Chaos (Tessa Avery Book 1)

by Lucy Roy

  I shook my head, holding back a laugh.

  “So back to your friends…” Dionysus trailed off, a suggestive smile on his face.

  I shrugged apologetically. “None that I can think of. Sorry.”

  “Why don’t I believe you?”

  “She’s clearly lying,” Hermes observed. “She really does think you’re going to corrupt them.”

  “Because you absolutely will,” Nate said, laughing.

  “Alright, that’s it!”

  I yelped as Dionysus shot toward Nate, grabbing him in a headlock and pulling him under. The two surfaced a few feet away, laughing.

  “You’re just mad because it’s true,” Nate said, somehow managing to dodge another attack. He got his arm around Dionysus’ neck and pushed him under the water. The god resurfaced and spit a stream of water right into Nate’s face, causing a whole new attack.

  Hermes swam up beside me and tsked.

  “Can you believe these two? You’d think they were raised by heathens.”

  I shook my head, amazed at the childish show that was being put on in front of me.

  “Are they always like this?”

  Hermes stretched out an arm along the wall behind me and watched as the other two continued to try to drown one another.

  “Ah, the things our Nathaniel has yet to tell you,” he murmured.

  I pursed my lips as I eyed Nate and Dionysus, still fighting in the water.

  “Do I even want to know?”

  He chuckled and leaned his head back to rest on the wall.

  “I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.”

  32

  Tessa

  Dionysus and Hermes stuck around for the rest of the afternoon, and I had to admit, they were a lot of fun. I’d expected all the Elders to be stiff and formal when I first came to Olympus, but nothing about them gave off an “I’m better than you” vibe.

  “So why are they so laid back?” I asked Nate as I tugged my jeans up over my bathing suit.

  Nate pulled his shirt over his head before answering.

  “They’re younger, and they’ve had a pretty easy go of it since they weren’t around for the war. Hermes has his communication duties, but nothing overly complex is required of him. Dionysus is just…Dionysus. He’s never taken anything too seriously. He’s mainly an Elder in name only.”

  “Huh. Must be nice.”

  “I’m kind of glad you got to meet them.”

  “Oh yeah? Why’s that?” I started taking the braid out of my hair and combing through the soaking wet locks.

  “They’re my oldest friends. I want you to know them.”

  “So let me ask you a question. Do you have any friends who aren’t gods or centaurs?”

  “Not really,” he admitted as he started leading me back down toward the portal. “Chiron was my mentor long before he was my friend, and as for the other two, well, they’re not much older than me. We’ve been friends pretty much forever.”

  “Not that much older than you?” I put my hands on my hips. “How much are we talking here?”

  “Hermes, about four hundred years, Dionysus, I think three hundred or so?”

  “Uh huh. So you haven’t made any new friends in three millennia?”

  “Acquaintances, sure, but I never felt like I needed more, if that makes sense.”

  I considered my own group of friends before responding.

  “Yeah, I guess. I mean, it’s always been me, Mare, and Eric. Josh and Leila were our closest human friends, although we only knew them for a few years, and Mary and I almost always had boyfriends. We knew there was probably an expiration date on those relationships, though.”

  We reached the portal door, and before opening it, he turned to face me, smiling as his hands came to rest on my hips.

  I brought my arms up to circle his waist and narrowed my eyes.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “I asked Hermes if you guys were always so crazy together. He said something about ‘the things our Nathaniel has yet to tell’ me.”

  “Did he?” He leaned down to kiss my exposed shoulder. “I might have to have a talk with him.”

  “Uh huh. Care to enlighten me?”

  He ran a hand up my neck and into my hair, then gave a gentle tug, exposing the other side of my neck.

  “Eventually,” he murmured, finding a particularly sensitive spot under my ear.

  “I never would’ve pegged you for a hair puller,” I said, closing my eyes as his kisses sent heat coursing through me.

  “No?” His breath tickled my skin when he spoke. “What did you peg me for?”

