I smirked and replied, “Believe it or not, all I had to do was beg my dad. I think he feels bad about leaving my mom like this, so he was moderately open to the idea of helping out.”
The others nodded, and Josh clarified, “So do you want me to go tell Camille now, or can I finish eating first?”
Zach was about to reply aloud, but then he caught sight of Cole, who had obviously gotten curious as to why all of us were outside talking in low voices, so Zach just nodded silently instead. Pushing open the wooden door and sticking his caramel-colored head out, Cole asked innocently, “What’s going on?”
We all glanced at each other, even nudged one another, quickly trying to figure out who would answer him. Finally, Josh nervously pushed his curly hair out of his eyes and spoke up apologetically, “I have to go. Sorry, man, but I’ll catch up with you later.” He took off down the dusty road to go talk to the other gods, leaving Cole looking confused and hurt. When Cole looked to me for an explanation, I just shrugged, not meeting his eye. He would never understand the fact that we gods had to (and would willingly) drop everything if some ungodly trouble suddenly arose.
Then the rest of the Monster Watch and I bid farewell to everyone else, and we turned around to head into the woods for a game of reverse hide-and-seek with Alec. Since it was my turn to hide, it took two long hours before the boys finally gave up on trying to find me, and they were obviously tired of trying to fight monsters at the same time. Poseidon, Zeus, and Apollo had fared perfectly fine, but Alec gave us quite a scare when he finally met up with us, limping badly and bleeding from a nasty, bloody gash on his right forearm. Fortunately, upon closer inspection, the wound didn’t appear nearly as bad as we thought. I, on the other hand, was left undefeated, even after narrowly avoiding being trampled by the prancing Pegasus while I was hiding in a bush.
About an hour later, Zeus, Apollo, Alec, and I were sitting down with Pan on a log by his hideout, and Poseidon was happily swimming in the small pool with two nymphs who were a few years older than us. Alec winced as I bandaged his injured arm, and I looked up at him with great concern, pulling my hand back from his wound in surprise. I knew we couldn’t have him too seriously in pain at a tense time like this, when we would need every last fighter at a moment’s notice.
“I’m fine,” Alec whispered to me with a forced smile, and I returned to my work even though I didn’t quite believe him.
Suddenly, our walkie-talkies erupted with the unmistakable voice of Hermes. Apparently, he had finished delivering the message to the rest of the gods. Poseidon and the nymphs immediately stopped swimming, and Apollo, Pan, and Zeus looked up from eating berries to listen in as he said in Greek, “Artemis says the plan sounds good. She can’t go to Kentucky anyway, since her aunt is visiting this week. It’s all on you, Athena.”
I honestly wasn’t surprised, so I just sighed and replied shortly, “Okay, thanks for letting me know.” I finished wrapping the bandage on Alec’s strong arm and stood up. “I’m going to go home and sort everything out.” Next, facing Alec, I told him seriously, “We leave in three days. Don’t get killed while I’m gone.”
Alec only smirked as I started walking south toward my house, leaving the others behind. “I’ll try not to!” he yelled after me flirtatiously, as I disappeared into the foliage.
___________________
I ran up the rickety steps to my front porch and entered my house, noticing that my mother wasn’t home from the antique shop yet. After I had printed out the plane ticket information, I used the format from my invitation to the prestigious New York summer camp to type a fake acceptance letter from the University of Kentucky. I had always wanted to go to the program in New York, but I never actually applied to it, even though I was certain they would have accepted me. Knowing everything did have its perks.
The next day I showed my mother the fake acceptance letter, much to her surprise, and she told me that she didn’t even realize I had applied this year (or any year, for that matter). She did, in fact, allow me to go after some thought, although I could tell that she didn’t really want to be alone after what had happened with my dad. But what else was I supposed to do? I had a much more important mission. And when my mother offered to go online and buy the plane ticket to Kentucky, I quickly intervened and told her Dad already did.
