Spartan Destiny

by Jennifer Estep

  The front door was standing wide open, and the wood was cracked and splintered, as though someone had kicked in the door to get inside. No one moved back and forth in front of the windows on this side of the house, but several loud crashes, clangs, and bangs rattled out from the open door. It sounded like Zoe and the Reaper were tearing the cottage apart trying to find the Narcissus Heart.

  I was holding Babs and had my messenger bag slung across my chest again, while Mateo was clutching his tablet, along with the dead Reaper’s sword. Together we sprinted out of the trees and over to the cottage. Keeping low, we hugged the wall and moved around the house until we reached the kitchen windows, since those were the biggest windows with the best view of the interior. Then we eased up to the frame and peered through the glass.

  The cottage was a disaster area.

  Someone had opened every single cabinet in the kitchen, and pots, pans, and skillets were scattered all over the counters and the stovetop. Someone had also pulled all of the drawers out of their frames and upended their contents. Forks, knives, spoons, and other utensils covered the floor, gleaming like a carpet of dull metal.

  Beyond the kitchen, in the living room, the tables and chairs had been upended, and knickknacks and picture frames had toppled to the floor, splintered apart, and then been trampled underfoot. Even the cushions had been yanked off the couch and ripped open, and the white stuffing covered the floor like wads of snow.

  The only part of the cottage that I could see that hadn’t been trashed was the kitchen table. It was free of the jumbled debris that covered the counters and the floor, although several items were lined up on the tabletop—a pair of brown leather sandals, a silver necklace with blue crystals, a gold ring, a gray apron, and a book with a dark purple cover.

  My heart sank. Hermes’s Sandals, Thrud’s Necklace, Benzaiten’s Ring, Hephaestus’s Apron, and Veritas’s Diary. Zoe and the Reaper had already found every single one of the artifacts in the cottage. I thought I’d been so clever with my hiding places, but apparently, I hadn’t been very clever at all.

  “What are those things on the table?” Mateo whispered.

  “The other artifacts that I took from the Bunker,” I replied. “The ones I thought might protect you guys from the red narcissus venom.”

  A few more crashes, clangs, and bangs sounded, and then two people stepped into the kitchen—Zoe and her Reaper guard.

  I studied my friend. Her eyes were still that eerie red, and red and black streaks still covered her face, but other than that, she seemed okay. I let out a quiet sigh of relief that the Reaper hadn’t hurt her.

  The Reaper studied the artifacts on the table, then turned toward the Valkyrie. “Did you find anything else in the Spartan girl’s bedroom?”

  Zoe nodded, stepped forward, and held out a black headband decorated with a red crystal heart.

  “You idiot!” the Reaper hissed. “That’s just a stupid headband. Not an artifact. We’re looking for a ruby heart, not some cheap crystal.”

  She slapped the headband out of Zoe’s hand, then shoved the younger girl. Zoe stumbled backward and hit one of the cabinet doors, which slammed shut behind her head. She grimaced, and a few pale blue sparks of magic streamed out of her fingertips, telling me how hard she had hit her head and how much it had hurt.

  Mateo sucked in a breath, and his fingers clenched around his tablet as though he wanted to storm into the kitchen and hit the Reaper over the head with it, just as he had done to me. “I’m going to kill her for hurting Zoe,” he growled.

  “Not if I beat you to it,” I muttered back.

  Instead of rubbing her head like a normal person, Zoe stayed where she was next to the closed cabinet, a blank look on her face again. The Reaper rolled her eyes, let out a long-suffering sigh, strode forward, and yanked the Valkyrie away from the cabinet.

  “Well, don’t just stand there,” she snapped. “Keep looking. We’re not leaving here without the Narcissus Heart.”

  Zoe stepped forward to keep searching, but apparently, she wasn’t quick enough, because the older woman shoved her again. This time, Zoe tripped on some loose utensils and fell to her knees, hitting the floor even harder than she had hit the cabinet.

  “I’m definitely going to kill that Reaper,” Mateo growled.

  He lifted his tablet, along with his sword, and headed to his left, ready to sprint around the cottage, storm into the kitchen, and confront the Reaper.

