I pouted. “You make it very hard to hate you.”
He smiled. “I told you. I believe in you, Magoo. And I was right to.”
I basked in his approval, squirming happily in my seat. “I did good, didn’t I?”
“She’s going to be insufferable now,” Festos groused, slipping an arm around Theo. “Good thing we don’t have to put up with her anymore.”
“Wh-what?” I stuttered. Were they kicking me out?
Festos pursed his lips in mock sympathy. “She’s got that kicked puppy look.”
“Felicia and I had a little chat,” Theo explained. He leaned back against Fee. “She reinstated you at Hope Park. If you want to go.”
I literally sagged backward at the news. I could go home? Because more than anywhere else, that’s what Hope Park was. At least for now. I sighed in relief. But the warmth blossoming in my chest was tempered by the butterflies in my stomach at the thought of seeing Hannah.
“We still have visitation rights on holidays,” Festos said cheerfully. But his eyes were sharp, watching me.
Ah. That meant that Felicia didn’t want to see me.
I understood my mother in a new way now. I’d seen her pain and vulnerabilities. And I forgave her. For all her actions toward me, over our thousands of years as mother and daughter. Complicated didn’t cover half of our relationship. Maybe one day we’d get to a place where we could finally put the past behind us and build something new. But if that day wasn’t today, I was okay with that. Hannah, Fee, Theo, Kai—they were my family.
I may not have known what I was going to do with the rest of my life, but I knew it involved loving the ones most precious to me, and never taking them for granted—as much as I would never take myself for granted either.
Having Fee’s place as my second home was fine by me. Hang on. That meant— “I get to see you?” I squealed. “Both of you? Felicia killed the deal?”
Theo shook his head and my happy bubble burst. He laughed at my obvious dismay. “No, Magoo. It was fulfilled. Think back. I said the deal was for the rest of my life. She thought I was being snarky.” He grinned. “I wasn’t.”
My eyes lit up with respect. “You wonderful diabolical boy.”
“Titan,” he corrected. He shifted in his seat and his shirt rose up slightly. He tugged it down again, but not before my gaze dipped briefly down to those work of art abs.
“You are such a sad perv,” he said.
“And you’re a dummy who could have done more to mold your puny human form into this.” I smacked his arm. “I could have been looking at that six-pack all these years.”
Festos shot me a smug grin. “Why do you think I hung in there all this time? Despite his very bad attitude?
“I’ll have you know I am more than my six-pack.” Theo didn’t sound particularly upset, though.
Fee and I exchanged dubious looks.
Theo elbowed his boyfriend. Then kissed him hard.
Fee looked a little woozy upon release. “Yeah, there’s that going for you too.”
My heart practically burst with joy at the thought that I was going to get to be around this for the rest of my life.
Theo stood up and held out a hand. “Come on, let’s get you back to our place. You can’t go back to school until morning anyway.”
Fee wrinkled his nose. “Change, shower, generally don’t reinforce that whole drug addled, runaway look you had going for you.”
I swatted him. “Your concern is touching.” Though he had a point. The last time my classmates had seen me, Felicia had been dragging me out of the Winter Formal under the pretense that I was high, and that the school had failed to take care of me. Ha, freaking ha.
Festos let Theo blink us back. It was pretty cute seeing how happy Theo looked being able to do it.
It was nice to be back at Fee’s. Moonlight streamed through the far windows since it was about 1AM there, with the time difference in Athens. The place was still kind of a disaster. All our battle-prep stuff was strewn everywhere.
Festos walked the length of the apartment, slowly taking in the state of the place. I nudged Theo. “I give him three hours before he’s hipstered it back up again.”
Theo’s mouth twitched. “You’re being generous.”
“I heard that,” Festos said, already taking down the first whiteboard. “Less insult, more action, Titan.” He clapped his hands together. “Old dusty books. Begone them now.”
I scurried out of the room to shower before he could press me into service with Theo.
