“What about Krónos?” Skyla asked. “If you release your powers, won’t that free him?”
In theory, yeah. But Nick knew deep inside that wasn’t going to happen. Not this time. Because this was his choice. It wasn’t being forced upon him. He wasn’t breaking, he was accepting. “I can control it.”
Skyla stared at him several seconds, her green eyes searching his features as if looking for truth. Abruptly, she swiveled away. “Orpheus!”
Orpheus kicked the last of a group of daemons he’d been fighting. The beast growled and lunged forward. Ducking under the monster’s arm, Orpheus whirled around and stabbed the daemon through the back. The beast dropped to the ground. Orpheus glared down at the limp body. “I told you to stay down, motherfucker.”
“Orpheus!” Skyla fought her way to her mate. Nick and Cynna followed. Orpheus looked up at the sound of Skyla’s voice, his expression instantly morphing to concern.
He met her halfway, in a section of ground littered with bodies. The battle raged behind them, but they’d beaten back most of the monsters in this small area, and for the moment they could breathe.
Orpheus grabbed Skyla by the forearm as soon as he reached her. “What’s wrong? What happened? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Her fingers slid along his arm. “I’m taking Nick to Olympus.”
“What?” Orpheus’s eyes widened, mimicking Cynna’s reaction. “No.”
“He’s right,” Skyla told her mate. “It’s the only way. Nick has the power to stop this. He just has to be able to release it.”
Orpheus’s gaze shot past Skyla and locked on Nick. “I’ll take him.”
“No,” Skyla said.
“I know the way as well as you, Siren. Zeus and Athena are still pissed you left the Siren order. You’re not safe on Olympus.”
“Fuck Zeus,” Skyla snapped. “There’s no guarantee he’ll even help Nick, and if he doesn’t, we still need more fighters. Athena hates Zagreus more than she hates me right now. His satyrs have been screwing with the Sirens for years. I can rally my sisters, you can’t. Athena will agree to it. She won’t be able to pass up the opportunity to destroy Zagreus’s army, but only if I convince her.”
Indecision crossed Orpheus’s face. Seconds ticked by in agonizing silence. Then his eyes darkened, and he grasped Skyla hard, pulling her against his chest. “You better fucking come back. Do you hear me? I’m not losing you to the gods again.”
“I’ll be back.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “I promise. I promise,” she said stronger.
“This is a stupid plan,” Cynna said at Nick’s side. “Zeus will try to take your powers for himself.”
“Well, he can’t have them.” He turned to her. “You were right. I can control it. I can control it, because you showed me how.”
Her eyes softened. “I won’t let him break you.”
“No, you won’t.” He sheathed his sword at his back. “Because you’re not going.”
“What? Why not? You’ll need me there more than ev—”
“You were right about something else, Cynna.” Nick reached for her arms. “I am a leader, whether I want to be one or not. It’s who I am. I should have been with my people tonight instead of here, but I couldn’t go because I brought this nightmare to them. And because of that, I have to be the one to stop it. But I can’t be in two places at once. They still need someone strong to lead them. Someone who understands strategy and how the gods think. And I need it to be someone who’s not going to quit on them. No matter what. I need it to be you.”
“I…” Her gaze darted around, then shot back to his face. “I’m not a half-breed.”
“Race doesn’t matter. You know that. The measure of a person’s strength isn’t what they were born into but what they become. And you, Cynna. You’re the strongest person I know. You understand what it means to be a refugee. To be alone. That’s the definition of my people. That’s us.”
She stared up at him in the moonlight. And slowly, tears filled her eyes. Tears he felt in his own eyes. “You’re not coming back, are you?”
“I don’t know.” His heart squeezed so hard, pain echoed everywhere. “I don’t know what Zeus will do. But I have to try. I can’t stand back and watch everyone die because of me.”
She rose to her toes and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, burying her face in his neck. And as he held her close, he knew in the pit of his soul that no matter how horrendous his time in Zagreus’s prison had been, he was thankful for all those months. Because if he hadn’t been there, if he hadn’t suffered, he wouldn’t have realized what he could become. And he never would have found her.
“I love you,” she whispered against him. “I’ll love you across the ages. No matter where you go or what you do, I’ll love you always.”
His heart swelled. He tipped her chin up, captured her lips, and kissed her with everything he had in him. “Only you, Cynna. I have only ever loved you. I will only love you.”