by Linsey Hall
“Seriously?” she said.
He waved a hand dismissively. Gold rings fluttered on them. “Oh, I know, it’s a bit cliché to lay out my plans. But you must understand—I’ve been hiding my genius for millennia while I’ve worked on this plot. It’s been difficult!”
“I can only imagine.” Logan’s voice was distracted and Sylvi wondered what he was working on that divided his attention. She assumed it was something that would get them out of here, but it had better be good, because she was completely immobilized and unable to access her power.
“Who helped you?” Sylvi demanded. She wanted to know who the other traitors were so that she could suck their souls out with her staff and use them for curtains. It wasn’t possible, but she’d find a way.
Thoreas’ face fell. “You don’t want to know why I did it?”
“I don’t need to hear it,” Sylvi said. “You were a god disposed of during the Divine War, right?”
“Yes!” He gasped. “But I hid my true nature at the university. You knew I was a god?”
“No, I knew you were the rat that you are. I don’t have to be fucking Sherlock Holmes to figure out that you’re pissy that the Divine War wiped out your followers. You’re dressed up like Midas in here with an army that looks like they’re straight out of the neolithic. Roughly around the time your followers were wiped out in the war, right? And you were left all alone?” She said the last in a sickeningly sweet tone. “Get over it. It happened to a lot of gods. You’re not unique. One of them just pitched a hissy a few months ago and tried to destroy the covenant and incite a second Divine War.”
“Carthe.” He spat the name of the other god. “Foolish. He has nothing on what I have.”
“No. You have far more powerful allies,” Logan said. His gaze met hers. There was no good news in his eyes. “And an entirely different plan. You don’t want to reignite the flames of war.”
“Hardly. It didn’t do me any good last time. Those bastard gods who started it deserve to suffer as I have suffered. I’m going to wipe them from mortal memory. From their own memories! A short while in the Labyrinth and they’ll be as dead to mortal recollection as I am.”
“Wow.” Sylvi wanted to keep him talking so that they could buy time to get out of here. But Logan was no closer than she was to breaking his bonds and she had zero idea how to escape. It didn’t matter how much time they bought. She was stuck until Thoreas decided otherwise. Maybe it was time to suck up a bit. She wasn’t above it if it meant her life. “So, what’s your godly name?”
His chest puffed up and she would have laughed if the situation hadn’t been so dire. “Kydfacient, god of time.”
“That sounds pretty cool.” She really meant it. She’d expected him to say god of snails or something.
“It’s more than that! It’s awe-inspiring!” he roared.
The chains suddenly tightened. Her head pounded and her ribs cracked. She was doing a terrible job of sucking up. Out of practice.
Logan thrashed on the ground next to her, his face red with rage. “Stop!”
“Or what?”
Sylvi struggled to suck air into her lungs, wishing that Logan would calm down and attempt to flatter Thoreas into complaisance. Even though she was terrible at it, it was the only thing that would work on a guy like him. Logan needed to chill out and try it not just to save their lives, but to get the information they’d come for.
“I’ll tear your fucking head from your throat and piss down your neck!” Logan roared.
Shit. Of course she couldn’t count on Logan to break out the temperance and restraint. Trickery, perhaps, but when he was this angry, he clearly wasn’t thinking straight.
Thoreas’ beady gaze flipped back and forth between them. A chill raced down her spine on little mouse feet.
“You don’t like me hurting her, do you?” Thoreas’ voice sickened her.
Suddenly the chains tightened unbearably. Her ribs cracked, her spine fractured, her hips pulverized. Blackness took her.
Rage roared through Logan when he saw Sylvi’s body go limp. It filled him with immense strength, a force so great that it felt like the skin flayed from his body as his muscles expanded and his chains burst apart.
He was on his feet a breath later. Flame burst forth from his hands, an enormous inferno that shot straight toward the Retaliator. It enveloped the swine a second later, creating an enormous bonfire that Logan turned from to race to Sylvi.
