The Fall (The Siren Series)

by Higginson, Rachel

  I kicked at the buttons and pushed several floors, one of them the lobby. I made several stops on the way down but thankfully no one else ever got on. Eventually I walked out on the ground floor and encouraged myself to be more alert. Nix could be anywhere.

  That thought was reinforced when I saw one of the Gigantes crossing a corridor by the expansive lobby. I ducked back around the corner and slipped into a “hospital employee only” area. Most of the doors in this area needed keycards to open them and I knew I couldn’t stay back here forever, but I needed just a few minutes.

  I had to get out of this hospital without being seen. Security might have already been alerted upstairs, or maybe Nix and Ky hadn’t wanted to involve more humans. Either way, those police officers were going to start asking legitimate questions. If I didn’t get out of here soon, they were going to find me no matter what.

  There was a cart parked down the hallway covered in room supplies. On the top was a shiny pair of scissors that whispered an escape plan to me. I snatched them quickly and then slipped back out into the main part of the hospital.

  A women’s restroom neighbored the gift shop and I walked across the lobby and into it as inconspicuously as possible. I looked around quickly and ducked down so I could peek under the stalls, but it was sometime in the middle of the night and this place was primarily empty. I used the restroom because honestly, I hadn’t gone in hours and I really had to pee and I didn’t know when I’d get the chance again.

  After all that, I took the scissors and looked at myself in the mirror. I stared at the pale, bruised girl in front of me and tried to reconcile that image with the one I was used to.

  Seventeen and ancient.

  Still a teenager but so weary I could die from it.

  I picked up the scissors, deciding I liked this idea more and more.

  The last year had been a metamorphosis for me, a true immersion from a hopeless cocoon into the start of the woman I was really supposed to be.

  I fingered the plain metal scissor handles and then lifted them toward my body. The point of the sharp scissors dangled in front of me before I finally decided what to do with them.

  This was the start of something new. Maybe this was the worst decision I could ever make or maybe this was the very best.

  That was yet to be seen.

  I inhaled deeply and then let the air out slowly through my nose. Rubbing my free hand over the back of my head, I gathered the ends of my ponytail and lifted the heavy mass of eye-catching, golden-red hair.

  The scissors felt heavy in my hand, but with a good weight, a weight that promised better things to come.

  With one final, steadying breath I held my ponytail tightly in the air and snipped off the entirety of my hair just above my rubber-band. I ripped out the now-useless tie and let my hair fall into whatever place it wanted to go.

  I looked ridiculous. I looked like a boy band gone terribly wrong.

  But most of all, I did not look like the girl everyone would be looking for.

  I could color it later, right now I just needed to get out of here.

  I threw my ponytail holder and my handful of hair into the trashcan and tossed the scissors in next. Then I buried it all with masses of paper towels. I washed my hands again to get rid of all stray strands of hair and then I tried to smile.

  I didn’t just try, though… I actually smiled. I looked at my ridiculous reflection in the mirror and I grinned.

  This was the hardest decision of my life, made oh-so harder by recent events.

  But simultaneously, it was the easiest decision I had ever made.

  I tucked my head down and snuck out the bathroom door. There were more people in the lobby now and I hurried out the main doors just in case they were starting to look for me.

  I was still shoeless but I had a disguise on for the most part, and I felt confident that if I just kept walking, I could make it.

  I circled around the many lots and ducked down whenever a security car would whiz by too quickly. I was thankful for the dark night and cloud cover. I needed to get out of here.

  I also needed a car.

  I didn’t have any money for a cab; I didn’t even have a cell phone to call for help. In fact, the only thing that seemed potentially useful also belonged to a boy I had all but abandoned not five minutes ago.

  Still, with no better plan to work off of, I circled through three huge parking lots before I found the Bronco exactly like we’d left it. A quick search of the row over turned up Ryder’s dropped keys.

  I felt guilty for the jolt of excitement that went through me when my fingers brushed their jagged metal. But I couldn’t think about that now.

  I couldn’t think about how I just left Ryder screaming after me and now I was going to steal his car.

  Worst person ever.

  That didn’t keep me from opening the door and sliding into the driver’s seat. That thought didn’t stop me from starting the car and backing out of the spot.

  That thought didn’t keep me from pulling out of the parking lot and turning my back on Ryder Sutton forever.

  I ruined him.

  But he saved me.

  He set me free.

  And I would protect what he did for me for the rest of my life.

  No matter the cost.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  I couldn’t just drive away from Omaha. I literally had nothing.

  I wanted to. Oh, god, I wanted to… but I knew that I couldn’t. If I wanted to get farther than earlier, if I wanted to make it longer than Evaleen and Anaxandra, then I needed some help.

  So, I went to the only person I knew could help me.

  Smith Porter.

  I literally had nowhere else to turn at this point and he had promised to help once upon a time.

  I hoped the offer still stood.

  His gate opened for me after a few minutes of pushing the intercom button without getting a response. I drove straight to the top of his circle drive, grabbed my backpack from the floor and sprinted to his front door. He was waiting for me when I got there.

