Heart (37 page)

I stared at her with horror as my mind tried
to accept that she was dead… that she was gone.

But then the strangest thing happened.

As her body lay on the ground, bent at
awkward angles and no longer breathing, a warm, tropical breeze
rushed through the room. There were no windows here, no drafts that
I had felt since I’d walked in, but as soon as Exie’s life drained
from her body, a lovely, comforting gush of wind wrapped around my
skin before rattling the bars on the cell door and soaring down the
hallway.

My friend was finally free.

“You did that!” Nix’s voice had gone hoarse
with anger.

I tilted my chin and accepted the truth.
“Yes, I did.” Only I didn’t feel bad about it anymore.

I felt relieved and grateful to have known
her. I felt a little jealous and more than sorrow. But most of all
I felt peace.

Peace for her and peace for me.

“You’ve run out of time, Ivy,” Nix continued.
“You will sing for me or I will make you suffer in ways you didn’t
know were possible. I will make you hurt until you beg me to let
you sing, until you never stop singing!”

I absorbed his words and I knew without a
doubt that he was serious. I had almost sung just seconds ago. If
Exie hadn’t…

I didn’t think. I just ran.

In his fit of rage, he’d left the door open,
so I used it to my advantage.

Without looking back or at Sloane or thinking
where I was going, I just took off.

His screams of fury followed me down the hall
as I moved faster than I ever had in my life. My feet slapped the
tile as I rushed by all of the cells that still held women in them.
I took stairs up and down, trying to make my way out of the maze of
his house.

I could feel him right behind me. I only just
barely managed to keep the lead. His fingertips brushed my back a
few times, but I started to realize he was just slower in the full
height of his godhood.

His body was too big to move agilely and so I
had the smallest advantage.

My lungs burned and my breath wheezed by the
time I reached the main level of the house that would take me
outside.

I nearly crashed into a wall when the large
picture windows revealed the tropical panoramic view and the
bloodshed happening on the beach.

I thought we were still alone, but the truth
was the war from Olympus had been brought to this door. Hermes
flashed into view and then out again as he delivered more of Zeus’
army. Gigantes covered the beach and Nix’s property. I wasn’t sure
how they’d gotten here or if they were already here, but they
wielded guns and swords alike. The two Furies dropped from the sky
with swords ablaze and bloodlust in their eyes.

It was mayhem outside and I finally realized
exactly what I would have done if I would have sang.

All of these people would have been enslaved
to me. I would have kick-started Nix’s plans to take over the
world.

I pushed a sliding glass door open and ended
up on a balcony. I caught a glimpse of Ryder on the beach. The
god-killer swung in his skilled hands with deadly precision, but
the man he fought had been born and bred for war.

Ares held a fiery sword in one hand and a
shield almost as big as him in the other. He handled both with the
precision that only a god, who had spent his immortal life at war,
could.

My stomach flipped and nausea surged through
me. Ryder couldn’t win against someone so skilled and
malicious.

There was no way.

Nix came crashing through the sliding door
and I took off again, determined to get to Ryder before it was too
late for both of us.

I leapt to the balcony railing and then threw
myself to the sandy beach below. I barely made it over another
railing that separated the sand from the patio and pool area. My
body hit with a harsh thud and I felt my muscles and bones scream
in protest.

When I jumped to my feet, I knew I sprained
my ankle, but my adrenaline was pumping hard enough that I managed
to fight through the pain and keep running- although I was
significantly slower.

I ducked between gigantes and demi-gods. I
avoided the furies and I barely made it past something that could
only be described as a sea serpent.

Ares lunged forward just as Ryder took off
running at him. My feet stumbled as I watched Ryder’s quick legs
dodge to the right, out of reach of his enemy’s stabbing sword. As
soon as Ryder had taken one step beyond Ares, Ryder lifted his arms
and swung the sword in a deadly arc that should have cut off Ares’
head.