Sylvi’s chains slackened as soon as he fell to his knees beside her. A glance at the flame revealed a pile of ash. The Retaliator had been destroyed within the Immortal Flame. The magic that tightened the chain had gone with him.
Sylvi lay silent on the ground, her torso misshapen beneath her clothes. Her bones had been crushed. Likely her organs, as well.
Horror welled within him, a great gaping hole that filled with pain and regret. She was alive, but broken.
“Sylvi.” His voice broke as he touched her cheek.
The doors to the throne room crashed open.
“Holy shit, it’s fucking bright!” Aurora yelled. A second of silence passed while they adjusted.
“Sylvi!” Esha ran across the room and collapsed to her knees beside him. “What happened to her?”
“Crushed. We have to get out of here. Can you aetherwalk her?” All thought of the prison and the Retaliator’s knowledge flew from his mind.
“Yes. This place is only protected from intruders. Takes too much power to block it both ways and usually it’s not necessary anyway. Leaving via the aether should be no problem. I’ll take her to the infirmary.” She lay next to Sylvi and wrapped her arm around her. Her scruffy black cat pressed against her side. A second later, they vanished.
Logan sprung to his feet, his eyes seeking Aurora. He found her checking the perimeter of the room for threats. “Aurora! Can you aetherwalk me back?”
He’d have given anything to have his ability back.
“Sure. You get what you needed from the bad guy?”
“No.” But he couldn’t think about that right now.
She approached him and wrapped an arm around his middle. She looked at Warren, who was shifting the ashes of the Retaliator with his foot. Ian stared down at the little gray pile, frowning. “I’ll come back for you two.”
Seconds later, he stood in the infirmary at the university. Sun shone through the tall windows and fell upon narrow white beds lined up like soldiers along the wall. Sylvi lay in one of them, small and fragile in a way that was so unfamiliar. His heart thudded in his chest and his skin chilled with fear.
Healers, also wearing white, gathered around her, their hands laid gently upon her, a glow emanating from their skin.
He rushed over. Someone snagged his arm and pulled him to a stop.
“Let them do their thing,” Esha said.
He swallowed hard, but stopped pulling forward. She dropped his arm. Standing there and watching was a special kind of torture. From what he could tell, she was unconscious. Thank fates.
Finally, the healers’ glow faded and they stepped back. He rushed forward.
“How is she?” he asked.
“Been better.” Sylvi’s croaky voice sounded from his left.
He whirled to look at her. She looked exhausted, but her eyes were open. Relief poured through him like rain after a drought.
“Shhh.” A healer stepped forward and handed her a small glass of water, then turned to him. “She’ll be fine, but it was close. Her insides were basically turned to pudding, but as a demigod, she will heal far faster than the rest. One day, two at most, and she will be essentially back to normal.”
Logan’s shoulders sagged, the tension suddenly gone. He turned to Sylvi. “Do you have any pain?”
“A bit. I want to go home.” Her eyes were heavy-lidded with exhaustion.
He turned to the healer. “I’m taking her to her home.”
She nodded, surprising him. He’d expected an argument about how she had to stay here
. “That’s fine. Her recovery will be tough, but fairly short because she’s a demigod. She’ll sleep for a long time. Don’t let her strain herself or eat too much in the first day.”
Esha stepped forward and laid a hand on the bed. “I’ll take you. That way you don’t have to walk.”
“Hang on.” Warren’s voice came from the other side of the room. He’d just arrived with Aurora. He strode toward their little group and held something out to Logan. “Here. I found this in the Retaliator’s ashes.”
Logan took the object. It was so unexpectedly heavy it made his arm drop a bit. He inspected it carefully. Some type of metal, but far heavier than any he’d ever held.
“It looks like a heart,” Aurora said.
“The heart of the Retaliator?” Sylvi looked over, curiosity gleaming through the exhaustion in her eyes, and he held it up to show her. Light glinted on its many surfaces. Stylized inscriptions covered it. It was vastly complex and enormously confusing.