  “Ivy.” My name came out in a rush of air from his chest. It was a question, it was a statement, and it was a conclusion. He seemed to understand everything in the three seconds it took him to look over me.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” I told him quickly. I couldn’t. If I started to go over recent events now, I knew I would break down and start crying. And if I started crying now, I would never stop.

  I didn’t have time for that.

  “Okay,” he answered simply. After a moment’s pause he asked, “What do you need from me?”

  “I need to… go.”

  “Where?”

  I shook my head. “Away from here.” I couldn’t tell him exactly what I planned. I had to think about Honor. I had to think about how his aid tonight could come back to bite him in a very big way. Ava and Nix could so easily use this against him… use it to take Honor from him. “That’s all I can tell you.”

  “What do you need from me?”

  “Clothes.” I looked up at his bright blue eyes and pushed forward with my list of necessities… it was a big one. “Shoes. I need money… a decent amount. And I need a way out of the country. I have my passport and my ID but I can’t use them.”

  Smith stared at me for several poignant moments. When he spoke again, I could barely contain my shock. Actually, I didn’t contain it at all. I let my mouth drop open and my eyes widen into UFO-size saucers.

  “I have everything you need. You can go through Honor’s closet and find clothes that are suitable. I will give you plenty of money. And as for the passport… I have one for you. And a new ID. Both carry completely new identities. Truthfully, I have been anticipating this for a while.”

  “What?” I gaped. “You have.”

  He nodded and turned around to lead me to my little sister’s closet. I worried about what I would find there. She was just twelve and even though her body was starting to develop, she
very much had a twelve-year-old’s body. I did not. But I would make anything work until I could manage to get out of the country.

  “Smith, why do you have a passport for me?” I demanded. He was already halfway up the wide staircase that led to the bedrooms and I had to run after him to keep up.

  He glanced over his shoulder at me but did not answer my question.

  I thought back to the god-killer my mom took from his house before they divorced.

  “Smith,” I demanded. “Who are you?”

  He chuckled lightly at my question. “I’m an international business man not affected by your mother’s curse.”

  His phrasing struck me as very odd. My mind started spinning and my entire body went tight with confusion.

  And then he asked, “Does my profile remind you of anyone?”

  I gasped so audibly, I worried I might have sucked up a lung. “Nix! That is Nix’s profile.” He laughed again. “But the brain tumor! Honor! My mother! How is it- Who exactly…?”

  At the top of the stairs he turned around and regarded me carefully. “Those things are real. They are part of my past. You see… when I, when we, choose to take on a mortal body completely there can be complications. My brain tumor was part of that. Your mother was also part of it, but maybe not for the reasons you think. And Honor is one hundred percent my child and your half-sister. Also, I would never compare myself to my brother, but he is my brother. We share the same bloodline.”

  “Brother?” I asked on a whisper.

  “Poseidon.”

  “Nix,” I confirmed. He nodded. Smith just admitted that he was part of the Pantheon. He was a god. He was a god and Nix’s brother and he was helping me.

  “I won’t hurt you, Ivy. I’ve already told you I’m here to help.”

  “And who exactly are you?” My head spun with the possibilities. He could be… so many things. He could be Zeus himself for all I knew!

  He winked at me. “I cannot tell you that yet. But I can confirm that I’m not Hermes.”

  I rolled my eyes, finding his humor a little obnoxious. “I figured that out myself.”

  He shrugged one shoulder. “Well, to be sure.” And then he turned around and started walking again. He soundlessly opened Honor’s door and led me to her closet. The girl had a serious wardrobe and I grinned at my options. She might have been younger than me but the girl definitely had style.

  “I’ll get everything else ready for you,” Smith whispered and then left me alone with a massive closet and a sleeping Honor.

  I grabbed a pair of yoga pants that seemed long enough, a black cami that would cover my stomach and a long-sleeved pale blue shirt that wasn’t quite big enough but that would be alright as long as I had a tank top underneath. I could have chosen something more sophisticated but I didn’t know how long I would be traveling or how I would be traveling. I just wanted to blend in. I didn’t want anything that could draw attention to me. I picked out a pair of plain silver flip-flops that were a size too small, but would do.

  Lastly, I pulled out my hoodie from the backpack I’d abandoned on Honor’s floor. I pulled it on and zipped it up. It was the only thing I would take with me from this life. I would leave everything else behind and I would live with those consequences from this moment on.

  Good or bad, I needed to run from everything to stay alive or keep those I loved alive. And so that was what I would do. I would run.

  I walked over to Honor’s full-length mirror and examined my new reflection. My hair was a wild mess of choppiness. The front fell just to ears and I could barely tuck it in and the back hung down a little longer like a mullet.

  It was not an attractive look for me… but it would do for now. I could fix it later.

  When I was free.

  I wandered over to my sister’s bed and watched her sleep for several minutes I couldn’t afford. She sighed peacefully in her sleep and my eyes flooded with tears I had promised I wouldn’t shed until I was through this for good.

  I leaned down and kissed her on her forehead. I said a silent goodbye and then whispered one last “I love you.”

  I didn’t know if I would ever see her again. I didn’t know if we would ever meet after this moment.

