“I also managed to get my hands on this.” I pulled the gold scepter out of the back pocket of my jeans. “Typhon’s Scepter. I lost it when I fell off the library roof, but the Reapers must not have realized I had dropped it, because it was lying in the grass outside the library when I snuck back onto campus.”
I laid the scepter on the table with the other artifacts. Zoe and Mateo both shivered and stepped away from it.
“So what do we do now?” Zoe asked. “You might have saved us, but Covington and Drake still have Ian, Takeda, Professor Dalaja, and your aunt Rachel.”
I rubbed my head. “I don’t know how we’re going to save them. All I know is that we have to try.”
Zoe and Mateo knew exactly how much trouble and danger we were in and how very bad the consequences would be if we failed. But determination filled their faces, and they both nodded, telling me that we were all in this together. I had opened my mouth to thank them for their support when something completely unexpected happened.
My phone started ringing.
I had been so busy running around campus and trying to save my friends that I had forgotten all about my phone, along with the texts I had sent to Gwen, Logan, and Linus, telling them what was happening.
“This must be Gwen,” I told Zoe and Mateo as I yanked my phone out of my pocket. “She’s finally calling me back—”
I looked at the screen, and my words died on my lips. Because the caller ID told me that Gwen wasn’t the one who was calling.
It was Ian.
My heart squeezed tight with dread. Ian was still a Reaper zombie, so he wasn’t the one calling me. Not really.
It was Covington.
Zoe and Mateo crowded around me, staring at the screen. Their faces tightened. They also realized that it couldn’t be Ian.
I thought about not answering, but he would probably just keep calling. Or worse, punish Ian and the others for my ignoring him. So I swiped the screen and put him on speakerphone so that Zoe, Mateo, and Babs could hear our conversation.
“What do you want?” I growled.
“Hello, Rory,” Covington’s voice slithered out of my phone. “I was starting to think you weren’t going to answer. That would have been very unfortunate for Mr. Hunter.”
Anger roared through me, and my fingers clenched around the phone, but I forced myself to keep my voice steady and level. “What do you want?”
“The same two things I’ve always wanted,” he replied. “You and the Narcissus Heart. I have to applaud you, Rory. You’ve hidden it far better than I imagined. I’ve had your aunt Rachel, Takeda, and Professor Dalaja tearing apart the Bunker for more than an hour now. Ian’s been helping them too, but they haven’t found it yet. I’m getting rather frustrated with them.”
Zoe, Mateo, and Babs all grimaced. Me too. We could all hear the threat loud and clear in his voice.
“I didn’t tell anyone where I hid the Heart, so there’s no use questioning or hurting my friends. They can’t tell you where it is, because they don’t know.”
“Oh, I’ve already realized that,” Covington replied. “But at this point, I have to do something to amuse myself.”
In the background, I heard the sharp, solid thwack of a fist hitting flesh, along with a low groan of pain, although I couldn’t tell if it belonged to Ian, Aunt Rachel, Takeda, or Professor Dalaja.
“In case you were wondering, Drake just punched Takeda in the face. Broke his nose. It’s too bad Takeda can only heal other people with his magic and not himself. That broken nose looks really painful,” Covington purred, clearly enjoying himself.
“What do you want?” I asked again.
“Two of my Reapers haven’t been in touch with the others in several minutes now, so I assumed that you’ve killed them. I don’t know how you managed it, but congratulations on sneaking past my guards and getting back onto campus. I also assume that you’ve tried to save Ms. Wayland and Mr. Solis from the venom. Tell me, Rory, were you able to free your precious friends? Or did you have to knock them out and tie them up to keep them from killing you?”
I didn’t respond. I didn’t want to say the wrong thing and give him any clue to where I was or the fact that I had used artifacts to cure Zoe and Mateo.
“Since you’re back on campus and Ian, Takeda, Dalaja, and Rachel aren’t going to find the Narcissus Heart, I’ve decided to quit playing games and get everything I want all at once.”
He paused, but I still didn’t respond.