  “Someone who clearly has devious ways of avoiding answering questions.”

  Laughing, he kissed my neck one more time, then pulled back so he could look at me.

  “So tell me something. What’s the thing you miss most about living on Earth? Aside from your guardians, of course.”

  I tapped my chin as I pondered his question. There were so many things in the human world that I’d taken for granted while I was there. Shopping malls, cell phones, cars, beach days, television.

  “Oh!” I laughed. “I miss binge watching TV shows.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Really? Of all the things you miss, you pick television?”

  “If you’ve ever watched seven seasons of Game of Thrones in one month, you’d understand.”

  “I think that might be up there with coffee on the list of things I will never understand.” He kissed my forehead and took my hand. “Let’s get you home.”

  As soon as we stepped through the portal into Olympia, he pulled me back toward him. He intertwined the fingers of one hand with mine, then put a finger under my chin and tilted my face toward his. I smiled as he pressed his lips to mine, bringing my free arm up to wrap around his neck.

  We broke apart at the sound of a loud whistle coming from just up the street.

  “Yeah, Tess! You get it, girl!”

  I let out an annoyed groan, then glanced over my shoulder to see Mary and Yana walking down the street toward us, each carrying paper coffee cups.

  Nate chuckled as the two crossed the street and came toward us.

  “I promise next time we’ll go someplace where we won’t keep getting interrupted,” he whispered.

  I smiled, feeling my heart stutter at the potential that those words held.

  He laughed softly and pressed a kiss to my shoulder. “Relax, Tessa. I just meant today would’ve been much more enjoyable if you hadn’t been annoyed by my friends or catcalled by yours.”

  I relaxed into his side, then arched a brow as the girls walked up.

  “Was that really necessary?”

  Mary took a large gulp of her coffee. “Absolutely. You guys wanna make out in the middle of the street, you better be prepared for people to notice.”

  Yana pressed her lips together, the corners of her mouth turning up. “So I will take it you two had fun, then?”

  Mary gestured toward me with her cup. “Of course they did. Don’t you see how red her lips are?”

  Nate let out a laugh. “On that note, I’ll leave you ladies to do whatever it is you do. I’ll see you all in the morning.”

  He gave me a quick peck on the forehead, then disappeared through a dark mahogany door.

  “Tell us everything,” Mary demanded. “Absolutely all of it.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Give me your coffee and maybe I will.”

  Mary looked pained for a moment before handing over her steaming cup.

  I took a sip, closing my eyes as the balance of sweet and bitter danced over my tongue. “Oh, my gods, this is amazing.”

  “I know,” Mary deadpanned, crossing her arms across her chest. “Now spill. He looked all happy and not like he has a massive stick up his ass anymore, so what’d you do?”

  I couldn’t help but laugh at her observation. “Come on, let’s go back to our room. I need to change out of this bathing suit.”

  Yana raised her eyebrows in
shock. “Oh, so you mean you actually wore it in the water?”

  I smacked her on the shoulder. “Of course I did!”

  She snickered. “Well, you never know.”

  “Whatever. I need a shower and sweatpants. Then we’ll talk.”

  “So hold up.” Mary held up her hand. “You’re telling me Dionysus and Hermes crashed your date?”

  I tossed back the last of my coffee, which had grown cold, and nodded.

  “Mare, it was so freaking weird. They’re Nate’s best friends. Can you believe that?”

  “And he never mentioned this to you before today?” Yana was sitting on her bed, her face scrunched in confusion. “How does something like this not come up in conversation?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I should’ve assumed he and Hermes were close, considering how Hermes was acting the day we got here.”

  I pursed my lips, taking in the fascination that was clear in Mary’s wide hazel eyes. “You know, Dionysus was asking if I had any friends.”

  Yana choked on a sip of her coffee. “Are you serious?” she asked between coughs.

  “Shut up.” Mary gave me a dubious look. “Seriously? Shut up.”

