Heart (40 page)

Zeus narrowed his eyes at me. “We can’t trust
you?”

“Not at all. I’m feeling very bloodthirsty
after all of these deaths. It’s probably only a matter of days, er,
hours before I need to kill again.” I leaned in with a
stage-whispered, “I’m a monster. Or hadn’t you heard yet?”

The room exploded with accusations and
suggestions, most of which ended with my head detaching from my
body or my body being locked away in the Fate’s cave.

Thanks, but no thanks.

“Quiet!” Zeus hollered. When at last it died
down, he looked to me with more patience than I knew he felt and
said, “Then what is your solution, Siren. Since you’re so willing
to fess up to your impending crimes, why don’t you tell us what you
think we should do?”

I took a deep breath and said, “I think you
should strip me of my powers.”

Unlike before when I incited a riot with my
words, this latest confession met complete, stone-cold silence. I
think I shocked an entire Pantheon of gods, which was quite a
feat.

Zeus spoke first, “You want me to strip your
powers?”

“All of them. Don’t stop until I’m mortal and
completely human.”

“Do you understand what you’re asking?” He
didn’t seem convinced. For as wise as Zeus was, it was
incomprehensible to him that someone wouldn’t want to be
all-powerful. Actually, by the silence of the room, it was
incomprehensible to all of them.

“I do,” I answered honestly. “You told me
before that you couldn’t forcefully strip the Sirens of the past
because they would have put you under their control. Well, I’m not
going to do that. I don’t want anything to do with these powers or
what they’re capable of. I had my taste and I can truthfully say,
it was more than enough. Take them from me. Destroy them. Strip me
completely of anything supernatural and Greek. I just want to be
normal. I just want to have a normal life away from all of this.
And it’s a win for you. If you take my powers, then you have
nothing to worry about. You can restore order and none of you has
to worry about me taking your heads while you sleep.”

Zeus’ expression hardened. He knew I was only
joking and he did not appreciate my sense of humor.

I pressed my lips together in an effort to
appear professional.

Isadora stumbled forward. “You can’t… you
can’t do that. You can’t give up the greatest power this mountain
has ever seen. You can’t just waste all of that potential!” Her
voice was harsh and screeching by the end of her speech.

It made my decision that much sweeter.

I turned to face her. “I can. And I’m going
to.”

“My queen?” Zeus asked Hera.

She regarded me pensively for a while. I was
confident with my choice, but her intensive scrutiny made me want
to fidget.

Finally she asked, “You’re willing to give up
your powers? Truthfully? Or is this some kind of trick?”

“It’s not a trick,” I promised her. “I never
wanted any of this. It might not matter to you, but every moment
I’ve lived with these powers has been torture. I have no desire to
keep them. I have no desire to live this life or to be a part of
this community.” Tears wet my lashes and I tried desperately to
hold them back, but a few fell anyway. With a voice hoarse with
emotion, I told her the truest truth. “I just want to go home. I
just want to take my mom and my boyfriend and go home. And I
never
want to come back.”

Several minutes dragged by before she finally
said, “I believe you. Take her powers and let her go.” The queen of
the gods held my gaze for a minute longer, before nodding regally
and sweeping from the room.

The rest of the crowd dispersed just as
quickly. This meeting had become rather anticlimactic for them and
they weren’t interested in watching me become less-than. Although,
I had no doubt if I would have gone the opposite way and attacked
them all, they would have stuck around for the macabre
entertainment aspect.

I would never understand these people.

“
You little bitch
!” Enid screamed at
me while gods filed out around them. “You horrid little creature!
How dare you!”

“You’re going to die!” Veda added. “As soon
as you’re human, we’re going to cut your thread and send you to the
deepest parts of hell.”

“You will never get your happily ever after,”
Isadora finished. “You won’t take one breath when you step off this
mountain before you
wither and die
.”

Real fear had just started to take root in my
gut when Zeus stepped forward. “I am sick and tired of you three,”
he growled. “I see through you, even if my wife cannot. I will
never
concede this mountain to you. So when I say I never
want to see you again, I mean it. I banish you to your cave for the
rest of eternity. My word is binding. My word is eternal. My word
is complete.”

