“If you are devoted enough, strong enough. Then yes, you can heal other people, just as you healed the Viking boy. But it’s not simply about healing. You are sharing your strength, and you can do that in any way you see fit.”
But how would I know if I was devoted enough? Strong enough? Would it hurt so much every time I healed someone? And how could I possibly share my strength with someone other than by healing them? Those questions and a dozen more crowded into my mind, but before I could ask them, Sigyn swept her hand out.
“Here we are again.”
I looked around. I had been so focused on her words that I hadn’t realized we were back in the same courtyard she had shown me last night.
The one that was full of red narcissus flowers.
The flowers looked the same as before, each one with two red heart-shaped petals with thorny black centers that led down to matching stems. The red narcissi stood in the center of the courtyard, still surrounded by that ring of white winterblooms.
I stared at first one winterbloom, then another. Despite their small size, they stood straight and tall and faced the red narcissi without flinching. I wished I could be that brave, but looking at the flowers filled me with dread, and I couldn’t help but think of how that ruby seed had tried to take control of me.
I looked at Sigyn. “You knew that Covington was after the red narcissus seeds.”
“I suspected.”
“What is he planning to do with them?”
“What do you think?”
My stomach churned. “Create more flowers, more seeds.” My voice dropped to a whisper. “More Reapers.”
She nodded, confirming my worst fears. “If he gets enough seeds, enough flowers, enough Reapers, then he will quickly become unstoppable. He will enslave the entire mythological world.”
“So how do I stop him?” I asked. “Can’t I just destroy the seeds? I was able to crush the one he tried to use on me.”
The goddess shook her head, making her black hair ripple around her shoulders. “Red narcissi aren’t like other flowers. They are artifacts, and their seeds have more in common with Apate jewels than they do with other seeds. It often takes magic or an artifact of equal or even greater power to destroy them. You were able to crush that seed today because you were determined to destroy it, and you used your magic, your strength, to help you do it.”
“Then I’ll destroy them all,” I said in a stubborn voice. “I’ll find every last narcissus seed and crush them all to bits. And when I get done with the seeds, I’ll do the same thing to those creepy Chloris boxes they come in. And that Chloris Amulet that Covington stole.”
“No matter what the cost is to yourself?” Sigyn asked in a serious voice. “Because the price will be quite high, Rory. It will cost you everything you love.”
For a moment, I wavered. But then I remembered the horrible sensation of that black thorn stabbing into my palm and burrowing under my skin, trying to take control of me. I didn’t want anyone else to suffer that pain, that agony, especially not my friends. If I could stop that, I would.
I squared my shoulders, lifted my chin, and looked the goddess in the eyes. “I don’t care what the cost is. I’ll find a way to stop Covington. No matter what I have to do.”
No matter what I have to do. The words were quickly becoming my mantra. I just hoped I was strong enough to keep my Spartan promise to Sigyn—and myself.
The goddess smiled. “And that is why I chose you to be my Champion.”
Seeing the belief shining in her eyes made me feel like I could do it. Like I really could stop Covington for good. I nodded at her, and she nodded back at me.
Sigyn stepped back. “Until we meet again, Rory.”
She bowed her head, and that familiar bright silvery light flared. I closed my eyes against the intense glare, and when I opened them again, she was gone, and I was all alone in the courtyard.
Except for the flowers.
I looked at the red narcissi, then at the winterblooms, then finally at the bouquet in my hands. I dropped to my knees, untied the green ribbon that held the bouquet together, and slid the stem of each one of the winterblooms down into the ground, planting them as best I could.
It didn’t take long, and when I was finished, I sat back on my heels. “I thought you guys could use some reinforcements.”
The winterblooms bobbed their heads, as if they understood my words. I smiled back at them.
But the longer I looked at them, the more I realized exactly how tired I still felt. This time, I couldn’t stop myself from lying down next to the winterblooms. That bone-deep weariness swept over me again, stronger than before, and the flowers’ white petals and emerald-green hearts were the last things I saw before my eyes slid shut.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
For the third time, I woke up in the grass.