For the next two days, I went into the forest only at night, to train with Alec. I was too busy during the day trying to work out the travel details and to pack as lightly as I could, with only the necessities that could fit in a backpack: two changes of clothes, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and a few snacks. Unfortunately, Alec and I would look awfully strange walking around in Grecian armor, and our usual weapons would never make it through airport security, so we would just have to be extra careful when we were fighting whatever monsters that were bound to chase after us.
While I was busy arranging the plans, however, somehow Hephaestus managed to make Alec and me special swords that could easily go through security and were concealed as round rocks, small enough to fit in our pockets. With one squeeze, the long sharp metal blade of a sword would shoot out of one end of the rock, and another squeeze of the hilt would turn it back into an ordinary rock. Alec and I just had to make sure we didn’t accidentally lose the tiny, inconspicuous objects.
On the night before Alec and I were going to leave the Woods, I sneaked out of my bedroom around eleven to head into the forest, grabbing my armor, spear, and shield on the way. Because Artemis and I reckoned that there would be some archers at the Knowing base camp (which was confirmed by Alec), we had agreed to go hunting for Stymphalian birds that night so she could teach Alec and me a few tips about archery, which the two of us could then pass on to the archers at the camp. Therefore, as soon as Artemis arrived at Pan’s hideout, she, Alec, and I started to head toward the Oracle’s region of the forest, where the greatest concentration of the metallic birds lived.
For the first hour or so, Alec and I took turns practicing our shots with Artemis’s bow, aiming at certain trees or branches while staying hidden in the bushes. I supposed we could have kept shooting at unmoving targets, but Alec and I found that to be quite dull. Frankly, killing monsters, especially without good reason, was much more fun. Henceforth, when Artemis thought we had enough experience, we stopped trying to be quiet and waited patiently.
The giant birds appeared right away, disturbed by our presence in their territory. Three of them flitted nervously from branch to branch, and their razor-sharp metal feathers made terrible grinding sounds every time they moved. Nevertheless, I managed to hit my mark on the first try, and the bird disappeared in a puff of ashes. This caused the two remaining birds to screech and circle higher in the trees, sensing immediate danger.
I passed the bow and arrows to Alec so he could have his turn, and he rolled his sparkling blue eyes at me, as if to sarcastically thank me for making his job a lot harder. Indeed, he missed the anxious Stymphalian birds, which were even bigger and taller than us, on the first two tries, but his third time was the charm. As soon as the second bird had disappeared, however, five more immediately joined the one remaining, apparently angered by our unwarranted assault on their population. Although these birds usually only harmed other beings by destroying crops with their toxic droppings, they were known to turn into hungry killers when provoked.
“I think they’ve declared war,” Alec announced with a smirk, passing the bow and quiver full of arrows back to Artemis in exchange for his sword.
I grinned at my friends confidently. “Apparently they haven’t learned the most important lesson of war: never start battles you can’t win.”
And the battle began. A steel-gray Stymphalian bird swooped down from the trees, metal wings and sharp talons outstretched, but Artemis shot it immediately. Another flew toward me, and I dove out of the way but rolled over on the ground just in time to throw my spear into its belly. I was showered with dark ash as the smooth spear fell back into my hands, and I raised my silver shi
eld just in time for a second bird to crash into it with the force of a high-speed train.
Behind me, Alec was slicing and stabbing at the underside of the mechanical bird hovering above him, blocking the acidic yellow droppings and the snapping of the bird’s bronze beak with his own shield. Meanwhile, Artemis was hiding in a bush, not wasting any arrows and patiently waiting for the perfect moment to shoot at the humongous birds flapping around her, the moment when the silver light from her bright moon glinted at just the right position off of their wings, which seemed to be covered with what looked more like flattened tips of spears than real feathers. Artemis was on a hot streak and had killed her third by the time Alec had finally killed his second.
The terrific battle came to a conclusion when I quickly unbuckled the straps that held aegis on my left arm and hurled the heavy shield like a discus at the last Stymphalian bird, which then slammed against the trunk of a pine tree and fell to the grass, heaving for air. Fearlessly, Alec raced up from behind it and jumped on its back just as it began to take off again. The brave young hero didn’t even shout for help as the bird screeched and twisted around twenty feet up in the air, struggling to throw off its determined rider. Finally, he managed to stab the bird’s back with his sword, and I dropped my weapons to catch him with my superhuman strength as he plummeted back down to earth, followed by a small cloud of gray monster dust.
