Avenging Heart

by Desni Dantone

  Every night, regardless of how mad she had been at me while training, she slid over onto my pile of blankets to sleep. I knew the simple act of being together like that was important to her. It was important to me too. Few things could top holding her while she slept. Those few things all involved her, too.

  Nearly every night, she slept with her rosemary leaf, which enabled her to visit Callie in her dreams. I got dragged along a few times. As did Alec. Oddly, she had yet to share a dream with both of us. It seemed to be either one or the other, and either oblivious, alternate world Callie or real world Callie.

  While I spent most of my time preparing Kris for battle, Isatan and Jared organized reconnaissance missions into the city to look for the demigods. Though no one had discovered their exact location yet, Isatan thought they were getting close. He assured me that we would have something to go on soon.

  The next day, I worked Kris harder than ever—to the point that she started yelling at me again. I attempted to hide my smile, but realized I must have failed when she gave me her head tilt, narrowed eyes, and pursed lips combo. I took a step back before I got a knee to the groin.

  “Can I make a suggestion?” Lillian called from her seat on the sidewalk.

  “Please,” Jas drew. “My body hurts just from watching this.”

  I waved a hand, inviting Lillian to offer whatever advice she had, and she approached with a calculating look in her eyes. To Kris, she asked, “You’re not very comfortable throwing the knives are you?”

  Kris glanced at me before shaking her head. It was easy for anyone to see that her discomfort with the knives was hindering her ability to master the use of them. Even after daily practice, she was stuck at a novice level.

  “Remember what you did when the demigods attacked in Aeaea?” Lillian asked her. “You stopped that blade in midair, then threw it back like a rocket.”

  “Yeah, I pushed it with a wave of magic,” Kris responded.

  “Do you think you could do that again?” When Kris nodded, Lillian turned to me. “Got anything to make a target out of?”

  Thirty minutes later, feathers littered the sidewalk under a pillow fastened to the wall. Kris pulled her arm back the way I had shown her, and the knife released from her grip as I had shown her. She caught the knife with her powers, and sailed it straight into the center of the pillow . . . again. And from a much farther distance than anyone I knew could hit it from.

  I turned to Lillian with a grateful nod. Though I still worried about Kris’s abilities in close combat situations, I felt better knowing that she could potentially take out a threat from a safe distance.

  “What about the rest of your powers?” Lillian asked Kris. “Have you been working on them?”

  “Some.” Kris tossed a sheepish look in my direction. “Not that I’ve had much time lately.”

  Lillian spun to me. “She needs to work on her magic, too.”

  I threw my hands up in surrender, and was promptly dismissed to the sidelines while Lillian coached Kris on a few magical elements she had some knowledge of. I figured that was as good of a time as any to go check in with Jared and Isatan on the status of the reconnaissance mission from today.

  I had seen the team return fifteen minutes ago, and was curious to hear what they had discovered, if anything. Walking into the basement, I quickly realized something positive had come from today’s scouting.

  Isatan’s usual go-to soldiers buzzed around the room like bees in a field of daisies. I found Jared at the folded table that had served as mission control for the past few days.

  “What’s going on?” I asked him.

  He glanced up from the map of Corinth, which had been dotted with red and blue marker—red for ‘ruled out’ and blue for ‘potential’ locations.

  “One of the teams spotted a few hybrids here,” his finger fell on a spot on the map near the coast. “They followed them to Archaia Korinthos, but lost them amongst all the tourists.”

  “The ruins?”

  Jared buried his nose into the paper in his hand before he referenced the map again. He nodded his head at me distractedly.

  “What are the chances they’re hiding in there somewhere?” I ventured.

  I wasn’t as familiar with Archaia Korinthos as I was with some of the more popular Greek ruins, like the Acropolis and the Coliseum, but I knew most of them were known to have a lot of hidden spaces, and underground tunnels.