“It could be important,” Logan said. “But I’ve no idea how. We’ll sort it out later. Let’s get you home.”
Sylvi nodded and Esha climbed into the little bed next to her and wrapped her arms around her. The cat leapt up on the bed and balanced precariously on Esha’s hip.
“Thanks, pal,” Sylvi said to Esha. They disappeared a second later. Helplessness clawed at Logan that he didn’t have the ability to transport her, but he was grateful to Esha.
“Thank you for your help,” Logan said to his remaining allies. He turned and hightailed it toward Sylvi’s place. Esha was just tucking her into bed and getting her some water when he arrived. She met him at the door to Sylvi’s room.
“How is she?” he asked softly.
“Fine. I think she’ll fall asleep any second.”
“Okay. Thanks for your help,” he said.
Esha turned. “You didn’t even get what you came for.”
“Maybe I did.” He held up the heart. “But that’s not what I meant. Thank you for transporting Sylvi.”
“Oh. Anytime.” Her cat followed her out the door.
Logan went into the bedroom. Sylvi was breathing deeply, her eyes closed. Asleep. He sank into the chair in the corner and buried his face in his hands.
He’d almost lost Sylvi. A shudder racked him.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Sylvi struggled against the bonds that squeezed the air from her lungs. One by one, her bones snapped, each break sending a wave of pain through her. Regret swamped her, dark and cloying. Threatening to drag her under.
“Sylvi! Wake up!”
She gasped and opened her eyes to see Logan leaning over her, his hand warm on her shoulder. The feel of it against her pulled her to the present.
She was safe. In her own bed. She struggled to calm her breathing, but it sobbed in and out of her. Logan stroked her arm and she focused on that.
When her breathing finally slowed, he asked, “Can I get you anything? Water?”
She nodded. The worry on his face faded a bit. As he went to get her water, she struggled to pull herself up until she could sit against the headboard. A glance at the clock showed that it was five AM.
He returned.
“Here, let me help you,” he said as he set the water on the bedside table. Gently he put pillows behind her back. She had to admit it was more comfortable. Everything was sore.
He handed her the water and she drank gratefully, watching him over the rim of her glass. The nightmare was fading from her mind, but the memory of the regret and anger she’d felt as her life had flashed before her eyes lingered.
As the chains had crushed her, she’d remembered the most terrible moment of her life—when Logan had turned her away in the cave.
The memories had flooded back, filling her with near-overwhelming anger and sadness. She’d ignored those memories when he’d first come back because they hurt too much. Because he’d been an asshole and she’d been an idiot. It’d been easier to focus on the problem with the university and her lust for him. She’d never liked to face the hard things and so she hadn’t.
But now Ian’s word’s blared in her mind. He loved you and tried to protect you.
It made rage and longing flare in her heart. What if she’d stayed despite all he’d said? Would she have pushed past his stupid method of trying to protect her? Would they have had a life together?
Her train of thought just pissed her off. The fact that she was even thinking that she should have stayed after he’d been so terrible to her pissed her off. Anger was much more palatable than regret or sadness, and a long time coming.
Logan reached out to her, presumably to adjust her blankets. She jerked away, her anger bubbling to the surface.
“Why, Logan? Why the hell did you decide it would be better to kick me out than try to make a life with me?” It tore open her heart to think of it. She’d loved him more than anything. More than herself. More than her goals or her mother.
And he’d rejected her after she’d given it all up for him.
He jerked as if she’d slapped him. “What?”
“Ian told me you drove me away that day because you wanted to protect me. He said it took you centuries to heal and you didn’t want me to stay in that miserable cave. I gave up godhood for you. I sacrificed Asgard.”
“I never asked you to. Leaving was your own choice. You blame everyone but yourself.”
“Maybe those I blame deserve it!”
His brow drew low and anger flared in his eyes. “Do you think I’d have asked you to give up what you wanted most?”
