Page 112 of Hero Worship

“No. Not too far.”

My teeth hurt already. Thepushfrom the gates is almost unbearable. It wants us in here, but it can only have me.

I smile at her like it’s a game. The kitten mewls. Conor huffs and gets to his feet.

“Ready? Set?”

“Go!” she shouts, and races through.

The stone room seems longer than before. I run at a dead sprint, and Daisy’s right there, right with me, her hand in mine. She laughs out loud, and her voice is half and half.

I need her power to make it to the other side.

To that door on the other side.

Conor runs like he’s a puppy, sprinting and sprinting, and claws dig into my shoulders. The pull of the gates is alive. It rips at my shirt, but I don’t stop. I don’t stop for anything.

“Oh!” Daisy gasps, and her hand gets smaller in mine. “Hercules—”

“Not much farther. Come on.”

I move my hand to her elbow and bring her with me. The stone underneath us starts to crack, dark pushing through it like weeds.Not a seizure. Not now.

Twenty feet to go.

“Hercules.”

Ten.

“There’s nothing there!”

“There is. There is. You can’t see it yet.”

Five.

I can see it. The outline of a door.

We’re two steps away when the handle materializes. A black doorknob, made from the same stone as the floor. I wrench it open while the gates try to take my hair out. While that power wraps around my ankles tight enough to crush them. Too fucking bad. I’ve survived worse than this, and I’ll get her through if it’s the last thing I do. The pull takes my right wrist andyanks, my shoulder collapsing, and I push the doorway open with my left hand and shove Daisy through. Conor bolts across after her.

This is the only thing I’ve ever needed to be strong for. This is why I had to make it. To keep living when I wanted to die.

This.

I don’t want her to go, but I want her tolive. I can’t argue with that. Peace settles in my chest, even as the gates ramp up.

It feels like a tornado. Like hands made from shrapnel grabbing at my arms and legs. Daisy stares up at me, herself again, lips parted in shock.

“Hercules,no.”

I tip the kitten into her arms. It’s so easy. It takes almost nothing. None of my strength. None of my pain. It’s the easiest trade I’ve ever made.

“I love you,” I tell her.

I got you out. Don’t worry about me. This is what I’ve always wanted, and I did it for you. Live. Live. Live.

And then it’s like falling out of the sky. I couldn’t change gravity, and I can’t stop the pull. It whips me off my feet, stone ceiling rushing overhead. I hit the threshold and it feels like glass shattering.

I tumble out into the wide, green field and roll until I come to a stop.

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