My rash flared into life. I ignored it, gritting my teeth and curling my fingers into my palms.
“Yeah, sorry,” I said, all nonchalant. “Paying attention would have cut in to my vacation time.” I gave in then, my nails tearing at what felt like fire ants biting their way up my forearms. “Are you kidding me?” I shouted. “What do you think I’ve been doing all this time?”
Hannah gave an infuriating shrug. “I have no idea.”
My heart thudded, achy. “Maybe that’s because you’re so wrapped up in Pierce that you can’t be bothered seeing what’s going on in other people’s lives.”
Hannah looked wounded for the briefest of moments. Then she came out swinging. “You act like you have no power to make any choices, but that’s
all
you have.”
I stepped toward her, blazing. “One time when I’ve done that. Tell me one.”
She came toward me, finger outstretched. “You let Felicia railroad you out of school.”
“I
let
her?”
Hannah poked me in the chest hard, shoving me back a step. “Yes. You just conceded to whatever she wanted instead of stepping up for the sake of the bigger picture. Probably did it with Kai, too.”
What does she know?
For once, I was in agreement with my Persephone voice.
I knocked Hannah’s finger away. “Big words coming from a girl who’s biggest concern is who will adore her most today.”
“You hypocrite,” she screeched. “You’re fine when it’s all about you. But now that it’s my turn? You can’t stand not being in the spotlight. It’s killing you to be happy for me, isn’t it? Could you be any more selfish?”
Bethany stabbing me had hurt less.
I placed my hands on my hips and cocked an eyebrow. “What’s really bothering you?” I sneered. “Can’t stand the fact that for once you’re not the most fabulous girl in the room? That I’m not in your shadow anymore? Your stupider, uglier sidekick?”
I could feel Persephone cheering me on, even as Hannah’s face got stonier and stonier. These horrible things were spewing out of my mouth and I kind of didn’t mean them but, yeah, I did.
Part of me was screaming at myself to shut up, but that part didn’t seem to be in control anymore. My mouth just kept going. “Are you feeling your human limits now that you’re hanging around higher beings? Word of advice? Stick to being the girlfriend. Don’t even try to understand what it’s like being us.”
I felt a perverse satisfaction at her sharp intake of breath.
Then she laughed bitterly. “Don’t kid yourself. You’re not that complex. You never have been.” And with that parting shot, she strode toward Festos’ bedroom.
I wanted so desperately to call her back. To undo this mess. But when I opened my mouth, my throat wouldn’t work. When I tried to follow her, I stayed rigid in place.
She doesn’t understand.
I pressed my fingers to my temples, not wanting to bond with Persephone right now, but still in agreement with her.
Show them what you’re made of.
She was louder now, more insistent in my head.
“No.”
“Sorry?”
I whirled around at the sound of Pierce’s voice.
“Bit of a spat?” he asked, watching me carefully.
I closed my eyes briefly against the absurdity of that understatement. “Is Cassie okay?”
“No more bleeding. Still asleep. Figure she had to break, now she can mend.” Pierce sat down on one of the sofas and tilted his head to indicate that I should sit down beside him. “She’s your best mate.”
Ah. Topic switch. “And your girlfriend, so let’s guess whose side
you’re
going to take.”
“No sides. You haven’t been a goddess for very long, so I’ll give you some advice, yeah?” He regarded me for a long moment, his eyes more brilliantly green than usual. “Don’t hold a grudge. Stick with love.”
I crossed my arms. “What if I want to hold a grudge?”
He looked at me with pity and sadness. “Then you miss out. You end up hard.”
I sighed and started worrying at the leather on the sofa. “She doesn’t understand all the pressure I’m under, or how tough it is to deal with gods constantly undermining me. Never mind this basic struggle to survive. Why should I have to be the first one to apologize on top of all that?”
Pierce shrugged. “You shouldn’t. But then it goes one of two ways. You end up as polite acquaintances who maybe spare a thought one day, wondering what ever happened to each other.”
My chest tightened. That was a horrible thought. “And the other way?”
He waved a hand toward the bedroom, where everyone else was. “You find yourself knocking the stuffing out of each other because it’s all been festering.”
It took me a second to make the connection. I shot him a skeptical glance. “I don’t know what the deal is between Kai and Festos, but they were never best friends.”
Pierce gave me an enigmatic smile. “All I’m saying is that if you’re going to be the savior of humanity, maybe you could start by saving a single friendship.” He got up in one fluid movement and patted my head. “I’m going to collect Hannah and Cassie, and take them home. Think on it, yeah?”
I sat there for a few minutes after he exited, my head bowed and my elbows braced on my knees. I wanted to give Pierce time to leave with Hannah and Cassie because I couldn’t face either one. I didn’t have the guts to deal with my guilt and anxiety where Cassie was concerned. And I didn’t have the heart to handle all the jagged, raw, tangled up emotions around Hannah. Maybe tomorrow. If she came to her senses, too.
As I headed toward Fee’s bedroom, I wondered if Pierce was right. Had Kai and Festos been best friends at some point? Is that why they were so antagonistic now? Why Kai seemed to take a perverse delight in taunting Fee? I hesitated outside the bedroom door, then shook off my unease, and stepped inside.
Theo was perched on the large bed, one knee tucked under him, head bowed as if in defeat. Festos stood nearby, leaning heavily on his cane. In his other hand, he held the now-bloody washcloths, staring at them like he wasn’t sure what to do next.
Kai held himself apart from the other two, resting against the top of the bamboo dresser and avoiding contact with the flat screen TV mounted on the wall behind him.