“Princess,” Fee said.
“Goddess,” I called back.
Back in my bedroom, I stripped off my clothes and headed for the shower. Never had hot water felt so good, or so deserved. I stood there, a ball of lathery joy, until I felt the water cool. Reluctantly, I rinsed off.
I padded back into my bedroom, giant towels wrapping me in mighty sexy fashion around my head and body. I had the best of intentions. Do laundry. Start packing a few things to bring back until Fee could move the rest of my stuff.
I threw on my pjs, proceeding to half-heartedly putter around the room and toss items I’d bring back to Hope Park on my bed. But I couldn’t focus. I felt restless. Incomplete. Which I could have attributed to a massive adrenaline crash after my most excellent humanity protection victory. But that wasn’t it.
I sat down on my bed and glanced at my right wrist. At the cuff from Hannah. I stretched out my left one, turning my palm up to examine the bare skin. It looked so naked.
I
want a tattoo. I bit down on my lip, considering. A sense of urgency, of rightness streamed through me. Without a second thought, or a word to Theo and Festos, I slipped my shoes on and crept out of the apartment. Minutes later, I was standing in front of Jennifer’s cabin.
Even though it was the middle of the night, the forest didn’t seem creepy. Just peaceful and calming and gorgeous now that spring had come. Leaves were in evidence on all kinds of trees. Buds and delicately blooming flowers were curled tight in the moonlight.
It was perfect. I even enjoyed the brisk air on my skin, although I wished I’d thought to grab a jacket before I’d bolted over here. But my excitement made the shivers worth it. I approached the cabin, taking the stairs at a skip, and knocked on the front door.
Jennifer opened it. She didn’t look surprised. Or sleepy. Or anything other than gorgeous and perfectly put together. Maybe she simply existed in a constant state of wonderful.
“You’re back.” She stepped away from the door to let me in.
“I came to finish what I started.”
She blinked at me. “The roses? Yeah, all right. I kept the design.”
I shook my head. “No. I had something else in mind.”
Up in her studio, she frowned at my idea.
I faltered, losing a bit of the confidence to go through with it. “You think it sucks,” I said.
She picked up a piece of carbon paper. “Surprised is all.”
There was no painful fire arcing across my body this time. Just the normal sting of a needle permanently etching ink onto delicate skin. Trust me, that was enough.
Less than an hour later, the tattoo was done and I was back in my bed. My accelerated healing abilities meant that I’d skipped the scabby stage. The tattoo was pristine. I lay propped against my pillow and admired the design. Written in purple script around my left wrist were the words, “All you need is love.” I sighed, utterly content. Seeing those words, the permanence of them, gave me comfort I was really truly going to be fine, for the rest of my life.
Whatever happened.
With a smile on my lips, I closed my eyes. I came to many hours later, with Fee lounging in my doorway. “Morning, sunshine. You snore.”
“Do not.”
He grinned. “I figured you’d want to get back to the other one in your misfit trio.” He pointed at a large roller-board suitcase. “So I packed up a few things for you.”
I yawned and stretched, feeling a delightful pull all through my body. The thought of seeing Hannah made me want to both sing and hide. “You’re sweet.”
Fee sat down on the edge of my bed. “You need to go see him today.”
I pushed my hair out of my face. “I thought I’d give him time.”
“No. Koko doesn’t do well with time. He just shuts down even more.”
“It’s back to Koko now, is it?”
Fee ducked his head, sheepish. “The whole Hades experience. Both of us watching loved ones burn. It bonds a guy.”
“You’ve missed him, haven’t you?”
“He was my Hannah. Of course I did.”
I gnawed on the inside of my cheek. “Was it really Theo and I that caused your friendship to fall apart?”
He patted my head. “Naw. Might have cemented it. He was from the wrong side of the tracks. Or maybe I was. Whatever. It was took its toll as we got older.”
“And now?” I tilted my head, hoping to hear that things were fine between them. I loved them both so much. They needed each other.
