Wither & Wound

by Demitria Lunetta

I turn to face the class. “What is something we can all agree is true?”

  “Cat-shifters are perverts!” someone yells.

  “Moggies belong in Hades!” comes the suggestion, followed by a muted but angry rumbling from some other students.

  “Stymphalian birds stink!” Val says, reaching up to mock-affectionately give his bird’s nose a boop.

  There’s a smattering of applause, which sends a few of the birds in question into a quick, circular flight pattern around the room, before returning to their captives’ shoulders.

  “Stymphalian birds stink,” I repeat, looking over the room. “This is a true and indisputable fact.”

  All the heads are nodding. This is one thing we can agree on, Moggy-lovers or not. Vampires or werewolves. We’re all being forced to smell these crap-tastic birds in tight quarters.

  “Very well,” I say, turning back to Hermes. “Don’t you think that the aroma of these birds is particularly pleasing?”

  “I…what?” Hermes asks. “No, they smell like a harpy died and ate its own body and crapped it out and then died again.”

  “That’s what you really think?” I ask, leaning towards him.

  “Hades yeah,” he says, nodding emphatically.

  “Okay,” I say, and walk over to the wall where Kratos keeps the class weapons. I turn to the classroom and point to each student with a Stymphalian bird as companion. “Please come up here and select a weapon.”

  Tina is the first up out of her seat, bird reattached to her shoulder, but the rest come as well. If I’m not mistaken, each one of them is almost certainly looking to hit something. Hard.

  After everyone else has chosen a weapon, I select a mace.

  “I’ll go first,” I tell my fellow Moggies. Val’s gaze catches mine and he raises his eyebrows in question. Doubt trickles through my stomach. I’ve been keeping my distance from him because he killed Maddox and now I’m plotting to overthrow Mr. Zee.

  It’s hard to take the high ground with a mace in your hands. And even more difficult as I approach Hermes, who smiles up at me guilelessly.

  “Hello again, my lovely girl,” he says with a bright smile.

  I remind myself of all his sins as I lift the mace.

  “Hey, have you guys ever played mace-ball?” Hermes asked. “It’d be a great way to kill time—er learn about torture and stuff—”

  Whatever else he was going to say is lost. I bring the mace down in a violent arc, obliterating his right hand into a pulpy mess.

  Sick rises in my throat and I quickly swallow it back down. The mace falls from my hands, clattering to the floor.

  “AAAAaaaaaa!” Hermes screams, leaping to his feet. But he doesn’t get far because his legs are tangled in the desk. He falls forward, tipping the desk over and crawling away from me. Students in the back stand to get a better look.

  “Tell me Stymphalian birds smell amazing,” I say to Hermes, my voice calm and low. “And please do not again refer to me as your lovely, pretty, gorgeous, or any other kind of girl.”

  He stares at me wide-eyed and confused, like I’ve suddenly started speaking another language.

  Turning, I gesture to Tina that it’s her turn. She smiles as she steps forward. This time Hermes knows it’s coming.

  “No, no, Tina. Don’t do this, it will upset your bird—”

  Hermes’s ankle explodes, shards of bone flying out towards our fellow classmates.

  “Hey,” Nico says, brushing some of the bone from his shirt as he stands. “This does not seem like the sort of thing Kratos—”

  “Sit down, Nico,” I say, my voice hard.

  My eyes meet his. Cocking his head, he stares at me for a long moment. Then he grins. “You wanna prove a point? Okay. Go ahead.”

  He says it like he’s indulging me. If it wasn’t for Hermes moaning behind me, I’d be tempted to pick up that mace and go after Nico this time.

  I really need to set that boy straight soon and let him know that we are never ever ever getting together.

  But first—I need to get through this lesson.

  Hermes yells, again, frantically trying to heal himself. His hand was already mostly restructured, but now he’s got to redirect his energy to his foot, so his hand hangs in the manacle, muscle and sinew regrown, but not yet covered with skin.

  “They smell like roses!” I yell at Hermes.

  “But they don’t,” he responds, as behind my back I gesture to the red-faced healer from before.

