“Go!” I yelled. “Help Ian and Mateo! I’ve got this!”
“But—” Zoe started.
“Go!” I yelled again, cutting her off. “I’ll be right behind you!”
I would be right behind her—I just wouldn’t be getting out of the rotunda alive.
Zoe nodded, whirled around, and rushed over to Ian with Mateo. She put her arm under Mateo’s other shoulder, and together she and Ian dragged the injured Roman toward the archway.
And not a moment too soon.
Two of the chimeras realized that their dinner was getting away, and they sprinted around me and went after my friends.
“Faster!” Ian called out, still dragging Mateo toward the archway. “Faster!”
With one hand, Zoe held on to Mateo, and with the other, she brandished her electrodagger at the creatures again. The electricity crackling on the blade made the chimeras stop short, but Zoe’s threat wouldn’t keep them at bay for long.
That left five chimeras standing in front of me. Once again, the creatures paced back and forth, their paws scorching the floor, noxious clouds of black smoke spewing out of their mouths. They were enjoying playing with me, so I decided to give them something to chase.
I lashed out with my sword, momentarily driving them back, then turned and ran in the other direction, heading toward the archway as fast as I could.
Mateo stumbled again, but this time, Ian and Zoe managed to backpedal completely out of the room. The three of them fell in a heap on the floor outside the rotunda.
The two chimeras in front of me growled and surged forward. Desperate to distract them, I stopped running, snatched a statue off its pedestal, and threw it at them. The statue hit one of the chimeras square in the back and broke apart into a hundred pieces.
“Hey!” I yelled, waving my hand in the air to get their attention. “Over here!”
The creature snarled and whipped around to face me. So did the second chimera right next to it. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the five other monsters creeping up on me as well. One chimera stepped on another’s paw, and they all started hissing at and jostling each other. They were jockeying for position, trying to decide which one was the alpha and would get to pounce on me first.
Since they weren’t going to attack me immediately, I slowly started backing away, trying to put as much distance as possible between myself and the creatures without them noticing. I also turned my sword around, so that I was holding Babs by her blade.
“Rory!” Babs yelled. “What are you doing?”
“Do you really think you’re cursed?”
She frowned. “What? Why are you asking me about that right now? You should be running, not talking!”
I brought her face up to mine so I could look her in the eye. “Do you really think you’re cursed? And that I’m destined to die here tonight?”
Babs blinked, and her face twisted into a miserable expression. For a moment, I thought she wasn’t going to answer me, but she finally did.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I do. I really do. I’m so sorry, Rory.”
I grinned back at her. “Well, then, if I’m going to die anyway, I might as well make it count, right?”
Her green eye narrowed, and I thought she would have nodded her half of a head if she could have. “Aye. A warrior’s death should always count for something.”
My grin widened. “I was hoping you would say that. Here we go.”
“What are you doing?”
Babs started to ask what my plan was, but I’d already turned the sword back around and grabbed her by the hilt again. I would need her sharp blade for this. The chimeras got tired of snapping at each other, and they all stalked toward me again, but I ignored them and sprinted forward, straight toward the archway.
Outside, Ian scrambled to his feet. “Rory! Look out! Behind you!”
I heard the scrape-scrape-scrape-scrape of claws on stone, and I knew that one of the chimeras was pouncing at me. But I kept going, still running toward the archway.
At the very last second, I lurched to the side, slamming into the wall instead of going through the opening. The chimera barely missed punching its claws into my back. It passed by so close that I felt its black fur brush along my arm.
The creature landed in a heap, right in the middle of the archway, and shook its head, dazed by the hard, unexpected fall. I didn’t hesitate. I slashed out with Babs, using the blade to cut through the rope that held up the iron gate.
Bang!
The gate dropped down, and all those iron spikes slammed right into the chimera’s body. The creature screamed in pain and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
I coughed and waved my hand in front of my face, and the burning smoke dissipated, revealing exactly how dire my situation was.
