I forced myself to acknowledge Persephone for a second longer before I rushed to Ryder’s side. Instinct screamed that I should show the Queen of the Underworld respect now that she had assumed complete control, especially while she appeared beyond insane from the trauma of her imprisonment in the Underworld.
But I couldn’t. I couldn’t leave Ryder untouched for a moment longer. I had watched my world, my entire existence, implode and shatter into a million unfixable fragments when he fell over the veil. I had lost everything I had tried to protect and given up everything I was trying to accomplish.
I had died with him.
Now he was back. We had been given a second chance and I refused to be separated from him for a moment longer.
At my feet, he curled into a ball and coughed up blood. His body trembled violently, unable to recover from his brief encounter with the land of the dead. His lungs gasped for breath while his hands tore at his exposed skin and throat.
My heart squeezed and panic flooded me. I didn’t know what to do or how to help Ryder.
I felt Persephone’s absence as she threw herself on Hades. Medusa was at her side a moment later. The two females let out battle cries of revenge and attacked whatever was left of the god of the Underworld.
I didn’t let myself look. I couldn’t handle this place for another second.
With whatever strength I had left, I pulled at Ryder. Small bits of clarity reached his addled mind and he struggled to help me drag his limp body the rest of the way to freedom. By the time we reached the mouth of the tunnel, we both had to crawl on the ground, escaping inch by slow inch.
As soon as fresh air covered our bodies, I threw myself on him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and sobbed into his chest. His arms enclosed me weakly as his body adjusted to life, tobeing aliveagain.
We lay like that for a very long time. Gravel and sharp rocks dug into our backs and exposed skin; our cuts and bruises stung and pulsed with pain. But neither of us noticed. It was more important to let our hearts press against each other and beat in tandem than worry about our physical needs or whatever else this mountain had in store for us.
Stars blinked down at us while we held each other in front of death’s door. The crazed adrenaline that fueled me through that ordeal drained away and exhaustion took over. My heavy eyelids slipped closed and with Ryder’s steady breathing lifting his chest, I gave into the heaviness that pressed down on me.
I didn’t move again until the sun peaked over the mountain and light danced on my face. I blinked awake slowly at first, realizing how cold and sore I was. When realization of where we were reached my hazy mind, I jerked awake completely.
We hadn’t moved the entire night. Our bodies had stayed tangled together while we slept off our too-close call.
I lifted my head and rubbed my eyes until Ryder came into focus. He stirred, stretching at first, and then groaning as the sharp, painful reminders of our struggle twisted in his muscles and bones.
“We survived?” His eyes bulged wide and his voice croaked from underuse.
My voice was just as dry and throaty. “Apparently.” I looked around at the jagged cliffs rising on either side of us and then back at the dark cave we had barely survived. We were still in the heart of the mountain. Our path had yet to end and there was no way we would go back the way we came if it meant wandering through the Underworld for a second time. A shiver snaked down my spine and I pointed out the obvious, “This was probably the worst place to spend the night.”
I slowly sat up and rubbed at my sore neck. My arms, heavy with lack of good blood flow, moved sluggishly while I waited for feeling to return.
“Or the best,” Ryder mumbled. He sat up too, wincing with the effort. “Seriously, who would look for us here?”
I craned my neck back to peer at the sky, squeezed between two spiky overhangs. Ryder had a point. With Nix inhabiting Olympus, I couldn’t trust Hermes to keep me safe. There was nothing to keep me protected from Nix now that he found me.
Not that last night had been easy, and truthfully we nearly hadn’t survived, but it had been Nix free. So bonus points to the Underworld.
Plus, Hades was out of our hair for the foreseeable future.
He was out of everyone’s hair for the foreseeable future. I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of consequences his death would cause.
I shuddered, remembering how brutally Hades had met his demise. Was it truly the end for him? Was it possible for him to survive something so gruesome?
As far as I knew, the only way a god could be killed was by another god or the god-killer, a deadly, ancient sword my mother once possessed.
Persephone had been the only one able to end Crete’s life. Had she? Or had she damned him to suffer the same eternal emptiness he had forced on her?
I looked over at Ryder and felt the pressure release from my lungs. He was alive. He was still with me.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered in a rush of emotion.
His head cocked back in surprise. “For what?”
Tears wet my lashes as they slipped down my cheeks. “For leaving you. I’m sorry for… for… for leaving you in the hospital after Nix nearly killed you and for never calling or checking in. I’m s-sorry for not coming back sooner and for-” I stopped apologizing because emotion clogged my throat and I couldn’t speak beyond my racking sobs. I covered my face with my hands and let the burn of regret and embarrassment sear through me.