Festos shrugged. “One day at a time, honeybunch. I’ll go see him later. But you need to talk to him first.” He wagged a finger at me, dad-style. “Now get dressed. You have school.”
It felt heavenly to put on a totally me outfit: leggings, a short skirt, and a cute red sweater. I wore my red flat boots, accessorized with Hannah’s cuff and Fee’s ring. My sapphire pendant lay snug and warm against my skin, hidden against my skin. And my tattoo, my love of all that mattered, would be right there with me forever.
I looked out my window. It was a beautiful day. I had a feeling there were going to be a lot of those for a while. Scanning the bedroom that had been my refuge, I knew I’d always have it to come back to. But I was ready to go home.
I entered the living room and found Theo typing rapidly on his cell. “Hey, downward facing phone,” I said. “I’m ready.”
“It’s not just a pose. It’s a lifestyle,” Festos joked.
Theo looked at me and slid the phone into his pocket. “Just emailing Hannah to let her know you’re coming.”
My stomach sank. “Thanks,” I said, full of fake cheer. I’d been hoping to spring my return on her. You know, to avoid her requesting a room change or something before I got back.
“You saved the world. You’re scared of facing your best friend?”
“D’uh.” I grabbed my suitcase and rolled it to them.
Theo clapped me on the shoulder. “Don’t stress, grasshopper. You’ll be fine.”
They insisted on accompanying me back to Hope Park, depositing me where the road to school met the road to town. I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself. The day was warm enough that I didn’t need to wear a jacket, so I couldn’t even blame my chills on the weather.
“Go see her,” Theo said. “Festos will bring the rest of your stuff over later.” He cast a final look at Hope Park. “The old broad looks pretty good,” he said wistfully.
Theo wouldn’t be able to go back to Hope Park. There would be too many questions. He was still recognizable, yet definitely not his old self. While I’d miss him being with me at school, that didn’t matter. We’d have the rest of the world to hang out in together.
“Group hug,” I said and flung my arms around them.
We stayed like that for a while, locked in our embrace. Happiness pumped through me. I hoped I’d never come down from this high.
Festos planted a loud kiss on my head and broke the hug. “You good?”
I grinned. “I’m great. I’m the chick who saved the world.”
“Definitely insufferable,” he said, and took Theo’s hand.
Theo gave me one last squeeze. “Later, Magoo.”
“You know it, Rockman. Oh, and Theo?”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Go see Oizys.” I grinned. “And tell her I’ll be harassing her soon.”
Theo laughed and gave me a small salute. “Will do.”
They disappeared and I began the walk up to the front doors of Hope Park.
Seeing my school standing there so solidly reassuring in the sunlight, I should have felt excitement. Instead, my heart hammered. My palms sweated. I couldn’t believe how nervous I was. It was ridiculous.
I marched up the stairs, hands in a death grip on my suitcase to keep from shaking. I flung open the front door and strode into the warm, familiar foyer with its red and white checkerboard tile. The school’s essential smell of lemon polish and bleach soothed me to the depths of my soul. My hands relaxed.
A moment later, Principal Doucette emerged from the front office. “Welcome back, Sophie,” he said with a warm smile. I teared up at the sight of him. His dreads hadn’t gotten any grayer in my absence, which made me pretty certain I’d been the cause of it in the first place.
He chuckled. “It’s not that bad to be back is it?”
“No. Not at all.” I took a deep breath, drinking everything in.
Doucette’s expression turned serious as he studied me. I tried not to squirm under his scrutiny.
Part of me wondered exactly what he saw? Could he sense, on some level, who I was? What I was? What I was capable of?
He put a hand on my shoulder. “Whatever you experienced these past few months? It’s made you stronger. You’re going to be just fine, Ms. Bloom.” His eyes crinkled with amusement. “Mr. Patel, Ms. Jones. I’m certain there’s a class you are both supposed to be in.”