“Understand this clearly, Ryan. Vane is not to be trusted. He will do what it takes to save himself. He always has. If that happens to be what we need to do, then all is good. If it doesn’t, then we’re going to be the ones left paying the price of whatever he does.” He pointed at the door, in the direction of the funeral pyre. “Destruction follows him like a plague. Whatever his choices might be, I assure you they will not be the right ones.”
“Like yours would be. I’m so glad you’re here to save us from ourselves.” Taking a few steps, I moved away from him. “You might be upset that I sacrificed your powers, but that’s not what’s making you so angry. You’re furious because you have no idea what to do next. For the first time in your life, you’re going to have to learn to live without a safety net.”
Matt sighed. “This isn’t about me, Ryan. This is about you. You’ve got to do better.”
Gia added softly, “I agree with Merlin.”
I reeled back from her words as if she slapped me.
“You shouldn’t have sacrificed his magic. We lost too much today.” Red-rimmed eyes faced me, but I couldn’t meet them. My legs, suddenly weak and rubbery, forced me to sit down.
Grey frowned. “Blake wasn’t her fault.”
“No, Grey,” I said. “They’re right. It is my fault.”
Without looking at anyone, I grabbed the bag on the table and pushed myself up. Feeling about a hundred years old, I walked slowly into the courtyard. Outside, the sky was colored in ominous hues of purple and dark grey. I could have marveled at its majesty, but all I could focus on was how glad I should feel to even see the clouds… thrilled to see another day… because of Vane. And yet… what he’d done… He was destruction personified.
I put my fisted hand into my mouth and bit down on it. Doubt, an ugly disease, bore down on me. Every insecurity I ever had about being the sword-bearer rushed back. Who was I to make any decisions? But in truth—there was no one else. When Matt and Vane locked horns, they couldn’t see past themselves.
I took a ragged breath. I had to hold onto the one truth I knew.
I was the sword-bearer. The burden belonged to me.
My hand pressed down on the side of the fabric bag slung across my chest. Inside was the snake from Medusa’s head, a slim bronze artifact about a foot in length. Unbeknownst to me, Matt put it in the bag when Hari picked us up from the airport. The Medusa snake had been in the car the whole time we were up on the rooftop.
Medusa was a Gorgon, who was either seduced or raped by Poseidon, the same god whose power Vane now possessed. Athena, the goddess of knowledge, caught them in the act inside her temple and cursed the poor maiden. Later, after being beheaded by Perseus, Medusa’s blood was saved and bottled. Thousands of years later, we found the blood in Athens. The blood held mystical properties and led us to the mermaids. The mermaids—one of the many secrets the sea kept to herself. I looked at the ugly, black scars on my arm. I got them during my last encounter with the snake, and I’d have them forever.
Biting my lip, I took the bronze squiggly metal out of the bag.
Matt ran down two short steps into the courtyard. “Ryan, what are you doing?”
Probably making another dumb decision. Taking out the snake topper, I saw he’d been right, only a few drops of blood remained inside.
Matt rushed to me. “Ryan!”
He wasn’t fast enough. I put the metal snake to my lips and took a swallow. The last drops of the thick liquid burned as it descended my throat. My eyes watered. I barely felt Matt snatching the snake from my hands. I clutched my throat as I choked and coughed. The blood went down like rotten, maggoty meat. Gagging on it, I spat it back out. And then, spat some more.
I seriously lost respect for all those movies where vampires drank the stuff like sweet nectar. Ambrosia? It wasn’t. Matt thumped my back.
I coughed again. “That is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever tasted.”
Grey hurried out of the house toward me. A furious expression contorted his face as he barked, “Have you lost your mind? You almost died last time!”
I scowled back. “I had to try.”
Matt said, “It didn’t work.”
“The