My Date From Hell (The Blooming Goddess Trilogy Book Two)

by Tellulah Darling

  I pushed myself off my bed and scooped up my binder and books.

  Theo gave a smug smile. “In other words, what I said. Idiot.”

  “Pretty much,” Hannah agreed.

  My glare was somewhat lame. I couldn’t really argue that fact even though I still thought it had been worth a shot.

  Wondering about the how of the memories got me thinking about the who. Specifically, who knew what. “How come you don’t know any of the plan?” I asked Theo as we headed to Biology, having dropped Hannah at her math class. “Weren’t you close to Persephone?”

  He thought it over, shifting his books from one arm to the other as we walked. “We were friendly. Not tight like you and me though. Only she and Kai knew what was going down exactly. I just knew she had a plan that could help humans.” He reached out a hand to stop me. “Soph.” He paused, looked away, and sighed like he was annoyed.

  I tensed. “What’s wrong?”

  Theo met my gaze. “I know that you feel used by what I did. Strong-arming you into my agenda to save humanity. Not being upfront with you. But I also did it because it was going to save you. Because I honestly believed, and still do, that defeating Hades and Zeus is the only way you’ll get to live. And now that the ‘you’ means Sophie, not just Persephone? Well, I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that happens.”

  Whoa. That was a huge outpouring of emotion for Theo. But I knew he wouldn’t want me to make a huge deal about it, so I just nodded. “I know. I love you too, Rockman.”

  He frowned at me and entered the room as the bell rang.

  I spent the rest of the day trying to come up with an alternate plan. For the memory retrieval, for possible candidates for Bethany. Anything that felt productive and kept me from worrying about why Kai hadn’t shown up. Since I still needed the numbnuts to defeat Hades and Zeus.

  Among other things.

  Finally it was time for English, last class of the day. I liked Mr. Locke and knew he wouldn’t be doing anything too challenging our first week back from break. Plus Theo and Hannah would both be there.

  I passed Cassie, who I’d always thought of as a kooky loner. My becoming Persephone had triggered her into full-on Oracle mode, resulting in Delphyne kidnapping her for her own nefarious agenda. Turned out that crazy dragon had guarded the original Oracle, Cassandra, an ancestor of Cassie’s, and was desperate for a replacement. We’d been able to save Cassie. The trauma of being new members of the Greek family had bonded us.

  She bounded over to me and we hugged. “Theo told me. Glad you’re back in one piece,” she said.

  I stepped back and looked her over. “Me too. You look great.” I was happy for her.

  She winked. “Ativan.”

  I was a little taken aback, given how Delphyne had drugged Cassie with anti-psychotics.

  She knew what I was thinking. “Not the same. Just a small hit of anti-anxiety to keep the visions at bay.”

  I didn’t share the unease I felt at this. I was all for Cassie being able to cope, but I worried that suppressing that side of herself might just cause it to explode in ways she couldn’t control.

  Goddess heal thyself, right?

  Her best friend and roommate, Jessica, a tiny Romanian girl, showed up and nudged Cassie along. “We’re gonna be late, Crazy.”

  I flinched at that word but Cassie just laughed. “Okay, Psycho.” With a small wave at me, she and Jessica moved off. I stared after them, making a mental note to talk to Cassie a bit more about this, but the bell jarred me from my thoughts.

  I scrambled into the classroom just before Mr. Locke shut the door to indicate class had started.

  “No lesson plan today,” Mr. Locke told us. “Instead you’re in for a treat.”

  Hannah, Theo, and I wedged in together on the comfy sofa (no boring desks in our classes), looked at him expectantly.

  “Bethany has kindly agreed to share with us a unique look at uh …”

  “Gaia’s hidden treasures,” she finished for him, stepping to the front of the room.

  “Of course. Well, we’re all looking forward to this.” He actually looked excited as he pulled down the screen and left her the floor.

  Great. Mr. Locke was under her influence as well.

  “Namaste,” Bethany said, bowing with hands pressed together. She wore yet another pandafied outfit, this one consisting of black yoga pants and a paprika red baby doll top.

