tell if the smile was real or forced.

"Wow." Briar was shaking his head and gazing at Phaola. "She's almost as good as you are."

Normally, I wouldn't have let that comment slide. "She and her sister Hyades are 'the bringers of rain.'" I was too busy trying to grasp the insane situation. Was Phaola a prisoner or an employee? How had she gotten mixed up in this? And what was Aggie's connection?

"We need to talk to her," I said, watching as Phaola drifted to the floor. "We need to get her alone."

"Good luck with that," said Briar.

I guessed there were between two hundred and fifty and three hundred men in that ballroom. As Phaola descended, they all mobbed her, touching and chattering. Phaola grinned and giggled, letting them kiss her hands and jostle for her attention.

Just then, a wall video panel opened inward, and a tall man emerged from behind the scenes. He wore a white top hat and tails and charged straight into the mob. The men parted for him as if he were brandishing a gun instead of a red satin robe.

As the man in the white top hat drew up to Phaola and helped her into the red robe, I saw he was wearing a mask. It was a full-face, flesh-colored mask, the weird kind that looks see-through but isn't. It kept me from getting a look at his features.

"Now that's who I want to talk to," said Briar. "I'll bet he knows everything."

"I'll bet you're right," said Duke.

As Phaola pulled the robe tight and tied the sash, the masked man spoke to the mob. "Gentlemen!" His voice was amplified, but I couldn't see the microphone. "Just imagine. Just imagine what else she can do. For you."

"So much for the innocent dating service theory," said Briar.

"And she is only the beginning." The masked man spread his arms wide; he was wearing black gloves. "We have all the colors of the rainbow to choose from. All the flavors of the candy shop. Every one of them with different talents and powers that will make your wildest fantasy a reality."

The men cheered and clapped and whistled with abandon. One of them grabbed the masked man's shoulder, and he shrugged him right off.

"Where else can you find women like these?" said the masked man. "Goddesses, literally, like these?" He snapped his gloved fingers, and video wall panels swung open all around the ballroom. Beautiful women strolled out through the openings; I counted two dozen of them. Every last one of them was smiling and scantily clad. "Nowhere but here! Only at Divinities!"

As the women mingled with the crowd of men, a chill shot through my body. "I know them." I stepped back and edged behind Duke. "I know all of them."

"They're all nymphs?" said Briar.

"Nymphs and minor goddesses. They've all been through Cruel World at one time or another."

"Of course." Duke nodded as he looked around at the crowd. "I recognize them, too. There's one of the Pleiades, and that crazy naiad, Kleodora. Is that one of the muses over there?"

"But no Aggie," said Briar.

"She's here, all right." She had to be, I knew it. No special abilities needed to read the writing on that wall. "I need to talk to Phaola."

"Ask and ye shall receive." Duke gathered himself up and straightened the collar of his black silk shirt. "Now just follow my lead, you two."

With that, Duke strolled into the crowd, and Briar and I followed.