Isadora’s eyes bulged from her wrinkly face.
“You can’t-”

“I can!” Zeus shouted. “And I just did! If I
find that you’ve set a toe outside of that disgusting hovel you
consider home, I will kill you myself.”

Enid’s whimpering plea sounded as pathetic as
she looked, “Zeus… my king... let’s be reasonable-”

“Be gone!” he bellowed and the three of them
disappeared with a flash.

His shoulders relaxed after they left and
when he turned to face us again, he seemed more Smith than
Zeus.

He rubbed his temples with two hands and
looked at me exasperatedly. “Stripping you of your powers… very
clever, Ivy.”

I smiled again. “Thank you.”

“I’ll take them,” he said with his own smile.
“But I’ll leave you with a gift. Something to remember me by.”

Unease made my stomach feel greasy. “A gift?
What kind?”

“Don’t look so ungrateful,” he laughed. “I’ll
bestow you with my seal. That way the Fates can’t follow through
with their outrageous threat.”

“Your seal?”

“Granted it won’t save you from sickness or
old age… or getting hit by a car or having a piano fall on your
head or any other silly way that humans can die, but it will keep
you safe from the Fates. It will protect you from anyone belonging
to the Pantheon.”

“Thank you, Smith,” I told him sincerely.
“Thank you for everything.”

“Thank
you
, Ivy.” He winked at me.
“For everything.”

A swirling sensation started in my toes. It
worked its way up to my knees and hips, then over my shoulders and
to the top of my head. With a wave of Smith’s hand I felt the power
riot in my blood, determined to stay with me. But Smith was… well,
Smith was Zeus and with my willingness to let it go, it didn’t
stand a chance.

Lightning flashed overhead and sparks flew
around my body. Hermes and Ryder jumped out of the way as the
sparks became flashes of light that sailed from my body to Smith’s
hand with a flourish.

My lungs seemed to collapse in my chest. I
buckled forward, sucking in a harsh breath that rasped against my
raw throat. My vision went black, my blood seemed to dull in my
veins and my entire body sagged with the weight of something
foreign and unwanted- mortality.

When I could see again, I watched a necklace
appear in Smith’s hand. A long silver pendant, with a heavy
dazzling ruby the size of my fist, dangled from his fingers.

He held it up for me to see. “The power of
the Siren.”

“That seems dangerous,” Ryder murmured. He
was at my side again, his hand running in soothing circles over my
back. He pressed a kiss to my temple and I felt the sweetest
lightness in my chest.

He was happy with how things played out.

I was too.

Smith patted his robes and dropped the
necklace into a hidden pocket near his breast. “I’ll keep it
safe.”

I snorted, “Famous last words.”

He smiled at me patiently. “We have a vault
for things like this. Pandora’s Box, a certain golden fleece, a
recently acquired trident made out of lightning… You get the
picture.”

“Ah.” I trusted him just a little bit
more.

“It’s been a pleasure, Ivy.” Smith walked
over to pull me into a quick embrace, pressing a fatherly kiss to
the top of my head. “But I think your mother is anxious to be home.
You will take care of her?”

I nodded immediately, “I’m going to help her
get better.” Wow, how weighted those words were.

“I think that’s the nicest thing you’ll ever
do.”

“What about my sister?” I asked in a low
voice. “Can I say goodbye to her?”

Zeus frowned. “I moved her off the mountain.
It had ceased to be… safe for her.” At my look of alarm, he hurried
to assure me, “She’s in good hands. In fact, you’ll see her soon. I
promise.”

I couldn’t help but wonder who Smith trusted
with Honor. “Will I see you again?”

His answering smile was from the man I knew
would do anything to keep me safe, the man I had known as Honor’s
father and the man that had saved my life when I needed help most
of all. “Not if you’re lucky.”

