I just gulped and shut my eyes, praying for the storm to pass quickly as a sign that everything was okay.
The plane seemed to take ages to land, but the rain had eventually slowed to a drizzle and then stopped, and it was clear enough for me to actually see out of the little window next to me. When the plane finally stopped at the gate, I raced off the plane with my backpack slung over one shoulder, heading for the nearest exit as quickly as possible so I could hopefully flag down a taxi before a monster had the chance to get me.
By then, it was nearly ten in the morning, and I was rushing along through the nearly empty airport, minding my own business and about to take a deep breath in relief because no monsters had popped out from behind a column yet, when the unthinkable happened. “Ashley? Is that you?” a gruff voice called out in the hallway.
At first, I kept walking as if I were in a daze; I did not recognize my human name or the gravelly voice until a few seconds later. I supposed I hadn’t been Ashley in so long that I had forgotten what the name sounded like, how Ashley herself was supposed to act. But really, it had only been three days since I had acted as Ashley back in the Woods, which also meant that the rest of the gods and I had only about three weeks left to stop Hades and his monster army. Time really does fly when you’re trying to save the world before summer is over.
“Ashley!” the man yelled at me again. I stopped for a second to think but did not dare to turn around as the thick fog in my head finally cleared, and I suddenly came to my senses, remembering everything at once. “Ash—”
No, not him, it can’t be, I thought. I took off in a sprint straight toward the exit before he could even finish saying my human name. However, the man kept yelling my name, and I knew that he was running after me, but there was no way I was going back to him, not this time.
Following the lighted exit signs, I pushed past everyone who was in my way without apologizing, but there was no time for that anyway. My only goal at the moment was to get away from that unforgivable man and into a taxi as fast as possible. Glaring ahead at everyone around me returning my dirty looks, I raced like a cheetah toward those wonderful sliding doors to freedom, though I knew I had probably lost him already. Let’s face it; he was an out-of-shape, middle-aged man and I was a fit goddess, so there was really no comparison.
Still, I did not stop to check and see if he was following me as I burst out into the cool morning air and screamed, “Taxi!” I looked around wildly, then ran to the nearest little green taxi and jumped in, buckling right up. “Go!” I yelled loudly to the driver, desperately hoping I hadn’t accidentally said it in Greek, because I was pretty sure I hadn’t spoken more than a few words in English in at least two days.
But thankfully the driver understood me, and the tone of my voice must have spooked him because he stepped on the gas pedal right away, and I was thrown back into my seat as the taxi screamed around the tight corners of the small airport parking lot. Hyperventilating, I gripped the seat cushion in front of me for dear life.
“Where to?” the driver asked, his voice shaking slightly as he seemed to calm down a little and started to fully analyze the crazy situation. But then his dark eyes brightened as he turned around in his seat, studying my face, and exclaimed, “Hey! I know you!”
My eyebrows rose in the surprise of seeing the lively, dark-skinned face of Larry, who had driven Alec and me to the airport only three days before, though right then I didn’t have time for proper greetings.
“The Woods,” I answered him grimly in English. “Get me there as fast as you can.” Then Larry gave a short nod and turned left out of the parking lot, heading swiftly down the highway without asking any more questions.
Sighing in relief, I glanced back at the front of the steely airport just in time to see none other than my damned human father scratching his head in confusion and anger, as usual, obviously wondering where the hell I had gone. I guessed he had finally decided to return to my mom and me from Paris—for now, that is. He had already had his turn to leave my mother and me in the dust multiple times before, and now I was able to give him a piece of his own medicine. I really was not in the mood to make up more lies about my trip to Kentucky and why Martha was no longer with me. So I just smiled to myself in satisfaction, sinking down in my seat and resting my head in my hands.
Approximately a hundred miles until we reached the Woods, until I reached home.
___________________
Time could not pass quickly enough. I tried in vain to force time to move quicker by both tapping my fingers on the seat and humming the song that Alec and I had danced to the night before, much to Larry’s annoyance. When he gave me the evil eye for probably the third time, I gulped and sheepishly stopped tapping my fingers, turning to face the dirty window instead. Sighing, I watched as we blew by the evergreen trees lined up like soldiers on the side of the highway, and I looked up at the sky every once in a while to check for even the slightest change. Now, the sun was hiding nervously behind large silver clouds, but it definitely wasn’t raining, which was a good sign. In other words, Zeus wasn’t too angry at the moment.
