course, I was upset. He was just an idiot. I forced myself to look at the boy with whom I’d been obsessed for what seemed like forever. The boy I couldn’t seem to let go. Yet, he certainly had no problem letting go of me. I said in a measured tone, “Exactly when did I not bend over backwards to help you?”
“I-I…” Matt faltered.
“Apparently, she’s not upset,” Vane said dryly.
“How long do we have to figure out all this end-of-the-world stuff by?” Grey asked. “I missed that part of the meeting.”
“So did I.” Vane’s gaze flickered over me. He answered Grey, “Recall, if you will, on Aegae, the Lady said the longest day of the sun. We have until the summer solstice.”
Matt looked at his brother in dismay. “You figured that out?”
Vane’s lips curved up. “Afraid?”
Grey took out his cell phone and thumbed the screen. “It’s another month until the solstice. A week and a half after the end of school.”
I touched my bandages. Would I be ready?
Vane picked up my hospital chart, flipping through it. “Your vitals are good. The doctors say you’re healing well. You’ll be able to walk with a crutch in a few days, I suspect.”
I stared at him. “You can read a hospital chart?”
He arched a brow. “I’m a genius and have divine powers.”
“Stolen divine powers,” Matt muttered.
Vane ignored him. “The last bit about the crutch is in the nurse’s notes on her computer. You’ll be ready, if you want to be.”
“I have to be,” I answered flatly.
Outside, the sun shone down with serenity. The giver of life, it was a thing to be taken for granted. Soon, though, it would become the taker of life, a thing to be feared. I lay back on the bed as a rush of fatigue overtook me. I glanced at the motley group. “Now, if you’ve got what you wanted, can you get out and leave me alone?”
“I haven’t,” Vane said. The hairs on the back of my neck rose at the edge in his tone, but he wasn’t looking at me. “Give her back the amulet, Merlin.”
Reflexively my hand tightened. I hadn’t realized I’d dropped it. And lost it.
“You have it on you. I feel it. If you’d prefer, I can take it,” Vane said.
With a grimace, Matt took out a handkerchief from his pocket. He unwrapped the sides of the handkerchief to reveal the Dragon’s Eye. For the first time, I got a good look at the necklace. Vane had done something to it in the hallway. A fissure ran down the gemstone. The fissure was a jagged green. Vane snatched the necklace away. He held it out to me. “Put it on.”
I recoiled at the heavy-handed command. My bandages seemed to tighten around me at the thought of being tied to the Minotaur.
Matt read my resistance easily. He said with satisfaction, “She doesn’t want it.”
“Leave her alone, Vane—” Grey started to say.
Green flashed in the room. Everyone, except Vane and I, slumped to the floor.
I gaped at the sleeping bodies. “What are you doing?”
In a velvety voice encased in ice, Vane said, “Do you know how easy it would be to kill everyone in this room? Everyone in this hospital, if you don’t cooperate?”
“And I would hate you. Is that what you want? I’m so done with being ordered around by you and Matt. Get it through your head. You. Can’t. Force. Me.”
His fingers tightened on the necklace. “Then, put it on because I’m asking you.”
His voice, sweet as honey, lulled my tongue into forming the word “yes.” I resisted the pull. “Why?”
“This is what saved you, Ryan. It saved you in that hell with Rawana. It saved you from the Kronos Eye. You were right to not to take it off in Greece when I asked you.” He said hesitatingly, “Now, I’m asking the opposite—just put it back on.”
It was a mistake to trust him, yet I couldn’t look away from him. I was the captured bird. We both knew he wasn’t really giving me a choice. I took a breath. “No games?”
“No games.” He held out the necklace.
I pushed. “If I take it, will you leave?”
He sighed. “For now.”
I took it and fumbled with the clasp for several seconds, until finally the chain snapped in place. Vane watched me with patience. As soon as the amulet settled on my skin, he touched the chain. A small breeze blew around my neck. The gemstone glowed green as he commanded, “Arudh.”