Surprising tears heated my eyes, but I let
this be our goodbye. It was enough to have known him and to know
that he would be looking out for me from this moment on. It was
enough to know I would see my sister again and that he would always
do whatever it took to keep her safe and to keep me safe.

“Are you ready?” Hermes asked softly.

I nodded. Ryder took my hand while Hermes
lifted my mother into his arms. This time we put our hands on him.
Once again I blinked and when I opened my eyes we stood in my old
apartment in Omaha.

“You brought me home?” I whispered,
completely choked up.

He set my mother down on the couch and looked
up at me curiously, “Isn’t that what you wanted.”

I was crying too hard to speak. My chin
trembled as I nodded. Yes. This was where I wanted to be.

I just never thought I would get here
again.

“Ivy!”

I whirled around to find Honor squealing
behind me. I opened my arms just in time to catch her. She threw
her arms around me and I cried into her hair.

She was here. And she was beautiful.

I looked up to see Delphi’s indistinguishable
form wavering across the room. “You did good, Human.” Her melodic
voice drifted over us warmly. Her term of endearment was
intentional and amused.

“Thank you,” I told her.

“You will bear these scars forever, I’m
afraid. But my wish is that you never forget how necessary they
were. Only a daughter of the sea could have defeated the god of the
sea. His fate was sealed the moment you were born. Your destiny is
fulfilled.”

“And now I’m free to live my life how I
please.”

I couldn’t really make out her face, but I
could tell she was smiling when she said, “I hope you do. That
would give me the greatest pleasure.”

“I expect our paths will never cross
again?”

“That is your wish, is it not?”

I nodded. “That would give me the greatest
pleasure.”

She laughed. Even Hermes laughed. “Then we
shall take our leave as soon as you ask your last request.”

She caught me off guard because I hadn’t
thought of anything to ask her… but then it came to me. “My
friend,” I asked hoarsely. “She was on Nix’s island the last I
heard. If you could… If you-”

She held up her hand and assured me, “We will
deliver both of your friends. You should be free to mourn your
dead. And your other friend will need you until she heals.”

“What about the rest of the girls? His house
was filled with-”

She held up her hand to stop me. Her voice
held the infinite sorrow that still racked my heart. “We will take
care of all of them. We will make sure they all get home.”

“Thank you,” I said through another onslaught
of tears. I turned to Hermes, “Was this everything you hoped
for?”

Something darkly amused danced in his amber
eyes. “And then some.”

I ignored the tones of foreboding, and told
him sincerely, “Thank you, Hermes. We couldn’t have done this
without you.”

His only response was a soft smile and a
quick nod. In the next thirty seconds he flashed back and forth
until Exie’s lifeless body lay in my living room and Sloane had
been safely delivered.

Hermes moved to stand next to Delphi. Before
she left, she gave me one last order. “Zeus asks that you care for
your sister until he sends for her. Is this acceptable to you?” I
nodded because I couldn’t speak. I was too happy. I was too
overwhelmed. With a smile in her voice, she said, “I thought it
would be.” She walked back over to me and for the briefest moment
every one of her features was clearly discernable, but then they
flickered into a hazy memory I couldn’t grasp onto. “I believe this
is yours, Siren. I found it on my island.”

I took something from her hand and she moved
back to stand with Hermes. He put his hand on her shoulder and they
were gone. It wasn’t until they disappeared that I looked down and
saw that she gave me the letter my mother had written me.

I took a deep breath and looked around my
apartment. It was just us. It was just those that I cared about
most in this world. It was just us without any threats hanging over
our heads or dangers lurking around every corner.

We were free.

All of us were free.

Ryder turned me into his body and pressed his
lips to my hair. “You are the bravest, smartest, most relentless
girl I have ever known. I love you, Red.”

I cried harder because for most of my life I
had felt like a coward. I had felt stupid and weak. That Ryder
could say those things… feel those… that was beyond words. “I love
you, too,” I promised him. “I’ll love you forever.”

His lips glanced over my ear, “And what a
good forever it’s going to be.”

Then we turned to face Exie and Sloane and my
mother and we properly mourned our friends and our past lives and
those that had died before us.