25
Darkness bled from the earth as the sun fell below the trees, but the group continued forward. When the rolling, forested hills of Amalthea's estate turned to steeper terrain, Dee wondered just how far into the middle of nowhere they were going. She couldn't even guess how far they'd traveled, glad she’d kept up with the rest, who never called for a break.
An abrupt rise gave way to a level plateau. Dee found herself looking across a grassy knoll onto a three-story house carved directly into the mountainside. With a concave front and tall windows showing the brightly lit interior, the house was a beacon of modernity in the center of uninhabited land. A stone pathway, wide enough for three to walk abreast, meandered to the edge of a platform that dropped down into a sunk-in porch that
