by A. J. Rosen
Chapter Five
I had thought Carlo would be here, but he’d texted during the ceremony to say he couldn’t get here until tomorrow. I was disappointed; the thought of him being here was part of the reason why I’d agreed to stay for the after-party. But, at the very least, the party was the best way to avoid my parents until tomorrow, and so I turned my ringer back on and looked around at the party. As I suspected, it was obnoxious as hell.
Despite seeing a lot of Regulars at the Awakening Ceremony, I didn’t see that many of them here. Instead, the ballroom was crowded with a bunch of drunk Royals. Even though Alaska’s legal drinking age was twenty-one, Hellenicus law allowed us to drink at eighteen, the legal age in Greece, while on Court Grounds. The smell of expensive perfumes and booze in the air, coupled with the ridiculously loud music, should have been red flags that this party wasn’t going to be my cup of tea. Still, I reminded myself that I had promised Kris I’d try my best to enjoy myself.
A girl I didn’t know came up to me with two of her friends in tow as I looked for Kris. They wore high heels that made them so tall that I needed to crane my neck to meet their eyes. “Hey, aren’t you the one who choked on the wine?”
Great. Apparently that small incident had not gone unnoticed.
“Yep, that’s me. It went down the wrong pipe.” My nervous laugh met dead silence.
One of the girls squinted her eyes as she stared me down. “You do realize choking on the sacred nectar is considered blasphemy?”
“What?”
“You’re being disrespectful,” said the one with curly brown hair. “You’ll have seventy years of bad luck.”
I found this to be hilarious, considering I already had so much bad luck in my life. “Let’s hope I really am Tyche’s descendant then.”
The three of them gasped loudly enough that several people around us looked over in curiosity. “You’re a Regular!”
Their eyes dropped to where my family crest would be if I were a Royal or Pure Royal. The absence of a crest confirmed their suspicions, but I answered them anyway. “Matter of fact, I am. I was in the lineup for the Regulars, remember?”
“Dear Aphrodite, I can’t believe I wasted my breath talking to a Regular,” said the first girl before turning around and saying, “Come on, ladies.”
I spotted Kris standing by the refreshment table with a tall, blond, wannabe-surfer dude who wore an unusual gold-band necklace. Kris introduced him as Damian Tavoularis. He was from Sydney, Australia, and he was Hera’s descendant. At first, he struck me as an okay guy, but I soon changed my mind as he ignored me whenever I spoke and would jump in when Kris tried to turn the conversation my way. I imagined he had decided that a measly Regular wasn’t worth his time, just like those other girls had.
“I mean, the Gathering is great, and our queen is so thoughtful to have this in the Hyped so Regulars can join in, but I still think it would be better if Royals and Regulars had separate Gatherings. We could have ours in the Royal Quarters; Regulars could stick to the Hyped. The Hyped is so boring in comparison. Besides, it would be less crowded, and you wouldn’t have to force yourself to mingle with them. That’s why the Olympians reside on Olympus while the minor gods and goddesses live elsewhere, right?”
Damian was obnoxious.
I couldn’t put up with him anymore. I’d already made a scene once tonight with my already-famous chalice moment, and I knew if I stayed any longer I might cause another scene by arguing with this douchebag. The fact that some Royals believed they were above everyone else pissed me off. Did it really matter which god’s lineage you were a part of?
He opened his mouth and started talking about how a line must be drawn between Royals and Regulars so we’d know our place. Ignoring him, I asked Kris if she wanted to go to the bathroom and she quickly accepted. Kris, polite to a fault, informed Damian how sorry she was that she had to cut it short, but she needed to find her brother.
“Okay, I don’t actually need to go to the bathroom,” I said once we had enough distance between the sulking Damian and us. “I do need some fresh air, though. Do you want to go outside?”
Kris shook her head. “I wasn’t lying. I really need to find Vlad. He should’ve arrived thirty minutes ago.”