  Being a healer and not even a student in this class, I’d expected her to balk. But she grabbed onto a spear without hesitation and has been holding it tightly, waiting her turn.

  Now, squeezing her eyes shut, she launches her spear. Lucky shot—it pierces Hermes’s midsection and pins him to the classroom floor. Unfortunately, the poor girl doesn’t have any experience at not vomiting in front of one’s peers. She runs out of the classroom with both hands pressed against her face.

  Everyone is on their feet now, some students egging me on, some with pained expressions. It’s possible someone might have stepped in to stop this, except I’ve got the two alphas of the classroom on my side—Nico and Val.

  And now it’s the latter’s turn.

  Val steps forward with a sword in hand. He holds it with casual authority.

  “They smell like ambrosia!” I say.

  Val eyes Hermes and then with one clean move, slices Hermes’s leg right at the knee. Hermes screams and writhes, his hand now recovered, but his foot still a bloody mess. He tries to crawl away, but the spear has him pinioned to the floor. He pulls it out, inching back on his palms as a little owl shifter steps forward, a throwing star clutched in her hand.

  “Like a Hawaiian luau!” I scream, and nod at the girl to send her throwing star.

  She hesitates and it looks like she’s gonna bail entirely, but then a screech comes out of her that sounds like, “It smells like a pumpkin spice latte!”

  The throwing star goes straight into his forehead.

  “Oh gods, it’s true,” Hermes sobs, holding up his manacled hands in clear surrender. “Yes, like Athena’s robes, and Metis’s bedroom, and a moonlit garden of orchids and the strands of a maiden’s hair and all of the honey of all the bees in the world. Stymphalian scent should be captured and bottled and sold and I’ll buy every bottle. Please, please stop making them hurt me, Edie.”

  As he listed the best smells he could think of, Hermes’s severed leg caught up to him and reattached itself, his ankle re-knitted together, as well as his forehead—though the throwing star is still jammed in there.

  “There we have it,” I say, turning to the class as Hermes pulls the star from his head. “Torture does work. If you want to get someone to admit to just about anything.”

  A lot of students applaud me, though others give me a wide berth as they exit the classroom. Val carefully cleans his sword before putting it back into place.

  Our eyes meet again and I expect a wink or even a nod of approval. But instead he looks…concerned.

  A part of me wants to run over and defend myself. The other knows that there is no defense. I am not the sweet little Edie he first met. Maybe he’s not the only one wondering what his crush is capable of.

  Or maybe not. Nico’s hand lands on my shoulder and he gives it a tight squeeze. “Damn, Edie. I love seeing that side of you. Let’s see more of the dragon in the girl and the girl in the dragon,” he growls, low close to my ear in a way that’s supposed to be sexy. I think.

  Before I can finish shuddering, he gives me another squeeze and then bounds out of the room, saying something about rib sandwiches being on the lunch menu and he doesn’t want them to run out.

  Honestly, a sudden buzzing in my ears made it difficult to hear. And now there’s spots in my vision too. I remember feeling this way after the Spring Fling. There was the euphoria of battle and then...the crash, as adrenaline receded and my battered conscience took its place.

  “Edie!” Cassie comes running to my side
. “That was…well, I don’t…I can’t decide if I’m proud of you or scared of you.”

  “You don’t have to be either,” I say, pushing my hair out of my eyes with a shaky hand. “I didn’t do it to prove a point.”

  “You didn’t?” Fern asks. “Because it felt very pointed. Well, the parts I was able to watch, anyway.” The same concern that was on Val’s face is in Fern’s too.

  “No,” I say, eyeing a moaning Hermes as he pulls himself up off the floor. Stepping forward, I offer him my hand. He startles then scuttles away.

  He looks at me like I’m a monster.

  Maybe I am.

  My dragon has killed, but I never have. I wondered if I was even capable of it.

  I guess now I know.

  “Edie.” Fern and Cassie lean into me on either side. “Are you okay?”

  “Sometimes we have to do things,” I hear myself say. The room is empty now except for us, so I don’t try to stop the tears as they begin to flow.

