Heart

by Higginson, Rachel

  “Fates,” I clipped back. I didn’t like that they were here. This seemed pre-planned. They claimed to want Nix dead, but instinct whispered something different. They didn’t care so much about Nix as they wanted the entire Pantheon in chaos.

  The Oracle of Delphi had said that their true goal was control. Yet they couldn’t kill a god.

  But they could orchestrate it so that the gods killed each other.

  “The day has rather a promising outlook, don’t you think?” Enid’s grin widened, revealing sharpened teeth and a black tongue.

  I tried not to be sick. Was that her battle look?

  I turned to Isadora, “Have you seen the outcome to this battle?”

  A victorious smile played across her mouth. “There are too many variables to something like this,” she explained. “Too many possible outcomes. It’s impossible to predict exactly how this battle will play out.”

  “What happens if Nix wins?” I asked bravely. I watched him from across the distance. He had been working his way toward me, killing everything that got in his way. He held a deadly trident in one hand and used his free hand to choke anything that dared to get close enough to taste his power.

  “You will be his,” she said finally. “The whole world will be his.”

  My mouth went dry. “I thought I would be yours?”

  “In due time,” she said serenely. “We’ll let him break you in first. We want nothing to do with this rebellious mind.”

  I ground my teeth together. In my spirit I knew I would never submit to him, but I believed them in this one thing.

  I had no doubt Nix would drag it out of me… he would reach his bare fist into my soul and pull it out of me if he had to.

  “What happens if Zeus wins?”

  “You will still be ours,” Enid laughed. “Or haven’t you figured that out yet?”

  Isadora smiled too. “Zeus will never be able to kill you, or haven’t you figured that out yet? And your musician is in love with you. It’s a pity he couldn’t keep his distance. Should we blame you for that?”

  “Or your Siren charm?” Veda snickered behind her hand.

  “The deal we made?” I ignored their extras and got straight to business. A plan was forming in my head, but I needed all of the information I could before I jumped in with both feet.

  “It’s still in effect,” Isadora promised. “If you kill Nix, you are free to go.”

  “But you won’t,” Veda added in her little girl voice. “You can’t.”

  Enid leaned in and in a taunting whisper, added, “You don’t have it in you. You’re not a killer, Siren.”

  “I’m not,” I agreed. “But he is.” I pointed at Ryder as the sword arched over his head in a wild swing before taking the head of an angry looking minotaur with horns the size of my thighs and muscles covering every inch of his hairy body. The creature had been twice the size of Ryder. He had been forced to take a running leap and launch his human body into the air before coming down with his beheading.

  The Fates hissed with disgust at his display of power.

  “He’s human,” Isadora sighed. “He might take a few Greeks with him, but he will never reach Nix.”

  “Orpheus is too easy to kill,” Veda explained. “Someone will get to him. It’s only a matter of time.”

  That was the key. Time.

  The longer this dragged out, the more chances someone had to kill Ryder, the more Greeks died, the closer Nix got to his goal. I needed to end this as quickly as I could.

  But looking at the carnage in front of me, I couldn’t figure out how to do that.

  Greeks appeared from thin air. It was like Zeus had put up the Bat Signal and called everyone to him. Nix’s army seemed never-ending. They poured from around buildings and flooded the plaza.

  Olympus’s streets became rivers of blood. Centaur fought centaur, cyclops battled gigantes, god killed god. There was no end to the mayhem.

  Gold bracelets glinted off the flash of lightning and pulled my attention to the steps of the temple. Delphi’s dark head bobbed in and out of battling Greeks. Her blue eyes flashed my way before she spun around to cut off the head of a nymph that jumped from above to attack her.

  The sword was unmistakable. Even from this distance.

  I didn’t know how she’d gotten it or where she’d found it, but I would never forget the shape of that blade or the unique curve of the hilt. The god-killer was here.

  New hope bloomed inside of me and for the first time all day I actually believed I could win this.

