Did he really think I would do something that stupid? Especially for him? Lance Fuller wasn’t cute and charming. Not to me. Not anymore. Now I saw him for what he truly was: a conniving con artist who used his good looks to get whatever he wanted.
Well, he wasn’t getting me. Not now, not ever.
In that moment, I wanted to surge forward and attack him with every fiber of my being. I wanted to use all my Spartan skills and instincts to cut Lance to pieces for daring to think that he could smooth-talk me into doing whatever he wanted.
But that would only get Ian and Zoe killed, given the Reapers still watching them. I had to get Lance, Drake, and the other Reapers to lower their guard, at least for a few seconds, so that Ian and Zoe would have a fighting chance.
So I wet my lips and stared at Lance, as though I were actually considering his offer. “You…you like me?” I said in a breathy voice. “You really like me?”
Lance grinned again. “Of course I like you, Rory. I’ve always liked you. We’ll be great together, you’ll see.”
I gave him a small, faint smile, as though his lies made me happy. All the while, though, I kept clutching Babs’s hilt, focusing on the feel of my sword in my hand and getting ready for the fight to come.
Lance walked toward me. “Just think of all the fun we’ll have, doing whatever we want, whenever we want. Why, if you like, we can even go back to the academy and show all those snotty kids what a real fight looks like. Just think, Rory. You could hurt them all the same way they’ve been hurting you for months now, ever since they found out about your parents.”
I nodded. “You’re right. If I were a Reaper, I could do all those things.”
“And more,” Lance promised. “So much more.”
He stopped right in front of me and held out his hand. “So what do you say, Rory? Are you ready to embrace your destiny? Are you ready to become one of us? Are you ready to finally be with me?”
“You’re cute, Lance.” I smiled at him. “But you’re not that cute.”
I whipped up my sword, lunged forward, and attacked him.
Chapter Fifteen
Lance’s mouth dropped open in surprise. He had really thought I’d agree to become a Reaper, just like that, just because he asked me to. Arrogant idiot.
Lance was still holding the chimera scepter, so I chopped my sword at his hand, hoping to make him drop the artifact, but he used his Roman speed to duck out of the way. But Lance didn’t watch where he was going, and he hit the side of the desk hard. His feet slid out from under him, making him curse and fall to his knees.
I’d thought he might be able to dodge me, but that was okay, because I had a plan B. Lance lurching back gave me a clear path all the way across the office, so I charged over and swung my sword at one of the Reapers guarding Ian and Zoe. The Reaper wasn’t expecting the attack, and I sliced my sword across his stomach, making him scream and drop to the ground.
“Yeah!” Babs called out, her mouth moving under my hand. “Show him what’s what, Rory!”
I grinned. The sword might have been quiet through my confrontation with Lance, but she was in the fight now, and I knew I could count on her.
The other four Reapers snapped up their weapons and started toward me, and Ian and Zoe took advantage of their distraction. Ian reached out, grabbed the shoulder of the closest Reaper, and slammed his fist into the man’s masked face. The Reaper’s nose crunched, and he grunted with pain, but Ian wasn’t done yet. In an instant, he had plucked the other man’s sword out of his hand, whirled the weapon around, and stabbed the Reaper in the chest with it. That Reaper screamed and crumpled to the ground, but Ian was already turning to battle the next enemy.
Zoe snapped up her hand, spread her fingers wide, and blasted blue sparks of magic into the face of the Reaper who’d been guarding her. The Valkyrie sparks didn’t do any real damage, since they were just flashes of light, but they still made the Reaper yelp in surprise and turn away from her. Zoe yanked her electrodagger out of her purse and pressed it up against the Reaper’s side, jolting him with electricity. The Reaper yelped again and staggered back, his entire body twitching. He tripped over a rug, and his head cracked into one of the end tables. He dropped to the floor without another sound.
Ian sliced his sword across the stomach of the second Reaper he’d been battling, so that left one warrior standing for me to attack. The Reaper raised his weapon, ready to block my blow, but I was expecting the move, so I went low, slashing my sword across his thigh instead. His knee buckled, and I surged forward, grabbed his black mask, and slammed his head back against the wall, knocking him out.
