The name was drowned out by an older one, screamed in terror.
Aggie!
Wren wasn't scared for herself. That terror was all for me. I remembered it so vividly. Her hair—a bright red flag against the pale sea, waving about like a banner of war. She looked incredible, even with that fear etched on her face. Because beneath it was bravery—bravery born of love. Seeing her like that had changed me. Something shifted. Clicked into place. I saw the greatness in humans. In love. And I wanted it. But I knew I would never have that. The closest I'd come wasprotecting what Wren had. So, that's what I would do. I was going to make sure my girl got to her man.
“Salina?” Cyrus's voice slid through my memory and wrapped around me like a blanket.
My throat unclenched and I found that I could speak again. “She looked so small.” The scene continued to unfold in my head, the words to describe it falling from my numb lips. “And I knew she needed me. So, I picked up a piece of coral and I threw it at one of the hydra heads.”
“Holy fuck,” Lex whispered.
“That got its attention. But Wren didn't move. So I told her to run. She ran. But one of those damn heads lowered across her path. I had to do something more drastic. If I didn't, my girl was going to die. So, I got on the bridge.”
“No,” Jake said, as if he could change the past.
“Yup. I went on that bridge and shouted at the hydra. 'Hey, asshole! Look at me, I'm going on the bridge,' I said. Or something like that.” I shrugged, acting as if I didn't know, word for word, what was said in those last moments of my soul's life.
“Oh, fuck me.” Lex's hands clenched into fists.
“What happened next?” Cyrus asked.
I finally focused on them and the memory's claws withdrew a little from my mind. “I was fast.” I grinned, but it felt shaky. “I danced across that bridge, those heads coming down around me, smacking the crystal.” I twitched. “I can still hear the sound of it. Like a gong. Ringing hollowly.” I cleared my throat. “I distracted the monster while Wren ran. She was almost there.” Again, the emotions hit, but this time it wasn'tabout Wren. It was about me. Fear but also love. I loved Wren enough to give up everything for her. And I felt the full force of that love again as I spoke. “Then my luck ran out. The hydra got me. It bit my leg and pulled me off the bridge. I remember dangling above blue water. It was so clear that when my blood hit the water, it made these pretty swirls,” I trailed off, lost for a second, and then felt Lex's hand on mine. I blinked. Refocused. Looked up at him.
His steady gaze helped me continue.
I wet my lips. “She called my name.”
Aggie!Wren's scream tore through my mind. She turned back for me. The dumbass was going to waste my sacrifice.
Lex squeezed my hand.
“I told her to live well for me. Wren told me she loved me. She was crying.” I swiped at my face, realizing that I was crying in the present. Shit. I hate crying for real. Tears should be hidden or faked. After dashing away the damn things, I said, “She would have come back for me. She started to. But another head bit my arm, and I screamed at her to run. It's the last thing I remember before I woke up in the Blessed Isles.”
“Aw, cher.” Cyrus handed me a handkerchief. “That really is an awesome thing. You won a place in the Blessed Isles because you sacrificed yourself for someone you loved. There's no greater act than that.”
“I thought you were being, well, arrogant when you said you and Wren were friends.” Lex rubbed my upper arm. “I couldn't see how a soul could be friends with the person they possessed. But you really did love each other.”
“Still do,” I whispered and dabbed at my face. “I told you. We're tight. She's my girl.”
With a growl, Jake pulled me into an embrace. “You did well. I'm proud of you.”
What a thing to say. That was arrogant, wasn't it? Who was he to be proud of me? And yet, they lodged deep inside my heart, those gruff words. They didn't feel arrogant. They felt nice. It was very nice to know that someone was proud of something I'd done.
So, I nuzzled in against Jake, both of us sighing, and dried my tears with Cyrus's handkerchief. Those last few moments of my previous soul-life had been harrowing. With my physical body, I could truly feel the emotions tied to those moments, and I didn't like it one bit. The fear and the pain. The feeling of wasted lives. So much time down the toilet. Yeah, that's right. In those last moments, when I watched Wren make it across the bridge, I envied her. She had something worth being brave for. Someone worth dying for. Even better—worth living for. Did Ace and I have that in my past? If we had, I couldn't remember the feeling of it anymore, and I certainly hadn't remembered it in the Underworld, when I was being torn apart. You'd think that would have been the time to remember it.
Getting torn apart by a hydra should have been the end of me. If your soul dies, you don't get another shot. There's nothing to give a second chance to. But self-sacrifice is its own type of magic. The power of my act brought me back. Hades probably assumed it was his magic, but I'm not so sure. I think some things are beyond even the Gods' control. Great love and great sacrifice are among them. Singly, they're impressive, but together, they're enough to bring a sundered soul back to life.
“Salina?”
I flinched upright, shoving off Jake's chest with a ridiculous feeling of guilt. After all, Ace was playing me. I shouldn't have felt guilty to be caught canoodling with another man. And I wasn't even doing anything. But there was something between Ace and me. My soul felt a debt to his. Did I love him? I must have back then, but it wasn't love now. Not yet. It needed more time, possibly to remember. Refresh. And we wouldn't have that time unless I killed Silas.
“Ace?” I looked up to find him on the sidewalk, as close to our table as the waist-high divider allowed him to get.
Ace looked amazing, of course. It was as if the sunlight followed him, creating a halo. Ugh. How perfect since he was now a part of the Host. Had Silas told Ace he was a god? Had he lured him over to the dark side by convincing him the Hounds were evil? Maybe Ace thought he was fighting a holy war—a soldier on the side of good.
It's all about perspective.
All three hounds started to growl, snapping Ace and me out of our staring contest. With wide eyes, I looked at the hounds, amazed that they were doing something so abnormal in front of Ace.