“That’s the problem, isn’t it? You never asked me. You never told me what you were going to do in the first place and you never asked me if I wanted to stay with you on Midgard. It’s true, isn’t it? You turned me away because you thought it best.” Just the thought of it enraged her.
Shock flashed across his face, then stubbornness and something else she couldn’t recognize. “Yes. It was the best for you.”
“You didn’t think I could take care of myself there?”
“Of course you could. But I wanted you to have a better life. What the hell’s wrong with that?”
She laughed crazily. “You idiot. I loved you. And you didn’t trust me to know my own mind? To make my own decisions? We could have been together. Yet you ruined it by breaking my heart.”
Pain flashed across his face and he reached out. “For that, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how much it would hurt you. I saw only your anger that day. Not the pain.”
“Because you didn’t want to see my pain. You wanted to make the decisions, like you always do. I would have stayed, Logan. And I would have been happy. But you were too damn arrogant to let me decide to do that.”
He heaved a sigh. “I’m sorry, Sylvi. I’m going to make it up to you.”
“If you care so much, why did you wait so long to come for me? It’s been centuries, Logan.”
“I thought you wouldn’t want to see me. Those were your last words to me. But being away from you eventually became too much. The labyrinth and the knowledge that you could be thrown into it switched something off in my head. I wanted another chance, no matter how you felt about it. I was—am—determined to convince you.”
“You’ve lost that chance. How can I trust someone who doesn’t trust me enough to know my own mind? To know if I want to be with him? To stay with him through the hard times? Would you stick by me if things got rough? If I was sick for centuries?”
“Of course.” The certainty in his voice filled the room. “I would never leave you if you needed me.”
“You’re not going to have a choice. When this is over, we’re over. I’ve been so shocked to see you back in my life—and I’ve remembered all the good times—that I forgot to protect myself. I remembered what I wanted and not what I needed. I listened to my hormones and made excuses and went for it. But what I really need is to not be hurt by you.”
“Never again.” He was at her side in an instant, his hands grippi
ng her shoulders.
She pushed him off of her and rolled over. “Go away, Logan. I’m sick. I don’t want to see you.”
The tears were starting to burn in her eyes. He had to leave before the sobs started.
“No, Sylvi. I won’t be parted from you again. I’ll earn your forgiveness.” His voice was fierce. “I’ll earn you back.”
“I have no forgiveness for you and I never will. Go away.” She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to hold her breath to stifle the tears. It only made her ribs ache more. All of her ached and her grief only made it worse.
When silence fell, she opened her eyes. The room was dark and she was alone.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Sylvi woke the next morning to the most magnificent smell. The usual bacon and eggs of breakfast wafted through the house, but also something sweeter. Familiar. It made her heart squeeze tight in her chest.
She tried to ignore it as she struggled to climb out of the bed. Her muscles were so weak and her bones so sore that she just couldn’t stand. She collapsed back on the bed with a groan.
Logan entered a moment later. “I thought I heard you up,” he said. “You look a lot better.”
“I’m angry at you. Remember?” But most of her rage had dissipated. She’d purged it last night with her yelling and the following fit of tears. Now she was just drained.
And she’d remembered the second part of what she’d felt when the Retaliator had crushed her: regret. She mourned the time she’d lost with Logan. No matter how angry she was with him, she couldn’t cut off the part of herself that cared for him.
“I remember that you’re angry with me, Sylvi, but I don’t care. That’s all in the past. I prefer the future. I’m going to make you like me again.”
“If this is the future, it sucks.” She hurt so badly that she was just angry.
“Only temporarily. Let me help you to the bathroom,” he said. He didn’t wait for her reply. Instead, he swept her up into his arms so gently that she barely felt the transition to horizontal.
She made him leave after he sat her on the toilet, then struggled to take care of basic necessities. Pulling down one’s own pants while trying to balance on bones and muscles made of jelly was beyond difficult. Thankfully the bathroom was small, so she managed to reach her brush and a towel that she ran under the sink for a rough sponge bath.