I was trapped in the rotunda with six chimeras and no way out.
* * *
The chimeras blinked and blinked, staring at the doorway where the other creature had died and then disappeared. The creatures looked confused, and it didn’t seem they were going to attack me right away.
Their confusion wouldn’t last long, though.
“Rory! Rory, where are you?” Ian called out.
I kept one eye on the chimeras and hurried over to the closed gate, peering through the bars at Ian, who was standing on the other side.
“Get out of there!” he said. “Open the gate! Hurry!”
I shook my head. “I cut the rope. I can’t get out.”
Ian’s gray gaze flicked past me to the chimeras, which had started pacing back and forth again, getting ready to attack me. Fear and horror filled his eyes, but those emotions quickly solidified into stubborn determination. The Viking wrapped his hands around the iron bars and braced himself.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Getting you out of there!” he yelled back. “Stand back!”
Ian strained and heaved and pushed up with all his might. He was strong, even for a Viking, and he actually managed to lift the gate one inch, then two, then three. Every muscle in his body clenched with the effort, his face went tomato-red, and all the veins stood out in his neck. But the gate was too heavy, even for him. A second later, his hands slipped off the iron bars, and the gate crashed back down to the floor.
I risked another glance over my shoulder. The chimeras had quit their pacing, and they were licking their chops. I had less than a minute before they all attacked me at once.
I straightened up to my full height. “You need to leave me. Go find Drake and stop him and Covington from getting away. Please, please do that for me.”
Ian shook his head. “No! I’m not leaving you, Rory. I have to find a way to get you out of there.”
I smiled at him. “It’s not your fault. This was my choice. I did what I had to in order to save you guys. I don’t regret that. Not for one second, and you shouldn’t either.”
Ian stared at me, anguish glimmering in his eyes. His gaze flicked past me to the chimeras, and his mouth hardened into a stubborn line. “I’m getting you out of there,” he repeated. “You are not going to die tonight, cupcake.”
I smiled at him again, then stepped forward and put my fingers on the gate. He wrapped his hand around mine, and the two of us stood there, holding hands despite the iron bars that separated us. I stared into his gray, gray eyes, marveling at the emotions sweeping through his gaze like storm clouds. Guilt. Grief. Concern. And a spark of something that made my heart do that funny little flutter in my chest.
“Good-bye, Ian.” I dropped my hand from his and stepped away from the gate.
“Rory!” he called out. “Rory!”
As much as I wanted to look back at him, I made myself turn toward the chimeras instead. I gripped Babs by her blade and held the sword up where I could see her face again.
“So this is my grand plan. Sacrifice myself so my friends can live. An oldie but a goodie. At least, I think it is. I hope you agree.”
This was what having a Spartan heart really meant to me
, even if it had taken me a while to figure it out.
“I’m so proud of you, Rory,” Babs said, a tear streaking down her cheek, her green eye glowing as bright as an emerald in her silver hilt. “So very, very proud. It’s been an honor to serve you.”
“Just as it’s been an honor to wield you.” I bowed my head to her. “Now, let’s show these chimeras what a real fight looks like. What do you say?”
Babs’s mouth split into a wide grin. “Bring on the beasties! We’ll slay them all! Victory will be ours!”
She kept right on talking, each statement getting bolder and more outrageous than the last. I grinned the whole time, letting her words wash over me and fill me with confidence. I wasn’t going to survive the fight, but I was going to give the chimeras all they could handle—and then some.
With one thought, the chimeras licked their chops a final time and headed straight for me.
I grabbed Babs by the hilt, raised the sword high, and rushed forward to meet the monsters.
Chapter Twenty-Six
I plunged into the pack of chimeras.