  But I did know that she would be safe.

  Whoever Smith was… whether he was Greek god or something else, he was a very good man. He would keep her safe. She would never know the world I came from or the hell I escaped.

  She would always be free.

  She would always be free.

  I walked back downstairs to find Smith in his office. He looked up when I walked in and took my awkward bundle of scrubs.

  “I’ll get rid of these,” he promised. “Permanently.”

  “Thank you.” Those words were meant for so many different things.

  “Ivy, I thought Arturo would work out… I had hoped to avoid a night like this.”

  I waved him off. “It’s not your fault. Nix… Nix has always been ten steps ahead of me.”

  “Until now,” Smith reminded me.

  I hoped he was right. I didn’t say anything. I was still in Omaha. This night could still end in a terrible way.

  “Here.” Smith thrust a manila envelope at me.

  I took it cautiously but immediately peered at the thick contents. Stacks of cash lined the inside as well as a passport like he promised and a new driver’s license, both with my pictures on them. There were also three credit cards registered to the same name that graced the passport and ID.

  Everything was made out to Genevieve Carston.

  “How did you know?” I whispered.

  “Mallory and I were always in touch. She kept me apprised of everything. When Arturo fell through this morning, I expedited everything. I’ve been expecting you.”

  Had that only been this morning? It felt like a lifetime ago.

  My eyes felt wet again. “Thank you, Smith. I couldn’t… without you… I wouldn’t-”

  “Ivy, this comes with a price.” His words sliced through my heart like a guillotine.

  Of course, they did.

  “What?”

  He smiled at me. It was blinding. God. He really was a god.

  “It’s not as horrible as you think.” I waved him on. “Olympus will need you one day. When we call, we ask that you answer.”

  Fear snaked around my insides and sunk into my blood. I didn’t want to be a part of this world again. Not ever again. I didn’t want anything to do with Olympus or the Pantheon or any of it.

  I just wanted to disappear.

  Forever.

  “And when you call, what do you expect from me?” My voice sounded hollow even to my own ears. I couldn’t put energy into those thoughts. I couldn’t make myself put anything into it right now. I was still fragile. My head still pounded from my fight with Nix earlier. My body felt ancient. And my life still spiraled out of control. I was one depressing thought away from hysteria.

  I had to keep it together for just a little while longer. I had to make it. I was this close.

  “Ivy, we only ask that you do what you were born to do.” I widened my eyes at him impatiently. He laughed again. “I cannot tell you more than that. I’m sorry.”

  “And Honor?” I asked because I had to… because I couldn’t leave until I knew for sure. “Will she be safe here? Or will she also be called to Olympus?”

  His brows pulled together low over his eyes. “She will be safe. She is part of the Nesoi, but you both have different roles. She doesn’t… isn’t…” He let out a frustrated sigh. “Honor is safe with me. We will not ask anything of her, especially while she is still this young. You are special and hold a significant purpose for the Pantheon. We cannot ignore what you will do for us. And we have helped you in your time of crisis. We ask that you only return the favor.”

  “You sound as cult-y as the rest of them.” I glared at him for a while but he just smiled that dazzling smile at me.

  “You should go. I called a cab for you while you c
hanged. I’m sure it’s here by now,” he told me. He reached across his desk and grabbed a casual, tan messenger bag. He handed it to me with a shrug. “I know it’s a bit manly, but it’s better than an envelope.”

  “Where did you get this?” I stared at the frayed hems and worn canvas. This thing did not belong in this house or near Smith Porter. It looked like an alien object in his hands.

  “An intern left it behind.”

  Well that explained it.

  I turned to go while stuffing the envelope into the bag. I hesitated at the door. “I need to ask one more question. I overheard Nix say something about Ryder being protected by the seal of Zeus. Is that possible?”

  “He’ll be fine,” Smith answered intuitively. “The seal of Zeus is real. Nix cannot kill him.”

  Fresh relief washed over me and I felt my decision cement into my soul. I’d done the right thing.

  I was doing the right thing.

  Smith walked me to the door and sure enough a cab waited outside for me… waited to take me to freedom.

  I breathed another sweet taste of freedom. “Thank you, Smith. Thank you for everything.”

  “Thank you, Ivy. You don’t know it yet but you are very important. You are vital to the survival of our people. You should also know that he will never stop looking for you. He will never give up.”

  I smiled at him, feeling a little unhinged. “You should know that I will never stop running. I will never give up either.”

  “Then the gods be with you, Ivy Pierce. I know that we will meet again.”

  I turned around and left Smith watching after me. I climbed into the cab and told the driver where to take me.

  And then I pushed everything out of my mind. I shoved Smith’s words to the back of my head and I chose to forget everything but the destination I had in mind.

  Smith had said I was vital for our people but I could care less about that.

  The only thing that mattered to me lay before me and as far as I was concerned Olympus, Nix, Smith, the entire Greek community was dead and buried behind me.

  I swore to myself that Nix would never be able to find me.

  And if Nix couldn’t find me, when I knew that he would devote all of his resources to it, his entire life, his entire everything to finding me… then I also knew Smith would never be able to find me either.