The Heart by Rachel Higginson

Author:Rachel Higginson [Higginson, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2015-06-23T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

I forced myself to acknowledge Persephone for a second longer before I rushed to Ryder’s side. Instinct screamed that I should show the Queen of the Underworld respect now that she had assumed complete control, especially while she appeared beyond insane from the trauma of her imprisonment in the Underworld.

But I couldn’t. I couldn’t leave Ryder untouched for a moment longer. I had watched my world, my entire existence, implode and shatter into a million unfixable fragments when he fell over the veil. I had lost everything I had tried to protect and given up everything I was trying to accomplish.

I had died with him.

Now he was back. We had been given a second chance and I refused to be separated from him for a moment longer.

At my feet, he curled into a ball and coughed up blood. His body trembled violently, unable to recover from his brief encounter with the land of the dead. His lungs gasped for breath while his hands tore at his exposed skin and throat.

My heart squeezed and panic flooded me. I didn’t know what to do or how to help Ryder.

I felt Persephone’s absence as she threw herself on Hades. Medusa was at her side a moment later. The two females let out battle cries of revenge and attacked whatever was left of the god of the Underworld.

I didn’t let myself look. I couldn’t handle this place for another second.

With whatever strength I had left, I pulled at Ryder. Small bits of clarity reached his addled mind and he struggled to help me drag his limp body the rest of the way to freedom. By the time we reached the mouth of the tunnel, we both had to crawl on the ground, escaping inch by slow inch.

As soon as fresh air covered our bodies, I threw myself on him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and sobbed into his chest. His arms enclosed me weakly as his body adjusted to life, to being alive again.

We lay like that for a very long time. Gravel and sharp rocks dug into our backs and exposed skin; our cuts and bruises stung and pulsed with pain. But neither of us noticed. It was more important to let our hearts press against each other and beat in tandem than worry about our physical needs or whatever else this mountain had in store for us.

Stars blinked down at us while we held each other in front of death’s door. The crazed adrenaline that fueled me through that ordeal drained away and exhaustion took over. My heavy eyelids slipped closed and with Ryder’s steady breathing lifting his chest, I gave into the heaviness that pressed down on me.

I didn’t move again until the sun peaked over the mountain and light danced on my face. I blinked awake slowly at first, realizing how cold and sore I was. When realization of where we were reached my hazy mind, I jerked awake completely.

We hadn’t moved the entire night. Our bodies had stayed tangled together while we slept off our too-close call.

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