The creatures must have been used to people running away from them, because my full-frontal attack surprised them and slowed their reactions for one precious second. One of the creatures swiped its paw out, trying to lay my stomach open with its sharp claws, but I dropped to my knees. Even as I slid forward across the slick floor, I snapped up my sword, slicing it all the way down the creature’s side. Smoke and blood boiled out of the mortal wound. The chimera snarled a final time, then vanished.
Two down, five to go.
Too many to go.
I slid all the way over to the opposite side of the rotunda, but I didn’t stop moving. Not even for an instant. I kicked out with my left foot, stopping myself right before I hit the wall. Then I surged to my feet and whirled back around.
“Rory! Rory!” Multiple voices screamed my name.
Across the room, Zoe stood on the other side of the gate, her hands wrapped around the iron bars, trying to lift it so she could come in here and help me. Aunt Rachel was there too, straining to lift the gate with her, along with Takeda. Mateo was lying on the floor behind them, still bleeding from his injuries.
To my surprise, Ian wasn’t there. I frowned. Where had he gone? Why wasn’t he trying to help me like the others were? Maybe he’d already realized that it was a lost cause and didn’t want to stick around to see my death. Couldn’t blame him for that.
“Guards! Guards!” Takeda barked out. “All guards converge on my position at once!”
He was trying to summon enough men to lift the gate, but it would take them precious minutes to get here—minutes I didn’t have.
The five remaining chimeras whipped around, and they all leaped at me at once. I threw myself to the right, trying to get out of the way, but I couldn’t avoid them all.
I managed to dodge four of the creatures, but the fifth swiped its claws down my left arm, making me scream with pain. I staggered forward and hit one of the display cases hard enough to rattle the glass in its frame. The blow stunned me, and my knees hit the floor. One of the chimeras used the opportunity to leap across the rotunda, charging right at me, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to get out of the way of its sharp claws and jagged teeth—
Thunk!
A dagger zipped across the rotunda and lodged itself in the chimera’s right eye. The creature screamed and exploded in a shower of smoke, and the dagger clattered to the floor. I coughed and looked across the room. Aunt Rachel was pressed up against the gate, her arm stuck through one of the openings. She’d thrown the dagger, and her Spartan aim had been true.
“Get me a bow and some arrows!” she screamed. “Now!”
Zoe darted away from the door, but it would take her time to find a ranged weapon that Aunt Rachel could use. Her Spartan killer instincts were the only reason she’d been able to throw that dagger and hit her mark.
“Rory!” Babs’s mouth moved under my hand. “Get up! Get up!”
I shook off my daze and staggered to my feet. I glanced down at my injury and wished I hadn’t, given the blood that covered my arm from my shoulder all the way down to my fingertips. More and more pain pulsed through my body, the red-hot intensity of it threatening to block out everything else, but I forced myself to take slow, deep breaths, push the agony away, and tighten my grip on Babs’s hilt. I couldn’t afford to let myself feel the pain right now. Not with the chimeras advancing on me again.
Another one pounced, and I lurched to the side, barely avoiding the scorpion’s stinger on the end of its tail. The chimera slammed into the display case, breaking the glass and crushing the wooden stand to bits. The hard blow stunned the creature, and I charged forward and stabbed it in the side, shoving my sword deep into its body. The creature screamed and vanished in a puff of smoke.
Four down, three to go.
Still too many to go.
The other chimeras were tired of playing with me, and they moved so that they were all standing in a loose circle around me. Then they slowly started closing in. I drew in a deep breath and raised Babs, getting ready for the multiple attacks that were coming next.
And then there was no more time to think.
There was only fighting.
The three chimeras all pounced at me at the same time, swiping out with their claws and snapping at me with their jagged teeth. For once, I was glad Takeda had spent so much time on agility drills in gym class this past week. I ducked and dodged and spun this way and that, avoiding as many of the blows as I could.
But I couldn’t avoid them all.
One of the chimeras lashed out with its paw, catching me square in the chest, but its claws skidded off the tough leather that Zoe had woven into my dress. I had never been so grateful for armor before.
