Page 19

H ollyn paused her attack as Alek stepped out of the shadows. She was surprised to see him, but also horrified that she now had to worry about her uncle.

“It’s time to let Jasenya and Hollyn go and stop this insanity, brother.”

Hollyn registered what Alek had called Jesse.

Her Russian name was Jasenya, and the memory of that came back to Hollyn in that moment.

Grigori had called her Jasenya when he was upset with her, so Jesse had asked Hollyn to never use the name.

So much of her childhood was tainted by bad memories covered by the good people around her trying to protect her from the horrors.

Even now, as she caught sight of Kai, Natalia, and Coral, still hidden at the back of the room, Hollyn knew she needed to get a hold of her fear.

She was afraid of losing these people who meant something to her now, people who had become an integral part of her life.

How would she go on if anything happened to any of them?

Failure was just a lesson learned. If she gave herself up and agreed to give Grigori what he wanted, she might be able to bargain for the release of the people she cared about.

She stood up from behind the rocky outcropping where she’d stayed protected from Grigori’s assault.

“Here I am, Grigori! I’m all yours, if you let the rest of them go.”

Everyone turned their attention toward Hollyn, and she heard the protests.

Kai shouted, “No! Absolutely not!”

Coral’s quiet voice carried to Hollyn, “You can’t do that!”

“Don’t be stupid!” Natalia screamed.

Jesse continued to rant through the covering over her mouth, her gaze locked onto Hollyn.

“You’re willing to sacrifice your freedom for theirs?”

“Yes! I’ll hand myself over to you, but only if you let all of them go free.”

Grigori’s face folded into a wicked grin as he moved around the lava pools and made his way toward Hollyn.

He stopped a few feet away from her. “If you take all my playthings, how will I get tears from you?”

Hollyn lowered her face to the ground for a few heartbeats, and when she lifted it once more, tears flowed down her cheeks. “I’m in control now.” She wiped them away quickly. “So, what will it be? I come with you willingly or we continue to battle it out?”

From the look on his face, Grigori didn’t quite know what to make of this new version of Hollyn, and she liked it that way.

He seemed to be contemplating her offer, turning it over and over in his mind.

He was right not to trust her, but she wasn’t going to tell him that.

Instead, once everyone was safe, she’d show him what she could do now.

“Alright! Everyone, including the ones hiding in the shadows behind me must leave.”

Kai and the other two emerged and began making their way toward where Alek stood.

“Get Jesse down first,” Hollyn insisted.

With a wave of his hand, Grigori untied the rope secured on a hitch mounted to the cave wall. As she fell toward the bubbling lava, Hollyn shot blue energy to surround her and pulled her to safely land on solid ground. Hollyn threw an infuriated gaze toward Grigori.

He shrugged. “She betrayed me the most. It would have been a quicker death than she deserved, in my opinion.”

“You are beyond foul.” She couldn’t wait to give him exactly what he deserved.

As her would-be rescuers ran to her side, Hollyn embraced Kai, kissing him with all the love and passion she felt for him. She didn’t want this to be the last time she saw him, but if it was, she wanted him to know how much he meant to her.

“Thank you! You’ve given me a love I never thought I would have the fortune of finding. You have been amazing from the first moment I walked into your airplane hangar weeks ago. I can’t imagine this journey without you.”

Kai put some distance between them as he straightened his arms and held her by her shoulders. “I’m not leaving you now. Don’t get the wrong idea. I will be here by your side until this is all over.”

Hollyn smiled at him. He really was the ride-or-die she never thought she’d find, but she knew he needed to leave. She needed to face her father by herself.

“You have to go. This is the only way to finish it all. Somehow, I always knew it would end like this.”

Coral stepped up beside the couple. “You can’t be serious. Layla wouldn’t want this for you. She sacrificed her freedom for yours. You can’t give it up this easily.”

“Layla’s outside waiting for you all. She understood that without leverage, it’s just he and I, and I’m more powerful than he is. If you all stay, I’ll be too focused on keeping you safe.” Hollyn gave them all a confident smile. “Trust me, I got this.”

At that moment, the entire mountain shook once more with the strongest tremor yet. The pools of lava splashed higher, and they all ran for the exit.

Rocks began to rain down around them, and in the chaos, Hollyn lost sight of Grigori.

She thought to find him but opted to get everyone out safely instead.

She pushed them all toward the wide open cave entrance that she knew led to the outside, and as they got closer, it stood completely, blessedly unblocked.

Through the opening, in the dim and dying sunlight, she spied the familiar large figures of Poseidon, Triton, and Polyphemus motioning for them to run out.

She also saw her mother, Uma, Oleen, Makoa, and Akamu.

In the distance, she saw a fleet of helicopters, clearly there to take them all away from the impending eruption and to safety.

As everyone continued toward the dimmed light, no doubt hampered by the smoke now billowing out of the mouth of the volcano, Hollyn veered away and began to back toward the inner chambers of the mountain. She had to find Grigori and finish this for good.