Page 138 of Thief of Hearts

“Why isn’t it coming over here to get us?”

“The tops of the rocks.” He pointed up. “They’re all jagged.”

“And it’s worried about hurting itself.” And although I wasn’t ever the person with a plan, one occurred to me.

“Do we have to cut off the heads?” I asked. “Is that the only way to stop it?”

“That’s the only way I’ve ever read of it being done.”

I was going to take that as a no. If the hydra bled, then it could be killed in all sorts of ways. I reached into my bag and pulled out the rope of Phrygia, looping it over my shoulder. “I’m going to need you to run out there and distract it.”

“You do realize that I am too handsome to be bait, don’t you?” He stood. “But if that’s what you need . . .”

He ran toward the hydra, making noise. I moved as quietly as I could so that I could sneak up on the opposite side.

And despite what was happening, I found myself stopping to watch him. When I was a little girl, there had been a woman in the village who had come from Sasania, and she’d had a pet monkey that ate from her hand. The monkey loved to be outside, swinging from tree to tree, bouncing between different locations.

That was what Zain looked like now. The heads couldn’t keep track of him because he moved so quickly, never staying in one spot for long.

When the middle head prepared to spit, he ran so that the acid would hit one of the other heads instead of him. The burned head screamed out in pain and the hydra shook. I wrapped the rope around one of its legs and then drew it over to another, tying it off.

“Zain!” I called out.

And without me needing to explain what had to be done, he ran over, grabbed the end of the rope, and tied it to a rock.

While avoiding all the heads that tried to bite him.

“Go toward the barriers!” I yelled.

He ran and the hydra moved forward to give chase, not realizing what I had done. The rope went taut, drawing the legs together and forcing them to buckle. The hydra screamed as it went down, rolling to one side like I’d hoped.

I took my sword out and stabbed it down into the hydra’s underbelly. I backed up quickly to make the cut deep and to drag it all the way across its body, cutting through muscle and sinew as I went.

The most disgusting entrails slipped out and I backed up to avoid them.

As it bled out, the hydra heads began to fall, one by one, until only the middle one was left. It gave a weak protest, and then it too fell to the ground.

There was a loud grinding noise and the metal door swung open for us. Relief flooded into my gut and I quickly untied the rope from the hydra while Zain undid the end on the rock, which only he could remove because he’d tied it.

He brought it over and then picked me up in a hug. “You did it!”

“We did it. That was a joint effort.”

“At any point have you thought that maybe this isn’t worth it?” he asked.

I supposed I was going to extraordinary lengths to help those Thracian girls. “If this saves even one life, it’s worth it. And if we don’t retrieve the caduceus, Actos will send someone else to get it. Eventually he’ll find someone who will succeed. When we give it to him, then we’ll know for certain he has it, which will make it easier to get it back.”

Zain nodded, agreeing with me.

I glanced at the dead monster. “It’s not going to suddenly grow two more sets of internal organs, is it?”

“I don’t think so.”

That wasn’t a no. “We should leave.”

“Agreed.” He took me by the hand and we rushed for the open door, ending up in another hallway.

It again narrowed, forcing us to walk one at a time. The blue light from the hydra room faded, leaving us in the dark. Zain insisted on taking the lead and I heard him repeatedly losing his footing as he walked across smooth shale. I kept my hands on the walls, using them to balance.