  I want to tell them more, but not in an open classroom. It could put us all in danger if I explained that I need Zee to believe he can die. And to do that, I need to create a convincing narrative of his death. Part of that is knowing exactly how fast a god can heal. If I was Mr. Zee hearing that, I’d be very afraid.

  As my legs give way, Cassie’s and Fern’s arms fold around me.

  I did this for Mavis, I add silently. And for Bella Demopoulous.

  And my Grandma.

  15

  More than a few people from class give me a wide berth as we head to the cafeteria. The only ones that seem to be impressed by my violent side are—of course—members of Nico’sshifters-only war party. One of them claps me on the shoulder as we’re filling our trays.

  “I knew you had it in you,” he says. “Even if we haven’t seen any real fire since the Spring Fling. Once a killer, always a killer.”

  I smile wanly and give him a fist bump, nodding noncommittally when he tells me there’s a stalk and kill practice session planned after classes today, on the green.

  “See you there,” he says, giving me an appraising once-over. He’s about to touch my shoulder, but rethinks it, settling for a wink instead. No doubt Nico has informed his entire army that I’m his intended—at least in his own mind. So hands off.

  I’ve lost my appetite.

  I’m dumping my full tray in the trash when I feel a hand on my elbow. Either Nico’s shifter friend just found his courage or—no wait, this is a cold touch.

  I turn to find Val, his face a mask of worry.

  “Not eating?”

  I shake my head. “Not hungry.”

  There’s a lot of things I’m not lately. Not hungry. Not brave. Not sure. Not confident.

  But the one thing I know that I am, is perhaps maybe slightly possibly—a little bit in love with Val.

  And I just tortured someone in front of him. Which might be a turn off.

  His hand tightens on my elbow. “Walk with me,” he says.

  Quite a few heads turn as we leave the cafeteria together; it probably doesn’t help that Val’s wearing a T-shirt that reads “FOUNDING MEMBER: STYMPHALIAN BIRD LOVERS CLUB.”

  “Tina made you another T-shirt,” I say, with a nod toward Val’s chest. “I like the ambiguity there. Do you love Kevin or is Kevin your…” I stop, realizing that I don’t really want to make a sex joke with Val.

  But it’s too late. “My lover?” Val fills in, his face serious while his eyes laugh at me. “There is definitely chemistry between Kevin and me, but since we’re roommates, we both felt it was best to keep things platonic.”

  I can’t help but laugh as we step outside, amazed at how just being with Val can lift my spirits. Kevin launches off Val’s shoulder, spreading his wings to catch the fresh air. He takes a lazy loop above us, before landing on Val’s shoulder once more. Meanwhile, Val’s hand trails down my arm until it closes around mine.

  “You might want to be a little more subtle,” I tell him, although I don’t pull away. “There’s a werewolf with an anger control problem who wants to marry me.”

  “I can handle Nico,” Val says, so casually that I can’t decide if I’m irritated by his confidence or turned on. “But I don’t want to talk to you about him. How is Mavis doing?”

  We settle in beneath the branches of a willow, its long trailing fingers hiding us from the outside world. I tell him about my trip to the dungeons, how badly my sister is being treated, and how she believes the only way she can be saved is if Mr. Zee dies.

  “And” —I take a deep breath, going all in— “She wants me to do it.”

  Val nods, unsurprised. “And you could, because you’re Zeus’s daughter.”

  I pull back, my thunder stolen. “How did you know that?”

  “Let’s see.” He pretends to think hard, ticking reasons off on his fingers. “You’re the first dragon shifter to ever exist, your parents smuggled you off campus after you were born and raised you in secret—”

  “Wait,” I stop him, and ask again. “How did you know that?”

  He drops his hand, and levels his gaze at me. “Because I’m working with the monsters.”

  “Val!” I instinctively reach for him, clutching his hands. “That’s incredibly dangerous! Nico has an entire army of students on the lookout for spies and traitors. If he suspected you, it would be the perfect excuse for him to come after you.”

  “I know,” Val agrees. “And I’m being very careful.”

  I narrow my eyes at him. “I wouldn’t say that, exactly. I know there was another Moggy out after curfew the other night. Your bird gave you away.”

