“Don’t laugh,” he growled.
I tried not to. “You’re wearing a toga!”
“I didn’t have a choice,” Ryder mumbled. He shifted his shoulders uncomfortably. His toga was similar to mine, in that it clasped over one shoulder and left the other uncovered. Unlike mine though, that was designed to accentuate my feminine features, Ryder’s draped in heavy folds that mostly exposed his toned chest and back. The bottom half hung to his knees and the waist was tied with a gold chain belt.
I pressed my lips together to hide my smile.
Hermes walked into the room wearing something very similar to Ryder. He plopped down on the settee and threw his arm over the low back. “In our glory days, we lived naked.” His indolent gaze hit Ryder with defensive accusation. Hermes raised his eyebrows. “Maybe you would prefer that?”
Ryder glared at him. “I’m good with this.”
“Did the girls go naked too?” I asked, trying to imagine a mountain full of naked gods.
Hermes shrugged, “Of course. We had nothing to hide.”
“That explains the incest,” Ryder concluded under his breath.
“You need to go,” Della encouraged. “The longer she stays away, the deeper into turmoil the mountain falls.”
I didn’t know what I could do about the turmoil. I figured I was going to cause more problems than I fixed, but Della’s insistence had to mean something.
I looked to Ryder and met his concentrated gaze. He stood up slowly, power and determination radiating off his tall form. My mouth went dry at the sight of him.
His white toga contrasted enticingly with his olive skin. His dark hair, pushed out of his face, showed off his sharp cheek bones and masculine brow. The air around him seemed to shift and shimmer. He looked beyond his eighteen years. He looked more than human.
He looked like a god.
When he reached out his hand, I took it without a second thought. There had been a thousand things running through my head, a thousand emotions beating against my heart and rushing through my blood, there had been a thousand thoughts to distract my mind from my purpose, from this fate I willingly walked into.
Until Ryder’s palm pressed against mine. That one small gesture quieted every turbulent thing inside of me until I could breathe normally.
For so long I had felt suffocated. First from my mother and Nix, then from the future that looked so bleak, and most recently from my loneliness. My entire life could be summed up with the need to breathe.
And yet I had been searching for it in all the wrong places.
When I couldn’t find the ability to inhale within myself, Ryder gave it to me. When my doubts, insecurities and fears clouded every rational thought, Ryder brought me back to center.
“Ready for this?” he asked in a low voice.
I answered him honestly. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
“I’m ready,” Hermes announced.
Ryder and I both ignored him. Ryder stepped into me, his chest brushed against mine and he dipped his head until his lips were at my ear. “We’re doing this together, Red. Live or die, fight or flee,we sticktogether.”
I wet my dry lips and nodded. “Okay,” I whispered. “Together.”
Hermes cleared his throat and we stepped apart.
“Will I see you again?” I asked the Oracle of Delphi as Ryder and I took our places next to Hermes.
She gave a vague shrug, “Only time will tell if the mountain will become safe for me.”
I didn’t have time to ask what she meant. I opened my mouth, but Hermes’ hand landed on my shoulder. One second I was on a tropical island, the very next, a blast of ice cold air punched me in the face.
My question turned into gasping stutters. It took my several more seconds to open my eyes against the violent wind.
When I finally pried my eyes open I found that we were on the very top of a mountain. Thick snow blanketed the ground in every direction, crystalized on top from the hypothermic temperatures.
