Become a Reaper… Become a Reaper… Become a Reaper…
My vision clouded over, and a dull roar filled my ears, as though I were underwater. But Covington’s voice remained sharp and clear, like a knife digging deeper and deeper into my brain. I blinked, and my vision cleared, although the librarian’s words continued to echo in my mind. There was something almost…hypnotic about Covington’s voice, and I actually found myself wanting to say yes to him, even though I knew how wrong it was.
Become a Reaper? Could I really do that? Turn my back on the Protectorate? On Gwen and everything she stood for? On everything I stood for?
I’d never wanted to be a Reaper, I’d never wanted to be like my parents, and I’d especially never wanted to do all the horrible things they had done. At least, not until right now…
“Come on, Rory,” Covington said, his voice stabbing into my brain again. “Think about it. Think about how things really are. Why should you fight for the Protectorate? Linus Quinn and Hiro Takeda are just using you for your fighting skills. And once they’re done with you, once you’ve died for them like a good Spartan, they’ll find someone to replace you without a second thought. Just like that.”
He snapped his fingers, making me flinch again, although this time, I nodded in agreement. It was more or less the same thing Lance had said to me in his mansion a few days ago, but for some reason, it made so much more sense coming from Covington. The Protectorate would replace me like I’d replaced Amanda. It was the way of the warrior.
“Don’t do it, Rory!” Ian said. “Don’t listen to him!”
Ian stepped forward and reached out, like he was going to grab my shoulder, but Lance waved the gold scepter, and the two chimeras surged to their feet and snarled at the Viking. Ian froze, looking back and forth between me and the creatures. I stared at Ian, but he seemed far away, as though he were under the same water I was and slipping farther and farther away with every breath I took.
Covington walked forward, slowly moving past the chimeras, and stretched his arm out to me. And I found myself shuffling toward him and this amazing new future that he was offering me. One where I would be accepted and appreciated for who and what I truly was—a fierce Spartan warrior—instead of constantly being ridiculed for trying to do the right thing, for trying to be a good person, for trying to be a better person than my parents had been.
Covington was right. Why should I fight so hard for people who didn’t appreciate it? Who thought I was a bad guy? Who automatically condemned me for being the daughter of Reaper assassins? And those were just the other students at the academy.
He was right about Linus and Takeda too. The members of the Protectorate would be happy to let me fight for them, and they wouldn’t bat an eye at my death, whenever it might happen. In a way, that was worse. At least the Mythos kids were honest about hating me. I would much rather be hated than used.
But I could escape it. I could escape all the angry glares, rude remarks, and muttered accusations. All I had to do was quit fighting. All I had to do was give in. All I had to do was become the thing I’d always hated and feared: a Reaper assassin, just like my parents before me.
“Well, Rory?” Covington asked, moving even closer to me. “What do you say? Are you finally ready to embrace your destiny?”
“I—” I wasn’t sure what I was going to say, but I never got the chance to finish my sentence.
“Don’t listen to him, Rory,” another voice cut in. “Don’t you dare listen to him. You aren’t your parents, and you certainly aren’t a Reaper. You’re a good person, one of the kindest, strongest souls I’ve ever met. Don’t you dare sully yourself and throw away all that goodness by listening to this—this smooth-talking fool.”
I blinked and looked around for the source of the sharp, biting voice. Covington stopped and glared at my hand, and I finally realized who was talking.
Babs.
I was still holding Babs in my right hand, and I glanced down. The motion made my charm bracelet slide down my wrist, and the heart locket clinked softly against Babs’s blade. The sword looked the same as always, but my bracelet and locket were glowing with a pure, bright silver light. I changed my grip on the sword, holding Babs’s blade in my hand, and slowly raised her up so I could see her face. She was also glowing, although not nearly as brightly as my bracelet.
I glanced around, but no one seemed to notice the strange glowing but me, so I looked back at the bracelet. The silver glow intensified, and that’s when I realized that everything else in my entire field of vision was tinged with red.
Reaper red.
“Rory,” Covington crooned again. “Don’t listen to that silly piece of metal. Listen to me. Just listen to me, and everything will be fine.”
The red haze intensified, making my head swim, and I stared at the librarian. Covington clenched his hand into a fist, making a large gold signet ring flash on his right index finger. A square ruby was set in the center of the ring, burning with the same blood-red haze that was clouding my vision.
And that’s when I remembered Gwen telling me how the Reapers had snapped a gold collar studded with Apate jewels around Logan Quinn’s neck to control him. Covington was trying to do the same thing to me now. That ring was more than just a ring—it was some artifact that let you bend other people to your will. Lance hadn’t been able to recruit me, and now Covington was using an artifact on me, trying to force me to become a Reaper whether I wanted to or not.
White-hot rage roared through me, searing through the thick fog that had crept into my mind. The red haze vanished from my vision, and everything snapped back into focus. Suddenly, I could think clearly again. More rage roared through me, and in an instant, I’d flipped Babs over in midair so that I was holding the sword by her hilt again. More than anything, I wanted to surge forward and attack, to cut Covington to pieces for daring to think he could control me and make me his Reaper puppet.
But such a reckless move would only get Ian and me killed, especially since those two chimeras were still standing by, waiting to attack. No, I had to be smart about this. So I kept my face blank and swayed on my feet, as though I were still under Covington’s spell, even though I was actually studying everyone and everything in the rotunda, getting ready for what was to come next.