“Listen closely, Rory. You are going to retrieve the Narcissus Heart from wherever you’ve hidden it and bring it to me in the Library of Antiquities.”
“Or?” I asked, even though I already knew what his answer would be.
“Or I will kill your friends, starting with your precious Viking boyfriend,” Covington purred again.
My heart lurched, panic filled me, and bile rose in my throat, but I forced it down. Covington never made idle threats. I didn’t bother asking if he would let my friends go if I brought him the Heart. We both knew that he wouldn’t and that whatever promises he made would just be lies pouring out of his mouth.
“If you hurt Ian or anyone else, I will kill you,” I snarled.
He laughed at my threat, his hearty chuckles echoing out of the phone like some horrible ringtone. I wanted to slam the device down onto the table just to cut off his mocking laughter, but of course, I couldn’t do that.
Finally, his chuckles trailed off, and he spoke again. “Oh, once I have the Heart, you’ll be worried about far worse things than what I do to your friends. As for whether or not I hurt them, well, that’s entirely up to you, isn’t it?”
Emotion clogged my throat, keeping me from responding, but that was probably for the best. I didn’t think I could open my mouth right now without screaming out all of my rage, frustration, worry, and fear. I thought I had been so clever hiding the Heart, but Covington was going to get it anyway.
“You have one hour,” he said. “Bring the Narcissus Heart to the Library of Antiquities. Come alone, and don’t even think of using Typhon’s Scepter to summon more chimeras. I have basilisks in the library now, along with a dragon. And don’t try anything stupid, or Ian dies, along with everyone else.”
I opened my mouth to tell him he’d better not even think about hurting Ian or anyone else, but I was too late.
Covington hung up on me.
Chapter Twenty-One
Covington might have ended the call, but his threats continued to echo in my ears.
I slid my phone into my jeans pocket. Zoe and Mateo gave me worried looks, as did Babs from her chair.
“So what do we do now?” Zoe asked. “You can’t give Covington the Narcissus Heart. He’ll just use it to turn you into a Reaper zombie like everyone else.”
“But she can’t not give it to him either,” Mateo pointed out. “Or he’ll kill our friends.”
“And he won’t stop with Ian, Rachel, Takeda, and Dalaja,” Babs added. “Covington will probably start hurting students too, until Rory gives in and brings him the Heart.”
I rubbed my head and started pacing back and forth, plowing through the silverware and the other debris on the floor. “I don’t know what to do. You’re all right. I don’t want to give Covington the Narcissus Heart, but what choice do I have? I can’t let him hurt our friends or anyone else. At least, not more than he already has by infecting them with the red narcissus venom.”
Anger surged through me, and I lashed out and kicked a pot on the floor. It flew through the air and smacked against one of the kitchen table’s legs, rattling the entire thing, including the artifacts that were still lying on the wood.
I glared at the artifacts, wanting to swipe them off the table to join the mess on the floor and then kick them for good measure. But it wasn’t the artifacts’ fault that we were in this situation. It was mine. Because I had hidden the Narcissus Heart, and now I had to trade it for my friends’ lives, even though by doing so, I would doom us all.
> “What about Gwen?” Zoe asked. “You said you called and told her what’s going on?”
“I tried,” I muttered. “She’s not answering her phone. Neither is Logan or Linus Quinn. I left them all voice mails and sent texts, but so far, they haven’t responded. Even if they did, they wouldn’t be able to get here and help us before Covington’s deadline.”
Mateo grabbed his tablet from the table and checked the time. “Fifty-eight minutes and counting down.”
I ran a hand through my hair. Fifty-eight minutes to get the Narcissus Heart, figure out some way to stop Covington from using the artifact, and save our friends.
No pressure.
Zoe, Mateo, and Babs stared at me, clearly expecting an answer or some brilliant plan or both. But I didn’t have any of those things. Not right now. I couldn’t bear to meet their trusting, hopeful gazes, so I focused on the artifacts on the table. Hermes’s Sandals, Benzaiten’s Ring, Hephaestus’s Apron, Veritas’s Diary, and Typhon’s Scepter.
