Read Online Heart by Rachel Higginson - Free Book Online

not
why I’m here.”
    His dismissal of my intentions burned. “Okay,
then why are you here?”
    “Why did you come back? Phoenix said you’re
in trouble. Why would you come back here if you’re in trouble?”
    I let out a humorless laugh and plopped down
on the bed. “I’m always in trouble, Ryder. I thought you of all
people would know that.” He raised his eyebrows expectantly,
waiting for more. “I had a visitor the other night. Hermes came to
see me.”
    “Hermes? The god?”
    I shrugged a shoulder. It wasn’t all that
impressive. That sneaky bastard could pop up anywhere he wanted.
“He told me you were in trouble. I just wanted to see for
myself.”
    His eyebrows went even higher and he leaned
forward to clarify, “You thought I was in trouble so you came out
of hiding to check on me?”
    God, when he put it like that, after last
night, I felt like such an idiot. “Well, he said my mom and Honor
were in trouble too. I don’t really care about Ava.” Although I was
starting to wonder if that was still true. “But I’m worried about
Honor. I couldn’t get ahold of Smith and so I started to worry
Hermes was telling the truth. When I got here, I found out you were
okay, but Exie and Sloane are not .”
    “It was you the other morning.” He pointed an
accusatory finger at me. “The unknown caller.”
    “I wanted to know you were at least
alive.”
    He retracted his hand and stared at me
silently. I could see him working something out behind those gray
eyes, but I didn’t think I wanted to know what it was. Finally, in
a very smooth voice, he said, “I’m alive.”
    I pressed my lips together to keep from
smiling and agreed. “You are alive.”
    “So tell me about Exie and Sloane. What did
you find out?”
    “They’re gone. You were right. Nix took them
shortly after I left. I couldn’t find Exie’s mom, but Sloane’s told
me even she didn’t know where Nix had taken them.”
    Ryder’s expression turned very grim. “And
what did you find out about your mom?”
    “She’s gone too. Nix handed her over to the
Fates.”
    “Give it to me, Red. Tell me everything you
know.”
    I shook my head. “I don’t want to pull you
into this. I don’t even know what’s going on or how involved I am
yet. I don’t want to put you in danger again.”
    He stalked over to me, each footstep
punctuating his growing frustration. I cleared my throat nervously,
unsure what he wanted from me or why we needed to be so close.
    He might be super pissed at me, but I had
spent our separation convinced I stayed away because I loved him.
Nothing about my feelings for him had lessened. In fact, they might
have grown stronger. It didn’t seem fair because this was the first
polite conversation we’d had since the night Nix had nearly killed
him. This thing inside of me should have faded or lessened or done
anything but grow and burn and turn into this hot blaze inside of
me.
    He stood over me with his arms still crossed
and said, “That is not a decision you get to make. You can be a
martyr for your friends or for your mom or whomever else you deem
too weak to stand up for, but I am not that person, Ivy. I don’t
want you to fight my battles for me or choose how and when to keep
me out of danger. I decide when I want to get involved and when I
want to stay out of it. It has always been that way for me. Even
with you. Especially with you . So do me a favor and don’t
pull that bullshit anymore. When I ask you what is going on, either
tell me that you don’t want to say because you don’t want to say or tell me what’s going on. Don’t keep it from me because you
think you’re protecting me .”
    He said “protecting me” like it was a curse
word. But his rant had made some sense and forced me to examine my
motives for keeping everything a secret. When I was honest with
myself, I found that I wanted to tell him. I wanted to talk it out
and see if he could pick up on something I had missed.
    “Fine, Ryder.