  I raised my eyebrows and smiled. “Nate didn’t want me to tell you. He thinks you’re going to get corrupted.”

  “Um, have you seen how hot Dionysus is? I may be willing to be corrupted.” A grin spread across her face, but then she shook her head. “No. No way. I may be crazy but I’m not that crazy.”

  Yana raised her hand. “I may be.”

  I laughed and tossed a pillow at her. “You two are the worst.”

  Mary laid on her stomach and propped her chin in her hands. “Is he the best kisser ever? Now that I’ve seen him smiling and not all serious, he looks like he’d be a good kisser.”

  I nodded, unable to help the smile that took over my face. “Seriously the best.” I bit my lip, smiling.

  “So how long until you let him do more than just kiss you?” Mary grinned suggestively.

  I blew out a breath. I leaned back against the wall and clutched a pillow to my chest. “I don’t know. I mean, Caleb was the only guy I slept with before this, and we only slept together like, three times before I broke up with him. Nate’s been around forever. He doesn’t seem like a player or anything, but I know he’s had other relationships.”

  “I saw the way he was looking at you,” Yana said. “It does not seem like you would need to be nervous with him.”

  Mary nodded emphatically. “I agree. I mean yeah, he’s more experienced, but is that really a bad thing? At least he won’t be fumbling in the dark, completely clueless.”

  “Exactly,” Yana said.

  I shifted so I was facing her better. “Did you have a boyfriend back in Romania?”

  She nodded and blew out a breath. “Dorin. We were together for about a year or so. My guardians did not care for him because he was a human, so we had to keep our relationship a secret for the most part. We broke up a few months before I left for Olympus.”

  Mary smiled sympathetically. “Ugh, that must’ve been tough.”

  “Eh, yes, but it is life.” She adjusted herself so she was sitting cross legged on her bed and looked at Mary expectantly. “What about you? Did you have many boyfriends?”

  A look of disgust crossed Mary’s face. “We don’t need to go there,” she muttered.

  “Oh, this sounds interesting.” Yana smiled excitedly. “Tell me.”

  Mary let out a resigned sigh. “Fine. I dated some guys that were okay, but my first was this guy Mike Stevenson that we went to school with.” She shivered in disgust. “Turned out to be a total scumbag, so I kind of just pretend he didn’t happen.”

  Yana laughed. “What was so bad about him?”

  Mary wrinkled her nose as she recalled her brief relationship with one of our human friends during junior year.

  “He just turned out to be a douche. After I broke up with him, he spread all these nasty rumors about how I slept around with half the junior class.” She scratched her head, then let her hand drop to her lap. “You’d think it wouldn’t have bothered me, you know? We were less than a year from our transformation, so it’s not like I’d be dealing with him forever. He just sucked.”

  “That is unfortunate, I am sorry to hear he did that to you.”

  “Yeah, it’s water under the bridge or whatever. After that, I dated some other guys, but I never slept with anyone else.”

  Yana nodded. “I cannot say I blame you.”

  We sat in silence for a few moments. Finally, Mary rubbed her hands together and a look of excitement coated her features.

  “So, weapons tomorrow! Who’s ready?”

  I grinned. “Me!”

  I hadn’t had a proper session since my last one with John, nearly two weeks ago, and I didn’t realize how much I’d been itching to have a weapon in my hands.

  Yana laughed. “For some reason, I am surprised that you are so eager for this aspect. You don’t strike me as the type to enjoy close combat.”

  “I can’t help it. It was my favorite part of training growing up.”

  “Tessa kicks ass with a staff,” Mary said. “You should see her.”

  Yana smiled. “What do you like most, Mary?”

  “The bow,” she responded. “I joined the archery team freshman year of high school and fell in love.”

  Yana gave a knowing smile. “Ah, yes, that was always my favorite, as well. But what about for close combat?”

  “Trench knife. Two weapons in one. You?”

  Yana grinned. “I also like knives, although I am not too particular.”

  “So what do you guys think about having to train with the Titans tomorrow?” I looked toward Mary apprehensively.

