Ian’s hands clenched into fists again, and this time, he surged toward Lance. The two Reapers tightened their grips and brandished their swords, stopping him. Ian glared at the Reapers, then at Lance, who laughed again, amused by his struggles.
“Temper, temper,” Lance said in a mocking tone. “That’s going to get you into trouble someday.”
Ian growled, but he couldn’t attack Lance, not without those two Reapers cutting him to pieces with their swords.
Lance looked at Ian another moment, making sure that he was going to stay put. Then he winked at Zoe, who glared back at him.
“And now,” he murmured. “To bring Sisyphus what he really wants.”
Lance turned to face me, his lips curving up into another wide grin. “That would be you, Rory.”
*
This time, I was the one who staggered back and swayed on my feet. I couldn’t have been more shocked if Lance had whipped out a sword and stabbed me in the heart with it.
“What?” I asked. “What are you talking about? I don’t even know Sisyphus. What could he possibly want with me?”
“Plenty. Let’s talk facts. Vikings, Romans, Valkyries, Amazons. They’re all good warriors. But Spartans? Spartans are great warriors, the best warriors.” Lance pointed at me. “Spartans like you, Rory. That’s why I threw this party tonight. So I could get you away from the academy, bring you here, and tell you how great a warrior you are—and how much you’re going to help Sisyphus and the rest of us.”
Ian and Zoe both stared at me, surprise flashing in their eyes. A sick, sick feeling filled my stomach. This whole thing—Lance coming up to me on the quad, flirting with me, asking me to his party—I had thought it might be a trap. I had just never expected it to be a trap for me.
“What do you mean?” My voice dropped to a hoarse whisper. “What are you talking about?”
“Your parents were legends among the Reapers,” Lance said. “Did you know that?”
I shook my head. “No. I told you that I didn’t know anything about them being Reapers. Not until Covington murdered them in the Library of Antiquities.”
“It’s too bad they never told you anything,” Drake chimed in. “All the people they killed, all the members of the Protectorate they eliminated, all the artifacts they stole. Rebecca and Tyson Forseti were truly two of the best Reapers ever.”
That sick, sick feeling spread through my entire body, and I had to swallow down the hot, sour bile rising in my throat. But now was not the time to give in to my feelings about my parents. Otherwise, I would start screaming with rage and guilt and grief and never, ever stop. So I pushed those feelings down—deep, deep down—into the bottom of my broken heart and coated them with that cold frost, freezing them out the way I had been doing for months now, ever since I’d found out the awful truth.
“I know what my parents did.” I ground out the words. “You don’t have to keep reminding me how horrible they were.”
Lance frowned. “Horrible? They weren’t horrible. They were amazing warriors. And you’re just like them. Why, you’re an even better warrior than they were. Your dad used to brag about you all the time to my dad. About how you were the best Spartan he’d ever seen and how you were going to be one of the greatest warriors of your generation, maybe even better than Logan Quinn.”
“So?”
“So we’re asking you to put those skills to good use,” he said.
“What do you mean?” I snapped, tired of all his word and mind games.
“I mean join me—join me and Drake and Sisyphus. Forget about the Protectorate and whatever deal you’ve made with them. Come with me, and fight for us, fight for the Reapers. Be the warrior your parents always wanted you to be.” Lance flashed me a smile. “Become a Reaper.”
His words bounced around inside my head, but I couldn’t make sense of them. It was like he was speaking some foreign language that I didn’t understand—one that I didn’t want to understand.
“Come on, Rory,” Lance crooned. “You know you want to say yes. Why should you fight for the Protectorate? For all the kids at the academy who hate you? Why should you do anything for them? No matter what you do, you’ll always be the girl with the Reaper parents, and the other kids will always hate you for it. So you might as well give in and become what they all already think you are.”
As much as I hated to admit it, he had a point. Everyone at Mythos Academy thought I was a bad guy, and they all went out of their way to let me know how much they despised me. I told myself over and over again that it didn’t matter, that I didn’t care what the other kids thought of me, but every angry look, harsh whisper, and mocking laugh cut into my heart like a razor-sharp sword.
Now all that was left behind were the thin ribbons of myself that I had tried to braid together into some sort of armor. But that armor was thin, weak, and flimsy, and it didn’t protect me from anything. Not the other kids’ taunts, not my parents’ betrayal, and especially not my own pain. I had never done anything wrong—not one single thing—but I was still paying for all the sins of my parents, and I was still suffering for all the hurt they’d caused. And there was nothing I could do to stop it, nothing I could do to escape it.
“Don’t listen to him, Rory,” Ian said. “Your parents might have been Reapers, but that doesn’t mean you have to be one too.”
“Says the guy with the Reaper brother,” Drake replied in a snide tone.
Ian ignored him and looked at me. “Don’t listen to them,” he repeated. “Do what you want to do. Be what you want to be—not what someone else wants you to be.”
“Ian’s right,” Zoe said. “You’re a good person, Rory. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
“Shut them up,” Drake growled.
This time, all five of the Reapers pointed their swords at Ian and Zoe. They both opened their mouths like they were going to keep talking to me, but one of the Reapers shoved his sword up against Zoe’s side in a clear warning to keep quiet—or else.
Zoe bit back her words, and so did Ian.
Lance stepped in front of me, blocking my view of Ian and Zoe. “Forget about your parents and everything else. Think about us.”
I blinked. “Us?”
He nodded. “Us. You and me, Rory. I could tell that you had a crush on me last year. The way you looked at me, the way you smiled at me, the way you laughed at all my jokes.”
A hot, embarrassed blush scalded my cheeks. I hadn’t realized that I’d been so obvious, and now everyone knew my secret. Could this night get any worse?
Lance gave me a sly look. “And I liked you too. I really did. I was even going to ask you out, but I never got the chance to before your parents were killed. But now…”
“Now what?” I muttered.
“Now I can,” he said. “All you have to do is come with me, and we can finally be together, Rory. Wouldn’t you like that?”