Instead, Ares spun around and slammed Ryder
with his shield. Ryder’s body flew up into the air and landed in a
folded heap on the sand ten feet away. The sword flew out of his
hands and sailed out of reach.

The blade buried into the sand and the silver
hilt glinted in the warm sun.

Ryder shook his head and tried to wake up
from the stupor of the hard hit, but when he finally pulled himself
to his feet, he wobbled unsteadily.

Ares grinned at him. Taking slow steps
forward I watched the god of war start to enjoy this kill. He would
take Ryder’s life and he would relish every second of it.

Ares flashed a look of lust at me and his
smile stretched across his face. “I’m going to kill you now,” he
told Ryder. “Then I’m going to take your girlfriend home with me
and show her what’s it’s like to be with a real man. With a god.
After that, I’ll let her sing for a while and see how world
domination suits me. I’m sure it will fit just fine. Just like
death will look so nice on you.”

I pushed forward, diving for the sword that
lay equidistant between Ryder and me.

In hindsight I could have kept the sword. I
could have turned around and used it on Nix. If I killed Nix, this
entire coup would have fizzled out quickly.

But I didn’t think about Nix or Ares or
anything other than saving Ryder’s life.

I grabbed the sword and threw it toward
Ryder, aiming it blade down in the ground.

For the few seconds I felt it in my hands,
the power inside of it pulsed through my palm, straight to my
blood. I felt the enormity of the weapon, the sure confidence it
held. I sensed that it could kill a god… that it could kill a god
for breakfast, lunch and dinner without ever blinking an eye.

So, yeah… I should have kept it.

But I didn’t.

I gave it over to save the man that I loved.
It landed five feet from Ryder and only half like I intended it to.
But, I had been worried I would be the one to accidentally behead
Ryder… so I was satisfied.

Ares let out a war cry of intention, leaping
on Ryder to finish the job. Ryder rolled out of the way at the last
second and grabbed the sword with two hands.

In a move I had no idea he was capable of,
Ryder jumped to two feet before Ares had even registered that he
didn’t hit his mark.

Just as Ares turned around to attack again,
Ryder dropped his arms and carved off the head of the god of
war.

I heard the slick slice of metal against
flesh over every other sound. Lightning flashed in the air, wild
and worked up.

The entire beach stopped fighting to watch
one of the last of the great gods disappear into the
netherworld.

My sincerest hope was that he joined his
friend Crete in the Underworld.

Persephone could have them both.

Ryder dropped to his knees and let out a
breath. His face was wet and red; his hair had been soaked with
blood and sweat and his body was equally drenched. I could see that
he had been fighting a constant battle. He was exhausted. He was
weary.

But this was far from over.

I stumbled toward him, intent on giving him
some words of encouragement.

His eyes lifted to meet mine and something
passed between us that was as profound as it was moving. His gray
eyes found mine and promised a thousand things in that silent
moment.

I saw that he loved me.

I saw that he was monumentally relieved to
see me alive.

I saw that he would do anything to protect
me.

I saw that he would stay with me until the
very end.

When his eyes grew big and his entire body
twitched with new tension, I knew that no matter what tied my soul
to Ryder’s, there was something I had to do first.

Nix’s hands clamped around my body in the
next second. I didn’t fight him this time. There was no more reason
to struggle.

Either this ended now or he would have to
kill me.

I couldn’t put up with this for another
second.

I was officially and eternally over it.

Ryder jumped to his feet, but a sharp point
at my throat kept him from moving closer to me.

“I’ll kill her if you take a step,” Nix
promised.

Ryder gripped the god-killer with two hands
and pointed it at Nix. “If you so much as pull her hair, you won’t
live through the next minute.”

Nix’s chest pressed against my spine and
rumbled with laughter. “Because you’ll kill me?” Nix laughed
harder. “Try again when you can grow a beard. For now, don’t waste
my time.”

“Keep making jokes,” Ryder drawled. “The
god of war
is dead. It’s okay to feel fear now.”