  I grabbed his arm, stopping him. “Wait,” I whispered. “We can’t just barge in there. We have to take the Reaper down as quickly as possible. We can’t let her use her phone and tell the others that we’re here.”

  Mateo didn’t like it, but it was the smart thing to do, and he reluctantly nodded. “And what about Zoe? I can’t hurt her. I just can’t,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.

  I squeezed his arm. “I know, and I don’t want to hurt her either, but she’ll probably attack me the second she sees me. Maybe you too, since you aren’t infected anymore. We have to get to the artifacts on the kitchen table and hope that one of them will work on her the same way the cuff worked on you.”

  “And if they don’t work on her?” His eyes darkened with anguish at the horrible thought.

  “Then we’ll try the cuff and hope that it has enough magic to cure her too. And if that doesn’t work, we’ll subdue her and tie her up so that she can’t hurt us or herself. Okay?”

  Mateo didn’t like that either, but it was our only option, and he reluctantly nodded again.

  “Let’s go,” I said. “We need to get Zoe and get out of here before that Reaper patrol comes back through this area.”

  We snuck around the side of the cottage and back to the front door, which was still open. I peeked inside, but I didn’t see Zoe or the Reaper in the living room or farther back in the kitchen, although more crashes, clangs, and bangs echoed through the house. It sounded like they were tearing through my bedroom again.

  I pointed at the artifacts, which were still sitting on the table. Mateo nodded, and the two of us slipped into the cottage. We tiptoed through the debris on the floor, trying to make as little noise as possible, and hurried into the kitchen. I set my messenger bag down on the floor, while Mateo laid his tablet on the table next to the artifacts.

  “Which one should we use?” he whispered, fingering the blue crystals on Thrud’s Necklace. “Which one do you think will work?”

  I had opened my mouth to answer when footsteps crunched behind me. Mateo’s eyes widened. He had heard the noise too, and we both whirled around.

  Zoe and the Reaper were here.

  “Kill them!” the Reaper hissed.

  She yanked her sword out of the scabbard hooked to her belt and charged at Mateo, who growled, snapped up his own sword, and rushed forward. The Reaper’s sword crashed into his, and the two of them started battling back and forth through the living room.

  That left me to face Zoe.

  The Valkyrie snarled and threw herself at me, her fingers curving into claws. Even though I was still holding Babs, I didn’t lift the sword, for fear of hurting Zoe. I tried to fend her off using only one hand, but she easily ducked around my awkward swing, surged forward, and locked her hands around my throat.

  And then she started squeezing.

  “Zoe!” I choked out. “It’s me! Rory!”

  But Zoe only snarled again and tightened her grip. Blue sparks of magic streamed out of her fingertips and crackled in the air around us. Each spark that flashed and then winked out seemed like another second counting down to my death.

  I could have lifted Babs and swiped the sword across Zoe’s arm or leg or whatever I could reach, but I didn’t want to hurt her any more than I had wanted to hurt Mateo. But I also couldn’t peel her fingers off my throat with only one hand, so I had no choice but to drop Babs.

  “Hey!” the sword cried out as she clattered onto the floor. “Quit dropping me!”

  “Sorry!” I rasped.

  Zoe smi
led and surged forward, driving me back against the kitchen table. Zoe didn’t think she had strength magic like other Valkyries did, but she was far stronger than I was, and if I didn’t do something fast, she was going to choke me to death.

  I tried to throw her off, but Zoe shoved me back, making me bump up against the table again. Something tink-tink-tinked on the wooden surface, and I realized that it was the blue crystals on Thrud’s Necklace rattling together. Well, that was as good an artifact as any to use on Zoe. Besides, it was the only one I had a chance of reaching.

  I stretched my hand out toward the necklace, but Zoe didn’t let me grab it. Instead, she snarled again and redoubled her efforts to strangle me. I could barely see through all the blue sparks of magic streaming out of her fingertips. Or maybe those were blue stars winking on and off in my eyes. Either way, I was in serious trouble.

