“Am I late?” I asked, checking my watch.
“No, I’m just early,” Cole replied as he stood up and pulled the chair out for me. I thanked him and sat down awkwardly, waiting for him to explain why he had invited me here. Instead, he just made small talk and asked, “So, the rest of the Monster Watch isn’t awake yet?”
I shook my head. “Well, Connor probably is, but you asked me to meet you here, so . . .” My voice trailed off, expecting Cole to pick up on what I was saying and continue, but he didn’t. (Are most Sightless boys this clueless?)
“Do you have trouble getting to the point or something? You did ask me to meet you here for a reason, right?” I asked him, one eyebrow arched.
“Oh, yeah,” Cole mumbled with a soft chuckle, making me crack a smile involuntarily. “Well, if you’re not in a hurry, I was wondering if you wanted to have breakfast with me.”
I was then vaguely reminded of a time when we were on the same page in life, when we were better friends. I remembered when I had so badly wished he were a god, but I realized now that Cole never had the guts for the job; he’d really made his final choice six years earlier when he decided not to hide from the cops in the forest with Josh and the rest of the Monster Watch. Being a goddess had given me so much that I loved, like freedom and independence, but it took away an equal amount of childhood and simplicity. To me, a breakfast meeting with an old friend was now almost meaningless—just an act to cover up my many secrets.
I gulped, checking my watch again, and lied, “Actually, I have to go in a few minutes.”
Cole nodded. “Thanks for meeting me here, Ashley. Oh, here’s what I wanted to give you last night.” He reached slowly into his pocket and pulled out a necklace—a simple, silver chain with a golden leaf. “For the queen of the forest,” he said softly as he handed the piece of jewelry to me. With a small smile, I took it from him, refraining from pointing out that, rather regrettably, Hera was the real queen, not Athena. I then waved good-bye, and Cole watched me as I strode away without another word, still clutching the necklace in my hand.
I had just rounded the corner onto Maple Street, heading back to my house when a flash of movement at the edge of the forest caught my eye. I turned around slowly, half expecting to see Hades. Instead, my eyes rested on Alec, who was leaning against a tree trunk with his arms crossed, his dark hair somehow tousled perfectly by the strong winds. (Not to mention the fact that he wasn’t wearing armor. What an idiot.) His piercing blue eyes locked onto me, mixtures of emotions swirling around in them like storm clouds, but he also wore a frown, a clear sign that he was not the least bit amused by my actions the previous night.
Yes, I knew this was not the lost, confused boy who had first shown up in the Woods hesitant to look a god in the eye; this was a true hero, not afraid to die the most painful death or stand up to the most powerful gods. He had absorbed everything we gods had ever told him and more—our attitude, our way of life, et cetera. Even his appearance made him seem more like a god— perhaps too much like a god—as he had obviously learned how to use stature to his advantage and had gained quite a bit of muscle mass during our long, strenuous battle practices in the middle of the night. And by showing up here on the street, in daylight, he just proved that he was no longer afraid of being seen for who he was, of being challenged by people either much stronger or much more human than him, which might have been the most dangerous thing about him.
Therefore, I simply stared at him, patiently waiting for him to make the first move. Taking a few bold steps toward me, he cleared his throat and said quietly yet firmly in Greek, “You must enjoy scaring people. Because I can’t think of any other reason why you would break protocol and shut off your walkie-talkie in the middle of an emergency.”
I shrugged. “I needed to think,” I said bluntly, also in Greek.
“We all know better than to disrupt your thoughts, Athena, but we still worry about you.” Alec paused, taking a deep breath before admitting, “I guess . . . well, I would’ve liked to hear something from you before you went to bed. Just to make sure you were okay.”
I sighed glumly, finally breaking eye contact and glancing down the empty road into the silvery mist, the wind whipping my long hair around wildly. “It wasn’t your fault that Hades got away,” Alec continued, and my frown deepened. “I know you so I know that you would have done everything in your power to try to stop him. Please, don’t beat yourself up about this.”
