Heart (35 page)

“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 mouth, 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.

Inside, we walked through more opulent
luxury. Everything was as flashy and extravagant as Nix. There were
subtle details here and there that reminded me of his origins.
Tridents carved into a white mantle over a huge iron fireplace or
sea shells on the decorative pillows.

It was like Nix had invited a decorator in
and said, “I’m the god of the sea, embellish accordingly.”

He led me through the maze of his house.
Nothing was on the same level. Each room seemed to make up its own
floor so that we were constantly going up or down stairs.

The deeper into the house we walked, the more
threatening the décor became. Instead of gauzy curtains and rare
paintings, tridents hung on the walls. The rooms were no longer
meant for guests, their doors replaced with iron bars.

The house lost its lavish appeal and became a
dungeon for Nix’s victims.

My stomach curdled with the realization that
my friends had been locked here for a year. In a place where the
chill in the air snaked around your skin and sunlight could not
reach.

There were signs that visitors had been here
recently. Half-full wine glasses were left forgotten on countertops
and a man’s jacked lay tossed in the corner.

And while the visitors had left, the girls
Nix kept locked up tight, remained.

We stepped over frail, listless arms that
reached out through the bottom of their cell doors. They retreated
quickly when they caught sight of Nix’s sandaled feet marching
along the white and blue tile. I watched them scurry to the corners
of their rooms, hiding from the devil himself.

Some rooms were occupied by four and five
girls and some only had one. They were of all ages. Some too young
for me to want to think about and some older than my mother. They
were all shapes and sizes too, as if Nix wanted a variety of women
to meet any man’s taste.

Their eyes were all the same though. Empty.
Void. Lifeless.

I wanted to scream at Nix. I wanted to throw
myself at him and claw his eyes out. I wanted to shove his face in
those rooms and beat him until he understood what he did.

He had power over these broken women that
should not belong to him. They were not slaves. They were not
his
. They were free simply because they were human.

Their souls had worth. Their bodies had
value. Their spirits should have freedom.

And yet he had taken their dignity and their
freewill and demolished them.

He was a
destroyer of lives
and
nothing could save him from the fate I planned for him.

Nothing about him was redeemable or
worthy.

We finally reached the last room. I wrinkled
my nose against the rank smell. Tears immediately fell to my
cheeks, not because of my own misery, but because I finally saw the
reality of how my friends had lived.

I hated them in that moment. I hated them for
giving up and not coming with me. I hated them for trusting Nix to
be a better alternative than death, even though they had seen what
happened to their sisters.

I hated them for abandoning me when I needed
them most.

And I hated me for letting them get away
without them, for leaving them when they needed
me
most.

At the same time I had never loved them more.
I ached for them. My heart shattered for them.

I could only guess at the horrors they’d
faced in the last year.

Nix pulled a key from a chain around his neck
and opened the door. My friends lifted their heads from the mussed
bed they sprawled out on. I watched them flinch with fear first.
They saw Nix and they cowered. But gradually their attention
shifted to me and I held my breath as I waited for their
reaction.

I thought they would be angry with me. I
thought they might hate me for leaving them… for escaping this. I
thought they would at least be bitter I had escaped this fate, even
if it had been for a short time.

I did not expect them to grieve the sight of
me.

Their faces crumpled at the same time, silent
tears streaking down their dirty faces.

“No,” Sloane whispered. “No, please, no,
please,
no
.”

Exie couldn’t speak. Her sobbing was strong
enough to choke her. She thrust her hands out in front of her and
waved them wildly.

“I brought you a present,” Nix grinned at
them. “What a happy reunion this is.” He pushed me inside with
them.

“Ivy, no,” Sloane whimpered. “You’re not
supposed to be here. You weren’t supposed to get caught.”

I wanted to tell them everything. I wanted to
share my plan and give them hope, but I couldn’t just yet.

“Now, now, Pet,” Nix chided Sloane. He lifted
her chin with his finger even while she recoiled from his touch. “I
don’t want to hear that you’re ungrateful. Haven’t I given you
everything you’ve needed? Haven’t I taken care of you in the best
ways?”

Sloane trembled violently as she tried to
turn away from him. He gripped her chin tighter and forced her to
look into his eyes. Once he had her attention, he waited quietly
for her to answer.

“Y-y-yes,” she mumbled.

“There, I can see how happy you are here.” He
released her roughly and she fell back on her weak arms.

When Nix turned to face me I saw insanity
dance in his eyes. He appeared wild in that moment, completely
unhinged.

I swallowed, knowing that I had to be
careful.

Now that I was here, I was less clear on how
to execute my plan. I needed to transport us to my island, but I
had no idea how to do that.

Most of all I needed time with my friends to
encourage them and figure this out.

Some of the clouded haze cleared from his
expression and he spoke softly to me. “I’m going to get cleaned up.
When I get back, be ready to work.”

He moved toward me and I tried to step out of
his way but he caught me by the shoulders and held me still.

He leaned toward me, running his nose along
my temple. “I have waited so long for this,” he whispered. “You’re
finally mine.”

I kept my mouth shut and stared at the wall
over his head. I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. But I couldn’t
let him win. I had to hold myself together for just bit longer.

His dark chuckle followed him out of the room
and when the bars were finally closed and locked I remembered to
breathe.

“What are you doing here?” Sloane whined.
She’d pressed herself against the headboard of the bed and pulled
her knees to her chest. “He’s going to kill you.”

“No,” I told her immediately. “He wants me
alive.”

“Then he’s going to do something worse than
death,” Exie whispered.

I looked down at her. She hadn’t moved from
her prone position. Her fingers dragged along the tiled floor,
mixing dirt in the pools of her tears.

Something about her posture worried me more
than anything else. Her shoulders were curled into her body, her
spine heavy on the mattress. She didn’t lift her head to look at me
or take her gaze from the floor.