My eyes snapped open, and I sucked in a breath. For a moment, I didn’t remember where I was or what was going on, but then Ian leaned over me, his face full of concern.
“Rory! Are you okay?”
I looked up at him, staring into his beautiful eyes. I lifted my hand and cupped his cheek, even though my fingers left bloody streaks on his face.
“Ian, I—”
Someone cleared his throat, and I realized we weren’t alone.
“Here,” Ian said. “Let me help you.”
He put his hand behind my back and helped me sit up. I was still lying on the estate lawn, with my friends gathered around me. Zoe, Mateo, Aunt Rachel, the three gryphons. They were all here, along with Takeda, who was kneeling on the ground next to me.
I looked down at Takeda’s hand on my arm, and I realized I could feel his warm healing magic flowing into me. Takeda must have used his power to help me after I had absorbed Ian’s pain…or whatever I had done. I still wasn’t a hundred percent clear on what had actually happened.
“How are you feeling?” Takeda asked.
“Okay. A little tired.”
He gave me a weary smile. “You’re not the only one.”
Takeda let out a breath, then sat back on his heels. He looked as tired as I felt. Aunt Rachel crouched down beside him, making sure that he was all right. She glanced at me, and I reached out and squeezed her hand, telling her that I was okay.
I glanced around the lawn, but I didn’t see Covington, Drake, or the basilisk. My heart sank. “The Reapers?”
“Gone,” Zoe growled. “They took off on that stupid basilisk and flew away.”
I bit back a curse. Of course they had escaped. I opened my mouth, but someone answered my question before I could ask it.
“They’re not the only ones who escaped.”
My head snapped around. Professor Dalaja was sitting on the ground a few feet away, looking bloody and exhausted.
“Professor!”
I started to crawl over to her, but she waved me off. “We can hug it out later,” she said. “After we’re all not on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion.”
I looked at her a moment, then crawled over and hugged her anyway.
“That’s enough of that,” she grumbled, but her arm came up, and she hugged me back.
I drew back, and another thought popped into my mind. “What about the Chloris box? Did you check to see if it’s still in the solarium?”
“Box?” Takeda asked in a sharp voice. “What box?”
Regret twisted Dalaja’s face, and she shook her head. “I looked for it, but the box is gone, and so are all the seeds. Covington must have taken them with him.” Sympathy filled her eyes. “I’m sorry, Rory. I wish I could have stopped him.”
Dread filled my stomach, but I forced myself to smile back at her. “It’s not your fault.”
“Yes, it is,” she replied. “I thought that I was protecting the box by keeping it here at the mansion and that I was being so clever by hiding it in the solarium like it wasn’t an artifact, but all I did was make it easier for the Reapers to steal.”
“No,” I said. “Yo
u hid it, you protected it for years. You did your job, and your ancestors would be proud of you, Professor.”
Dalaja reached out and hugged me again. I hugged her back.
A breeze blew over the lawn, and something soft tickled my hand. I glanced down. One of the winterblooms had landed in the grass next to me. I grabbed the flower, brought it up to my nose, and drew in a breath, enjoying its fresh, clean scent.
“What box?” Ian asked. “What are you two talking about?”
I twirled the winterbloom around in my hand, then gently planted the stem in the ground. The petals quivered, almost as if the flower were thanking me. I stroked its petals a moment, then looked at Ian again.
“Let’s get back to the Bunker, and I’ll tell you guys everything.”
* * *
Takeda called in Protectorate reinforcements to guard the mansion and see if the Reapers had stolen any other artifacts. I petted the gryphons and thanked them for coming. They flew off, and my friends and I got into the van and went back to the academy.
Three hours later, everyone was healed and cleaned up, and we were in the Bunker. Ian, Zoe, Mateo, Aunt Rachel, and Takeda were sitting around the briefing table, along with Babs, who had been rescued from the woods, but I was standing in front of the shelves in the back of the room with the newest member of Team Midgard: Professor Dalaja.