  Della flipped through the air and landed right in front of Ryder. He was lost in battle, red-eyed and covered in blood. Just a half-second before he released his sword to take her head, he recognized who stood before him.

  She said something to him that I couldn’t read from here. I surreptitiously glanced at the Fates surrounding me, but their eyes were on Nix and Zeus fighting at opposite sides of the plaza.

  They didn’t sense Delphi’s presence; I thought that was strange. They were supposed to be able to see all and yet they didn’t notice when their sworn enemy showed up?

  Maybe their powers weren’t as omniscient as they would like us to believe.

  “Your best friend just arrived,” I told them. For the first time since I met them over a year ago, I felt the power shift between us. I had something to hold over them.

  Finally.

  I pointed Delphi out in the crowd just as she switched swords with Ryder. He held up the new blade with something like awe. The silver blade glinted in the light of the fire and promised death.

  He spun around suddenly, taking the head of one of the demi-gods with him. The massive Greek had been sneaking up on him with fire covering both of his outstretched palms. Ryder seemed to have sensed the threat and acted on instinct. The corpse dropped to the ground, the head bouncing away down the stained limestone path. The fire in his palms died out to nothing.

  Ryder’s smile was both boyish and sadistic at the same time.

  He seemed possessed with something more than himself. He had no reservations throwing himself into this battle entirely.

  He had been awkward and fumbling minutes ago. Now he was as capable and skilled as anyone here.

  The god-killer only enhanced his brutal talent.

  I felt it the second the Fates’ attention landed on Della. Their thin bodies snapped to attention and I nearly choked on their aggressive hatred.

  “The Oracle,” Enid hissed. “How dare she taint us with her presence?”

  “Let’s catch her,” Isadora snarled. “And force her to show her face to the world.”

  The two older Fates jumped down to the ground with spry energy. They pulled swords from the folds of their gray gowns and dragged the tips along the ground in disconcerting synchronicity. Veda followed after them a few feet, producing matching swords from her own robes.

  She glanced at me over her shoulder and smiled. “Until later, Siren. Don’t run far.”

  I didn’t bother acknowledging her, but her words pulled at something that had been marinating in my head.

  Don’t run far.

  But I had run before. I’d run to the one place I knew I would be safe.

  The one place I subconsciously knew I would be in control.

  I didn’t have a weapon. No swords appeared for me; no weapons materialized out of nowhere. I only had the power in my blood, the ancient energy that could end this world.

  A gigante approached me with clear intentions to capture me and drag me back to his master. He swung his club-like arms at me, but he was too big to be anything but inaccurate and awkward. I dodged out of the way and circled around behind him.

  Compelled by instinct and the rushing power inside of me, I pressed my hand to his spine and filled him with water. He staggered as saltwater submerged his lungs. His huge body swayed once to the right before he landed heavily on his knees, choking on gallons of water.

  He smelled like rot and mold and I loathed touching him, but
I had couldn’t quell the instinct to use more of my power. Somehow the energy had taken hold of me and I couldn’t let go of it. It flared inside of me, driving me farther than I had ever gone before, farther than I ever wanted to go.

  I moved in front of him again and beckoned him with one finger. He leaned toward me immediately, hypnotized by the power swelling around me.

  I leaned into his ear and with all of the softness I could manage, I sang into his ear. Unfamiliar directives assaulted my tongue, demanding that I speak fatal commands. The power asked for blood. The power wanted me to reveal the depth of my authority, to prove how deadly I could be… how utterly consuming I was.

  Kill, my blood whispered.

  Maim.

  Destroy.

  Hurt.

  Images of drowned sailors flashed in my head first. Then a world where blood coated the ground and men lay at my feet.

  I saw thousands… hundreds of thousands… millions of souls at my disposal.

  The energy perked up at the images, flexing its supremacy inside me. I saw a world waiting to be taken. I saw even Nix on his knees before me.

  There was nothing I could not do.