You already have everything you need to save your friends and defeat Covington. Sigyn’s voice whispered in my mind, but it was quickly followed by Logan Quinn’s. It’s the things you don’t see coming that will kill you.
My eyes narrowed, and I looked at the artifacts again. The sandals, the ring, the apron, the diary, and the scepter. And I realized something important. Covington was so focused on the Narcissus Heart that he didn’t care about any other artifacts. At least, not right now.
But the Heart wasn’t the only artifact out there. Sure, it might be the strongest and most dangerous, but even the strongest and most dangerous warrior could fall in battle if the circumstances were right.
And I had enough artifacts to make my own circumstances.
I studied each item again. The sandals, the ring, the apron, the diary, and the scepter. No matter what kind of battle I was in, my Spartan instincts always kicked in and helped me figure out the quickest and easiest way to beat my opponent without getting killed myself. This was a battle too, just like all the other ones I had fought, so I let my Spartan instincts take over, and I went down the row of artifacts, picking up and examining each one.
Each artifact was powerful in its own way, although not nearly as strong as the Narcissus Heart. But battles weren’t just about individual warriors fighting each other. They were also about warriors fighting together, as a whole unit, as one, just like we did on Team Midgard. Back in the gryphons’ cavern, I had told Babs that I couldn’t defeat Covington by myself. Well, I couldn’t defeat him with any single one of the artifacts on the table either. But put together, these artifacts might be even more powerful than the Narcissus Heart—and they just might be the key to saving our friends and everyone else at Mythos Academy.
“Uh-oh,” Babs said. “I know that look. What are you scheming, Rory?”
I grinned. “Our victory.”
I looked at the sword, then at Zoe and Mateo. “Do you guys trust me?”
The Valkyrie and the Roman nodded, and Babs’s hilt quivered, as though she was trying to nod her head as well.
My grin widened. “Good. Because I have a plan.”
* * *
I quickly outlined my plan to my friends. They didn’t like certain parts of it—and neither did I, to be honest—but we agreed that it was our best and only shot to save the others and stop Covington. So we grabbed the artifacts from the table, along with some other supplies, then left the cottage.
Mateo called up the security-camera feeds on his tablet again so that we could see where the Reapers were patrolling. Steering clear of the Reapers, I led my friends away from the cottage and over to a nearby outbuilding that housed lawn mowers, pruning shears, and other landscaping and gardening equipment.
I moved to the back of the building, dropped to my knees, and pressed in on a stone in the floor. A soft click sounded, and part of the floor slid back, revealing a set of stone stairs that led downward.
Mateo peered into the blackness below. “Using the secret tunnels to avoid the Reapers and get across campus? That’s smart.”
“That’s not all the tunnels are good for,” I replied. “Let’s go.”
I went down the stairs first. Mateo followed me, and Zoe brought up the rear. A few seconds later, the floor above our heads slid back into place. For a moment, we were in total darkness, but then I stepped forward, and the lights in the stone ceiling clicked on like they always did in the campus tunnels.
“This way,” I whispered. “And have your weapons ready. I don’t think Covington has discovered the tunnels yet, but I want to be prepared in case we run into any Reapers.”
Zoe and Mateo both nodded. Zoe was clutching one of her electrodaggers, while Mateo had grabbed a crossbow and some bolts from Aunt Rachel’s supply of weapons in the cottage. I had Babs in my hand.
Together, the three of us hurried through the passageway. Eventually, this tunnel fed into the one that led to the student dorms, and then that tunnel opened up into the one that led to the math-science building.
We moved quickly and quietly until we reached the math-science tunnel. I motioned for Zoe and Mateo to stay behind me, then eased up and peered into the junction where the five main tunnels met. Everything was still and quiet, just as it had been the last time I was down here, so I motioned for my friends to step forward into the junction with me.
“Now where to?” Mateo whispered, checking his tablet again. “Back to the Bunker? According to the security-camera feeds, it’s deserted right now.”