  Kill me now, I scrawled on a note for Hannah and Theo to read.

  Bethany clicked on Mr. Locke’s laptop and snapped her fingers. “Lights.”

  Four students almost broke their necks rushing to do her bidding and flick the switch.

  The first slide, complete with Beyonce soundtrack, showed Bethany being fawned over by an army of hair, wardrobe, and make-up people on a beach. A sliver of turquoise water was visible behind her. “This is Manuel Antonio National Park. In Costa Rica,” she added with an emphatic rolling of her “R”.

  Think I preferred having my liver eaten, Theo wrote.

  Brutal. This from Hannah.

  The liver? I wrote.

  No. B.

  The photo of Bethany laughing in the open door of a private jet with a tree in the background in which you could just barely make out a monkey, was, she informed us, “Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Republic of Congo.”

  Where we @ for horrible candidates? Me.

  Theo’s response was Got a shortlist. But is anyone truly awful enough?

  “… And this is me with the photographer in a Roman Bath in Algeria. She’s shot all the supermodels and said she’d never seen bone structure like mine,” Bethany said, smugly.

  Yeah, reptilian, Theo wrote.

  If pressed, I’d have to say it was a toss up as to which was more painful: being zapped by lightning, manacled in the torture cuffs, or sitting through the rest of that class.

  “Enough,” I told Hannah and Theo when class had finally ended. “I can’t handle more of the Bethany show. I won’t be able to control myself.” I glanced around the hallway at all the posters prematurely declaring Bethany Winter Formal Queen. With her enhanced “love me” factor, I guess it would have been pointless for any one else to run.

  But if I had my way, the only crown that cow was ever going to wear was the cheap plastic one at the dance. I shuddered at the reach Bethany would have if she ever did get to be some kind of media princess before turning back to my friends. Bethany with that kind of clout? Might as well let Zeus and Hades destroy the world.

  I jumped as a hand touched my shoulder. “Good to see you back, Bloom,” Anil Patel said.

  I felt bad given how happy he looked to see me. Anil had been a stupid boy who’d taunted me and yes, been taunted back, for most of my life. But when my goddess looks had kicked in, he became Mr. Flirt. He was actually a pretty nice guy and easy on the eyes, with his warm grin, brown skin, and cut bod. Wrestler ears and taped fingers not-withstanding.

  While I may have enjoyed the occasional flirt session with Anil, I had zero crush feelings for him. It was more for the joy of getting to act like a normal girl for a few moments. Friendly fun.

  Le sigh. He wasn’t Kai. That dummy had ruined me for all other guys.

  I smiled at Anil, since my feelings weren’t his fault. “Good to be back.”

  Hannah and Theo stepped back to give us privacy, which we didn’t need. But that was my friends for you. Aggravating.

  Anil laughed. “Yeah, right. All Bethany all the time. A real treat.”

  “You’re not a fan?” I asked, kind of surprised. They ran in the same circles.

  “Naw. Doggy style ain’t my thang.” He threw me a lewd wink. Ah. There was the Anil I knew. “Also, she’s full of it. Heard that load of crap about you she fed Doucette. Don’t know why you bolted—” He held up a hand to cut off my stammered excuse. “Don’t care. We all got our stuff to deal with. Just know it wasn’t over her.”

  “Thanks.” I really appreciated him saying that. I sighed. “Is it
all over school?” Just what I needed, to be considered the skitzy chick for the next year and a half.

  “You’re safe. The guys and I hacked Doucette’s office before the holidays with this hard core spy listening software we got online. You can get all kinds of mercenary gear, yo. Course, he found it and trashed it. Still got away with it, though,” he said proudly. He shrugged. “That’s why I know. I heard her.”

  “Impressive work, Patel. Bugging the big boss.”

  He grinned. “I’ve got depths, Bloom.” And with that, he left.

  “Anil still crushing on you, huh?” Hannah teased.

  “Giving me whack hacker tips, yo,” I joked. “Too bad he can’t hack my brain.”