The five Reapers were all down, moaning, groaning, and bleeding out from their wounds. I glanced at Ian, then Zoe, who both nodded, telling me they were okay.
Together, the three of us turned to Lance, who had finally gotten back up onto his feet. Drake shoved Lance behind him, then raised his sword into an attack position. A tense, heavy silence fell over the office as the five of us sized each other up, each one waiting for someone to break the standoff and attack.
Lance, I thought. He would be the first one to move. I could tell by the nervous twitch of his eyes and how he kept rubbing his thumb over the gold scepter in his hand. We had to get the artifact away from him before he summoned a room full of chimeras, but we’d have to go through Drake first. I studied Drake, but the Viking was cool, calm, and in control. His posture never shifted from his strong attack stance, and his sword never dipped, not even for a second.
“Ian! Zoe! Rory! Talk to me!” Mateo’s voice sounded in my ear. “What’s going on? What’s happening? Are you guys okay? Takeda and I are still downstairs with the guards! We’re coming to help you!”
Nobody answered him. Ian, Zoe, and I were all still focused on Lance and Drake.
“You—you turned me down,” Lance sputtered. “No one’s ever done that before.”
“Did you really think I was going to join the Reapers just because you smiled and told me I was cute?” I rolled my eyes. “Please. You need to rein in your ego, dude.”
Lance’s face twisted, and anger flashed in his eyes. “So be it,” he hissed. “I gave you a chance, Rory. If you won’t join us, then you can die, just like all the other members of the Protectorate!”
Thanks to my Spartan instincts, I knew exactly what was going to happen next. I could see it all unfolding in my mind. Only this time, I wasn’t three steps ahead of everyone else—I was three steps behind, thanks to Lance and his Roman speed.
Before I could move, much less try to stop him, Lance waved the gold scepter in the air three times in a sharp figure-eight motion.
Ian and I both surged forward, but three clouds of thick, black smoke boiled out from the end of the scepter, driving us back. I coughed and coughed, trying to clear the sulfur stench out of my lungs. But instead of dissipating the way normal smoke would, these clouds drew in on themselves. In an instant, they solidified into familiar, distinctive shapes.
Three chimeras now stood in the middle of the office, snarling and spewing smoke everywhere.
“Kill her!” Lance ordered the creatures. “Kill the Spartan girl! Kill them all!”
* * *
I was a step ahead of Ian, front and center, and all three chimeras sprang at me at once.
“Get back!” I screamed at Ian and Zoe. “Back! Back! Back!”
Ian cursed and pushed Zoe behind him. And that was all I saw before the creatures were on me.
I ducked one chimera, making it slam into the second one, but the third one had a straight shot at me—and me at it. I whirled around, already snapping up Babs for the attack that I knew was coming next.
Crash!
The chimera’s paws caught me square on the shoulders and knocked me to the floor. I landed on my back, and the creature fell right on top of me, driving the air out of my lungs, but I wrapped both hands around Babs’s hilt and shoved the sword straight up into its heart. The chimera threw back its head and screame
d at the mortal wound, making me wince, then disintegrated into a cloud of smoke. I ignored the burning sensation of the smoke slithering across my skin and scrambled back up onto my feet.
Lance growled with frustration that I was still alive, but Drake shoved him toward the glass patio doors at the back of the office.
“Move!” Drake yelled. “Get out of here! Now!”
Lance yanked open one of the doors and sprinted outside. I started after him, but the other two chimeras jumped to their feet and cut me off, so I attacked the creatures.
I swung my sword left and right, spinning, dodging, ducking, and twirling, letting my Spartan killer instincts take over and guide me through the fight. Everything else disappeared except for the feel of Babs’s hilt in my hand, the whisper of her blade slicing through the air, the bunch and flex of my muscles stopping the chimeras’ attacks, then the quick counterstrikes of my own sword cutting into their bodies.
