They Will Not Be Silenced

by Nicole Thorn

  “What have you done?” I threw back at her. “What exactly have you done for me?”

  “I gave you a place to stay, food, clothing—”

  “You don’t get credit for doing the bare minimum of parenting,” I shot back at her. “You don’t get credit for doing something just so that the gods wouldn’t kill you.”

  “I did a hell of a lot more than most parents would do!”

  “You did the only things that you had to do and then spent the rest of your time bullying me, berating me, saying that I was stupid and worthless, and I’m trying to be a good son to you, but nothing I do matters. I came here to tell you that I’m moving in with Callie so that you don’t have to worry about me anymore, so that you can rest knowing that I’ll be fine. But instead you’re acting like I’m doing this to hurt you.”

  “You are!” she shouted. “I gave up everything for you and you’re the only thing that I have to show for it!”

  “Then you shouldn’t have been such a bitch!” I shouted back at her, regretting the words immediately.

  Mom’s face shut down. Then she huffed out an incredulous breath, shook her head, and said, “You’re just like every other god that I’ve ever met. You only care about yourself. You only think about what you want, when you want it. Nothing else matters to your kind.”

  I shoved my hands through my hair, trying not to scream. “Even when you want me to stay, you put me down,” I said, shrugging. “You want me to hate myself as much as you hate me.”

  “Why should I love you?” she asked. “You’re a selfish child.” She threw her hands, waving at me. “Fine, you know what, fine, then. You want to ignore everything that I’ve done for you, you want to act like I’m the one that’s in the wrong, then that’s fine. Take off. I hope to never see you again. Get your shit out of my apartment, because anything left behind after I get back will be destroyed.”

  Mom grabbed her keys and stormed toward the door. I thought about calling her back and trying again to fix this. I thought about apologizing, telling her that we’d find a way to all live together, if that would make her happier. I thought about doing a lot of things, but in the end, I stayed right where I was. I stared down at my feet until the door closed, and I silently begged my father not to let her come back in.

  I had wanted to leave off on good terms with her, but even before I actually got to the apartment, no part of me wanted to keep her in my life. Not when I knew that she’d always be this to me, she’d always hurt me. Beyond trying to make me better, she just wanted to make me hate myself.

  I couldn’t handle it anymore.

  “Well, now that that’s finally taken care of, let’s get you out of here,” a familiar voice said.

  I opened my eyes to see Apollo standing in the doorway to my bedroom. I blinked at him, surprised to see him there. His words registered a second later, and I wanted to snap at him. He could’ve given me a minute to process everything, but instead, he did what he always did. Thought about himself first. Like any god would have.

  “Dad . . . ”

  Apollo came forward. “No, no, no. Let’s not talk, because then you’ll just talk yourself into staying around that woman, even though you shouldn’t. I know how this works. You aren’t the only one that can predict patterns.”

  My shoulders slumped even harder, and I braced myself against the back of the couch. All my energy had been drained. “Why are you here?”

  “Because I can finally get you away from that toxic woman. I’m still annoyed with Artemis for playing with my people, but at least you have Callie now, who will make you feel better about yourself.”

  I sighed some more. I just loved feeling like a pawn in the gods’ games. It didn’t make me feel like I had no control over my own life at all.

  “Can we not do this right now?”

  Apollo came over to stand next to me. He leaned against the couch in a pose that matched mine almost exactly. “All right, what’s wrong?”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yes, seriously,” Apollo said.

  “I just had a huge blowout with my mother and will probably never see her again because of it, and you’re asking me what’s wrong?”

  “I don’t get it,” Apollo said, shrugging. “I really don’t. I know that you love that woman, but she’s a bitch, just like Callie said. She’s the kind of woman who will drain you dry of everything you have, and then kick the husk when it can’t do anything for her anymore. Why would you even want someone like that in your life?”

  I threw my hands up.

  “No, I want to know,” Apollo said. “After all the times I tried to get you away from her, why would you choose her over me.”

  “You’d have thrown me away,” I barked. “Just like all the gods do with their children, you would have tossed me aside like I don’t matter, and that hurts. Do you not get that? It hurts your children when they know they aren’t wanted. And despite everything Mom has said to me over the years, despite every hurtful word, she never actually tried to toss me aside.”

  “I would have had to give you up,” Apollo said, his face much more serious now than it had been a moment before. “Do you know the kind of chaos it would create if I tried to raise you? Zeus claims that we’re allowed to do what we want with our children, but he doesn’t mean it. He has so many children he doesn’t care about, but if he saw one of us with our children, raising them and being happy, he’d tried to do the same thing with his. And he would fail, because if his children can’t give him something in return, he doesn’t want anything to do with them. And when he failed, he would punish everyone for it. You included. Putting you with other demigods that would make you feel like you belonged, that was the best that I could do. I wouldn’t have abandoned you, just like I didn’t abandon you with your mother.”

  I snorted. “That all sounds fine and dandy, but that would have left me alone. Even with her, you only came by three times a year.”

  “That’s a lot,” Apollo argued. “That’s more than most people would give their children.”