We lapsed into silence and Alec took another few steps toward me, now standing mere inches away. “But I could’ve ended this war, Alec, or at least gotten us a whole lot closer,” I whispered to him bitterly, biting down on my lower lip. I couldn’t help but worry that I’d already fallen and that I was bringing my friends down with me.
“It is what it is,” he argued, shaking his head. “Hades and I started this war, not you. We just have to hope he knows that he would be stupid to ignore the goddess of wisdom’s warnings.”
I just closed my eyes, letting this thought sink in for a moment as Alec calmly reached toward me to tuck a stray piece of hair behind my ear. I could have sworn that his touch sent sparks shooting through me, and I tried not to shudder as a whole slew of different emotions—both good and bad—washed over me all at once. “Are you okay now?” he asked softly, carefully lifting my chin to his level.
I opened my eyes immediately, my heart racing like a cheetah. “I won’t be okay if you kiss me. I swear I’ll punch you in the face,” I warned him seriously, ignoring his question.
“That’s my girl.” Alec smiled fondly before he leaned in even closer, cupping my face in his warm hands and told me, “But unfortunately for you, I don’t care too much about being punched.”
“Alec!” I hissed at him nervously, placing a hand on his chest so he couldn’t get any closer than he already was. However, he glanced down at my hand with one eyebrow raised suggestively so I quickly removed it, my face burning with embarrassment. I gave him a soft slap on the cheek before ordering hoarsely, “Pull yourself together.”
“That was one hard punch,” Alec joked.
I glared at him, feeling the bright pink color finally start to fade from my cheeks. “Whatever. Now, are you going to tell me why you aren’t wearing your armor? And did you come all the way here alone again? We’ve had this conversation before . . . .”
Alec sighed and explained, “Well, thanks to your cryptic message last night, Pan was freaking out and made me sleep in my armor with five Knowing Warriors surrounding me at all times. When I decided I needed to talk to you about it this morning, they followed me here, but I sent them back to the camp a few minutes ago. My armor is hidden in a log at the moment, since I was tired of wearing it.” He paused and lazily gestured to the lush, green forest behind him. Then he patted a round lump in his pocket and said, “But don’t worry. I have my sword right here. I haven’t run into any monsters today, though.”
I rolled my eyes. “I hope you’re not expecting to be lucky all day. Because you’ll be severely disappointed.”
Alec gave me a small smirk, but then his face fell when he caught sight of the sparkling necklace still in my hand. He reached for it in what seemed like slow motion and I willingly dropped it in his hand, not wanting to hide anything more from him. Alec just narrowed his eyes as he fingered the golden leaf, trying his best not to show any emotion, though I knew he was upset. “Cole gave this to you?”
I nodded quickly and explained, “I was going to throw it away as soon as I got home. I swear.” As soon as I said that, however, I regretted it. What Alec thought about Cole should have been no concern of mine and throwing away a gift out of frustration was a childish thing to do.
“I believe you,” Alec stated glumly, running his fingers through his hair, “but how long do you have to keep pretending for him? I know you were doing this for your mom, but I don’t see the point anymore.” He sighed, looking into my eyes sadly.
“I know. I never wanted it to be like this with
Cole. I was going to talk to Zeus and Aphrodite about it today, actually. When Hades showed up last night, he said some things that make me think he’s been spying on me for a while, so I’m probably just putting Cole in danger,” I said, and he nodded in understanding as he passed the necklace back to me.
Distracted, I paused for a minute and glanced down the road toward my quiet house. The thick fog was finally starting to clear, though it was still very cloudy and I could see that my gray home was sitting empty, with no cars left in the short driveway. Remembering what I had originally been on my way to do, I lightened the mood and asked, “Hey, want to come help me collect some food for the troops?” Alec nodded again eagerly and the two of us silently jogged up the street together.