The creatures screamed, and their blood splattered all over me, but I kept moving, fighting, attacking. Determination raged through me to cut down the chimeras and then do the same thing to Lance.
I battled first one chimera, then the other. Zoe brandished her electrodagger at the creatures and looked for an opening, but she couldn’t get into the fight for fear of hitting me, and she couldn’t move past me to help Ian either.
The Viking was battling his brother.
Ian and Drake moved back and forth through the office, knocking over chairs, tables, and lamps, snarling and slashing their swords at each other over and over again. Their Viking strength was so great that sparks shot off their blades where the weapons crashed together time and time again. Add those to the blue sparks spitting out of Zoe’s fingertips, and I felt like I was standing in the middle of a giant fireworks show.
I sliced my sword across the stomach of the second chimera, making it disappear in a cloud of smoke, then whirled around and stabbed the third creature in the throat. It too vanished, and I finally had a clear path to the patio doors that Lance had gone through. I headed in that direction—
“Ian!” Zoe screamed. “Look out!”
I whirled around.
Drake lashed out with a vicious blow, forcing Ian back. Ian didn’t see the Reaper sword lying on the ground behind him, and he stumbled over it and fell down. His head clipped the corner of the desk, stunning him, and his sword slipped from his hand and dropped to the floor.
“Ian!” Zoe screamed again. “Ian!”
She raised her dagger and ran forward, but Drake stepped up and punched her in the stomach. His Viking strength threw her all the way across the room. Zoe hit the wall, rattling the weapons there, and fell to the floor. The hard, bruising impact made blue sparks explode in the air all around her, but they winked out an instant later. Zoe didn’t move after that, and I could tell that she was unconscious.
“And now, little brother,” Drake hissed, “I’m going to show you what it feels like to die for real.”
Drake slashed his sword down, and Ian threw his hand up in a desperate attempt to block the blow.
I rammed my body into Drake’s, knocking him away from Ian and sending us both tumbling to the floor. Drake snarled and lashed out with his sword, trying to gut me, but I rolled out of the way. I started to get back up, but I hit one of the unconscious Reapers. My feet got tangled in his long black cloak, and I floundered around on the floor.
“Die, Spartan!” Drake hissed again, lifting his sword high.
Just like Ian, I raised my hand, trying to ward off the deathblow that I knew was coming.
Ian surged forward and threw himself at his brother. He hit Drake around the knees, driving him back against the desk. Drake lashed out with his sword, slicing it all the way across Ian’s arm, shoulder, and back. Ian yelled with pain and fell to the floor.
I finally managed to kick free of the Reaper cloak and get back up onto my feet. I swung my own sword out in a wide, reckless arc. Not because I had any chance of hitting Drake but to make him lurch away from Ian and keep him from killing the other Viking.
It worked.
Drake snarled, turned around, and ran out the same patio door Lance had gone through.
I rushed over to Ian. “Are you okay?”
He waved his hand, blood dripping off his fingers. “I’m fine! Go! Get him! Don’t let him get away!”
I hesitated, my gaze flicking over to Zoe’s still form.
“Go!” Ian shouted again. “Go! I’ll take care of Zoe! Get Lance and Drake!”
I nodded at him, then turned and ran through the open patio door, chasing after my enemies.
Chapter Sixteen
The door led out to a stone patio that overlooked a large heated pool. Dozens of kids splashed in the water, while others lounged around on chairs all around the pool, laughing, talking, texting, and drinking.
I ran over to the iron railing and scanned the crowd below, trying to figure out where Lance and Drake had gone.
There they were.
I spotted Lance on the far side of the pool, his phone against his ear, trying to worm his way through the crowd. He got stuck behind a group of giggling girls and glanced up at the patio, checking to see if anyone was following him. His eyes widened when he saw me standing there. No doubt Lance had been hoping that the chimeras had killed me and the others. He should have known better. I was a Spartan. It was going to take more than a few monsters to murder me.
“Hey! Watch where you’re going!” a voice called out down below.
