Chapter Twenty-Five
“Back! Back! Back!” I yelled.
Mateo and Zoe were standing in front of Ian and me. Mateo shoved Zoe behind him and backpedaled after her, but for once, he wasn’t quite quick enough, and the closest chimera swiped at him with one of its massive paws. The creature’s claws ripped deep into Mateo’s shoulder, making him scream and tumble to the floor. Blood spattered all over the white marble, and I couldn’t tell how seriously he was injured.
Zoe lashed out with her electrodagger, driving the chimera back. Ian dropped his ax and the jewelry box he’d been holding, darted forward, and used his Viking strength to grab Mateo and haul him to his feet. Ian put his arm under Mateo’s, getting blood all over his own clothes. Mateo grimaced, his mouth pinched tight with pain, but he shuffled back out of the way with Ian’s help.
“We have to get out of here!” Ian yelled.
He started dragging Mateo back toward the other archway, which was still open. Zoe and I covered their retreat, brandishing our weapons at the chimeras, but the creatures didn’t want to attack us. Not yet.
They wanted to play with us first.
The chimeras paced back and forth in front of the closed iron gate, arching their backs the way regular house cats would. They were working out the kinks, as though they’d been cooped up in that scepter and needed to stretch before they attacked us. I wondered if the creatures would eat us after they killed us, the way cats would dine on the mice they caught.
Because they were going to kill us.
Mateo couldn’t fight now, and Ian couldn’t set him down, or the chimeras would pounce on the injured guy first. Or worse, the chimeras would go ahead and pounce on both of them at the same time. Zoe was an okay fighter, but she was no match for the chimeras, not even with her electrodagger. She would go down next, and then I would be left all alone to face the creatures.
I might have taken out two chimeras in the Library of Antiquities and three more at Lance’s mansion, but I couldn’t fight seven of them at once. Sooner or later, one of the creatures would wound me, and then they would all move in for the kill at the same time.
I was a Spartan, so I knew the odds better than anyone else. We weren’t going to win this fight. The chimeras would make short work of us, and then they would head into the main part of the museum, leap over the second-floor balcony, and attack all the Mythos kids partying below—kids who had no idea how much danger they were in. Eventually, Takeda, Aunt Rachel, and the Protectorate guards would take down the chimeras but not before the creatures killed dozens of students.
It would be a massacre.
I couldn’t let that happen, but I didn’t know how to stop it either. My gaze darted around the rotunda, searching for something that would help us, but no weapons or armor were displayed in here, only paintings, carvings, jewelry, and small statues.
The chimeras finished their stretching and stalked toward Zoe and me. I risked a quick glance over my shoulder. Ian and Mateo were almost to the open archway, but they were moving slowly, and the chimeras could easily leap over Zoe and me and go after them at any moment.
Desperate, I looked around again, but I only saw the same things as before. Paintings, carvings, jewelry, statues, the iron gate hanging in the archway—
Wait a second. My head snapped back in that direction.
The gate.
Maybe I didn’t have to fight the chimeras. Maybe all I had to do was trap them in the rotunda. Even the chimeras couldn’t force their way through those heavy iron bars. The more I thought about it, the more sense it made. It would work. I knew it would work.
Until Mateo stumbled.
He must have been weak from the blood loss, because his legs sagged, and he would have crumpled to the floor if Ian hadn’t been holding on to him. Zoe looked back and forth between the two guys and the chimeras that were slowly creeping up on us. She didn’t know whether to stay here and fight with me or rush over and help Ian get Mateo out of the rotunda.
I knew what would happen next. I could see it all unspooling in my mind. If Zoe stayed here with me, we would both get mauled to death by the chimeras. If she helped Ian and Mateo, the three of them could get out of the rotunda to safety.
The only problem was that someone had to stay in here with the chimeras and slash through the rope in order to lower the gate and trap the creatures.
And that someone was going to be me.
“Go!” I yelled. “Help Ian and Mateo! I’ve got this!”
“But—” Zoe started.
“Go!” I yelled again, cutting her off. “I’ll be right behind you!”
I would be right behind her—I just wouldn’t be getting out of the rotunda alive.
Zoe nodded, whirled around, and rushed over to Ian with Mateo. She put her arm under Mateo’s other shoulder, and together she and Ian dragged the injured Roman toward the archway.
And not a moment too soon.
Two of the chimeras realized that their dinner was getting away, and they sprinted around me and went after my friends.
“Faster!” Ian called out, still dragging Mateo toward the archway. “Faster!”
With one hand, Zoe held on to Mateo, and with the other, she brandished her electrodagger at the creatures again. The electricity crackling on the blade made the chimeras stop short, but Zoe’s threat wouldn’t keep them at bay for long.
That left five chimeras standing in front of me. Once again, the creatures paced back and forth, their paws scorching the floor, noxious clouds of black smoke spewing out of their mouths. They were enjoying playing with me, so I decided to give them something to chase.
I lashed out with my sword, momentarily driving them back, then turned and ran in the other direction, heading toward the archway as fast as I could.
Mateo stumbled again, but this time, Ian and Zoe managed to backpedal completely out of the room. The three of them fell in a heap on the floor outside the rotunda.
The two chimeras in front of me growled and surged forward. Desperate to distract them, I stopped running, snatched a statue off its pedestal, and threw it at them. The statue hit one of the chimeras square in the back and broke apart into a hundred pieces.
“Hey!” I yelled, waving my hand in the air to get their attention. “Over here!”
The creature snarled and whipped around to face me. So did the second chimera right next to it. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the five other monsters creeping up on me as well. One chimera stepped on another’s paw, and they all started hissing at and jostling each other. They were jockeying for position, trying to decide which one was the alpha and would get to pounce on me first.