Alas, that decision would prove to be a big mistake.
Chapter 8
FIRE AWAY
Alec and I bounded up the porch steps together and threw open the screen door, racing inside my house without a second thought. We passed by the living room and turned the sharp corner into the kitchen, but then in complete shock, I stopped dead in my tracks and Alec almost smacked right into me. Our jaws immediately dropped to the floor. Oops, I thought helplessly as I gulped and exchanged horrified glances with the wide-eyed Alec. At that moment, I would have rather come face-to-face with an undead warrior. Or five.
“Well, aren’t you going to say hello?” my father asked gruffly, raising his bushy eyebrows at Alec and me.
To be fair, Alec still had a white bandage loosely wrapped around his left forearm from two nights earlier (not to mention the various other scars we shared), so we probably looked pretty suspicious. Therefore, my father took his time studying Alec very closely as he took a long sip of beer from the near-empty bottle. That’s right; if you thought lemonade in the morning was weird, try beer—no, wait. Whatever you do, don’t try beer.
“Oh, hi, Dad. I didn’t expect to see you here. We’re just going to go now.” I started backing out of the room slowly, but Alec was frozen in place, still staring blankly at the beer bottle in my father’s hand. When I forcefully elbowed him in the gut, Alec mumbled some profanities under his breath before following my lead, turning around to race out of the front door just as quickly as we had come in.
“Wait,” my father ordered firmly. I just sighed, exchanging worried glances with Alec as he and I reluctantly backed up into the kitchen again. “Ashley, do you want to tell me who this is?” With his free hand, my grumpy dad gestured to Alec, who then looked at me, unsure of what to do next.
“No, not particularly,” I responded truthfully, crossing my arms over my chest. My dad sighed. Not at all surprised by my defiance, Alec lowered his head and hid a smirk.
“So where’s your car? It wasn’t in the driveway,” I changed the subject suddenly, wondering what my father was still doing at the house. He did have a job, after all.
“My car is in the shop. Now, let’s try this again. Tell me who this boy is or you’re grounded for the rest of summer.”
Well, that gave me absolutely no choice at all.
“This is Alec,” I started slowly, and my father looked at me expectantly, waiting for further explanation. To be honest, I had never brought anyone home with me besides the boys of the Monster Watch and occasionally one of the goddesses, thus, I had never been questioned by my father for anything like this, for anything so nonchalantly meaningful.
When I looked back to Alec, my breath caught in my throat and I froze, at a loss for words for the first time in ages. He knew as well as I did that we couldn’t tell my father the lie about him being Josh’s cousin, because like any polite parent, my dad would mention it to Josh’s parents the next time he saw them and then I would be in a load of trouble. Plus, my dad worked in the neighboring town and probably knew almost everyone so I couldn’t exactly say that Alec lived there either; he would see straight through that lie.
Gulping, I glanced at Alec and his blue eyes locked with my gray ones as a single thought passed between us. Alec raised one eyebrow in a silent question and I nodded, squeezing my eyes shut as I prepared myself for my father’s reaction to what was coming. I knew my father was smart enough not to tell my mother about Alec, but that didn’t mean his reaction would be any less erratic. The fact that he was drinking at the moment would probably make his bad response even worse. Nevertheless, Alec knew what he had to do.
“I live in the forest, sir.”
To my surprise, my father didn’t yell and didn’t even look confused. He simply raised his eyebrows again and carefully set the beer bottle back on the counter. “In the forest?” he clarified, his voice gruff yet strangely quiet, his brow furrowed. Alec and I nodded simultaneously, waiting to see what my father would say next. “For how long?”
“He’s only been here since the start of summer, Dad,” I cut in, knowing what he was thinking. In the eyes of the public, there were still around forty unsolved missing person cases of people who had gone into the woods before the Monster Watch, even though we gods knew that they were really killed by monsters.