“Okay. You go find your brother. I’ll be outside.” I pushed through the crowd, which was halfheartedly moving in time to the blaring music, and found my way to the courtyard.
In the wintery mountain air it felt like a different world altogether. I hadn’t realized how nauseated I had felt closed in with all the others. Out here I could see the tree in the middle of the courtyard. I was interested to see if any more flowers had grown since the Awakening Ceremony. I wondered how many newly Awakened were inside having clicks as they chatted up their soul mates.
Not wearing a coat, I shivered in the chilly night air, but I didn’t care. At least out here it was clean air and—a cloud of smoke blew straight into my face.
“Chocolate brownies! So much for fresh air,” I exclaimed through a cough. I used to have the vocabulary of a drunken sailor, but after being scolded numerous times by my parents, I now censored myself.
Smoke hanging around him like a toxic grey cloud, there was Adrian Ambrosia, Kris’s cousin. He was the first guy I’d ever had a crush on. He looked at me for a moment, puzzled, as if he was trying to recall who I was.
“Seriously?!” It may have been a few years since I’d last seen him, but I liked to think that he would remember me. At least my first name, anyway.
He did better.
“Avery Montgomery?” He winked.
“Yes. The one and only.” Being on the receiving end of his smoke waste had piqued my annoyance to the point where I almost forgot that seeing him here at Court during the Gathering was actually really weird. “What are you doing here?”
Two years ago, Adrian’s love had taken a tragic turn, and Kris told me that he had sworn never to set foot back here as a result. He thought he’d found his soul mate—his girlfriend, Marsela Costas—and came to the ceremony believing that soon they would have the click, validating their relationship. To his utter shock, she’d clicked with a Russian guy she’d never even met before. Adrian wanted to ignore the gods and begged to continue their relationship. Still, despite all the promises they had made to each other beforehand, Marsela broke up with him and moved to Russia, carrying the proof of her betrayal inside her belly. From what I’d heard from Kris, he hadn’t had a serious relationship since. Adrian’s heartbreak was a harsh reminder that nothing was certain until the day the Fates decided it was.
Adrian ignored my question, put out his nearly finished smoke, then reached into the pocket of his designer pants and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He lit the end of a new cigarette with his lighter. As he squinted against the flame, I took the opportunity to check him out. His emerald-green sweater matched his eyes perfectly, and a pair of black jeans hung on his hips. Adrian was still as good looking as he had been four years ago. No wonder my fourteen-year-old self crushed on him. Of course, he had never noticed me because he was completely head over heels for Marsela.
“Do I pass inspection?” Adrian asked. The lighter closed with a snap of his wrist, and he stuffed it back into his pocket along with the rest of the pack of smokes.
Being caught blatantly eyeing him up, I wanted to climb up the oak and hide there for a while until my cheeks were no longer the same shade as my hair. Instead, I had to make do with playing it cool. “It’s been a while,” I said. “I didn’t expect to see you at the Gathering, that’s all.”
“I’m not here for the Gathering. But I’m very curious which unlucky Hellenicus will have to tame you.”
I stuck my tongue out. So much for playing it cool.
As if he remembered something from the past, pain flashed in his eyes for a brief second before he gave a lazy smile. “Don’t worry, Montgomery, if you don’
t like the guy, I could help kick his ass for you.”
“I don’t need your help kicking anyone’s ass, Adrian. I can take care of it myself, you know that.”
“Actually, I don’t. It’s been a while since I last saw you, Montgomery.”
And if he wasn’t going to put out his cigarette, he wouldn’t be seeing me for much longer. I’d had just about enough second-hand smoke. As if he’d read my thoughts, he took one long, last drag then dropped the butt to the ground and stomped it out.
“Hey, no littering!”
“No escaping your Awakened after-party either. Why are you out here? You’re supposed to mingle, meet people. Maybe one of them is your other half. Aren’t you excited to find your Romeo?” he said sarcastically.
“Not really,” I said. “The whole thing freaks me out.”