My heart hammered in my chest and threatened
to lodge itself in my throat. I couldn’t let them fight. I wouldn’t
give another god a chance to take Ryder from me.

I closed my eyes and imagined Tortola.

Something happened. My feet were standing on
sand again… but it was different.

When I opened my eyes we were still in Greece
though. Ryder’s eyes had gone large and I could tell that we
started to disappear… or maybe only my feet had.

Nix’s grip tightened on me and the blade dug
into my throat. I felt the rough nick against my skin and the fast
drop of blood as it landed on my chest. I hissed through my teeth
and started to try to transport us again.

“I cannot wait to kill you, Orpheus.” Nix’s
dark chuckle vibrated through my bones. I felt his hatred for Ryder
singe the air around us. “You started all of this. And you will
finish it with your blood.”

Ryder ignored Nix and I wanted to kiss him
just for making Nix feel insignificant even in this climactic
moment.

Ryder held my gaze steadily and mouthed,
“Stay with me.”

He had seen me start to disappear. It was
possible. It would happen.

With as much confidence as I could gather, I
told him, “I have to do this first. Then I’m yours. Forever.”

The faintest smile made his lips twitch. I
felt power surge through my body. It was time. I could finally make
this happen.

“You’ll need this.” Just as I finally figured
out what my body needed to do, Ryder tossed the sword at me.

The blade flipped over and over, threating to
decapitate me in the process. But just as it started to fall, the
handle flicked the right direction and it landed in the sand, blade
down, at my feet.

Nix cursed in my ear just as I grabbed the
sword and concentrated all of my power on Tortola.

Nix cursed again, but it was too late.

We’d made it to my island.

Chapter Thirty

Nix was surprised enough to let me go. I
lunged forward and spun around, sword in hand.

He stared at me, his black eyes glittering in
the early morning sunlight, trident in hand. We’d traveled halfway
across the world, crossed time-zones and continents and oceans in a
moment. My head spun with the adjustment, but thankfully my legs
stood strong.

After a long minute of weighted silence, he
finally spoke, “I applaud you, Ivy. I didn’t think you had it in
you.”

“What? Transporting? Easy.” It was not
actually easy and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get back. I might
have to book a flight to Olympus.

I’d landed on the beach in front of my little
bungalow. My house looked like it hadn’t been touched since I left
it and there was nobody on the beach now.

It was just Nix and me. We were completely
alone.

Which was probably a good thing since I
planned on taking off his head.

“Standing up to me,” he countered. “I didn’t
think you could actually do it.”

“I’ve stood up to you my entire life.”

His lips twisted with a cruel sneer. “Have
you?” His blasé tone cut deeper than it should.

My arms started to ache from holding the
sword. It was heavier than it looked and I had no idea how to use
it. I tried to hide my anxiety behind a mask of anger, but he
looked at me as if he could see right through me.

“I’m going to kill you.”

His gaze dropped to the sword for a second
before coming back to my face. “Are you really?”

“You’re on my island. I’m in control
now.”

His low chuckle mingled with the doubt
already festering in my head. “You don’t know how to be in
control,” he taunted. “You’ve never known. You’ve always needed me
to guide you, to take care of you. You could take me to any island
in the world and that wouldn’t change. You’re nothing without me,
Ivy. You’ll never be anything without me. Just give up and let’s go
home.”

“I am home.”

Impatience flickered over his perfectly
structured face. “Your home is with
me
. I’m tired of this
game, child. Give me the weapon and let’s go.”

“You don’t understand, Nix. This is over. I
will not tolerate this for a second longer.”

His mouth split open in a surprised smile.
“Really? And what are you going to do about it?”

“I already told you. I’m going to kill
you.”

Enough talking.

I lunged forward, swinging the sword wildly.
My first attempt was crazed and off balance. He swung out his arm
and hit my forearm, sending me flailing through the air.

“I hope for your sake, that wasn’t the best
you got,” he laughed.

I shifted and swung again. He ducked out of
the way and pushed my back. I stumbled and fell to my knees in the
sand.