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That didn’t mean I wasn’t filled with rage though.
Did their actions come from good intentions? I supposed so. Dare was trying to protect me, to fight my battles in my place. Foster had been the most vocally opposed to dragging me away, and I wondered if it was because he was an agathos and he knew there was no avoiding sacrifice. Then again, Estrella and Vasileios’ daimonic nature was probably driving their actions too—they cared for me in their own ways, and that manifested in this possessive urge to hide me away.
But I was still absolutelyfuriouswith them. I was a grown woman, this wasmyprophecy to fulfill,mydestiny. None of them got to cosset me away, even if they meant well. Except I was struggling to be wholly angry at Dare because my worry for him eclipsed it.
“Grace,” Vasileios sighed sympathetically, sensing the direction my thoughts had gone in as my shoulders slumped forward. I was sotiredall the time. Physically, yes, but the emotional drain was relentless.
“What if Dare—” I choked on the last word, unable to articulate it, barely able to think it. Had I lost Dare as well? I didn’t understand it. Bullet had always talked about my future like the others were in it, and here I was, completely alone. I didn’t even know where Riot and Wildwere.
“He’s going to be okay,” Estrella said with fierce conviction, inadvertently yanking my arms a little harder. “You’re important, you know. You have important allies. They’ll keep Dare safe, just like they’ll be keeping Riot and Wild safe.”
“Just like they kept Bullet safe?” I rasped, forcing myself to speak his name aloud even though it hurt. What if I didn’t? What if I failed to keep his memory alive, and everyone forgot about him? No. No matter how much it hurt, I couldn’t let that happen.
“You said Thanatos himself showed up to take Bullet somewhere for safekeeping,” Estrella pointed out. “They don’t do that for just anyone, you know.”
Right. She was right.
I swallowed thickly, hating the way they were all looking at me. As though my breakdown was inevitable. It probably was, but I still hated that everyone else knew it.
I’d never felt this alone before, which was strange because I’d alwaysbeenalone when I was growing up. Back then, I hadn’t realized what it was like to be loved though, not really. Having loved andlostwas infinitely more painful, even though I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
“You have to let me go,” I all but pleaded. “This isn’t right. I shouldn’t be here, I’m meant to be in the pit. Dare is meant to be safe.”
“He will be safe,” Estrella replied stubbornly.
“Maybe the original agathos will appear and help him,” Foster suggested weakly. “Like Sophia helped you already.”
“With a blood sacrifice from me! At least take me back to the ruins, to the temple—” There was a noise overhead like a roll of thunder but a thousand times louder, cutting off my words. The ground below us shook, knocking us all to our knees.
“What the…” Estrella whispered as it faded, the long end of the scarf lying loose on the ground where she’d dropped it.
I didn’t give myself a chance to think, I just got to my feet and ran, sprinting back toward the direction of the pit with my wrists still bound.
Whatever that noise was, it wasn’t good. What if the pit was throwing Dare out somehow? He was never meant to go in there. It was meant to be me.
“Grace!” Vasileios yelled from behind me, footsteps thudding against the earth as he tried to catch up.
“I’m sorry!” I shouted back, sprinting away. And I was sorry. I appreciated how much they cared for me, and I didn’t want to leave this way, especially since I wasn’t sure I’d ever see them again. But getting to Dare was more important. Gaia had said only one person could enter the pit, and I was still holding out hope that it could be me, that he hadn’t jumped yet.
I stumbled as the rumbling roar built up again, but managed to keep my footing this time. Whatwasthat? It was like thunder, but I’d never experienced thunder so deafening it made the ground quake.
Was it Gaia? Earthquakes were very much her style, except this didn’tfeelquite like an earthquake. It was coming from above.
Out of nowhere, dense gray cloud cover formed overhead and a bolt of fear ran down my spine. This was not how weather worked. Whatever was happening, it was divine intervention.
Fat, heavy raindrops fell from the sky, slowly at first before growing into a deluge. The once bone-dry ground was rapidly turning to sludge beneath my feet, and my pace slowed in spite of myself, my ill-fitting boots becoming even more of a liability in the mud.
Come on, come on, come on.
Milos barked, easily catching up to me on four legs, sounding frantic.
“Go back!” I gasped, struggling for air. “Go back, Milos. Go back to the others. Take them back to the house, can you do that for me?”
Milos hesitated for a moment before sprinting back.Please get them back safely,I thought as the sky rumbled again. I looked up in dread to find thick black wings flapping on the horizon, the monster from the pit approaching rapidly. I slid to a stop, clumsily yanking and twisting the now-sodden scarf until it was loose enough to get my wrists free.
“Go!” I shouted at Vasileios, realizing that he was still attempting to follow me, slipping in the mud. Milos had his sleeve between her teeth, attempting to tow him away. “Go back! Go to the house and protect the others!”
“Please,” I added desperately, seeing the indecision on his face. If I’d learned one thing from the past few months, it was that divine beings were drawn to me. So long as they left, they’d be safe. Vasileios glanced up at the monster before returning his gaze to me, nodding once. Perhaps it was self-preservation, or perhaps his selfish daimonic tendencies kicking in, but whatever it was, I was grateful for it.
