by Nicole Thorn
Micha shrugged, coming up the stairs. “There’s also something that I wanted to ask you.”
“Go ahead,” I said, already cautious again.
“Why didn’t you argue with Lucy yesterday?” he asked. Somehow, it didn’t surprise me that he would call Mrs. Harold by her first name. “When she said that you couldn’t protect Callie.”
“You didn’t argue either,” I said.
“I was sent by a goddess to protect Callie, and if that didn’t convince Lucy that I could, then nothing would.”
“Then why should I have argued?”
“Because you’re a demigod with power over light and heat,” he said, leaning forward to stare at me. “You could roast most creatures alive with little more than a thought.”
My stomach soured with that image. “I’d rather not.”
“Of course, you’d rather not. No one wants to become a killer. Every day before that first kill, you still have potential to get away from it, from the life that you aren’t sure you want, and then bam! The day happens, and you’re a killer. For the rest of your life, that’s what you are. Not wanting it is no reason not to be good at it.”
“That’s . . . such a sad way to think about it,” I said.
Micha didn’t say anything.
I sighed. “There’s also the other aspect of it. I don’t actually think that I can protect Callie. Like you said, all I can do is fry things, and the second something doesn’t get burned, I can’t help her. I’m not a fighter.”
Micha’s eyes started to gleam, making me nervous.
“No,” I said before he even opened his mouth.
“Oh, come on, it would be great,” he said. “I could teach you how to kick ass, Callie would think you look great doing it, and then Lucy can’t boot us out of the house when she gets back home.”
“Absolutely not,” I said.
Micha pulled four different knives from somewhere on his person—I didn’t see where they came from, nor could I imagine how he had concealed them so well. He started talking about the kinds of knives they were, how to clean them, what they brought to a fight, and the best way to holster them in such ravenous detail that I suddenly felt sorry for anyone that listened to me talk about cars. I felt certain that I sounded the same as he did right then. Happy, almost lustful, and so involved in my specs that no one else mattered.
“I’ll show you how to throw them!” Micha said, his eyes bright.
“I think you’re forgetting the part where I said no,” I interrupted.
That didn’t seem to faze him in the slightest. He grabbed my arm and started to pull me to the backyard step by step. I argued with him the entire time, but nothing I said seemed to matter.
Callie came down the stairs, freshly washed, as Micha started going on and on about hand to hand combat.
“What’s happening?” she asked.
“I’m going to turn your boyfriend into a weapon,” Micha said.
“Help me!” I called.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:
Eyes and Mountains
Callie
“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU’RE trying to steal my boyfriend,” I sighed at Micha. Though I sat on Aster’s lap on the couch, I still felt like I had to claim him. I put his arms around me.
Micha grinned, waggling his eyebrows. “Wouldn’t be the first time. Just kidding. I don’t steal boyfriends; that would be mean. I don’t even entice them over to me. I like to let people approach me of their own accord, giving into the temptation that is my perfect face and rockin’ bod.”
Aster sighed. “Does that work out for you?”
“Sometimes. When I’m not too busy doing Hunter stuff. Most of our teen years and before that are spent doing hardcore training, so we don’t have lots of free time. Every family is different though. My cousin even got to go to public school. For me, I did the hardcore stuff until about a year ago. Things changed, then I came here. Things have been calmer for me since.”
The way nonhumans described their lives started to sound like hell to me. The demigods were all pretty much set up to get tangled in messes their parents made, and it seemed like no one else really got a break from it either. I’d had my own share of troubles, as well as Micha. I hated to think what my future babies might have had to deal with.
“On a lighter note,” Micha said, “I wanted to take Aster out to show him how to shoot my crossbow. I thought he would feel a little better if he had some weaponry skills to fall back on.”
I looked at my boyfriend, who seemed less than thrilled. “Ya know, I could actually go without. I have the light thing if I need it.”
“Yes, but you should have other things. Come on, we can patrol the backyard and make sure there are no monsters out there that can threaten our girl.”
Micha stood up, and then he pulled me from Aster’s lap despite our protests. He held me in his arms, ignoring my glare. I would have rather stayed on Aster’s lap all afternoon, enjoying his company and his hands on my hips.
“What the hell?” Aster said, plucking me from Micha’s arms. “You can’t just steal my girl.”
“I’ll steal both of you from each other. I don’t give a damn,” Micha decided. “So how about you let Callie make us some cookies while you and I patrol?”
“How traditional,” I said flatly.
“No,” Micha said. “My wanting you to make cookies has nothing to do with you being a girl, and everything to do with me being lazy. Also, we actually do need to patrol. You wanna come with us?”
I shook my head. “I have to go write a heartfelt letter to my extended family, saying sorry for not showing up to their wedding. I’ll call if I need you.”
Aster leaned forward to kiss my cheek. “Be back soon.”
I smiled at him. “I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you too,” Micha muttered, frowning. “But whatever.”
I walked the boys out to the backdoor, getting another kiss from Aster before they left. I watched them start heading toward the trees, feeling alone already. I did actually have a letter to write, but it wouldn’t take long.