  “Mateo…” I rasped. “A little…help…please…”

  The Reaper swung her sword at Mateo again, but her foot slipped on a broken picture frame, and he used his Roman speed to step up and bury his blade in her heart. The Reaper screamed and dropped to the floor, with his sword still stuck in her chest.

  “Zoe!” Mateo yelled. “Zoe, stop!”

  He darted forward, threw himself at Zoe, and tackled her from the side. He managed to break her grip on my throat and shove her away from me. Coughing and gasping for breath, I turned back toward the table.

  But Zoe still wanted to kill someone, so she rammed her elbow back into Mateo’s stomach. He let out a loud oof! of air and staggered away, and Zoe whirled around and focused her murderous red gaze on him.

  “Rory!” Mateo yelled, backing up until he hit the cabinets on the other side of the kitchen. “Rory! Do something!”

  I would have told him that I was working on it if my bruised throat hadn’t hurt so much. But I lurched over and grabbed Thrud’s Necklace off the table.

  Zoe darted forward and stretched out her hands as if she wanted to lock them around Mateo’s throat the same way she had done to mine, but he used his Roman speed to sidestep her.

  Zoe hissed in anger and whirled toward him again. She was ignoring me, so I ran around to the other side of the table, coming up behind her.

  Then, before the Valkyrie realized what was happening, I stepped up and dropped Thrud’s Necklace down over her head.

  Chapter Twenty

  Zoe lunged toward Mateo and reared back her fist, like she was going to punch him. But right before she reached him, she jerked to a stop and froze in mid-punch, much like Mateo had when I had slapped Aphrodite’s Cuff onto his wrist.

  Every muscle in Zoe’s body tensed up, and she stood there like a statue in the middle of the kitchen, even as a shower of blue sparks exploded out of her fingertips, more sparks than I had ever seen her give off before. Then the Valkyrie let out a loud, strangled cry and pitched forward.

  Mateo used his speed to rush over and catch her, but he fell backward onto the floor, and she landed right on top of him.

  I hurried over to them. “Zoe? Zoe! Are you okay?”

  Zoe let out a low groan and lifted her head off Mateo’s chest. She blinked a few times, as if she was having trouble focusing, but her hazel eyes were clear, and the red and black streaks were slowly fading from her face.

  “Ow.” She winced. “What happened? And why does my head feel like a drum that someone’s been beating for hours?”

  “Ah, there’s the snarky Valkyrie I know and love,” Mateo rumbled.

  Zoe’s eyes widened. “Mateo! You’re back!”

  “And so are you,” he said in a low, husky voice.

  Mateo smiled, reached up, and pushed a lock of Zoe’s black hair away from her face. She smiled back at him, and her fingers crept up to stroke his cheek. Looked like they were finally doing something about the feelings that had been simmering between them for weeks now. Then again, life-and-death situations often had that effect on people, especially at Mythos Academy.

  “Hey,” he whispered.

  “Hey yourself,” she whispered back.

  The two of them kept smiling at each other, their faces slowly inching closer…and closer…

  “Now that the danger has passed, will someone please fish me out of the bloody mess on the floor,” Babs snapped. “I am not a common household tool, and I definitely do not belong down here with all these knives and forks and spoons. The indignity!”

  The sword’s voice broke the spell between them, and Mateo and Zoe jerked apart. Zoe realized that she was still lying on top of the Roman, and she elbowed him in the side, accidentally this time, as she scrambled off him. Mateo let out another loud oof! at the hard blow.

  “Sorry!” Zoe said, surging up to her feet and backing away from him. “I’m so sorry!”

  Mateo winced and clutched his side as he slowly got to his own feet. “It’s okay. I don’t think you cracked any of my ribs. Just bruised them real good.”

  She grimaced, then turned to me. “Rory! I’m so sorry for trying to…” Her voice trailed off.

  “Choke me to death?” I rubbed my bruised neck. “Don’t worry about it. My healing magic will take care of it.”

  The cool, soothing power had already rushed to that part of my body. The pain was fading, and my breathing was growing easier with each passing second.

  “Hello!” Babs called out again. “Still waiting down here in the muck with the common kitchen utensils!”