  “This guy has more than one use,” Val says, reaching into his pocket for some granola, which the bird gently pecks from his fingers. “Kevin may mark me as a Moggy, but I’ve trained him to run messages as well. There’s a drop not far from here, in the swamp. And a centaur waiting there every evening with treats. Isn’t that right, buddy?”

  Amazingly, Kevin rests his forehead against Val’s for second, and emits something like a low coo. It’s sweet, and almost cute—except now I’m worried that Kevin is going to get Val killed.

  “Val, if anyone catches you…”

  “What about you?” he asks. “You marched straight into the dungeons.”

  “To see my sister!” I counter. “It was worth the risk.”

  “Worth killing Zee?” Val asks, and I drop my gaze.

  “I don’t want to kill anyone, ever again.”

  Val laughs, a short sharp sound. “Does that mean Tina can stop telling me her plan for how she’ll kill you if you win the ‘Most Murderous’ prize at graduation instead of her?”

  I frown at Val, because I’m pretty sure this isn’t a joke. “In this scenario is Tina murdering me because I won instead of her, or to prove that she deserves the ‘Most Murderous’ title?”

  “I think it’s kind of a two birds, one stone type thing.” At this, Kevin squawks in protest at this and Val reassuringly pets his head. “Look, Edie, I think it’s great you want to be a pacifist dragon shifter, although it’s kinda weird to hear that after what you did to Hermes in class today.”

  I can’t help but stiffen. “You disapprove?”

  “Disapprove? No. But...” Val makes a humming sound low in his throat, then he tilts his head to study me for a minute. “Do you know what makes a vampire a vampire? Beyond needing special sunscreen and our hemoglobin heavy diet?”

  “Vampires don’t sleep, they’re cold to the touch, and can sometimes levitate. Remember I’ve been Tina’s roommate for a while now. I know more than you think.” I shrug, not liking the turn this conversation has taken. “But what does that have to do with anything?”

  “It matters because you need to understand how you’re different,” Val answers. He turns to me, his eyes intense. “Vampires that are made, the ones turned from humans, are animals. They can’t think or feel anything beyond their hunger. We kill those vampires, because they give us, the born vamps, a bad n
ame. The only difference between them and us is that we can control our hunger, but we are all killers at heart.”

  “You’re not like that,” I can’t help but protest.

  “I am exactly like that.” Val’s mouth twists into one of its half smiles. “I watched the life fade from Maddox’s eyes. She died at my hands, Edie. And I took pleasure in it.”

  “No.” I turn away from him, not wanting to hear anymore.

  Of course, I’m not an idiot. I know what Val is. I know he’s dangerous. And I’ve been fairly certain he was responsible for Maddox’s death. But when I’m with him, none of those things seem true.

  “Why are you telling me this?” I ask.

  “Because I can’t make my heart start beating, any more than you can make yours stop. You’re not like most of the students here and that’s a good thing. But the way you were with Hermes today...it scared me.”

  I scoff. “You—the big bad vampire—were scared?”

  Val’s hand closes around my chin, forcing me to look at him as he tells me, “I was scared for you. Of what this place is doing to you. You should leave Mount Olympus and never look back.”

  Val makes it sound so simple. But this has become my home. I don’t know where else I would go. Also there’s the small matter of, “Mavis.” I say her name aloud, reminding Val of why I can’t leave even if I wanted to.

  “I know.” Releasing me, he sits back. “The monsters are putting together a rescue mission. They haven’t forgotten everything Mavis did for them—or you, Edie. The family of the monster baby you saved has vowed to return the favor by freeing Mavis.”

  “That’s…” I feel tears pricking my eyes. “That’s so sweet.”

  But Val shakes his head. “It’s not sweet. It’s war, and this is an alliance.” Suddenly, he’s not the Val who never takes anything seriously. Instead, he’s all business. “I need to know everything you can remember about the dungeons. Where is Mavis being held? How many guards are there? What kind of protective spells are on the bars?”

  “She’s in the—” I begin, but Val stops me.

  “Tell it to the bird,” he says.

  “Um… what?”