Since they weren’t going to attack me immediately, I slowly started backing away, trying to put as much distance as possible between myself and the creatures without them noticing. I also turned my sword around, so that I was holding Babs by her blade.
“Rory!” Babs yelled. “What are you doing?”
“Do you really think you’re cursed?”
She frowned. “What? Why are you asking me about that right now? You should be running, not talking!”
I brought her face up to mine so I could look her in the eye. “Do you really think you’re cursed? And that I’m destined to die here tonight?”
Babs blinked, and her face twisted into a miserable expression. For a moment, I thought she wasn’t going to answer me, but she finally did.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I do. I really do. I’m so sorry, Rory.”
I grinned back at her. “Well, then, if I’m going to die anyway, I might as well make it count, right?”
Her green eye narrowed, and I thought she would have nodded her half of a head if she could have. “Aye. A warrior’s death should always count for something.”
My grin widened. “I was hoping you would say that. Here we go.”
“What are you doing?”
Babs started to ask what my plan was, but I’d already turned the sword back around and grabbed her by the hilt again. I would need her sharp blade for this. The chimeras got tired of snapping at each other, and they all stalked toward me again, but I ignored them and sprinted forward, straight toward the archway.
Outside, Ian scrambled to his feet. “Rory! Look out! Behind you!”
I heard the scrape-scrape-scrape-scrape of claws on stone, and I knew that one of the chimeras was pouncing at me. But I kept going, still running toward the archway.
At the very last second, I lurched to the side, slamming into the wall instead of going through the opening. The chimera barely missed punching its claws into my back. It passed by so close that I felt its black fur brush along my arm.
The creature landed in a heap, right in the middle of the archway, and shook its head, dazed by the hard, unexpected fall. I didn’t hesitate. I slashed out with Babs, using the blade to cut through the rope that held up the iron gate.
Bang!
The gate dropped down, and all those iron spikes slammed right into the chimera’s body. The creature screamed in pain and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
I coughed and waved my hand in front of my face, and the burning smoke dissipated, revealing exactly how dire my situation was.
I was trapped in the rotunda with six chimeras and no way out.
* * *
The chimeras blinked and blinked, staring at the doorway where the other creature had died and then disappeared. The creatures looked confused, and it didn’t seem they were going to attack me right away.
Their confusion wouldn’t last long, though.
“Rory! Rory, where are you?” Ian called out.
I kept one eye on the chimeras and hurried over to the closed gate, peering through the bars at Ian, who was standing on the other side.
“Get out of there!” he said. “Open the gate! Hurry!”
I shook my head. “I cut the rope. I can’t get out.”
Ian’s gray gaze flicked past me to the chimeras, which had started pacing back and forth again, getting ready to attack me. Fear and horror filled his eyes, but those emotions quickly solidified into stubborn determination. The Viking wrapped his hands around the iron bars and braced himself.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Getting you out of there!” he yelled back. “Stand back!”
Ian strained and heaved and pushed up with all his might. He was strong, even for a Viking, and he actually managed to lift the gate one inch, then two, then three. Every muscle in his body clenched with the effort, his face went tomato-red, and all the veins stood out in his neck. But the gate was too heavy, even for him. A second later, his hands slipped off the iron bars, and the gate crashed back down to the floor.
I risked another glance over my shoulder. The chimeras had quit their pacing, and they were licking their chops. I had less than a minute before they all attacked me at once.
I straightened up to my full height. “You need to leave me. Go find Drake and stop him and Covington from getting away. Please, please do that for me.”
Ian shook his head. “No! I’m not leaving you, Rory. I have to find a way to get you out of there.”
I smiled at him. “It’s not your fault. This was my choice. I did what I had to in order to save you guys. I don’t regret that. Not for one second, and you shouldn’t either.”
Ian stared at me, anguish glimmering in his eyes. His gaze flicked past me to the chimeras, and his mouth hardened into a stubborn line. “I’m getting you out of there,” he repeated. “You are not going to die tonight, cupcake.”
I smiled at him again, then stepped forward and put my fingers on the gate. He wrapped his hand around mine, and the two of us stood there, holding hands despite the iron bars that separated us. I stared into his gray, gray eyes, marveling at the emotions sweeping through his gaze like storm clouds. Guilt. Grief. Concern. And a spark of something that made my heart do that funny little flutter in my chest.
“Good-bye, Ian.” I dropped my hand from his and stepped away from the gate.
“Rory!” he called out. “Rory!”
As much as I wanted to look back at him, I made myself turn toward the chimeras instead. I gripped Babs by her blade and held the sword up where I could see her face again.
“So this is my grand plan. Sacrifice myself so my friends can live. An oldie but a goodie. At least, I think it is. I hope you agree.”
This was what having a Spartan heart really meant to me, even if it had taken me a while to figure it out.
“I’m so proud of you, Rory,” Babs said, a tear streaking down her cheek, her green eye glowing as bright as an emerald in her silver hilt. “So very, very proud. It’s been an honor to serve you.”
“Just as it’s been an honor to wield you.” I bowed my head to her. “Now, let’s show these chimeras what a real fight looks like. What do you say?”
Babs’s mouth split into a wide grin. “Bring on the beasties! We’ll slay them all! Victory will be ours!”
She kept right on talking, each statement getting bolder and more outrageous than the last. I grinned the whole time, letting her words wash over me and fill me with confidence. I wasn’t going to survive the fight, but I was going to give the chimeras all they could handle—and then some.
With one thought, the chimeras licked their chops a final time and headed straight for me.
I grabbed Babs by the hilt, raised the sword high, and rushed forward to meet the monsters.