But it wasn’t going to be enough to save me.
My chest might be protected by Zoe’s braided leather armor, but the rest of my body wasn’t, and the creatures quickly took advantage.
The first chimera swiped its claws across my right arm. The second creature nicked my left thigh, while the third caught me across the back of my right calf. In an instant, I was the one on the defensive, trying to ward off all their attacks and failing miserably. The chimeras realized that they had me trapped and beaten, and they were going to kill me, one swipe of their claws at a time. Even if Aunt Rachel somehow got her hands on a bow and some arrows, she couldn’t help me now. Not with the chimeras all around me. She couldn’t risk shooting at the creatures for fear that she would hit me instead.
I gritted my teeth, pushed the pain of my many injuries away, and kept fighting, just like any Spartan would, just like any true warrior would.
Even if I hadn’t been injured, the chimeras were far bigger and stronger than I was. One of them lashed out with its long tail and knocked my legs out from under me. I hit the floor hard and slid back ten feet, slamming into another display case and losing my grip on Babs.
The sword landed a few feet away, and I slowly crawled across the floor and grabbed her blade with my bloody fingers. But my entire body felt cold, heavy, and numb from where the chimeras had clawed me, and I simply didn’t have the strength to pick up the weapon, much less wield her.
“Looks like you were right about that curse after all,” I mumbled.
“I’m sorry, Rory,” Babs whispered, staring up at me, tears streaming out of her green eye. “So sorry.”
I tried to smile, but I didn’t have the strength for that either. “It’s not your fault,” I mumbled again. “This was my decision, my choice.”
Babs kept staring at me, more and more tears streaming down her half of a face. The drops were as cold as snowflakes stinging my skin.
I looked over at the archway, but I was in the front corner of the room, and I couldn’t see anyone from this angle, although I could hear my friends shouting, along with Aunt Rachel and Takeda. They were still trying to save me, even though it was already too late.
A series of lo
w, pleased growls sounded. The three remaining chimeras all grinned, showing me their teeth, and started advancing on me for the final time. In seconds, they would leap on me and rip me to pieces. I just hoped it wouldn’t hurt too much—before the end.
I stared at the chimeras, too injured and exhausted to do anything but watch them come for me. At least I’d saved Ian, Zoe, and Mateo. I took comfort in that.
The chimeras got down on their haunches and crept forward, one foot at a time, their paws scorching the floor. They rocked back, all readying themselves to leap at me…
And then they stopped.
They just stopped.
The chimeras’ heads snapped up, and they all stared at the glass ceiling. I craned my neck up too, wondering what they were looking at, since all I saw were the moon and stars twinkling in the night sky far, far above…
I frowned. Wait a second. Maybe it was my imagination or the blood loss, but it seemed there were several patches of sky that were darker than the rest and rapidly dropping down toward the museum…
The ceiling exploded with a roar.
* * *
Glass fell down all over me, tink-tink-tinking against the floor like drops of crystal rain. I put my arms up over my head, protecting my face as best I could, but the sharp shards still sliced into my skin, making me hiss with even more pain.
The roaring shower of glass stopped, but a series of loud screech-screech-screeches rose up to take its place. My heart lifted with hope. I knew those screeches.
I dropped my arms, raised my head again, and blinked, trying to focus on the scene in front of me. Sure enough, one after another, Eir gryphons dropped down through the shattered ceiling and landed right in front of me. Balder, the leader, along with Brono, his son, and a third adult gryphon. But what were they doing here? How had they found me?
For a moment, I wondered if I was imagining things. If maybe I was already dead and just dreaming that this was all happening.
But I wasn’t.
The gryphons were here, and they launched themselves at the chimeras. The two sets of creatures went around and around the rotunda, scratching, biting, and attacking each other with their claws, teeth, and beaks. They whirled around in a tangled mass of bronze wings and black fur, so fast and vicious that I couldn’t tell where the gryphons began and the chimeras ended.