“I get that.” He, surprisingly, agreed. “I don’t think this soul-mate bullshit suits you, anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
“You are Avery Freaking Montgomery. You’re fiery. You’re the type of person who makes decisions on your own accord. There is no way in hell you would willingly wait around for your soul mate to show up.”
Damn. He was right. Even though I’d said to myself that I wanted to find out if Carlo was truly my soul mate and tried convincing myself to go through with this Gathering, deep down I knew that this was really not my thing. It was crazy that Adrian of all people understood that about me when I’d always thought he had never even given me a second glance. What else did he know about me?
“But seriously, why are you here?”
“For the brat.”
“Caitlin?” Adrian’s eighteen-year-old sister, whom he always referred to as brat, Caitlin was every bit the spitting image of Adrian—maybe that was the reason why she annoyed him so much, they were too alike. But here he was, swallowing his pride and coming to the Gathering to support her.
“You’re a really good brother,” I blurted.
“Look,” he scoffed, “someone’s met their destiny.”
There before us, like magic, a bud blossomed into pink and white around a catkin. We stood in silence in the cold night air, taking in the tree. I didn’t want to admit it, and maybe it wasn’t cool, but there was something dreamlike about being here. It was almost as if I was not on earth but in some mythical place where magical things could happen. The air grew lighter, and just like when we first arrived this afternoon, I had to fight the urge to reach out and touch the tree. The ring of my cell phone broke the silence. It was Kris.
“Ave, where are you?” I could barely hear her over the noise of the party. “A click just happened and everyone is congratulating the new pair.”
“I’m outside with Adrian.” I looked over at him only to find him lighting up a new cigarette. Geez, Zeus.
“Wait, Adrian’s here?”
“Yeah. He’s busy inhaling toxins to shorten his life span, polluting the air, and making me feel like I’m going to puke.”
Adrian elbowed me and I gave him a murderous look before taking a few steps away from him and the influx of carbon monoxide.
“Tell him to put it out and come inside!” Kris yelled, then ended the call.
“We’ve been commanded by Lady Ambrosia to come inside to party,” I said. The only time Kris was ever bossy was when she’d had a couple of drinks. It was quite hilarious to see her personality completely change.
Adrian grabbed my wrist to stop me from walking away and pulled me closer to him. I could feel his warmth, and inhaled the scent of cigarettes mixing with his cologne. I was ready to tell him to buzz off, but his eyes silenced me.
“Ave, you know what happened to me and Mars. It’s better not to have any expectations or hope.”
“I know.” A small voice, laced with worry and fear, answered, and I could hardly believe that it was mine. “I’m sorry it happened, but you don’t need to worry about me, okay? I’ll be fine.”
I wrenched myself away and he let me go.
“Adrian?” I asked. “Will you do me a favor and come inside? I know you’ve had a rough start to this whole soul-mate thing, but if you keep letting that stand in your way, you might miss out on your chance of finding someone.”
“Never knew you were so wise, Montgomery. I thought you were a brawler.”
“I’m not that bad,” I said.
“You’re right. You’re worse.”
We bumped into each other lightheartedly. And there was less pressure walking back into the party with Adrian by my side. Maybe he was right—I shouldn’t expect anything.
Kris was nowhere in sight. I was about to suggest to Adrian that we check the dance floor when I heard a familiar voice.
“Avery Montgomery.”
“Nikki,” I said coolly, nodding my acknowledgment. “It’s been a while.”
As soon as I’d seen Nikki take her turn with the chalice, tottering in a pair of five-inch stilettos, and surprisingly without her twin sister, Renata, I’d known this run-in would come sooner or later. She’d never forgiven me for breaking her nose the first week of high school when she had purposely shoved Kris to the ground during gym class. Since then, she’d been hell-bent on trying to make mine and Kris’s lives a living hell. Nikki had even slept with Kris’s first boyfriend just to hurt her.