I hung out in the living room, lying on the couch while I finished up the letter. I contemplated making cookies, thinking it would have been nice to have something for when my friends got back. Though my parents would have preferred we ate real food for lunch instead of cookies. I had the dilemma of choosing if I should listen to the rules or not. Same as making out with Aster in my room. The bed was just so big and comfy.
Whispers in my head made me forget all the things I had been thinking about. They were louder than they should have been. Too many voices at once. I couldn’t tell what they tried to say, but I knew the words weren’t meant for me. Paranoia. I felt paranoia and worry and anger that didn’t belong to me. It cut every other voice off.
The doorbell rang, bringing me back to my body. I popped up fast to answer it. I worried for a moment that it might have been Hecate, but would she really have knocked? I felt like she would have been more likely to blow the roof off my house rather than kindly ask permission to come in.
When I opened the door, utter delight shot through me at the surprise appearance of the seers and their demigods.
Excited, I shouted, “Hi, guys!”
Without thinking, I went in to give Jasmine a big hug first, since she was the closest one to me that didn’t mind being touched. She moved faster than I did, dodging out of the way and hiding behind her big boyfriend, Zander.
“Sorry,” Jasmine said, watching me from her hiding place. “I’m not in the mood to go flying. I’m sure you understand.”
I sighed at my own mistake, hoping I would remember it next time. None of us needed to be knocked unconscious. “That’s right. I do understand. I wouldn’t want to give either of us a concussion.”
“Callie?” Zander asked. He didn’t seem upset with me, but he looked stressed. They all looked stressed, which might have been the only reason they showed up. “May we come in?”
“S
ure!” I said, happy to have them coming by.
They walked inside, with me lingering at the door until Jasper finally got in. In the distance, I saw Aster and Micha standing there. Micha held up his bow, his expression questioning, asking if he should go try to kill my friends. I realized only then that he and Aster would have no idea what my friends other than Verin looked like.
I shook my head, then blew Aster a kiss. Micha jumped in front of him to catch it, making Aster glare. Micha then pressed his hand to Aster’s face, as if giving him the kiss back. I stood there, letting them work it out before I closed the door.
“Where are your parents?” Kezia asked when I rejoined them in the living room.
“Oh, they had to go out of town,” I told her. “They said something . . . birth? Funeral? Marriage? Oh, that’s right. My second cousin is getting married to her ex-husband again, and they have to attend. They didn’t want to put me on the plane, so I get to stay here, all by myself.” I mentally shook my brain out, trying to clear the remnants of those voices that made it harder to think. Things started coming back to me slowly, including the reason I half lied to my friends. It felt like a better idea than telling the truth. “They gave my so much pizza money . . . mmm . . . Pizza.” I sighed happily, thinking about what would have been a good alternative to cookies.
“Can we talk to you about something?” Kezia asked me, sounding done with my insane train of thought.
“Oh, sure!” I said. “I actually have something for you. C’mon!”
I brought my friends up to my room, rushing past them so they had to catch up. “Actually, we have a bit of a problem,” I told them, remembering the look on my dad’s face when he caught me in the room with Aster. It had been worth it though. “I’m not allowed to have boys in here anymore.”
“Why?” Kezia asked with a frown. She must have been worried about me, which I did appreciate.
“Aw,” Jasmine said.
I rolled my eyes, remembering how paranoid my dad seemed to be about everything I did now. “You make out with one demigod, and your parents get so upset. He was so cute, though. He kept making awkward comments, and then trying to cover up for it. And his lips were soft. I miss him.” He had only been outside for a half hour, but I wanted him back. I could have introduced him and Micha to my friends, but it seemed like a better idea to leave them out of it.
I had a moment of worry as I looked to Verin. He’d been called to help us out, but no one mentioned that. I assumed he didn’t tell the others, since it wasn’t really something that concerned them. They already dealt with a bunch of crazy stuff all the time, and they didn’t need to take out extra time for this. Not when we had it mostly handled, and they clearly came here for something.
“Anyway, your fellas have to stay out in the hall. Stay.” I gestured to the boys so they knew I meant it.
The boys did as I asked, and I went into my room with the girls. I didn’t feel bad having to kick them out. I just hoped they didn’t notice the other boys outside and start asking questions. The truth was that we didn’t need them on this mission, and I thought it would only stress out my friends if they found out the goddess of witchcraft tried to kill me and my new boyfriend. I also had a tiny worry that they wouldn’t think much of it, so wrapped up in their lives that they wouldn’t have the time to care about mine. Maybe it wasn’t fair of me to think that, but I couldn’t remember the last time they’d called me.
Juniper’s nose wrinkled as she looked around, displeased as always. I knew it made her uncomfortable to be around a mess, but I liked it this way, and she hardly ever came over.
I remembered what I wanted to share with my friends, so I went to get the special green sticky note from my window that Aster had put there earlier in our organization efforts.
“What?” Juniper asked when I brought them the note.
“I told you the other mountain would come. I told you, and he’s here. He’s out there, actually.” I had been so right about Verin, but I’d had no idea what the voice meant at the time. It made perfect sense now, and it was one more thing that had come true. It made me afraid for the other things I knew would come to pass, all mapped out on my wall.