Eventually giving up on being patient, I leaned my head back on the seat and shut my eyes, hoping for a small nap. But as you probably guessed, that’s not what happened. Almost right as I closed my eyes, bloodcurdling screams echoed through my brain, and I didn’t even bother asking Larry if he had heard something weird. The burden was mine alone, there in the tiny taxi without the other gods.
My eyes flew open again as I shuddered, getting a bad feeling that the visions would not subside until I made sure Aphrodite was okay, assuming she was still alive by the time I got home, of course. Frowning in thought, I turned to look out the window again, but my vision suddenly blurred, and images of random rocks and trees from inside the forest flashed through my mind. Again, I took slow, deep breaths and gripped the seat in front of me for support. Gritting my teeth, I forced my pained eyes to obey me and take a look at my small watch.
Thirty minutes until home, until war. My life was like a constant countdown, always ticking on toward unthinkable tragedy.
As you can imagine, the rest of the ride slowly became worse and worse, and soon I was not even able to block out the horrible images of the dead Aphrodite. All I heard was the sound of screams pounding in my ears, with only the occasional touch of reality. Larry’s voice called out to me through the chaos to ask if I was okay, but he seemed so far away.
Unable to string together a complete thought, let alone words, I simply nodded and turned my head to where I knew the taxi window was, though all I could see was the thick forest surrounding me. Because I couldn’t let Larry think anything was wrong, I silently forced myself to keep calm, taking deep breaths as the little taxi slowed down. I couldn’t tell if we had arrived at Main Street, or if we had been stopped in the middle of the road by some horrifying monster.
“We’re here, miss,” Larry’s friendly voice informed me, and I smiled in relief. Countdown over—for now.
I reached into my backpack and pulled out a wad of crumpled cash, handing the entire thing to Larry, even though it was way more than the actual fare. “Keep the change,” I told him with a quick smile, my blurry vision finally starting to clear. Then I leaped out of the taxi without another word, rubbing my eyes and leaving Larry sitting in his cab in utter shock.
I blinked away the last few blurs, and they slowly disappeared from my sight, leaving only beautiful reality. I breathed in the familiar smell of the evergreens as a cool breeze tousled my long hair. Smiling, I walked on the wet pavement past the old brick gas station and the cozy-looking shops along the empty Main Street, thinking about how relieved I was to finally see those old yet strong buildings instead of dark, collapsible tents. Although its appearance was rugged and a little rough around the edges, the tiny town was still comfortingly cute and welcoming. Home sweet home.
“Ath—Ashley!” the loud voice of Zeus called out from behind me. I wasn’t even looking at them
yet, but I could feel the air—suddenly lighter and stickier than before, almost making my mind buzz uncontrollably—radiating with three distinct kinds of power from three different gods. This was an effect of the gods’ power that I had never really noticed before. I guessed I was only aware of it now because I had spent so much time away from them and my home.
Grinning, I whirled around to face the Monster Watch before running straight into Zeus’s arms for a warm hug. He only breathed a sigh of relief and hugged me tighter, and for a second, the sun actually peeked out from behind a cloud. The huge smiles on all three of their faces told me that if Aphrodite was dead, they didn’t know about it. The fact that none of the other gods had received the vision of the dead goddess meant her fate was somehow connected to Alec’s recent confession and to the part of the prophecy I should have told everyone about sooner, the part that resulted in me escaping that godforsaken arrow … but I digress.
“It’s good to have you back,” Apollo said in English with a handsome smile, tussling my hair in a brotherly fashion and making me forget my worries temporarily. I smiled back and punched him in the arm playfully.
“You know you’re home, like, way early, right? Like, almost two weeks early,” Poseidon commented, his blue eyes gleaming as he ran his fingers through his black hair.
With that, I suddenly remembered my real reason for racing back to the Woods. “Where’s Aphrodite?” I asked in a hushed voice in Greek, finally pushing Zeus and Apollo away from me.
Poseidon grinned, obviously not noticing the gravity of my tone, and responded in English again, “Whoa, slow down for a minute. You just got here!”
I grabbed the collar of Poseidon’s old blue T-shirt, jerking him in closer so that his face was mere inches from mine. “Where. Is. Aphrodite?” I growled at him in Greek, the tone of my voice dead serious. This was a matter of life or death for a fellow god, not fun and games anymore. The fate of Aphrodite awaited us deep inside the woods like a ticking time bomb waiting to blow.
A new countdown had just begun.
The Forest Gods' Reign Page 24