An excited light filled Dalaja’s eyes as she looked around. “I can’t believe the Protectorate has stockpiled all these artifacts. Incredible. Just incredible!”
“You can fangirl over everything later. Right now, we have work to do.” I took her arm and gently steered her over to the briefing table.
We sat down, and everyone looked at Takeda.
“I’m still getting updates from the Protectorate guards at the mansion, but Dalaja was right,” he said. “The Chloris box is gone, along with the red narcissus seeds.”
Takeda picked up the remote and clicked some buttons. Photos of the mansion appeared on the monitors, showing the debris and destruction that the Reapers and the basilisks had left behind. He hit another button, and a picture of the Chloris box appeared. Red stone, silver vines, black flowers. It made me just as sick to stare at it now as it had at the mansion.
Everyone gave me a sympathetic look. I had told them about the red narcissus seed and what it had done to me.
“Dalaja has agreed to tell us everything she knows about the box, the seeds, and how Covington might use them to turn people into Reapers,” Takeda said. “It’s not what we had hoped for, but at least it’s a place to start. I’ve also ordered the Protectorate guards to redouble their efforts to find the Reapers.”
“We still have time to stop Covington,” Professor Dalaja said. “He might have the seeds, but the Chloris Amulet is largely useless without the Narcissus Heart.”
“What’s that?” Aunt Rachel asked.
Dalaja pointed to a photo of a red narcissus seed on one of the monitors. “It looks like a regular seed, only much larger. Some legends say it’s the first red narcissus seed, the one that all the others came from. All I know is that it’s powerful, and we can’t let Covington find it.”
“He already found it,” I muttered. “We’re all sitting here with it right now.”
Everyone fell silent and looked at the object perched in the center of the table: the black jewelry box.
No, not a jewelry box, a Chloris box. Black stone, silver vines, ruby narcissus flowers. The box was exactly the same as before, although now I could see how its black stone and silver vines matched the colors and shapes of the Chloris Amulet.
Takeda had taken the box out of its glass case on the storage shelf so that we could examine it again, and the sight of it filled me with more dread than ever before, now that I knew what Covington’s plan was.
“Well,” Takeda said, “I guess we should finally see what’s inside this Chloris box. If it only contains more seeds or something…else.”
He reached for a dagger lying on the table, but I waved him off.
“No,” I said. “I’ll do it.”
I got to my feet, picked up Babs from her chair, and used the sword to slice a gash in my hand. Blood welled up from the wound, but it felt as mild as a paper cut, compared with how deeply I’d sawed into my skin at the estate earlier. My healing magic flared to life, but I held my hand over the box and squeezed my fingers into a fist, forcing my blood out of the wound before it sealed itself shut.
Several drops of my blood spattered onto the box. For a moment, the drops just sat there, glistening like liquid ruby flowers, but then they slowly dissolved into the black stone. The silver vines began twisting and writhing, rearranging themselves just like the ones on the red box, and several soft click-click-clicks sounded. A moment later, the top of the box popped open.
Even though I had told them how the box worked, my friends still let out startled gasps. I reached out and lifted the lid. Everyone sucked in a breath, then leaned forward to get a better look at what was inside the box.
The answer? A single large heart-shaped ruby nestled in a bed of gray velvet.
Several tendrils of silver wrapped around the ruby before tapering to a sharp, thornlike point made of black jet. It looked the same as the other red narcissus seeds, so I knew exactly what it was.
The Narcissus Heart.
This was the jewel, the seed, the piece that was missing from the Chloris Amulet. This was the last thing Covington needed in order to start turning people into Reapers. Seeing it filled me with cold dread and stomach-churning fear, but I pushed my emotions aside and started thinking about what to do with the artifact—and how best to protect my friends from it and Covington.
“That thing is supercreepy,” Zoe whispered.
Mateo shivered. “No kidding.”
“That’s it,” Professor Dalaja said, her voice both awed and disgusted at the same time. “That’s the Narcissus Heart.”