  “We’re going to look into it tomorrow,” Jared responded. “I’d like you to go out tomorrow if you would. Isatan wants a bigger group around Archaia Korinthos, just in case, but there are three other locations we’d like to scout out too. I’m going to need all the willing bodies I can get.”

  “Fine. What’s the plan?”

  “Just blend in, act touristy, look for hybrids. Pretty basic.” He looked up from the papers in front of him long enough to point to a box in the corner behind him. “Prepaid phones are there. Grab one, make sure everyone has your number. That’ll be your only method of communication with the other teams.”

  I moved to collect a plain black phone from the box—an actual flip phone. They still sold these?

  “Who am I partnering with?” I asked as I squinted at the small screen, trying to read the number assigned to this phone.

  “Whoever you want. But most have already teamed up. Here.” Jared threw a stack of papers at me, hitting me in the chest with a thud. “Go through the reports, and catch up on what we’ve been following.”

  Dismissed by Jared, I sat on my makeshift bed, and caught up on everything from the past few days. Despite the number of papers in my hands, nothing worthwhile had been noted until today. But sometimes even the mundane could turn out to be something in disguise, which was why Jared made me read through it all.

  I was nearly finished when Kris plopped onto the blanket beside me. “I hear you’re going out tomorrow.”

  “Yeah. Maybe you could just work with Lillian on your magic?” I turned to her when she didn’t respond. I knew exactly what that hopeful look on her face was all about. “No. No way.”

  “Please?” She laid it on thick, complete with a sweet kiss to the corner of my mouth. “I’ll listen to whatever Isatan says. I’ll obey orders, and all that. I just need to do something different.”

  “You need to stay hidden and unseen,” I insisted.

  “If I go with you, I’ll be safe,” she returned with a too-sweet-to-be-innocent smile.

  I narrowed my eyes. Dammit. When did she get so good at knowing exactly how to get to me? Now I knew what she had always complained about. She was right, it wasn’t fair.

  “Kris . . .” I started with warning shake of my head.

  “I want to be more involved,” she pleaded.

  “You’re involved enough. This whole thing revolves around you,” I emphasized. “Which is exactly why you need to lay low.”

  “I’m doing all this training . . . and for what? I’m not doing anything real,” she complained. “Come on. I heard you all were pretending to be tourists while you look for signs of the demigods. I can be a tourist!”

  And then she did it. She ran her hand up my arm in a provocatively seductive way that made me wonder where she had learned that trick. Her lips grazed my chin, forcing my eyes to shut against the urge to turn toward her and make it more.

  “Please?” she repeated.

  Her hand gently squeezed my bicep . . .

  Her lips feathered the corner of my mouth . . .

  I sighed and, against my better judgment, found myself relenting. “You stay with me the entire time,” I warned. “Like a shadow.”

  She jumped to her feet, then stunned me her gorgeous smile. “That shouldn’t be a problem.”

  In a flash, she collected her bag from the floor and scurried off to prepare. I stared after her with a scowl on my face as she approached Jared. I had never felt so . . . used.

  “That was pathetic.”

  I turned to find Alec smirking at me. He shook his
head as he dropped to the jumbled pile of sheets on the floor that had served as his bed the past few nights. He took his time, leaning against the wall to make himself comfortable, before he looked over at me again.

  “You are the definition of whipped,” he laughed. My eyes slanted to give him a semi-threatening glare, but that didn’t stop him from continuing. “I bet if I Googled the word, your picture would pop up.”

  “Shut up, Alec,” I muttered, though the words didn’t come out with the usual bite I reserved for him.

  Because, of course, I knew he was right.

  ~ ~ ~

  Not that I didn’t get something out of it return. I had been missing spending time with Kris, that didn’t involve her scowling at me while I coached her. I got an entire day with her, though I spent more time on the phone than actually with her.

  Five two-person teams were scattered around the city, and another six were camped throughout Archaia Korinthos. The phones enabled us to remain in constant contact with each other. Though no one had spotted anything significant yet, we all expected that it would happen soon.