“Callie . . . ” Kizzy breathed.
“Hush,” I said. “And get that scared look off of your face. It’ll be fine. Probably. Eventually. Not now and not for a while, but eventually. So, calm down.” The voices had given me no indication that this wouldn’t all eventually get fixed one day. Of course, they told me little of what could have been useful, so I had no idea. With all the distractions lately, I hadn’t had the time to look more.
“I’m calm,” Kizzy lied. “You’re the one who’s not calm.”
Jasmine shot her a sideways glance, knowing better and clearly agreeing with me. “You sound less than calm.”
“Don’t sass me.”
Juniper set us all back on track, just like she always did when things got out of hand. “What did you need to tell us, Callie?”
I held my hand up, displaying the sticky note as I glanced at it. “The wind will be here soon, but a different wind. A less windy wind, but a wind nonetheless. It’ll hurt, they say. I hear whispers, but only from a few. The gods don’t all know, and they won’t make it clear for me. Very annoying.”
“I can only imagine,” Kizzy sighed.
I took a deep breath, trying to remain calm when Kizzy couldn’t. I’d been doing so much work to figure this prophecy out since I first got it, and I hadn’t made all that much progress. I worried about that constantly, but I didn’t want to get into it. Not when there was nothing I could do to fix it.
“Here’s what I know,” I started, preparing myself for the information I had to give. It made no sense to me, but out loud it could have changed. “Eyes. Eyes are going to not do so well, but they are . . . so . . . Hmm. I don’t know how to describe it. Everything is okay, but bad too. The whispers make me feel icky, but I don’t know all the reasons why, and they won’t tell me. But mountains, they said you’ll cry. Cry so much. And they said that someone sits by a river. Sits and waits. It made someone smile. But the mountains are so afraid. It’s fine, because there are going to be six in the end. Even when the wind shows up, there will be six. There will always be six.”
Kizzy stared at me, looking about as lost as I felt when it came to the things that popped up in my head without warning. She had no idea how bad it could get. “Anyone? Anyone get this?”
Juniper looked uneasy as well. “It all sounds bad. Rivers are dirty.”
“Crying,” Jasmine said. “The mountains are the demigods. They’re crying. Eyes, that’s us. We’re not going to do so well?”
I accidentally reached for Jasmine again before pulling my hand away. “Not really, but also yes. They didn’t say how, but it’s fine. It’s not the gods. They don’t know. I think. Someone else knows, but they don’t talk to me. I only hear what the gods hear, and the gods don’t mess with the fates. No point, and it’s dangerous.”
“I wouldn’t worry,” I continued. “Things get bad, then they get good again. Since the start of time, that’s how it works. No matter how bad it gets, the sun keeps coming up. Trees grow. Life moves.”
Kizzy’s shoulders stiffened a bit. “Trees grow because of my mother. We need something more than things are bad and they’ll be good. Jasmine can’t have visions.”
I cocked my head at her. “Oh, I didn’t hear about that. For how long?”
“Somewhere around a week, I guess.”
How had I missed that? Was I just so busy that I didn’t hear the conversation that must have taken place with the gods? Maybe they had nothing to do with it, and they didn’t know what might have caused it. That thought upset me.
“Hmm. I’ll listen and see if they know why. Then I’ll call you. I just wanted to let you know that everyone says you’re all very important so, you should feel special.”
Jasmine smiled at me. “Well thank you very much. I always feel special.”
&nb
sp; I smiled back, though I knew they would leave now. I would go right back to hardly seeing them, and I couldn’t even help with the vision problem.
“I like you guys a whole lot, so I hope you don’t die.”
Kizzy sighed. “Thanks, sweetie. Call if you get anything, or if you need us. I guess I have something I need to do.”
I let my friends walk out of the room, meeting up with the boys again. I would have walked them out, but I was too distracted with the notes on my walls. So much information that I didn’t understand, and all things that could end up being dangerous to the people around me. My friends knew that, and they were right in the middle of dealing with it. My parents knew it too. They’d gotten front row tickets to a show that could have killed them.
I heard a quick knock at my door before it opened. Aster poked his head into the room. He walked in with Micha, still armed and ready for battle.
“Your friends just drove off,” Aster said. “Is everything okay?”
I shook my head, setting aside the sticky note. “One of them lost her visions, and they have no idea why. They’re all scared, naturally, and I couldn’t do a thing to help. I only have pieces of riddles.”
“That’s not your fault,” Aster said. “You only have what the gods let you have. They play tricks, hide things, and throw us under the bus.”
I sighed. “It’s not just that. It’s also the danger all around me. My mom and dad could have been killed when Hecate showed up. She un-stoned herself and broke apart Persephone’s magic. My parents are only human.”
After setting his bow down, Micha appeared at my other side. “I know I’m no match for a god, but I swear I’ll do my best to protect you all. Even if your parents think I’m useless.”
While his words made me feel a little better, I knew it wouldn’t be enough. “I think . . . I think I need to get away from this house. As long as I live here, I’m bringing danger home.”
Micha exhaled. “You can come stay with me if you need. Artemis pays the rent and gives me enough for food. I’m sure she would give me enough to take care of—”