“Thanks,” Alec told me with a weak smile as he wiped off the bright red blood from his hands, which had been cut on the gigantic bird’s bladelike feathers. “Riding a Stymphalian bird wasn’t quite as much fun as I thought it would be.”
Artemis and I simply rolled our eyes at him in response, and then we headed back to Pan’s home to drop Alec off. I was eager to get some rest.
___________________
Finally the day Alec and I would leave for Kentucky arrived. First, I got up early and took a shower before putting on some jeans, a red T-shirt, and my leather jacket. Then I grabbed my black backpack and the ticket information I had printed out and quickly headed downstairs.
To my surprise, my mom was already in the kitchen, preparing a bowl of cereal for me. “I’m going to drive you to the airport in half an hour,” she said, not even looking up at me.
“Oh no, that’s okay. I called for a taxi last night, and it should be here soon. I didn’t want you to take off from work just for me,” I told her. Alec had to get to the airport as well, and since he wasn’t even supposed to exist, there was no way my mom could ever find out about him.
“Okay then. Give me a hug before you leave, sweetie,” she told me, and I clenched my teeth but obeyed anyway.
She sighed, and I thought I caught her wiping her eyes with her delicate hand, but I didn’t say anything besides, “Bye, Mom.” And then I walked out of the door and into the woods to meet Alec. If she even noticed that I only had one small backpack for two weeks’ worth of traveling, she didn’t say anything.
When I finally reached the meadow, our usual meeting place, the rest of the gods and Alec were already there waiting for me. “Ready?” I asked Alec. He was the only person there, besides me and Pan, who wasn’t wearing armor.
Alec simply nodded and walked over to stand next to me, now facing the rest of the gods. “Well,” Zeus spoke up, looking me in the eye, “give me a hug, and don’t get killed.”
Grinning, I walked over to him, gave him a hug, and replied, “Just keep the skies clear for us, Father Zeus.” He smiled, his blue eyes twinkling, and nodded, while Hera just glared at me from behind him.
“Don’t be thinking that I’m going to give you a hug too, Athena. Because I definitely won’t,” Poseidon said, stepping up behind Zeus and winking.
I just shook my head as Hephaestus stood up awkwardly with his wooden cane next to Poseidon and held out his rough hand, on which sat the two rocks that could turn into swords. He handed the larger one to Alec, since he was slightly taller than me, and the smaller rock to me. “These should work just fine. I laced them with magic, so if you drop them or they get lost, they should return to your pockets within five minutes, give or take a few. You know how these things work,” he instructed us with a wave of his hand. “Oh, and good luck.”
Alec and I nodded in unison, and I was about to respond to the smith god when I was suddenly pulled away by Aphrodite. I just let out an exasperated sigh, knowing full well what was coming. Frowning, she quickly reached behind my head to fix my ponytail and then placed her perfectly manicured hands on my shoulders. “Okay, by now I’m assuming you know that Alec likes you—”
“I know everything,” I told her bluntly, crossing my arms.
Starting to remind me of Katie, she sighed and explained, “Well, yes, but let’s just say that love is definitely not your area of expertise. I mean, you haven’t said anything to Cole or Alec on the subject yet.” Fixing her own hair and clasping her hands together dramatically, Aphrodite continued, “I just wanted to tell you that you shouldn’t be afraid to fall in love.”
I only raised my eyebrows in silence. “I’m not supposed to fall in love,” I reminded her matter-of-factly.
Aphrodite shook her head and argued, “No, you’re just supposed to be a virgin. You of all people should know about loopholes. Don’t you have a law degree or something?”
I looked her in the eye. “Forget it, Aphrodite. It’s not happening. And I have to go now, so—” I was interrupted when she suddenly hugged me tightly, and I was all too aware of her curvy body and breasts pressing against mine. Her voluminous blonde hair was strewn over my face, and the fruity scent of perfume was overwhelming. She couldn’t help it, though. Her aura and good looks were more than enough to evoke powerful feelings of desire or to send one’s senses spiraling out of control—but always in a good way.
