Chapter Twenty
I stayed in the library until closing time, searching through the computer databases, but I didn’t find any books or artifacts about breaking curses.
I would have stayed even later, but the librarians rounded up all the students and made us leave before locking the doors behind us. Frustration filled me, even though I knew that the improved security measures were Takeda’s doing and that they were for the best to protect everything inside the library. But I had no choice but to go home for the night.
Despite everything that had happened with Lance, Drake, and the Reapers, the next few days were surprisingly normal. Well, as normal as they could be considering the fact that I kept wondering if everyone around me was a Reaper and spying on me for the mysterious Sisyphus. But that was just life at Mythos Academy.
I went about my routine as though everything was fine. Morning classes, lunch with the others in the dining hall, afternoon classes, then prepping for the mission with everyone in the Bunker. As the days passed, I realized that everything really was fine. Well, except for Babs’s curse, which I spent every night researching in the library, although I didn’t have any luck finding anything to help the sword or keep me from dying. But that was the only black spot in my days.
I’d had more fun hanging out with Ian, Zoe, and Mateo this past week than I’d had since my parents were exposed as Reapers. Even Takeda, with his annoyingly calm demeanor and love of classical music, was slowly growing on me. Plus, being on the Midgard gave me a sense of purpose, like I was making a difference, like my actions would protect people. But most of all, being on the team made me feel like I was my own person—and not just the despised daughter of murdered Reaper assassins.
I was going to be so sad when we finished the mission and they all went back to their regular lives in New York. But I tried not to think about it too much, and before I knew it, it was the day of the Fall Costume Ball.
Takeda had told Linus Quinn what we thought the Reapers were up to, and Linus had decided to let the ball take place as planned, since it was the Protectorate’s best chance to capture Sisyphus and put a stop to this new brewing war with the Reapers. So on Saturday afternoon, I was in the Bunker, going over our final strategy to catch Lance, Drake, and Sisyphus at the museum tonight.
Mateo hit some buttons on his laptop, and photos of the inside of the Cormac Museum popped up on the wall monitors. I stifled a groan. They were the exact same photos we’d been studying for days now, and I had stared at them for so long that I’d started seeing them in my sleep.
Takeda stood in his usual spot at the head of the briefing table. “As you know, the safety of the Mythos students is our top priority tonight, even above capturing Lance, Drake, and any other Reapers who might be there. Dozens of Protectorate guards will be hidden throughout the grounds, and others will be patrolling inside the museum, dressed in costumes like all the other regular academy chaperones.”
Photos flashed by of all the Protectorate guards. I knew their faces as well as I knew the inside of the museum now.
“I will be attending the ball as a chaperone, while the four of you go in as regular students,” Takeda continued. “Your job is to mix and mingle and keep an eye out for Lance, Drake, or anyone you think might be Sisyphus. The second you spot one of them, you will let me know on comms, and the Protectorate guards will move in. The four of you can observe the Reapers, but you are not to engage them unless absolutely necessary. Let the guards do their jobs. Okay?”
“Okay,” we all murmured back to him, although Ian’s response was a little slow and surly.
I looked at Ian, who was staring at the monitor. His face was calm, but a muscle ticked in his jaw, and his hand slowly curled into a fist on top of the table. We hadn’t talked much since that night at the Eir Ruins, but it was obvious that Ian wanted to confront Drake at the museum. I would have felt the same way if my parents were going to be there. I wondered if the Viking would be able to stop himself from charging after his brother.
I’d find out tonight.
We reviewed a few final details, then split up and went our separate ways to get ready. Like it or not, this was a costume ball, and we would be far too obvious if we didn’t dress up. Ian, Mateo, and Takeda had gotten their costumes from a shop in Snowline Ridge, but Zoe was creating her own. The Valkyrie liked making clothes as much as she liked inventing gadgets, and she’d spent the last few days designing and sewing.
I had been planning to wear an old green party dress, along with a cheap plastic tiara, for a quick and easy princess costume, but Zoe was horrified by my lack of imagination, and she insisted on giving my costume a serious upgrade. I told her I was fine being a generic princess and that she shouldn’t go to so much trouble, but she was determined to work her creative magic on me. I’d tried to sneak into her dorm room to see what she was doing, but Zoe wouldn’t let me in, saying she wanted our costumes to be a surprise.
An hour later, a knock sounded on my bedroom door, and Aunt Rachel stepped inside. She was attending the ball tonight as a chaperone, although she was really going to help Takeda and keep an eye out for the Reapers.
Aunt Rachel was wearing a long dark blue dress with a poofy tulle skirt and silver heels. Tiny silver sequins sparkled all over her dress, and she was carrying a long silver wand with a large star on the end. Her black hair was pulled back into an elegant bun, and a small silver tiara perched on her head.
I got up from the bed, went over, and hugged her. “You look like the perfect fairy godmother.”
“Thanks, Rory.” Aunt Rachel hugged me back. “Now it’s your turn to get ready. Zoe’s here.”