  “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I guess you can’t deny their expertise, right?”

  “Yeah, I’m actually kind of interested to see what they do.”

  “I am curious what Epimetheus will have to contribute,” Yana said. “Prometheus is the soldier of the two. Epimetheus was not known for much.”

  “Yeah, I don’t know,” I responded. “He’s so quiet.”

  A person only had to look at Prometheus’ hulking form and intense expression to know he would be a formidable opponent. I’d only seen Epimetheus twice, but both times he’d hung back in his brother’s shadow, silent and expressionless.

  I yawned. “I think I need a nap.”

  “Yeah, all that making out will do that to you,” Mary teased.

  “Shut up. You guys probably slept all damn day.”

  “Whatever. It’s six o’clock,” Mary pointed out. “If you take a nap now, you’ll be up all night.”

  “Nah, doubtful,” I replied, crawling under the covers and nudging her away with my foot. “I’ll probably sleep straight through.”

  “Well, you enjoy your nap.” Mary stood, then pulled Yana to her feet, the latter groaning in protest. “We’re gonna go get some food.”

  After they left, I brushed my teeth and did my normal bedtime routine, knowing I’d likely be out for the night at this point.

  I laid in bed for a while, tossing and turning as I tried to shut my mind off. It had been an amazing day, and I couldn’t get the feel of Nate’s lips out of my head.

  Smiling, I called out to him mentally.

  ‘You there?’

  ‘I am. Is everything okay?’

  ‘Yup. Can’t sleep. I just wanted to say thank you for today. I had a lot of fun.’

  ‘I did, too.’

  There was a pause.

  ‘Would you like some company?’

  I grinned at his teasing tone, half tempted to say yes.

  ‘No, I’m beat. Raincheck?’

  ‘I think that can be arranged. Goodnight, Tessa.’

  ‘Goodnight, Nate.’

  Minutes later, I was out cold.

  I raised one end of the staff up to meet my opponent’s attack, then used the other end to slap down his attempt to change dire
ction. The wooden weapons crashed against each other as I slowly beat him back toward the rock wall that rose up behind him.

  Finally, I succeeded in disarming him, pinning him to the wall with one end of my weapon shoved against his sternum as his own weapon fell uselessly to the ground.

  “I win.” I grinned and took a step back, reaching down to grab his discarded weapon.

  He laughed, then smoothed back his chin-length blond hair before taking the weapon from my outstretched hand. Throwing an arm around my shoulder, we began walking back toward the stone house that sat a few hundred yards away.

  “You’ve improved quite a bit over the last few weeks. Mother would be proud.”

  “Maybe,” I conceded. “She’s been so unhappy recently. I don’t think anything I could do would bring a smile to her face.”

  I frowned, noting his somber expression.

  “What are you thinking? Your face looks far too serious,” I asked.

  He scratched his ear. “I worry for the others. And for you,” he admitted. “I know he plans to come for you, to take you away.”

  “I can handle myself,” I replied indignantly.

  “You’re a force to be reckoned with, there is no question, but it’s become clear we’ve failed you over the years.”

  “It isn’t your fault—”

  “It is, at least in part, and now I fear it’s too late. He has vengeance on his mind. He’s furious with me and will stop at nothing to hurt us. We’ve waited too long to prepare you for these things.”

  I stopped, turning to face my companion, and placed a hand on his cheek, just over the scar leftover from his most recent confrontation with a godsbane blade. It had been spelled to prevent wounds from fully healing, so his flawless face had become permanently marred, all because he’d tried to protect me.

  “It will be alright,” I promised.

  A movement in my periphery had me looking toward the trees.

  “Did you see that?” I looked back to my companion.

  He glanced toward the dense forest and frowned. “No, there’s nothing there. What was it?”

  “I’m not sure… I thought I saw someone. There was movement.”

  “I don’t see anything. Come, we need to practice your powers. You haven’t been giving them enough attention.”