  I groaned, shoving my hands through my hair. “No, it’s not! Most people see their children every single day.”

  Apollo’s eyes started to glow with irritation, and I kind of felt like I had pushed my luck enough. That didn’t stop the anger from boiling inside my chest.

  “That’s the most that I could give you,” Apollo finally said. “A month to you feels like a day to me. I give each of my children the same amount of attention and I give you what I can. You think that means that I don’t care about you?”

  “I don’t know,” I said, and waited to get blasted by Apollo. He could probably have killed me if he wanted to.

  Apollo let out a breath, crossing his arms over his chest. “Then I have failed. I thought I was doing a great job.”

  I stared at him and saw the way his jaw twitched with irritation. His eyes still glowed. He was furious with me for calling him out on his bad parenting, but . . . had he just admitted to doing something wrong?

  He had shown up more than most gods would for their kids, and he always took one of my drawings with him when he left. He said that they mattered to him. I’d always took that with a grain of salt, but perhaps I shouldn’t have.

  Maybe my father did care about me, as much as a god could care about someone beneath them.

  I looked back at my room. “Were you going to help me pack, or what?” I asked. “Callie’s probably starting to get worried that I’ve been in the apartment this long.”

  Apollo shifted gears even faster than I did, grinning and rubbing his hands together. “Oh, I’ll help.”

  He snapped his fingers, and suddenly half a dozen bags and boxes appeared in the living room. I knew that they had to contain everything that I owned.

  I rubbed my eyes. “Thanks.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR:

  Cupcakes Are Never Free

  Callie

  I REMINDED MYSELF that killing Aster’s mother wouldn’t have done any good.
Sure, it would have felt wonderful, but the bad things would have been worse. Aster could get really sad, I could get arrested for murder. Not worth it.

  At least Aster seemed better. That took hours on the couch where he laid his head on my lap while we watched bad movies. I combed my fingers through his hair, waiting to see if he needed to talk to me about anything that happened. When he didn’t, I took the hint.

  Micha went outside to patrol, leaving Aster and I alone again in the morning. We’d all passed out in the living room together, and my dad would had died if he saw me all cuddled up to Aster, and Micha with my feet on his lap. I wished he’d trust that I wouldn’t start sleeping with two boys I hadn’t known for very long. Besides, I only wanted to sleep with one of them.

  I scrolled through my phone for the third time that day, looking for messages that weren’t there. No news. Nothing helpful to us.

  “Nothing?” Aster asked, putting his head on my shoulder as we sat on the couch.

  I sighed, setting the phone down. “Nope. I like to think that means that the gods have this all handled, and we don’t need to worry about any more baddies coming after us. Micha doesn’t seem to agree.”

  I glanced up to see him passing by the window, bow in hand as he went into Hunter mode. He kept checking outside as if something would change, or something he could fight. Artemis made him my protector, but that had been before we knew exactly what we faced. A Hunter could take out a werewolf no problem, but not the goddess of witchcraft.

  “I’ll take it as a good sign,” Aster said. “If no one is talking to us, that means we’re probably okay. Persephone and Medusa wouldn’t keep us in the dark. Right?”

  “Right. As far as I know, they’ve been as helpful as they can be with my friends. I have no reason to think they wouldn’t do that with me. The problem being that the other gods might be keeping them in the dark too. Persephone would share what she knows, but she might not know anything.”

  “Strong possibility.”

  One that worried me greatly, but a lot of things worried me as of late. Like my parents, who were at least gone for a while. They would be safe, hopefully, until this awful thing blew over and got sucked right back down to the underworld.

  “Should we go help Micha out?” Aster considered, peering out to see our friend doing stretches in the yard.

  “He looks so at peace. We could go find a closet and make out instead.”

  “Oh, I like that idea.”

  Aster took my hand, gently yanking me up and off the couch. He picked me up in his arms, making me laugh when he caught me over his shoulder. How lucky I was to find me a fella so cool with picking me up all the time. I liked it a lot more than I would have thought.

  Aster marched me out of the living room and I had no idea where he planned on bringing me. We couldn’t go up to my room, because I promised my parents and I had no intention of breaking their trust. Aster’s room was filled with boxes I would have to explain to Mom and Dad when they got home. I wasn’t ready for that conversation. How could I break it to them that I wouldn’t be here for much longer?

  Before Aster and I could get to the stairs, a body blocked us. I relaxed when I realized it was Apollo, and he had a smile on his face that told me no one had died.

  “Something up?” Aster asked as he set me on my feet. I straightened myself out, sticking close to his side.

  “Just checking in,” Apollo said. “You seem better today.”

  Only someone who didn’t know him very well would have thought that. Aster looked more tired than usual, and I could tell that even the light-hearted stuff was forced. I couldn’t blame him for that, and I only wanted to be there for him. If I could only keep him company to make him feel better, then I would do it. Words didn’t always solve the problem.

  “Getting along,” Aster commented. “So, nothing happened with Hecate?”

  “Nothing that we’ve seen. She’s flying under the radar, probably figuring out what her next move is. We have people that are searching for her, and we hope that she’ll be found in the next couple of days. I haven’t sensed any activity near you.”