“No one else lives in the forest or has ever lived there. Alec and I don’t know what happened to all of those people, and no one else does either,” I lied, fingering the belt loop on my hip which held my walkie-talkie.
My father’s frown deepened as he became lost in thought. The slight twitch of his crooked nose, which had been broken in a bar fight long ago, was a clear sign of how hard his brain was working to try to digest the information. “May I ask why you live there?” he asked curiously—almost sorrowfully—looking back at Alec.
“I ran away, sir,” Alec answered curtly, running his fingers through his dark hair and wiping a drop of nervous sweat threatening to slide down his forehead.
“I should’ve guessed,” my father sighed. “But running away from home because life sucks is a pretty stup—” He stopped midsentence, realization hitting him abruptly, like a knife in the chest, as he glanced back at me and held my gaze. After all, I ran away from my human home every day, even if I did return most nights. And my father knew better than to call me stupid.
“Something wrong, Dad?” I asked with a supercilious smirk. My father narrowed his eyes at me, and I felt Alec shift over so that he was standing closer to me, as if he felt like he was protecting me somehow. My father must have noticed this as well because he quietly raised his eyebrows at Alec, but the young hero just shrugged it off nonchalantly. Both of them knew I didn’t really need to be sheltered.
Then my dad did something I never would have expected from him: he laughed. He actually laughed. “I think I like this kid,” he chuckled to himself, shaking his head, and I exchanged confused glances with Alec, who threw his hands up into the air at a loss for words. I didn’t even understand what was going on, but I suddenly found myself cracking up along with the two of them because the situation was so absurd. I had known my whole life that my father really wasn’t the monster I always portrayed him as inside my head; he was just a grumpy alcoholic in need of a good laugh to cheer him up. But I never thought that I would actually see his softer side come out, especially not when his only daughter showed up with a random troublemaker who claimed to live in the mysterious forest. A bit of advice: people aren’t always what they seem.
This peculiar, relaxing state of laughter lasted another minute or two before we all finally calmed down a bit. “So why are you two here?” my father eventually asked. He chortled, “It’s obvious that you didn’t come just to talk to me.”
“The rest of the Monster Watch and I are going camping in the woods. I was getting some food,” I told him seriously.
“And I suppose Alec is tagging along since he lives in that terrible place?” my father questioned, stroking his chin, and I nodded. “Well, don’t let me stop you.” He gestured to the cupboard after a slight pause, and I gave him a tight smile in return.
“Thanks, Dad,” I said quietly. “I just need to get some other stuff first.”
Without another word, Alec
obediently followed me upstairs and into my empty room. The way he stuffed his hands into his pockets and glanced back over his shoulders multiple times told me there was something else he wanted to implore of me, and me alone. Sure enough, when we were out of my father’s earshot, Alec leaned over and whispered cautiously, “What’s his name?” Somehow, the young hero, like no one else I had ever met, understood the true gravity of such a simple question.
“Henry,” I answered, surprised by how easily the name rolled off my tongue. Maybe it was because this was the first time there wasn’t any contempt in my voice when I mentioned my old man. “His name is Henry.”
I was just about to start looking for my black backpack when I caught sight of a pile of papers on my cluttered desk. It was then that I realized there was something important I needed to do before I left the house that day, since I was going to be so busy the last few weeks of summer and only the Fates knew when I might have another pause in the action like this. I knew it would come back to haunt me whether it was completed or not, but it had to be done nonetheless. Perhaps it should have even been done years earlier, just in case, by some slight chance, I happened to forget.
“Hey, I found the backpack,” Alec informed me, pulling it out from under my bed.
“Cool, can you just throw some extra clothes in there for me? Thanks,” I said to him absentmindedly as I sat down in the chair facing my messy desk and picked up a pen. I gulped as I twirled it around in my fingers, my heart racing. I had been subconsciously thinking about this exact moment so much that I knew precisely what to write and how.
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