“You will pay for siding with my husband’s bastard daughter. Anyone who sides with her will be destroyed. Painfully. It will last until this injustice is fully punished. Or…” Hera trails off almost thoughtfully, but I’m guessing this is for dramatic effect.
The queen seems like the type that loves the dramatics.
“Or what?” I ask, taking the bait.
It’s not going to be anything good. I already know it has to do with me from the sly smile on Zeke’s face. She thinks she has me. Does it have to do with her comment about me being so noble? It’s a definite possibility. She thinks she has all the cards here, but we have foiled her plans repeatedly.
“Or you turn yourself in for execution. You have two weeks or I destroy Hermes’ caduceus and everyone and everything you love.” Hera drops the bomb with smug satisfaction. “I’m very generous for giving you that time, am I not?”
“You think giving her two weeks to decide whether she will let you kill her is magnanimous or something?” Jayden scoffs.
“Not happening,” Raven agrees. “We can defeat you without sacrificing Beth.”
Hera laughs again. She thinks we’re amusing flies to be swatted. She can think again because we have everything on the line. We have nothing left to lose and that’s dangerous for anyone who opposes us.
“Beth, you have a choice to make. Do you lose your friends and die a painful death or do you sacrifice yourself to save the rest? Are you going to be selfish? That doesn’t sound like the stories I’ve heard about you.”
Zeke drops to the bed in the corner, unconscious again, and I glance at my friends. “That was a mic drop if I have ever seen one.”
“She thinks she’s already won,” Raven says.
“Her arrogance is going to be her downfall,” I agree.
“You’re not thinking about this, right?” Jayden grips my hips and pulls my back into his chest.
“No?” I ask. “I mean if it can save you all from dying…”
“Fuck no,” Raven snarls. “You’re not sacrificing yourself.”
“What if this is what Nereus was talking about? What if this is the choice I have to make to save everyone?” I rub my neck.
“Not fucking happening,” Jayden snarls.
His arms tighten around me. Holding on to me as if he can keep me here with him. I pat his arms, letting him know that I’m here. He doesn’t have to worry about me going anywhere. I still can’t shake the fact that this could be what Nereus was talking about. If I choose them and let the queen enact her stupid revenge on me, is that what he’s worried about?
“She thinks she has the upper hand. She doesn’t. We will stop this. She didn’t even say she would give Hermes back his item of power or that she would end this stupid war. She just said she will not destroy it. You can’t trust her,” Raven says.
“She’s scared of you,” Kira says. “She wants to take you out so she can win the war against Zeus.”
“I don’t know.” I sigh. “I can’t see you guys hurt when I could have stopped it by sacrificing myself.”
Jayden spins me to face him and cups my cheeks in his hands. “No, fucking no. You’re not sacrificing yourself for something that isn’t even guaranteed.”
I shake my head and turn to the Hermes kid. “We need a healer. Zeke needs a healer to make sure he’s okay after what just happened.”
After I tell him that, I rip myself away from Jayden and race from the room in a panic. They can’t stop me from sacrificing myself if it might save them all. I just can’t let anyone hold me when I’m being selfish. Because when it comes down to it, I don’t want to sacrifice my life for everyone else. What kind of person does that make me?
As soon as I’m away from Jayden, I transport to my dorm room and collapse on my bed. That’s when I allow the tears to fall. I could save everyone else but I wouldn’t be around to enjoy life with my friends.
I’m wallowing and I know it but how do I leave them to save them? Especially Jayden. He won’t allow it. He will chain me up before he lets me sacrifice myself. He could see me, though. He’s the son of Hades. He’s one of few who can go to the underworld.
We could still be together in the Isles of the Blessed. We could save the world and make sure no one has to die.
“Don’t,” Jayden says as he materializes from the shadows onto my bed.
“Don’t what?” I sniffle.
“Don’t rationalize becoming a martyr for us all,” he growls.