  I breathed a little sigh of relief at his words, trusting that he would tell us the truth. I hadn’t been able to tap into any helpful voices in the last day. I’d even tried picking up on something that could have helped me with Jasmine’s current problem, but everything about her had gone silent. I had no idea which god might have known the most about them, but I knew Apollo wouldn’t help if I asked for info on a prophecy.

  “Did you need something else?” Aster said.

  “Why? Eager to get a little play time with your lady friend?”

  I smiled to myself as Aster said, “Yes, actually. Micha is only going to be outside for a little while longer, and I’ve yet to . . . discuss with Callie . . . the things I wanted to talk to her about.”

  There were things I wanted to talk to Aster about too. Like getting him naked, keeping him naked, touching him while he was naked, and what color would he want us to paint our new bedroom. We actually had a long list of things that needed to be planned and talked about. None of which we couldn’t do with most of our clothes off.

  “Before you do that,” Apollo started, “you should head up to your room and check out the surprise I left for you on the bed. I’ll keep an eye on Callie while you do that.”

  Aster made a face. “I hate everything about how you said that. How did you make a gift sound sinister?”

  “You’re reading into things. Go get your dad-present before I give it to Micha instead.”

  Aster gave me a look. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  He walked past his father as Apollo came down the stairs to meet me at the bottom. He put an arm around my shoulder, giving me a smug grin, though I couldn’t imagine what he was smug about.

  “While it irritates me that Artemis used you and Aster, I can’t pretend it didn’t work out,” he said. “My kid and my Oracle together is actually kind of nice. I hear you’re moving in together.”

  “Yeah, but we already know it’s crazy, so you don’t need to lecture me on that one. We’re only doing it because I need to get away from my parents.”

  “I understand. Life can get hard when you have humans to protect. The smartest thing you can do is find a home far away from them. Don’t worry about that, by the way. I have someone looking for a place in town. I thought you might want to at least be a few miles from Mom and Dad.”

  I smiled up at him. “Thank you, that’s so sweet.”

  “I know. I just thought I should help you out a little bit, since you’re really helping Aster. It’s good that he’s got you around. I even have a thank you present as a way to show my appreciation.”

  With a wave of his hand, a cupcake suddenly appeared. It smelled like actual heaven, wrapped up in pink paper. Bright blue frosting had been piled high, and I inhaled deeply when Apollo handed it to me.

  “You’re a sweet tooth kid, right?” he asked me. “If not, I can make you a steak or something.”

  “No! This is amazing. Thank you.”

  He patted my head. “No problem. You eat that while I head up to check on your boyfriend. Eat it fast; that frosting isn’t good when it’s not fresh.”

  I stuck my tongue out, carefully licking up the side of the cupcake. My brain short circuited when I tasted the thing. It was like all of my favorite foods put into one sugary treat.

  I pulled the pink paper out of my way before I sank my teeth into the thing. It melted on my tongue, killing me and sending me to a heaven I would never know again. How had I gone my whole life without something this wonderful being in it? How would I live once it was gone? More than the taste, it sent my mind somewhere soft and bright. Like I had been made to rest on a cloud in the sky.

  My body tingled. Not in a bad way, but in a new way. I kind of wanted to go outside and start running around. I perked up, as if I’d gotten ten hours of sleep and took three shots of espresso.

  The backdoor slid
open and Micha walked inside. He opened his mouth to say something, but I promptly cut him off when I ran to him. “You have to try this,” I said, shoving the cupcake at his face. “It’s the most amazing thing that’s ever existed.”

  Micha took it from me. “I can’t say no to a cupcake.”

  I watched him take a bite of it, seeing his eyes get bigger. His lips had turned blue from the frosting as he chewed, staring at the wall like his brain had stopped working. Yeah, it was that good. I could have eaten at least seventeen of them.

  Footsteps alerted me to the other people in the room, and I turned to see Aster walking with Apollo down the stairs. Aster had a straight up massive wad of cash in his hand, and Apollo’s eyes shot right to Micha.

  “Well . . . shit,” the god sighed, scratching the back of his head. “You weren’t supposed to share with him.”

  “Huh?” I asked. “Why not?”

  “What’s going on?” Aster questioned. “What did you give her? Is she okay?”

  “Yeah don’t even worry about me,” Micha said. “Just listen to a god get super concerned that I ate something, then don’t spend a single second thinking that maybe I’m in danger. Thanks. I feel like a princess.”

  I touched my chest, then face, then arms. I felt fine on the inside and outside. It had only been a cupcake, and I knew Apollo wouldn’t hurt me. If I died, then he would need to find and train a new Oracle, and hope she didn’t go insane or die in the middle of that training. It took a certain kind of mind to be able to deal with the gods, and I happened to have one.

  “I think I’m okay,” I said, turning to Micha. “You look fine too.”

  “Of course, he’s fine,” Apollo said. “What do you think I would do to you? Wait, don’t answer that. Just know I’m offended that for even a moment, you would think so little of me.”

  I wouldn’t let him distract me from the point. “You’re going to need to explain to me what just happened.”