Everyone stared at the artifact. I held my breath, wondering if this seed would start beating like the one Covington had pressed into my palm, but the Heart remained still and frozen. Maybe it actually needed to touch someone’s skin in order to release its magic. I didn’t know, and I didn’t want to find out.
Dalaja broke the tense, heavy silence that had descended over the room. “Close it,” she said. “Close the box.”
“Why?” Aunt Rachel asked. “Shouldn’t we try to destroy it?”
Dalaja shook her head. “Believe me, I want to, but we can’t just smash it to bits. Not with a regular sword or dagger. You have a lot of impressive artifacts here, but I didn’t see anything on the shelves that would so much as scratch the Heart. That’s how powerful it is. The safest thing to do right now is to shut the box and put it back on the shelf until we can find some way to either neutralize or destroy it.”
Sigyn had told me that the narcissus seeds would be tough to destroy. Of course, the Narcissus Heart would be even more difficult.
I looked at Takeda, who nodded. I reached out and shut the lid, careful not to touch the Heart itself. Those faints click-click-clicks sounded again, and the vines rearranged themselves, locking the box.
Out of sight but definitely not out of mind.
After several seconds, Takeda cleared his throat and pressed another button on his remote. To my surprise, the photos vanished, and the wall monitors went black.
“Covington and the Narcissus Heart are tomorrow’s problems,” he said. “We’ve all been through a lot, and I want everyone to go home and get some rest. That’s an order.”
As much as I wanted to stay in the Bunker and keep working, Takeda was right. We were all exhausted, so we packed up our things.
Everyone else left the briefing room and headed toward the elevator, but I followed Takeda to the storage shelves and watched him put the black Chloris box back into its case. He shut the glass lid, and we both stood there, staring at the artifact.
“I almost wish I didn’t know what was inside it now,” he murmured.
<
br /> “You’re not the only one,” I muttered.
Takeda laid his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, Rory. We’ll keep the Chloris box and the Narcissus Heart safe. Covington won’t get his hands on either one of them.”
I forced myself to smile at him. “You’re right. Thanks for making me feel better.”
He smiled back at me and headed toward the briefing table. I looked at the box a moment longer, then followed him.
As I walked away, I silently repeated the Spartan promise I had made to Sigyn and myself in the Eir Ruins. I would protect my friends from Covington, the Chloris box, and the Narcissus Heart.
No matter what I have to do.
* * *
I grabbed Babs and rode the elevator up to the library with everyone else. Aunt Rachel insisted on taking me home and tucking me into bed. I was so tired that I didn’t argue, and I fell into a dark, dreamless sleep. A light knock on my door woke me several hours later.
“Rory?” Aunt Rachel opened my bedroom door. “Ian is here. He wants to see you, if you’re up for it.”
I yawned and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. I had been hoping he would come by.
I got out of bed, grabbed Babs and my jacket, and went outside. It was after nine o’clock now, and the sun had set long ago, although the moon had risen to take its place and paint the landscape in that delicate, frosty silver that I loved so much.
Ian was waiting on the front porch, and he straightened up and smiled. “Hey.”
“Hey yourself.” I smiled back at him. “Feel like taking a walk?”
“With you?” He grinned. “Always.”
I shrugged into my jacket, and we stepped onto the path leading up to the ridge that overlooked the academy. While Ian explored the clearing, I lifted Pan’s Whistle to my lips and blew on it. Balder and Brono swooped down from the sky a few minutes later, and Ian and I petted the gryphons.
“Thank you,” I whispered to the gryphons. “Thank you so much for helping us today. For helping me.”
My plan to use Pan’s Whistle to get the gryphons to bring my friends to the estate had worked. According to Ian, the gryphons had flown to the academy and found him fishing Babs out of the pine trees. He had realized that they knew where I was, so he had gotten onto Balder’s back while everyone else had followed in Takeda’s van. The gryphons had led my friends to the Idun Estate, and then we had all fought the Reapers together.
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