  “The memory retrieval?” Pierce had just arrived. He sported a cream tailored button-down with grey pinstripes over grey cargo pants. The colors brought out the green in his eyes and more than one girl did a double-take as she passed him. The fact that he managed to smell like sunshine didn’t hurt. “Leave it to me.”

  Theo and I stared at Pierce in amazement.

  Hannah looked at him like she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with him. She smoothed out her expression. “How can you help?”

  I wanted that answer, too, but there were too many kids around. I pulled them into an empty classroom. Toys were strewn around the room, while very colorful drawings hung on the walls, which meant this was Ms. Kim’s kindergarten class.

  “Is this you just cozying up to the best friend for Brownie points? Because I’m good with that.” I would give him a kidney if he got me the memories back.

  He glanced to Hannah. “Does it get me Brownie points?’

  She shrugged, idly poking some Play-Doh laying out. “Maybe.” If Hannah was playing things this cool, she had obviously gone into extreme “stay objective until results are tabulated” mode.

  Pierce just as obviously didn’t seem to care because he lit up and said, “Brilliant.”

  I snapped my fingers to get his attention back to me. “You’re serious? You can do it?”

  He leaned against Ms. Kim’s desk. He kept focused on me, but I could tell that he was forcing himself not to watch Hannah. “Thought it over, yeah.”

  The Brit accent was super adorable. Hannah narrowed her eyes at me when I grinned at his voice. That just made me grin harder.

  Pierce remained oblivious to the covert girl exchange going on in front of him. “I’m pretty sure I’ve got it solved. Gotta handle Bethany, put some things into place.” He looked me over. “You’’ll need to prep yourself. I expect you’ll find it painful.”

  I crossed my arms, worried. “How painful? Like scale of one to ten.”

  “Fourteen.”

  I braced myself against a tiny red kiddie chair, and shook my head. “No. I’m not good with that. There has to be another way.”

  Theo had a thoughtful look on his face.

  I pounced on him. “You have an idea?”

  He shook his head.

  “Spill,” I ordered.

  He kept silent.

  I snagged Theo in my ribbons of light, since I was now fully recharged.

  “Watch the goods!” he protested.

  I tightened his bindings slightly. “I don’t know what your issue is but you need to man up and give me the info. Now.”

  “There might be one god who could help us,” Theo said, reluctantly. “Hephaestus.”

  I released him from my plant prison.

  “Isn’t he the God of Fire, Forge, and Volcanos?” Hannah asked.

  “I am not being sacrificed to a volcano,” I said.

  “If only,” Theo replied. “He’s also the God of Technology. Anil’s hacking reminded me that maybe we could approach it that way.”

  “Hack into her brain?” Hannah squealed.

  I whacked her arm. “I was kidding about that.”

  She leaned forward eagerly to Theo. “Can I come?”

  Theo was serious about this. I glanced at Pierce. “Will Hephaestus involve less pain?”

  “Undoubtedly,” he replied without hesitation.

  That settled it. “Okay, we’ll save your kind offer for Plan B.”

  Which is how I found myself standing in front of a pine tree, bound for Hephaestus’ lair.

  Hannah came with Theo and me, having wanted to observe my new traveling abilities. All of us were bundled in warm winter coats. Hannah held a black umbrella over us, protection against the rain pelting down.

  Boom!

  We startled.

  “Wrong conditions for a thunderstorm,” Hannah mused. “Although the sonic boom would explain the ground rattling.” Her eyes widened. “What kind of lightning storm is that?”

  I stared up at the sky in dread. A small team of Gold Crushers and Infernorators were wailing on the wards with fireballs and lightning. Hannah couldn’t see the minions but their efforts were apparent. Anyone else seeing this would just chalk it up to a freak storm. Weird natural disasters could be used to explain away a lot. “Theo,” I whispered, my throat dry with fear.

  He clapped my shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. “They can’t get through. I’ll strengthen the wards anyway.”

  Hannah was whipping her head around, curious and desperate to see something.

  “Minions,” Theo said. “Don’t panic.”

  She stamped her foot in frustration. “What if you injure a couple of whatever are up there and we bring them in to study? Could I see them then?” So much for panic.

  “No,” Theo and I both chorused.

