My chest tightened with a mixture of guilt, sadness, and relief. I might be a great fighter, but the chimeras had been the most dangerous creatures I’d ever encountered, and I hadn’t been prepared for them. I had gotten lucky tonight. That could just as easily have been my blood on the floor. It was Amanda’s blood, and it could still be the blood of Ian, Zoe, Mateo, and Takeda, given their dangerous mission.
Linus sighed. His shoulders slumped, and his eyes dulled with grief and weary resignation. In an instant, he looked ten years older. “It never ends,” he murmured. “It just never ends.”
He stared at the man scrubbing the floor for another second, then shook his head, as if rousing himself out of his own dark thoughts. Linus turned and pointed at the bookcase behind us.
“There’s a small silver button on the side of the bookcase,” he said. “Press in on it, and the scanner will read your thumbprint, open the case, and unlock the elevator for you. I’ve already had Mateo program both of you into the security system.”
My eyebrows drew together in confusion. How had the Protectorate gotten my thumbprint? Probably while I was unconscious after the chimera attack. Linus must have scanned Aunt Rachel’s thumb when he brought her down to the Bunker to see me.
“I know this is a lot to take in,” Linus said. “Sisyphus, the Reapers, the Midgard. But I meant what I said before. The others…they need someone like you, Miss Forseti. Someone who’s lost just as much as they have.”
My eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“Their secrets aren’t mine to tell, but we’ve all been betrayed. We’ve all had friends and family members killed by Reapers.”
I winced, and so did Aunt Rachel. Linus hadn’t meant it as an insult, but his words were another reminder of my parents and all the evil things they’d done—all the innocent people they’d killed.
Linus stared at me, his blue eyes blazing with conviction. “But this is a chance for us to stop the Reapers before they get started again. This is a chance for us to save lives. I can’t make you do anything, but you truly are one of the best warriors I’ve ever seen. You could make a difference in this battle, Rory, just as you did against Loki.”
“We almost died in the battle with Loki,” I pointed out. “And Amanda did die here tonight. I might be a Spartan, but even I get tired of fighting.”
“I know, and I feel the same way.” Linus smiled, but it was a sad, tired expression. “But Spartans are meant for fighting. Like it or not, it’s the thing we do best. Besides, if we don’t battle the Reapers now, then nobody will get to have a safe, normal life. Just promise me that you’ll at least think about it. If you decide that you want to be part of the Midgard, go down to the Bunker tomorrow after school, and Takeda will help you get started. The choice is yours.”
“Okay. I’ll think about.” It was the least I could do after Linus and the others had healed me.
Linus nodded at Aunt Rachel and me, then turned and strode away. A minute later, he was back downstairs with the other members of the Protectorate, overseeing the cleanup.
Aunt Rachel and I stood by the railing, watching as Linus moved from one guard to the next, speaking to them each in turn. Once again, my gaze focused on that bloodstain on the floor. The bright red color reminded me of the chimeras’ burning eyes and sharp claws. I shivered.
“Come on, Rory,” Aunt Rachel whispered, putting her arm around my shoulder. “Let’s go home.”
I let her lead me away from the railing. On the way toward the stairs, we passed Sigyn’s statue, and I thought of my conversation with the goddess in the Eir Ruins.
But unfortunately, evil never quite dies, no matter how hard you try to kill it. Her voice whispered in my mind.
She was certainly right about that.
Well, at least one of my questions had been answered. I knew exactly what threat Sigyn had been talking about in the Eir Ruins: this new group of Reapers who were stealing artifacts. But I still didn’t understand why the goddess thought that I was the only one who could stop them. Sure, the chimera scepter had been stolen, but Linus, Takeda, and the other kids seemed capable enough. They could probably recover the artifact without my help, but I couldn’t help wondering how many more of them might get hurt—or killed—in the process.
I glanced back over the railing, my gaze focusing on Amanda’s blood still on the floor, slowly dulling from red to pink as the man scrubbed and scrubbed at the stain. If only I could erase her death from my mind the same way.
I shivered again and looked away, not sure what I was supposed to do now. Not sure whether to accept Sigyn’s mission and Linus’s offer. Not sure about anything except how lucky I had been to live through the night.
*
Aunt Rachel and I left the library and went home.
Babs had closed her eye and stayed completely silent through the meeting with Linus and the others, and she seemed to be sleeping now, given her steady, even breathing. The fight with the chimeras must have exhausted her. The sword was still belted to my waist, and I wrapped my hand around her hilt as we walked across campus, ready to pull her free from her scabbard at the first sign of danger.
I carefully scanned all the shadows, but I didn’t see anyone. Still, I felt like they were out there, Reapers and chimeras, just waiting to leap out of the darkness and tear us to pieces. I gripped Babs’s hilt a little tighter and hurried on, ready to go to bed and try to forget that tonight had ever happened.
Aunt Rachel was right. The battle at the North Carolina academy had been horrific enough. So had watching Amanda die tonight. Did I really want to put myself in danger again? Did I really want to take on more Reapers? Especially when I was trying so hard to leave all of that behind?
I didn’t know—I just didn’t know the answer to anything anymore.
We made it to the cottage safely. An hour later, after taking a long, hot shower, I was sitting at the vanity table in my bedroom, brushing out my wet hair, my mind still churning with everything that had happened.
Babs was propped up in a chair in the corner. Her eye was still shut, and soft, breathy snores rumbled out of her mouth. Every once in a while, she would smack her lips together and mutter something, although I couldn’t make out her exact words.
A knock sounded, and Aunt Rachel cracked open my door. “May I come in?”
I nodded and laid down my brush. Aunt Rachel stepped into my bedroom, her hands clasped behind her back.
“How are you holding up?” she asked.
“Fine, I guess.” I shrugged. “Tonight wasn’t the first fight I’ve been in.”
She opened her mouth, then hesitated, as if she was having trouble getting out her words. After a moment, she spoke again. “I have something for you.”
She walked over and held out her hand. A small black velvet box rested in her palm.
My heart dropped, my stomach flipped over, and my entire body tensed. “Is that—is that what I think it is?”
“Yes. I’ve been meaning to give it back to you for a while now. After everything that happened tonight, it seemed like the right time.”