But if he captured me now? If he took me against my will and trapped me down here?
I thought back to Persephone. Would I really have a choice? What if he sucked out my soul and left me an empty shell?
He could use my powers and I wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop him.
“No,” the word was the barest whisper on my lips.
Not even Ryder heard me. But it was something.
Ryder wrapped his free hand around my waist and pulled me tight against his back. “You will not touch her,” he growled at Hades.
Hades’ grin became deranged. “And who is going to stop me? You?” His sharp crack of laughter punctuated his point. “I am a god!” he roared. “What are you?”
Ryder’s shoulders jutted back, readying his body for the fight. “I am Orpheus,” he declared. “And you are only the first god I will kill today.”
I sucked in a sharp breath while time simultaneously slowed down and sped up. Ryder’s hand pulled from mine. My arm was left dangling straight out in front of me while I grasped for his fingertips in horror.
Crete met him halfway. They crashed together on the narrow path, lightning shooting from their fingertips and ricocheting off the cavern walls.
Screams erupted from the dead watching. They shrieked ugly words and terrifying wagers. They wanted a body. They wanted blood.
It was everything I could do to keep my eyes open and watch the battle between a god and the man that I loved. Hot tears pricked at the corners of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.
I refused to believe that Ryder didn’t have a chance.
Power vibrated through the cave. It pressed down on my skin and vacuumed the air from my lungs. I wanted to scream out for Ryder to be careful. I wanted to sing and force them all under my authority so I could give him half a chance, but I couldn’t move.
And I couldn’t speak.
Crete hit Ryder with a blast of lightning to his chest. Ryder flew backwards catching himself just before he landed on me. His toes scraped across the loose gravel, miraculously keeping his body from falling backward.
He landed on his heels and then launched himself at Crete, shooting lightning from his fingertips as if he had been able to do that his entire life. Bolt after bolt left his hands in rapid succession, barely giving Crete a chance to block or protect his own body.
Crete’s face flashed with surprise before the promise of victory slammed down on him. He believed he would win. He believed there was no other outcome than Ryder’s dead body and my unwilling, but eternal servitude.
A low flash of power hit Ryder in the thigh and he stumbled to the right. His toes skidded off the path, shooting up gravel and dirt. He pulled back just as a mammoth Centaur swiped the air with a battle ax and narrowly missed Ryder’s leg.
My mouth opened in a hysterical scream but nothing came out. The Centaur had been standing to the side a second ago, but the moment Ryder’s body crossed the line, the Centaur had been there. He missed Ryder by a millisecond.
I wanted to weep.
All it would take was one more misstep and they would have Ryder. I realized then that Hades didn’t even have to kill him. All he had to do was get Ryder over the line. His army of dead monsters would do the rest for him.
I looked down to see that I had sunk to my knees and hadn’t even realized it. I moved to stand up, when Ryder threw his hand behind me and a bubble of something thick and unrelenting landed on top of me.
A shield.
It was the same thing he had thrown to protect me against Nix last fall. I was safe behind Ryder’s protection.
I just didn’t know if I wanted to be.
I could help him if he would let me out of here. I tentatively touched the force field and reared back when a hot jolt of electricity zapped through me. My bones vibrated from the strength of it.
What the hell, Ryder? Let me out!
Please!
He couldn’t hear me, obviously.