  I watched the single-minded focus of the minions. “Hades and Zeus will send everything they’ve got to the ritual location. Not to mention themselves. How can we possibly ward it up so it holds?”

  “Blood. Yours and Kai’s.”

  “But—”

  Theo shook his head, cutting me off. “Memories first. Go see Hephaestus. We’ll deal with finding Kai and everything else when you get back.”

  I gave a tight nod.

  Theo wrapped his coat tighter around himself at the wind that had picked up. Or maybe it was just the force of the Gold Crushers and Infernorators battering against the wards.

  “They’re stepping it up, aren’t they?” Hannah didn’t look as enthusiastic to meet one now. She held her whipping hair out of her face with her free hand.

  Theo slung an arm around her shoulders but kept his gaze on me. “Just focus on the address I gave you. And when you get there, the password is ‘man behind the curtain.’”

  I shot him a pleading look. “Come with.”

  “No way. You are most def on your own on this one.”

  “Why?” I had to raise my voice over the rising drone of the wind.

  “Just leave it, Soph. I’m not going,” Theo said, testily.

  I sighed.

  “Have fun,” Hannah tried her best to give me a cheery wave, despite glancing worriedly up at the sky every few seconds. “And bring me back a brain scan.”

  “I hate you both,” I said.

  Then clutching my pendant, palms sweaty with fear and hope, I parted the branches. I had a split-second of perfectly rational fear that my next step would end with me whacking my face on the bark, but the pendant did its job. It was like the pine tree wasn’t even there. I simply stepped through the trunk, and went looking for help.

  Six

  The next step brought me out through a spindly pine in front of a nondescript industrial warehouse in a run-down area of Seattle. From what I could tell. Weather, architecture, all looked grey. I was on unprotected ground now, and the Photokia and Pyrosim would probably be locking and loading onto me at any second.

  I bolted across the empty street to the building matching the address Theo had given me. Going around the side as he’d directed, I stepped up to a metal garage door that had been tagged in a variety of bright colors and buzzed the single white button inset on a brown plaque on the wall.

  A hologram of a red demon’s face appeared in front of me.

  “Who dares d
isturb me?” it boomed in a thunderous voice.

  “Holy crap!” I yelped.

  The hologram disappeared.

  Photokia and Pyrosim arrived. The Pyrosim floated down in a rush of hot, flaming air, their fiery tentacle arms outstretched my way.

  Guess the Photokia felt lazy because they were content to just hang back and let the Pyrosim tenderize me up.

  The fact that they’d put aside their deep-seated hatred of each other to work on “Operation Obliterate The Bloom Chick” both continued to worry me and remind me of how serious the stakes were.

  I took out the ones closest to me with a couple of blasts of green light and stabbed at the button again.

  More minions arrived, dotting the sky.

  The hologram appeared again. “Who dares—”

  “Man behind the curtain!” I yelled, glad to have the password.

  Wrong. At those words, the demon’s face blew up by a thousand degrees.

  Its presence helpfully knocked away the Photokia and Pyrosim, but this didn’t bode well for me.

  The holograph turned a massive frown on me. “Impostor!” it roared, and whirled around me, sucking me up and spitting me out in a large interior room.

  The space was mostly bare, in a grey palette. The walls and floors were concrete. The only natural light came from a row of windows along the far end, which looked out into a charming desolate alley. Home to crackheads and miscellaneous shifty characters.

  On the left lay a small galley kitchen, with white hi-gloss cabinets and stainless steel counters. There was no table, but instead a lounge area with a few ultra-sleek red leather couches and a coffee table piled high with various tech gadgets and books. A couple of closed doors were to the right of the front door.

  The focus of the room was, well, I’ll get to that.

  A lone figure stood awaiting my arrival.

  Take the natural snobbiness of your everyday hipster, compound it by the regular arrogance of guys in their mid-twenties, and magnify it by infinity thanks to that whole god factor. You’d start to come close to the waves of disdain that just naturally rolled off this dude. The Eau de Smarm he exuded ensured that I wasn’t going to be cozying up to him any time soon.