  The dark shades Kris and I both wore disguised our eyes from other hybrids. Besides, it was bright and hot as hell. Shades were necessary in every way.

  “Our second date is a damn mission,” Kris muttered as she picked up her second cheese tiropitakia from the plate set between us. She pointed it at me. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

  I grinned as she nibbled on the flaky pastry. “Cute? I believe you once said I was hot.”

  “Oh, God,” she groaned. “You remember that?”

  How could I forget? That was the day I realized I hadn’t been imagining the occasional lingering looks she had given me. That was the day I knew she was as attracted to me as I was to

  her . . . and that I might have gotten myself into trouble.

  “I remember a lot more than you think,” I returned.

  She shrugged indifferently, and continued to pick at the assortment of food on our table. Her eyes lifted to skim the large flock of tourists that passed the crowded patio, reminding me that we were here for a reason.

  Not even a real date.

  “Come here.” I hooked a hand around her waist and slid her across the smooth bench seat toward me. I planted a kiss to the side of her head. “I’ll make it up to you when this is all over.”

  “You don’t have to make anything up to me,” she sighed as she buried her face into my neck. “I like—”

  Her body stiffened, and I resisted the urge to whip around to find the source of her alarm.

  “What is it?” I whispered.

  “Four hybrids,” she replied. “They just walked out of the restaurant with to-go bags. I saw the one’s eyes before he put his shades on. Definitely Kala.”

  I grumbled. We would have to determine if they were loyal Kala working here on some mission, or Kala working for Circe. Until we found out, they could not know that we were there.

  Kris did a good job appearing inconspicuous . . . for her, though I had to chuckle at the panic on her face when the hybrids merged with the tourists on the street. She glanced at me with a look that questioned why we weren’t on the move yet.

  “As good as we are at tailing people,”—I explained as I casually stood to clean our table—“we’re just as good at spotting tails.”

  “Have you seen the number of tourists? We’re going to lose them.”

  My eyes darted to their retreating backs as I dumped the tray into the nearest garbage can. “I don’t lose targets, Kris.”

  She harrumphed, clearly not impressed with my skills.

  I grabbed her hand as we merged into the crowd. For one, because I wanted to. Two, to hold her back before she blew our cover. I realized her height disadvantage limited her ability to follow them, but I had a clear view of the back of their heads as we trailed from a distance of twenty yards.

  “Trust me,” I muttered before pulling out my phone to make a call to Jared.

  He answered on the first ring. “Please tell me you have something.”

  I quickly filled him in, and relayed our location. He ended the call with a request for more details once I got it. I could tell from the sound of his voice that he hadn’t seen anything remotely suspicious yet, and was getting a little stir-crazy from the lack of action.

  Much like Kris was at my side. Both of them . . . the storm to my calm.

  We followed the Kala for two blocks, moving closer to the coast, before they veered off the sidewalk, and entered through the front door of a tall, swank apartment complex.

  Kris grumbled as I casually moved to follow them. She tugged on my hand, obviously eager to pick up the pace. I held her back easily. Though her shades covered her eyes, I felt the daggers I knew she was shooting at me.

  “Trust me,” I repeated with a gentle squeeze of her hand as I veered us toward the set of glass doors.

  The air-conditioned lobby provided instant relief from the harsh summer heat, but didn’t help the nerve-induced sweat that dampened my forehead. I settled my shades on top of my head, and motioned for Kris to do the same before we stuck out as the only people wearing them indoors. At her wary grimace, I nodded my head toward the wall lined with elevators, where our four Kala targets were waiting with their backs to us.

  I steered Kris to a set of plush leather chairs set up in the lobby. “You’re terrible at this,” I chuckled.

  “I just don’t want to lose them,” she returned heatedly, complete with the hands on hips stance that always made me smile.