They all turned to face me at once, but no one spoke. The room felt loaded, though not because of the earlier tension. It was as if our encounter with Cassie had drained us profoundly, leaving behind a mix of sorrow and uncertainty and a kind of loss. My fight with Hannah coupled with the brawl between Kai and Festos, only worsened the vibe.
I latched on to the one tangible thing that we could possibly deconstruct without stepping into an emotional minefield. “Did anyone understand what Cassie was saying? About the flame and stuff?”
“‘Bring the fire, choke the spark, release the form’. I have my guesses,” Festos said, sliding Theo a sharp look.
Theo stood up abruptly, brushing off the front of his baggy pants. “It’s about Zeus’ and Hades’ ward. How I’m going to take it down.”
“Uh, no,” said Festos. “We agreed I was going to cleanse the area. Which means I take the other ward down as well.”
“You have your job, I have mine,” Theo said.
I whipped around to face Festos. He looked like he might explode.
Shockingly, Kai pushed away from the dresser at this. With his right side held stiffly, he crossed to Fee in three steps. He waited until Festos met his eyes. “Prometheus started this. It’s his to take down.”
“His to be in danger. You would say that.” Festos sounded, well, not angry exactly. More bitter.
I expected the fight to resume, but Kai let a fleeting moment of sadness pass across his face before his expression went scarily neutral. He gave a one shouldered shrug, almost indifferent.
What the hell was going on here? Kai never called Theo by his full name. Nor had he ever given a damn that Theo had been the one to save Persephone seventeen years ago and put all this into motion. Never mind whatever was brewing between Kai and Festos.
All of which I was about to say when Festos spat, “I’m leaving,” and stomped out of the room.
Uselessly, I stretched out a hand to stop him. But he was gone.
Kai shifted his focus to me. “Ready to go see Felicia?” he asked.
“I’ll get my shoes,” Theo said, crossing into the hallway with only the barest of flinches as he heard the front door slam behind Festos.
“What was …” I made a flapping motion, “that?”
Kai shook his head, his mouth tight. “Nothing you need to worry about.” His expression softened. “Festos doesn’t want to see Theo hurt.”
I could certainly understand that. “If Theo has to do this, then we’ll keep him safe.”
Kai’s response was a small smile. He took a few steps toward the door.
“Kai?”
He paused and half turned toward me.
“What happened to playing nice? Downstairs? With the fight.”
This time I got a genuine smile. “See, now, I never agreed to that.”
He went out, leaving me alone and still very confused and deeply concerned about what had just happened.
I could puzzle it out later. For now, I had to go face Felicia and hope she’d help us through the ward that Zeus and Hades had put up, in exchange for handing Earth and its welfare over to her.
In other words, time for me to suck up to my pissed off mother and pray it didn’t all go horribly wrong.
***
Theo, Kai, and I made a pretty impressive thwack as we rebounded off the glass and steel high-rise that was technically still my family home.
The fact that we were twenty-three stories up was not so great. Luckily, Theo had my hand, and I had Kai’s, so he was able to blink us safely to the ground.
Snag the first.
My head started to throb. I went to the sidewalk and peered across the street, past the leafless branches on the row of trees ringing the park, and out to the frothy waters of English Bay, my favorite beach in the world. In summer, the water would be a brilliant blue, but today, in the gray weather, it was washed out and lifeless. The waves broke hesitantly on the rocky shore. Being here, seeing this usually filled me with such joy.
Now I was just cold. But that could have been the weather. I’d been expecting to end up inside Felicia’s apartment and hadn’t worn a jacket over my superhero T-shirt. I rubbed my arms to lose the goosebumps.
“You okay?” Kai’s voice startled me out of my thoughts.
“I’ll live.”
He took my hand and threaded my fingers through his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “If you want me to take her out, just tap your nose.”
That got a smile from me. “Dispose of the body and everything?”
“Child’s play.”
“Appreciate it, but we’ll hope it doesn’t come to that.” Because if it did, I was going to have the pleasure myself.
We walked back to Theo who waited by the glass front door. “Warded up. So no grand entrance. Got your keys?”
I dug into the pocket of Kai’s jeans, pulled out my key and jangled it. I held the fob up to the security sensor and pressed the button, but the light stayed red. Which meant the door was still locked.
I tried again.
By the fourth time, I realized that the security system had been updated but my fob had not.
Kai nudged me out of the way. He held his index finger in front of the sensor and sent out a quick pulse of black light. The panel crackled and flashed, but nothing useful happened. Same with trying to blast the glass.
Since that was getting us nowhere, Kai tugged on my arm and I followed him.
“You have a plan?” Theo asked as we headed around the side of the building.
“One of us has to.” Kai positioned himself at the edge of the driveway into the underground parking garage. “Look aimless.”
Theo and I were more awkward than aimless.
Kai shook his head in despair. “You two are the worst layabout teens ever.”
“Well there weren’t a lot of 7-11s to loiter in front of at boarding school,” I said.
Kai tilted his head at the sound of a car approaching. “New plan,” he told Theo. “Play third wheel.” Then, with his back to Theo, Kai kissed me.
Not that I was complaining but, “This is going to get us inside?”
He grinned as he heard Theo growl disgustedly and stomp toward the security gate. “Step one: Annoyed friend. Step two.” He reached for me again.
“I still don’t see how—” I mumbled against his lips.
“Would it kill you to play along?”
“Fine.” I went up on tiptoe, grabbed his shirtfront, and fell into him.
Kai’s arm came around me and he stumbled into the driveway, his kiss growing more intense.
A car horn blared. Kai startled away from me in a very un-Kai like motion. He ducked his head sheepishly and waved at the driver, as he tugged me out of the car’s path. “Sorry, dude.”
Huh? Computing … computing … Ah. Kai wanted us to get into the garage with the car.