She stepped aside, and the Valkyrie sashayed into my bedroom.
Zoe had gone all out, transforming herself into a beautiful mermaid. Her strapless dress had a tight-fitted bodice made of bright teal-blue sequined leather panels that had been draped over each other and stitched together to look like fish scales. More of those scalelike panels dotted the long, flowing skirt, which curled up and tapered to two points, just like a mermaid’s tail.
The teal-blue scales brought out the Valkyrie’s lovely mocha skin, along with her wavy black hair. Teal shadow and liner emphasized her hazel eyes, and she’d painted her lips a deep, dark fuchsia. A pearl choker ringed her throat, while stacks of pearl bracelets shimmered on her wrists. Her electrodagger was holstered to her thin silver belt, which was also studded with pearls.
“You look amazing,” I said.
Zoe grinned, glanced at herself in the mirror in the corner, and fluffed out her hair. “Yeah, I totally do. Now, Cinderella, it’s your turn.”
“That almost sounds frightening, when you say it like that,” I joked.
Her grin widened. “You have no idea, Spartan. No idea at all. Now, sit down, and let’s get started.”
* * *
Thirty minutes later, I was wishing I’d gone with my original princess costume, but there was no denying the will of Zoe Wayland. I fidgeted in my chair, but Zoe put her hand on my shoulder and yanked me back into place, dabbing a little more gloss on my lips. She was a bit of a perfectionist.
“Are you done yet?” I groused. “If you keep messing with my makeup, we’re going to miss the entire ball.”
Zoe rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I know you’re all eager to get to the museum so you can capture the bad guys, but there’s nothing that says you can’t look fabulous while you’re kicking ass. Now, is there?”
I opened my mouth to snark back at her, but Zoe used the opportunity to dab even more gloss on my lips.
Two minutes and tons of lip gloss later, Zoe finally nodded with satisfaction, capped the tube, and tossed it on top of my vanity table. Then she grabbed my hands and pulled me to my feet.
“I’m finished, and I have once again outdone myself. Voilà!”
She grabbed my shoulders and spun me around so I could look at myself in the full-length mirror. I gasped. Zoe had kept her promise to completely transform me. I wasn’t plain old Rory Forseti anymore. I was something more than that—Cinderella and then some.
Zoe had taken my light green satin party dress, cut it into pieces, and braided it together with a beautiful emerald-green leather, creating a tight-fitted bodice with cute cap sleeves and a sweetheart neckline. Zoe rapped her knuckles on the tough but flexible leather covering my chest and stomach, then on her own mermaid scales. The solid thwacks rang out through my bedroom.
“My version of armor.” She grinned. “Just what every warrior girl needs for a night out hunting Reapers.”
I grinned back at her. “Absolutely.”
Zoe had also stitched long strips of the leather together with more pieces of my satin dress, then draped everything over a layer of black crinoline to create the gown’s poofy ballerina skirt, which fluttered down to my knees. A wide black leather belt studded with dark green heart-shaped stones circled my waist, so I could carry Babs with me to the ball, while a pair of sparkly black sandals covered my feet.
“The flowing skirt gives you great range of motion, you’ve got your sword on your belt, and you can actually run and fight in those shoes,” Zoe continued.
I smoothed down the skirt. “And my hair and makeup? Anything special about that?”
She grinned again. “Fun and functional like everything else.”
Zoe had pulled my black hair up into a high ponytail and fastened it with a clip that featured the same heart-shaped stones as my belt. She’d painted my green eyes with a dark, smoky shadow and added a scarlet gloss to my lips. My only jewelry was my silver charm bracelet and heart locket, which dangled from my right wrist like usual.
“All put together, I call this look Spartan Princess,” Zoe said, a smug tone in her voice.
I stared at myself in the mirror again. She was right. I did look like a Spartan princess, a fierce warrior straight from the pages of some old myth-history book. More than that, I felt strong, like an ordinary person turned into someone extraordinary.
“I agree,” Babs called out from her perch in a nearby chair. “You look fantastic, Rory. Absolutely fantastic. You too, Zoe.”
I smiled at the sword and stared at myself in the mirror again. So many emotions welled up in my chest. Surprise, pleasure, pride, gratitude. But the strongest one was happiness—pure, genuine happiness that Zoe was my friend and that she’d taken the time to make me such an amazing costume.
“I don’t know how or when, but one day, I will find a way to pay you back for this,” I said. “Thank you. Thank you so much!”
I turned around and hugged her tight. Zoe seemed startled by my show of affection, but her arms crept up, and she hugged me back just as tightly, making blue sparks of magic crackle in the air all around us.
“You’re welcome,” she said, drawing back. “Now, what do you say we go meet up with the others and catch some Reapers?”
I grinned back at her. “I’d say that sounds like the perfect night.”
Zoe left my bedroom to text Takeda and tell him we were heading to the gym parking lot. I looked at myself in the mirror again, still amazed by the terrific costume, then went over to grab Babs from her chair. To my surprise, a tear welled up in the sword’s green eye before slowly streaking down her metal cheek.