  I walked over and plucked the sword out of the debris. Babs gave me a chiding look, then sniffed, still not happy that I had purposely dropped her, so I righted one of the kitchen chairs and propped her up in it.

  Zoe looked at the dead Reaper, then at the pots, pans, utensils, overturned furniture, and other debris. She grimaced again. “And I’m sorry about the mess.”

  “The mess doesn’t matter—you do,” I said. “And I’m so glad that you’re okay.”

  Zoe smiled, then lurched forward and wrapped me in a tight hug. Blue sparks of magic streamed out of her fingertips and crackled in the air. Zoe’s arms tightened around me, putting intense pressure on my ribs.

  “Can’t…breathe…” I wheezed.

  “Whoops! Sorry about that!” She let me go and stepped back, a worried look on her face. “Did I hurt you?”

  I shook my head, even as I sucked more air into my lungs. “Not…really. Although I think you’ve finally found your Valkyrie strength.”

  Zoe looked down at her hand and curled her fingers into a tight fist. More blue sparks of magic streamed out of her fingertips. Their color was richer, deeper, and stronger, and the sparks flashed much more brightly than before.

  Her eyes widened in surprise, and a pleased smile spread across her face. “I think you’re right.”

  “And all it took was being poisoned by Reapers and almost killing two of your friends.” Mateo clapped her on the back. “Good job.”

  Zoe rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. “Don’t make me elbow you again. I can really make it hurt now.”

  He held up his hands and backed away from her, but he was grinning, and so was she.

  Zoe grinned at him for another moment, then took hold of the necklace that I had thrown over her head. She fingered one of the blue teardrop-shaped crystals on the long silver chain.

  “What’s this?” she asked. “And why did it suddenly make me feel like I had ice in my veins instead of blood?”

  “Thrud’s Necklace,” I replied. “Whoever wears it is protected from lightning and other magic. I wasn’t sure if it would work, but it got rid of the red narcissus venom in your system.”

  She frowned. “But where did it come from?”

  “It was on a shelf in the Bunker.”

  “But how did it end up all the way over here in your room…” Zoe’s eyes narrowed with understanding. “You swapped it out for a fake, just like you did with the Narcissus Heart.”

  I nodded.

  She stared at the necklace again and took a closer look at the teardrop-shaped stones. “So this i
s where all my blue crystals went two weeks ago! And the red ones before that. You put those in the black Chloris box, didn’t you?”

  I winced. “Guilty as charged. Are you mad?”

  Zoe let the silver necklace slip through her fingers and drop back down against her chest. Then she planted her hands on her hips and gave me a stern look. “Would you be mad if your best friend was stealing stuff from you and not telling you what she was doing with it?”

  I sighed. “Absolutely.”

  She nodded. “And I am absolutely mad at you for that, Spartan.” Her face softened. “And I am also absolutely grateful that you did what you did. Otherwise, I’d still be a Reaper zombie.”

  Zoe shuddered, and her gaze grew dim and distant, as if she was remembering how awful it had been to be under Covington’s control. She shuddered again, then glanced at the other items on the kitchen table.

  “More artifacts?” she asked.

  I nodded and went down the row of them.

  The brown leather sandals. “Hermes’s Sandals. Give their wearer incredible speed.”

  The gold ring. “Benzaiten’s Ring. Protects and brings good fortune to whoever wears it.”

  The gray apron. “Hephaestus’s Apron. Gives its wearer incredible strength, as well as shielding him or her from magic, fire, and more.”

  And finally, the small book with the dark purple cover. “Veritas’s Diary. Shows whoever is holding it the truth of any situation.”

  Zoe and Mateo studied the items.

  “So you stole all these artifacts because you thought they would protect us from the red narcissus venom?” Zoe asked.

  “That was my hope.” I shrugged. “Plus, they were the easiest artifacts to copy.”

  Mateo gestured at the sandals. “But Hermes’s Sandals don’t protect their wearer from magic. So why did you take them?”

  I shrugged again. “I had an old pair of sandals that looked like them, so I swapped my sandals for the real ones. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them, but I figured it was better for me to have the sandals than Covington.”

  He nodded. “Well, you were right about that.”