  There was no one I could not control.

  And those that had the will to oppose me? Easily disposed of.

  I could have all of this. Not even the Fates could tame me.

  The words to end this creature stuck in my throat. I held his jaw in my hand, the harsh bristle of his beard scratching against my palm. I felt his pulse beneath my fingertips, the slow beat of his overly large heart. Water poured from his mouth and cascaded over my wrist and splashed at my ruined dress.

  I fought the heady feeling with everything that was still moral and human inside of me. This was what Nix wanted. This was the power the Fates sought to control. This was the force that Olympus trembled from.

  If I gave into it just once, it would consume me.

  It would own me.

  All Nix had to do… or the Fates… or anyone, was draw it out one time. I would be a slave to the power then. I would never be able to turn it off. I would become greedy and bloodthirsty with the need to control and enslave.

  I wouldn’t stand a chance.

  I barely stood a chance now.

  When I sang to the gigante, I used every ounce of willpower I had left. Instead of singing him to his death or off a cliff or any other horrid picture that danced gleefully in my head, I told him to leave.

  “Leave,” the hardest word I had ever uttered.

  He stood immediately and pushed his way through the crowd.

  I watched his swaying, drowning body bowl through the battle and gradually pulled back my power. His lungs dried and the water left him, but not the command. I didn’t have the authority to pull that back.

  Once the command was uttered, the damage was done.

  Sorrow weighed me down as I realized just how destructive I was. I had glimpses before, but never had I seen a clearer picture of how evil I could be.

  When I turned my back on his retreating form, I wasn’t surprised to find Nix waiting for me. Gigantes flanked him, fighting off anything that tried to get too close to him.

  I looked up into his dark eyes and felt my heart shatter into a thousand pieces. This was what he wanted from me. This was what he wanted to pull out of me and use.

  I would rather die first.

  I would do anything to die first.

  Nix leaned in so that his lips brushed the shell of my ear. His hand cupped my jaw and caressed my cheek. The pose was not all that different from what I had just shared with the gigante, but this time the tables were reversed. Although the effect was the same.

  “You’re exquisite,” he murmured.

  I didn’t respond to him. Across the distance, I saw Ryder fighting to get to me. His sword moved with superhuman speed as he felled anything that stood between us.

  Sweat dripped down his temples and mingled with the blood of his enemies. My broken heart stuttered in my chest, responding to the proof of his relentless fortitude.

  He would do everything he could to protect me. He had always been like that, even before he was possessed with this super strength.

  This was not the first time he had fought Nix. But he had always lost before. And I knew Ryder; I knew that he would never give up. Ryder would fight and fight and fight Nix until one of them was dead.

  I was just afraid that it would be Ryder that lost first.

  “I’ll go with you,” I said evenly. “But I want to see my friends first.”

  His eyes narrowed with suspicion, “You can’t save them, Ivy. They’re as lost as you are.”

  “I just want to say goodbye,” I said sincerely. Meeting his eyes again, I felt the truth bubble out of me. “I’m tired of fighting this. You can have it.”

  His eyes twinkled with victory and his smile stretched across his face, revealing straight white teeth. He stepped into me, wrapping one arm around my waist and pressing me against the length of his body. He leaned into my neck and let his weighted words whisper over me. “That’s the last time you’ll get a choice of your own.”

  I blinked and when I opened my eyes, the sounds of battle had faded and a fresh sea breeze coasted through my hair.

  Naxos.

  Nix’s island.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Nix’s hand curled around my bicep in a punishing grip. He didn’t hesitate a second before dragging me along with him over smooth, sandy rock.

  I took in my surroundings as we went. His estate took up the entire island. And although the island was small comparatively, the estate was not.

  White washed walls gleamed in the blinding sky. After the tumultuous, storm clouds of the mountain, the warm, glittering sun was hard on my eyes. The sultry breeze and fresh sea spray scent hit me in strong contrast to the gory carnage we’d left behind.