“Babs? What’s wrong?”
I grabbed a tissue from a box on the vanity table and dabbed the tear off her blade, but the sword sniffled, and another tear streaked down her half of a face.
“You look so wonderful, Rory. I can’t stand it! I just can’t stand it!” She let out a loud wail.
“Shh, shh. There’s no reason to cry.”
“There is every reason to cry.” Babs’s voice trembled with grief. “You’re such a brave, strong, lovely girl. You’re the best warrior I’ve ever had. And I’m going to ruin everything, just like I always do.”
“What do you mean?”
She stared at me, her face completely serious. “Tonight will be the third and final battle you carry me into.”
“I know. Believe me, I know.”
With every day that passed, I had become a little more worried and a whole lot more desperate, especially since I hadn’t been able to find a single book or artifact in the library to help me break the curse. Now it was the night of the ball, and the battle with the Reapers was looming, which meant that I was out of time.
And that I was most likely going to die tonight.
Babs must have seen the dread on my face, because she sniffled again. “I’m so sorry. You don’t deserve such a gruesome fate. You didn’t ask to be saddled with my curse, but it’s going to kill you anyway. Unless…”
“Unless what?”
She gave me a hopeful look. “Unless you forget about the costume ball and stay here tonight. The Reapers won’t be content with just stealing artifacts. They’ll attack sooner or later. You know they will. Your only chance to survive is to stay here, Rory. Stay here where it’s safe. Please. Please do that for yourself. And for me too. I couldn’t stand it if you died the way all my other warriors have.”
I wiped the second tear off her blade, giving myself time to think. I didn’t want to die, and fear, worry, and dread filled my heart at the thought that Babs was right. That her curse would get me killed tonight, no matter what I did or how well I fought against the Reapers. I’d trained for years to become a warrior, and it wasn’t fair that all my hard work had been for nothing. It just wasn’t fair that the battle was rigged and that the outcome—my death—had already been predetermined.
Did I really want to go through with this? Did I really want to die trying to stop Reapers from stealing artifacts and hurting a bunch of kids who all hated me? The other Mythos students wouldn’t care about any sacrifice I might make for them, and they certainly wouldn’t miss me if I was killed tonight. No doubt the other kids would think that justice had finally been served and that I was finally paying for all the terrible things my parents had done.
Maybe they were right about that.
I thought about staying here, safe and sound in my bedroom, like Babs wanted. It would be so easy to do that. I hadn’t wanted the others to worry, so I hadn’t told anyone else about Babs’s curse, but no one would blame me for not going on the mission if I told them about the danger. Aunt Rachel would demand that I stay here and would probably lock me in my room to make sure that happened. Yes, it would be so simple, easy, and safe to stay home and pretend nothing was going on.
I had opened my mouth to tell Babs that I would do as she asked, that I would stay here, when my gaze fell to the charm bracelet on my wrist. The silver heart locket brushed against my skin, and I thought of my parents.
Ever since I’d learned the truth about them, I had been searching for a way to make up for their past mistakes, to right some of the wrongs they’d committed as Reapers, to make things better for everyone. And I had made a difference. I’d helped Gwen find the Chloris ambrosia flowers that had saved Nickamedes, and I’d fought alongside her and her friends during the Battle of Mythos Academy. I hadn’t been the ultimate hero like Gwen that day, but I’d fought and raged and bled right alongside everyone else.
Those things had given me a sense of purpose that I’d been lacking ever since I learned about my parents. More than that, they had made me happy—happy that I was finally using my Spartan fighting skills to help and protect people the way I’d always dreamed of doing.
In that moment, I realized that if I gave in to Babs’s wishes, if I stayed here where it was safe, I would regret it. I would regret not fighting against the Reapers. But even more than that, I didn’t want to be the girl who stayed safe at home while other people risked their lives. Especially not when those people were my friends.
My parents had made their choice, and now I was making mine—even if it might result in my death.
I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Babs. But curse or not, this is something I have to do. I want justice for Amanda. She would still be alive if Lance hadn’t sicced that chimera on her in the library. Plus, I want to know why Lance tried to recruit me to become a Reaper and especially why Sisyphus is so interested in me. I have to go to the ball tonight, no matter what might happen to me. I hope you understand.”
She stared at me, misery filling her eye, and a third and final tear slowly streaked down her face. I gently wiped it away like I had the others.
“Besides,” I said, trying to make my voice strong and confident. “I’m not just any old warrior. I’m a Spartan, remember? We’re the best warriors around. I’ll be fine. You’ll see.”
“I hope you’re right, Rory,” Babs whispered. “I really hope you’re right.”
Her voice sounded soft, small, and depressingly sad, and I could tell she didn’t believe me. Truth be told, I didn’t believe myself either. I could take down Reapers with ease, but I had no idea how to fight a curse.
But it was my choice, and I was going to see this thing through—even if tonight might be the end of me.