Free Joshua and the Lightning Road by Donna Galanti

other.
    I took a chance, speaking through tight lips so my throat didn’t get cut. “We escaped from the power mill, and we’re on our way to rescue my friend Finn and get back to Earth.”
    Sam gave me a look that told me to shut up.
    But the man pulled the knife off my neck and shoved me away from him, toward Sam and Charlie. I stumbled and turned around to face him. He was tall and thin, and stood fierce before us, feet planted hip-width apart, as he tapped his fisted knuckles at his waist. Arrows poked out of a quiver hanging from his back, and a bow was slung across his chest. His hooded cloak gleamed with mist and fell to the tops of his cracked leather boots. He pushed his cloak aside just enough to tuck the knife into a sheathe that was strapped on one leg with a fancy letter “L” scrolled across the top of it. His long brown hair was streaked with white and twisted into ropes that swayed across half of his face. And when he brushed it away impatiently, it revealed a long scar that ran from his hairline to his chin. Was he a fallen god, too? He looked like one with his sharp nose and angled face.
    He frowned at me. “And how do you propose you’ll get back to Earth if you succeed in this rescue folly?”
    Charlie and I looked at Sam, who hadn’t come clean about that part yet. Sam just shook his head, and the man returned his hand to his knife. I slowly slid my hand in my pocket and gripped the orb so hard my fingers tingled.
    Sam sighed. “With a Lightning Gate key.”
    I didn’t know what a Lightning Gate key was, but Sam acted as if revealing this bit of information was like pulling out one of his teeth. Maybe he didn’t trust this guy, but there was something in the man that drew me to him. I felt—somehow—he wouldn’t harm us.
    The man waved a hand at Sam. “And how would you know where to get such a key?”
    Sam blew out an even longer sigh. “My mother was one of King Apollo’s wives.”
    Charlie grabbed my arm as I worked to scrape my jaw off the ground. Sam was a prince of a fallen Greek god?And he wanted us to help him ?And why would a prince want to escape from his kingdom?
    “So?” the man said.
    Sam kicked at the dirt, looking miserable. “Living in the castle has its advantages when it comes to discovering things.”
    “You have this Lightning Gate key?” the man said, stepping toward us and thrusting his hand open. “In that bag perhaps?” In just a few questions, he’d pried more from Sam than we’d learned in a day. And the more he revealed, the more our escape took shape. I nodded to Sam, eager to hear that we would soon be on our way home.
    Sam shook his head. “Just slug dogs and bong bongs in here.”
    The man grabbed the bag to make sure then threw it back.
    “And the only person who has a key is a Child Collector,” Sam said.
    My hopes sank. I had no interest in ever crossing paths with that nasty dude again. There must be another way.
    “I know.” The man flipped his cloak behind him, revealing a brown belt that wrapped around his slim waist encrusted with colored squares covered in letters and numbers.
    It seemed familiar, and then Sam shook a finger at the man. “That’s a Child Collector’s belt!” He backed up, and Charlie and I went with him, fear of being taken again crashing through me.
    But the man just smiled at us. “Have no fear, boys.”
    “You’re a Taker, then?” Sam took another step back. That didn’t sound good either.
    “Afraid not.”
    “What are you going to do to us?” The suspense was killing me, and I bent my knees, feet ready to run.
    “I may have some other use for you besides turning you in to Hekate.”
    He made no move to capture us so I dared a question. “What does the belt do?”
    Sam answered for the man. “It allows a Child Collector to travel to Earth, choose a destination, and return to Nostos.” He yanked his baggy shirt down, balling it up in his hands. “Only after he’s scoured his assigned Earth region