  “Well, sweetheart,” I teased as I dropped into the chair that permitted me a view of the elevator, “I hate to tell you that we are going to lose them.”

  Her eyes narrowed, but I wasn’t sure if it was because of the mocking pet name I knew she hated, or my claim that we would lose the Kala.

  “The best we can do is watch what floor they get off on for now,” I explained as I pulled the phone from my pocket.

  We couldn’t risk stepping onto the elevator with them, and by the time we rode a separate car to that floor, they would be gone, hidden behind any number of possible doors. Finding out which room they were in would be simple, with some reinforcements . . . which was exactly who I planned to call.

  Kris stood by my chair as I pulled up Jared’s name on the phone. I glanced at her after I pushed the call button, and registered the determined gleam in her eyes a second too late.

  Fortunately, the lobby wasn’t packed with visitors, and I was the only one who witnessed her vanishing act.

  “Kris,” I whispered harshly at the spot she had just stood. But I knew she wasn’t there anymore. All that remained of her was the breeze that rushed by me.

  Jared picked up on the other end, and I greeted him with a few words that rendered even him speechless.

  Chapter 8

  ~ Kris ~

  The elevator doors opened as I hurried across the empty lobby. The four Kala stepped into the elevator, and I chanted the words to the invisibility spell under my breath to maintain my disguise.

  I turned sideways to squeeze between the elevator doors before they shut. My arm bumped one of the doors, and they popped back open as I slid to the empty corner in the back.

  “I hate these old buildings,” one of the Kala grumbled as he impatiently pressed the ‘door shut’ button.

  Before the doors closed, shutting me inside with the four Kala, I glimpsed Nathan’s set jaw and the slight shake of his head across the lobby as he glared into the elevator. His phone was pressed to his ear as he exchanged what appeared to be heated words with whoever was on the other end.

  If I made it out of this building alive, he was going to kill me. Best case scenario was house arrest for the remainder of our time here.

  Now, I didn’t care. I wanted to know where the demigods were hiding so we could eliminate them. Every day wasted looking for them was another day closer to Circe finding Alec, and Callie dying. I didn’t know if it was bravery or stupidity on my part,
but I valued their safety more than my own these days.

  One of the Kala pressed the button to the last floor, then punched in a series of numbers to get the elevator to move. They were silent as we ascended, and I watched the numbers that lit up above the doors. We stopped on the eleventh floor. The top floor.

  I hung back while they filed out, then slipped out behind them before the doors shut. I had expected to emerge into a hallway lined with doors, but instead found myself standing in the glorious marble floored entryway of a large suite.

  The penthouse suite . . . and boy were they living in luxury.

  As I trailed the Kala from a safe distance, an unsettling ache settled in my gut. I wasn’t sure what the cause was, but I suspected I was about to find out.

  The Kala stepped through a set of double doors, and into a grand sitting room with muted walls adorned in expensive-looking paintings, plush leather seating, and an impressive view of the coast through the adjoining balcony. Sitting in one of the chairs was a woman with a mane of coal black hair. Her head turned as the Kala entered the room, and I glimpsed half of her fire red lips and attractive face.

  The ache in my stomach intensified at the sight of her. Though I had never seen her before in my life, I knew who she was. Or what she was.

  A demigod, though I didn’t know which one.

  “What is the word from Phisma?” she questioned the four Kala.

  Phisma? I dove into my memory banks to fish out one of the many things Nathan had given me a crash course in over the past few weeks. Phisma was . . . the demigod of wisdom, I thought. And if I remembered correctly, the demigod our small team feared the most. Phisma was especially brilliant at strategy, and I knew Isatan had wanted to take him out early, preferably before the demigods were aware of our plans.

  But that hadn’t happened.

  “His team spotted several of them searching near the Archaia Korinthos hideout this morning,” the burliest of the four Kala answered. “They are hidden well, but have ventured out, perhaps to search for us.”