I looked in that direction and spotted Drake shoving another guy out of his way. The other guy flew through the air and landed in the pool with a loud splat! Water sprayed everywhere, making the other kids shriek with laughter.
“Run, you idiot!” Drake yelled at Lance. “Run! Now!”
Lance kept staring at me, his face twisting with rage at the fact that I was still alive. The feeling was definitely mutual. I moved toward the steps to chase after him, but Lance lifted his hand, the gold scepter glimmering in his fingers. I froze. Lance gave me an evil grin and drew back the scepter, like he was going to summon more chimeras, but Drake broke free of the crowd, ran over to him, and shoved his hand down.
“Forget about her!” Drake yelled. “There’s no time! The Protectorate’s here! We have to leave! Now!”
He pushed Lance forward, and the two of them shoved their way through the crowd, heading toward the lawn on the far side of the pool. From there, they could easily vanish into the woods beyond.
More and more shouts rose up, and several men and women wearing long gray cloaks streamed out of the mansion and into the pool area. Through my earbud, I could hear Takeda barking out orders, trying to coordinate with the Protectorate warriors, but I ignored his shouts. The warriors were on the opposite end of the pool from Lance and Drake, and they wouldn’t reach the Reapers in time.
But I could.
I tightened my grip on Babs, pounded down the stairs, and chased after Lance and Drake. Pushing past the other kids was almost like being in a fight, and I let my Spartan instincts take over and show me which way to move, when to sprint ahead, when to fall back, and when to dart around.
None of the other kids batted an eye at my running past them, a sword in my hand and blood covering my clothes. A few kids glanced at me as I rushed by, but no one called out or followed me to see what was going on. Of course not. They were all too busy partying to pay any attention to the danger they were in.
I skirted around tables, leaped over lounge chairs, and plowed through groups of kids, trying to catch up to Lance and Drake. I even knocked a couple of guys into the pool, although they howled with delight, thinking it was all part of the fun. Warm water cascaded all over me, soaking me to the bone, but I shoved my wet hair out of my eyes and kept going.
Up ahead, Lance and Drake had already reached the lawn, and they crossed it and sprinted into the dark woods beyond. I finally broke free of the kids around the pool and followed them.
It took me les
s than a minute to reach the woods. The trees crowded together, and the dense tangle of leaves and branches blocked out most of the light from the pool area and the mansion. Unlike many of the Mythos kids, I didn’t have enhanced senses, so I had to slow down for fear of tripping over a tree root or a loose rock in the darkness. I might be a Spartan, but even I couldn’t fight on a broken ankle. Still, I moved as quickly and quietly as possible, peering into the shadows and searching for the telltale glint of a sword or the faint glitter of someone’s eyes—
Crack!
A tree branch slammed into my back, making me grunt with pain and fall down on my hands and knees. I lost my grip on Babs, and the sword tumbled away, smacked up against a nearby tree trunk, and clattered to the ground.
“Rory!” Babs cried out, her eye widening. “Behind you!”
I rolled to the side, and a sword bit into the dirt where my body had been a moment ago. I looked up. The Reapers loomed over me, Lance clutching the tree branch that he had hit me with and Drake raising his sword for another strike. I snapped up one hand, desperate to ward off the brutal blow, even as I kicked myself backward on the ground and clawed my other hand through the dirt and dead leaves, trying to find a loose stick or a rock or something—anything—that I could use to defend myself.
“Die, Spartan!” Drake brought his sword down.
Clang!
A silver katana banged into Drake’s weapon, stopping it from cutting into me. Suddenly, Takeda was there, along with Mateo, who was also holding a sword. Lance and Drake turned and ran off deeper into the woods, with Takeda and Mateo charging after them. In an instant, all four of them had vanished.
I scrambled to my feet, grabbed Babs, and whirled around, ready to get back into the fight. I could hear Takeda and Mateo yelling through my earbud, but I couldn’t see them, so I didn’t know which way to go. Shadows cloaked everything around me, and I couldn’t pick out any movements or trails in the darkness.