Personality aside, Nikki was beautiful, even with her new nose, and tonight she was in a silver cocktail dress that accentuated her body in all the right places. Adrian took her in, inching a little closer to her, clearly wanting to be introduced. Guys really did judge the cover before knowing the contents.
Nikki noticed him and gave him a once-over before opening her thin lips. “Aren’t you going to introduce us, Avery?”
“Adrian Ambrosia, this is Nikki Vidales. We—” I wasn’t sure how to introduce her without outing her as the nasty piece of work she was. “We used to go to Hellenic school together.”
How else could you describe your high school bully?
Nikki’s eyes danced with excitement, and I realized it had been a bad idea to introduce them. Being part of that group of status-hungry Royals, the Vidales were suckers for Pure Royals, and Nikki was not an exception. Not really wanting to be involved in the conversation, I tried to scope out Kris until I felt a nudge on my arm a few moments later. “What?”
“I was asking if you wanted to go find Kris,” Adrian said.
“You’re ditching me? Seriously?”
“Let me rephrase.” His voice sounded like he was trying his best to explain something to a toddler. “Do you want to go find Kris with me?”
“Yes,” I said.
Adrian politely told Nikki that it was nice to meet her, but we had to go.
“Aww, so soon?” Nikki’s voice sounded soft and silky, but I could see the annoyance in her eyes.
Once we were out of earshot, I turned to Adrian. “That’s honestly not how I thought that would go.”
“Why not?”
“Guys fawn all over her, and I saw you checking her out.”
“Is this really happening?” he teased.
“Is what happening?”
“You’re jealous of some random girl.” He chuckled. “Damn, Montgomery. You’re possessive as hell.”
“No, I’m not!” I tried my best not to look like a brat, though I was kind of acting like one. “The thing is she’s not just some random girl. She’s my worst nightmare—and Kris’s too.”
I filled Adrian in on how Nikki had spent all of high school mean-girling us every chance she got. One time she even dumped Kris’s Harry Potter collection into the toilet and tried to flush them down.
“Sounds like I dodged a bullet!” he said.
It was very crowded in the room, but it didn’t take us long to find Kris on the dance floor. I knew she’d be there. In addition to tennis, Kris loved dancing. She spo
tted us and came over, enveloping Adrian in a hug before pulling us both onto the floor.
“What have you guys been up to?” she yelled over the music.
“Nikki. She was trying to sink her claws into Adrian. Until I saved him, of course,” I shouted.
“My hero.” He fluttered his eyelashes in a damsel-in-distress-like way.
Kris stopped dancing and grabbed Adrian’s hand. “Please tell me you’re not developing a crush on Nikki. She’s—” Kris paused as she struggled to find the right word. “Not a very kind person.”
Typical Kris. She always had trouble saying anything bad about people, even when it was the truth. I, however, never had that trouble. “And by that, she means Nikki is the worst.”
“Ave!” Kris’s eyes couldn’t get any wider.
“Can’t sugarcoat the truth.”
“God, I miss high school drama,” countered Adrian. “Golden days. When all the girls fell for me. Not a surprise, really.”
“Ah yes. Those glory days. Until it all went downhill and now no one remembers you.”
Kris laughed at this and I raised my hand for a high five. Adrian leaned forward and there was that smell again, musky aftershave plus smoke. Somehow the scent made me feel less queasy, more alive, even if it was only for a moment. His eyes looked wicked under the light, and his smile challenged me.
“Careful there, Little Miss Rebel, before you become one of those girls,” he said.
“Dream on. Maybe you do belong with someone like Nikki.”
“Montgomery, relax.” He laughed. “You own my heart. There’s no other girl, present or future.” He patted my head before walking away, toward the bar.
Kris watched the exchange with an amused look on her heart-shaped face.
“What is it now?” I asked.
“Adrian likes you,” she said knowingly.
“Yeah, and the rest of the female population.” I shook my head in disbelief. “Weren’t you the one telling me two years ago that he had lots of one-night stands to get over Marsela?”