Reluctantly giving in to her charms for a moment, I sighed and hugged her back, but then I pushed away again. “Bye,” I told her softly, tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear. Even though we had our differences, I had to admit Aphrodite was a pretty good friend, like most of the gods.
I turned back to face the rest of the gods one last time before saying farewell. “Well, happy hunting, Artemis, and to everyone else, please stay alive,” I said with a nod toward my good friend, the goddess of the moon.
When they all smiled back, Alec knelt down on one knee, giving one last bow to his gods and best friends, the determined look of a hero now permanently written across his face. Without another word, we slowly headed north to meet our taxi, leaving the other gods behind to go kill some of the monsters Hades had sent. I hated to admit it, but I was going to miss them.
Chapter 14:
THE JOURNEY
Alec and I carefully made our way out of the sprawling forest, walking as quietly as possible to avoid all monsters. When we finally reached the empty street, a small green taxicab was parked by the Fire Pit, patiently waiting for us. The driver, a tall black man with a receding hairline, saw us and stepped out of the car. With a smile, he offered to take our backpacks and put them in the trunk, but we declined. (Backpacks don’t take up that much space, after all.) Alec and I just buckled ourselves in and stared unblinkingly at the backs of the car seats in front of us. After a moment, Alec leaned over to whisper something in my ear, but I only shied away from his hot breath.
The cab driver looked at us in the rearview mirror, grinning. “I hope you two young lovebirds have permission to be taking such a long trip,” he remarked jokingly, but I turned bright red, just then realizing what Alec and I must look like together, with our only luggage being the backpack, and feeling slightly angry at what the man was implying. Frowning and beginning to sweat nervously, I only glared in silence out the window at the lush green meadows we were driving through.
Alec sensed that I had taken offense and glanced at me uncomfortably, color rising to his cheeks. Scratching the Knowing brand on the back of his neck, Alec explained, “We’re not dating.”
“Ah, my mistake,” the cab driver responded with
a wink, though I wasn’t sure if he believed Alec or not. “I’m Larry, by the way.” Both Alec and I flashed Larry fake smiles, then returned to staring out our windows, hoping to avoid any more awkward conversations with him. Or each other.
___________________
About two hours later, we finally reached the airport in Seattle. Larry got out of the taxi first and politely opened the car doors for us, and I paid him in cash, plus a fair tip. Quickly, Alec and I walked through the shiny steel and white airport up to the check-in stand, where we received our boarding passes from a smiling lady who looked like she had gotten too much plastic surgery in her life. When we made it through security without any issues, Alec and I agreed to get some lunch at one of the tiny, bustling fast food stands.
As we stepped over to the McDonald’s, I quietly chewed my lip, trying not to think about what the other people in the airport thought about Alec and me. To make things worse, we were getting into the short line to order when Alec carefully but all too eagerly shifted his stance and slid his other arm up around my shoulders, as if to protect me from something. I sighed; he was not helping our image at all.
“Alec, what are you doing?” I warned, tensing up. I felt lightheaded and hyper-alert, much too aware of every ridge in his abs and arm muscles pressing against my side.
“Shh,” he hissed angrily through gritted teeth. “Those guys at our three o’clock are staring at you like you’re a piece of fresh kill.”
I was already frowning to myself in annoyance, but as casually as possible, I glanced in the direction he was talking about. Sure enough, four guys about our age were standing by a wide column, lust and greed gleaming in their eyes as they looked me over, all over. I couldn’t help but notice that Alec was glaring at them like he wanted to stab them or something … which he probably did.
But Alec managed to restrain himself from attacking and only pulled me closer. “Hey, it’s fine,” I whispered to him, allowing myself to play along for just a minute. “Let’s just buy some food now.” Alec nodded reluctantly and stepped forward in line with me, his well-muscled arm still wrapped tightly around my shoulders.
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