“In a minute,” I whispered back. “First, we have to dig the Narcissus Heart out of the wall.”
Zoe frowned. “Dig the Heart out of the wall—” Her voice cut off, and her eyes narrowed with understanding. “You hid it in that little space we found a few weeks ago, didn’t you?”
“Yep. It seemed like the perfect spot.”
I went over to the light switch, bent down, and showed them where I had hidden the artifact. Mateo kept watch, both on his tablet and here in the tunnel, while Zoe helped me pull the bricks out of the wall and move them out of the way.
I handed her the last brick, then reached into the dark opening. My hands closed around something slick and hard, and I pulled a plastic box out into the light where we could all see it.
A single large heart-shaped ruby lay inside the plastic. Several silver tendrils wrapped around the ruby before tapering down to a sharp, thornlike point made of polished jet. The Narcissus Heart was a larger version of the red narcissus seeds, right down to the sinister vibes that radiated off the artifact. I didn’t know if the Heart was a seedlike ruby or a rubylike seed, but it didn’t really matter. All that did was that Covington wanted to exploit the artifact’s power to turn everyone into his Reaper zombies.
Mateo shivered. “Just looking at that thing gives me the creeps.”
“Me too,” Zoe said. “Just imagine how much worse Covington could hurt everyone infected with the venom if he used that thing.”
“And who knows what other magic it might have?” Babs chimed in from where I had propped her up against the wall.
“I know,” I said. “And I wish we knew how to destroy it. But all we can do right now is go through with our plan and hope for the best.”
Mateo and Zoe nodded, and Babs’s hilt quivered, showing her agreement as well.
I slid the plastic case into my messenger bag, slung the strap across my chest, and grabbed Babs. I left the loose stones where they were on the floor, since there was no point in putting them back into the wall. I nodded at my friends, and we raised our weapons and headed into the tunnel that would take us back to the Bunker.
We stopped every few feet to look and listen, but the tunnels remained as quiet as before, and we quickly made it to the door that led into the Bunker.
“Mateo,” I whispered. “You’re up.”
He swapped out the crossbow in his hand for his tablet and called up the security-camera feeds again. Then he swiped through one feed after another.
“The Bunker is still deserted,” Mateo said. “Covington and Drake have Ian and the others on the first floor of the library, along with several Reapers. It looks like they’re already in position and waiting for you to show up.”
“How much longer do we have until the deadline?” I asked.
Zoe checked her phone. “Thirty-three minutes.”
“Good,” I said. “Then let’s go inside the Bunker and see what else we can find to use against the Reapers.”
I reached out and jabbed my thumb onto the silver button beside the door. A green light scanned my print, and the door popped opened a moment later. I raised Babs again and stepped inside the Bunker, with Zoe and Mateo following me.
Even though Mateo had said the area was deserted, we still crept through the Bunker, just in case Covington had left some booby traps behind. But the Bunker was as clear as the tunnels had been, and we quickly made it to the briefing room.
It was a disaster area.
The damage to the cottage had been bad, but the Bunker was a hundred times worse. Almost all of the furniture, from my desk to my friends’ desks to the chairs, had either been flipped over or smashed to pieces. The monitors had been torn off the wall and broken as well, and glass, plastic, and other debris glittered among the splintered pieces of furniture. The only thing that had survived relatively unscathed was the briefing table, although one of Ian’s axes was now stuck in the middle of the wood.
Seeing all of that was bad enough, but I knew that the back of the room would be even worse, since that was where the artifacts were. Even though I didn’t want to, I forced myself to turn and look in that direction.
Most of the shelves had been tipped over and were lying on the ground like metal tortoises that couldn’t right themselves. Many of the cases had shattered when they hit the ground, and glass littered the floor like a sharp, sparkling carpet.
But the worst part was the artifacts themselves. Weapons, armor, jewelry, clothing, and more were strewn around like trash, along with their crumpled white identification cards. Bits of gold, silver, and bronze glittered among the mess, along with precious jewels, all of them staring up at me like accusing eyes, wondering how I could have let this happen to them.
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