  Likewise, our filthy clothes and blood-soaked skin seemed drastically out of place in this Mediterranean paradise.

  On second thought, maybe we were perfectly dressed for the sadistic hell of Nix’s private residence.

  I had never been here before, but he had threatened to lock me up here my entire life. I had seen pictures and my mother had told me stories of the depraved things that happened here.

  This looked like heaven compared to the ugliness I’d witnessed of the Underworld, but I knew this was the opposite.

  This was hell dressed up to look like heaven.

  This was the pits of suffering and depravity tied in a pretty bow.

  I looked up at Nix as he moved with purpose, pulling me along beside him. His strong jaw flexed and ticked, his eyes stayed focused on the gate in front of his house, the cords of his neck moved hypnotically. He was the same as his house. Beautiful yet sadistic. Pretty to look at but toxic to touch.

  He would be the death of me if I let him.

  He would make me the death of this world if I let him.

  “I want to see my friends,” I reminded him.

  He glanced at me, his eyes dark with purpose. “I know.”

  I lifted my chin. “You’ll let me.”

  His body slammed to a halt. Before I could think to brace myself, he twisted my arm and threw me against his iron gate.

  I winced as the sharp metal cut into my back and the solidness of it bruised me all over. My head rattled with the impact. I tried to steady out my breathing, but the back of his hand connected with my face first.

  I tasted the coppery smack of blood where my teeth cut into my tongue. Blood mingled with sweat where he cut my skin above my eye. The stinging mixture dripped into my right eye and blinded me with a sharp bite.

  “Stupid girl,” he growled. I felt the heavy rise and fall of his chest as he pressed into me, pinning me painfully against the gate. “I own you now… body and soul. You do what I say. Not the other way around.”

  I gathered my dignity and pride, even though my eye stung like a bitch and I couldn’t see, even though my tongue was swelling in my mout
h, even though I was weak and tired and confused. He didn’t own me.

  He never would.

  “Is this all you’ve got, Poseidon? I’m not so breakable after all.”

  His soft chuckle surprised me. He pulled back so that I could turn to face him again. His thumb rubbed the blood out of my eye and I blinked him into focus.

  “I wouldn’t expect anything less,” he murmured. “You’ll need some fire in you if you hope to keep your sanity.” My confusion must have been obvious because his smile widened. “The power will ruin you, Ivy. You’ll be driven to insanity. And the harder I push you, the sweeter it will taste.”

  Bile rose in my throat and if I had eaten anything today I would have launched it all over Nix. I knew he was right. I had felt it only moments ago. My mind had slipped and yet I had relished the feeling, I had loved handing over my will to the power.

  “Now, ask me nicely and I’ll let you see your friends.” His eyes darkened and his gaze dropped to my lips. “Or what’s left of them.”

  “Please,” I heard myself say, too desperate to care about fighting him. “Please let me see them.”

  His hand slipped behind me and deftly opened the gate. I stumbled backwards, but he was there to catch me. He righted me, turned me around and pushed me forward with a coaxing hand on my back.

  “This way,” he said.

  Once we were through the gate, he took my hand and led the way.

  I memorized as much as I could in the short seconds I had to see everything. His yard was made from white sand and spongy rocks. They protruded from the blanket of sand until they towered over me. Their peaks were pointed and sharp and I wondered if they were part landscape, part defense against anyone that would drop from the sky.

  They looked deadly.

  His house was massive. It stretched as far and wide as the island with multi-levels and balconies on every side. It was built in squares and rectangles. Every side was straight and edged. The expansive windows had silky blue curtains flapping through their open panes. More blue cloth decorated the pool area and lounging chairs. I counted two outdoor beds with massive posts and a slotted pergola overhead in discreet, but not completely hidden places outdoors. The flat roof boasted a breathtaking garden with flowers of every color and shape. I could smell their fragrant blossoms from here, mingling with the scent of the ocean.