Chapter 28
When I reach the shore, Gabriel and Amy are waiting for me. Their expressions show equal respect and resentment while their fierce hugs betray the very real fear they experienced for me.
“Is hugging our thing now?” I squeak as Amy threatens to choke me.
She shoves me away with a scowl. “Don’t get used to it. This was the stupidest thing you’ve ever done.”
Gabriel grins. “Stupidly brave.”
“I’ll take that.”
Hades, lounging against black satin, looks at me expectantly, but it’s Kieron I search for instead. Before my legs can give way under me, I walk down the shore where he’s still sitting. When I stand before him, he diverts his eyes swiftly, directing them toward the waves, but not fast enough to hide the fright dancing in them.
I hand him the watercolor case. “Yours, I presume?”
His fingers tremble as they trail over the lid of the box. “Thank you. I thought I’d lost it forever.”
I nod curtly and wheel back toward the gods. Hades glowers at me while Aphrodite claps her hands excitedly and Athena and Artemis smile in approval. On the beach, the heroes, minus Heracles, are heading my way. Their expressions are still shaken but their clothes are dry, as if they’d never been on the boat.
For the first time ever, Odysseus addresses me directly. “Hope, we owe you our deepest gratitude.” I squirm as the result of his praise. “This was the act of a true hero, and your courage won’t be forgotten. By any of us.”
I shift uncomfortably as the rest of the gang bow their heads in respect.
Hades, who is now standing up, growls. “She needs to be disqualified! She broke the terms of her quest.”
I sigh. “I lost, didn’t I?”
Ariadne who’s closest to me answers, “No, you didn’t. We’re still waiting on three challengers.”
Athena stands up to her uncle. “She did no such thing. She won her race and brought back Kieron’s object of power.”
Black smoke billows around Hades, enshrouding him. “She interfered with fate! The heroes were supposed to die.”
Artemis speaks up. “If she was able to save them, then their time hasn’t come yet. Her heroism needs to be acclaimed, not scorned.”
“She was resplendent!” Aphrodite exclaims. The love goddess turns toward her other uncle, Poseidon. “We need to have a party in her honor. Tonight. You’ll host it and I’ll take care of everything else. It will be epic!”
Her enthusiasm reminds me of my best friend, Lily. Clifford, Bob Jr. and Marcus swim back to shore, interrupting the debate. Clifford squints at me as he wipes his reading glasses. When he puts them back on, he’s glaring at me.
“You! You trapped us on the island.” I blink in confusion. “We had to wait for the water to quiet to swim back. You should be the one eliminated today!”
I thought we were friendly, but like most overachievers, Clifford’s competitive streak is deadly.
Bob Jr. shakes himself dry, splashing Clifford who diverts his wrath to the kind giant.
“None of you will be eliminated today,” Poseidon bellows to shut Clifford up. “Dionysus’s challenger, Dane Wilford, never left the shore. His loss saves you from getting disqualified.”
Now I understand the sullen look sported by merry Dionysus. With Dane gone, he has no challengers left in the competition.
Heracles steps in. “The third quest has now come to an end. And some of you shone more than others today.” He grins at me. “May the auspices remain in your favor.”
I exhale deeply as I sink into the sand, finally giving in to my exhaustion. I was lucky today, but there won’t always be a Nereus to call to my aid. May the auspices remain in my favor indeed…
Amy drags me out of a deep slumber. I grunt as I open my eyes, feeling exactly as tired as before I fell asleep. The sky outside the window is the pink hue of dusk. I must have slept for four hours when in reality I need ten times that to recover from the competition’s toll on me.
“How do you expect we can spend an evening below the ocean? Isn’t that where Poseidon resides?”
“It is.” I yawn. “And to answer your first question, I don’t know.”
Kieron shared his own divine breath with me that night in Nereus’s grotto. I doubt the gods are planning to give mouth-to-mouth to every single challenger tonight. Or at least, I seriously hope not. I don’t care if they are the most beautiful beings in the universe. The thought of kissing any of them is positively revolting.
“I can’t believe they are making us go back underwater tonight. I’d be happy never to tread water again.”
“Is that why you aren’t bathed yet?” I tease.
Amy grins. “Get used to the smell. It will probably be a few days before I can even consider it.”
“Well, I’ll go. My muscles are terribly stiff. A warm bath should do the trick.”
“Can’t you just heal yourself?”
I ponder her question. In all honesty, the thought has never crossed my mind.
“What about you? Figured out your powers yet?”
“Except for my incredible cunning and deftness at stealing? Not yet.”
“It’ll come.”
She shrugs weakly. “I’m not worried.”
I head to the bathroom, where a wonderfully chamomile-scented bath has been drawn for me. As I dunk myself in the water, I consider Amy’s comment about my powers. Could I simply heal myself?
I sink farther in the water until my shoulders are under and close my eyes. I focus on the ache in my muscles. I try to fix it like I fixed Jared’s arm and Marcus’s toe. But the pain remains. Something blocks my powers.
I give up and enjoy the warmth of the bath instead. There is a certain pride that comes with my pain. The knowledge that I saved lives despite the hardship I suffered. So I embrace the pain. Something truly good came out of it.
When I return to the bedroom, Amy is already dressed.
“More makeup?” she groans.
I wince, hoping I don’t look ridiculous. I did play around with the eye shadow palette left for me beside the sink. My eyes are lined with kohl, and iridescent blue powder covers their lids. I even went so far as to apply a dark red gloss on my lips.
I hardly recognized myself in the bathroom, so maybe Amy is right and I went overboard.
“Does it look bad?”
“Does Barbie look bad?” she asks.
Knowing Amy, I’m certain she considers Barbie the source of all evils. With my long black hair and the dark makeup, I’m the doll’s antithesis—Goth Barbie.
“Between this and your dress, I don’t think I want you next to me,” Amy says. “You’re turning to the dark side.”
I step into the walk-in closet. Amy is right of course, it’s all very dark, but I don’t see why she’d have a problem with it. That is, until I see the dress hung on my rack. It isn’t the short black dress I’ve been sporting since the competition begun, but a marvelous gown of royal blue silk, with a floor-length skirt embroidered with silver swirls.
I gasp in wonder.
“I knew you would react like that!” Amy yells from our bedroom. “It’s only a dress.”
It is the most beautiful dress I’ll ever wear. My fingers are hesitant as they take it off the hanger, worried I will tarnish its beauty merely by touching it.
I disrobe then shrug it on reverently. The halter top’s décolleté stops just shy of my belly button while draping over my breasts, barely preserving my modesty. The tulle skirt widens below my hips and displays a long slit along my right leg. My waist is cinched with a silver ribbon.
I tie the silver sandals with rhinestones around my shins before exiting the closet.
Amy shakes her head in dismay. “You look ridiculous.”
This time I don’t believe her. With a dress like this, no one can look anything less than beautiful. I gaze into the dressing table’s mirror and beam at my reflection. Gone is the depressed teenaged girl in her school uniform.
Tonight, I’m Scheherazade in One Thousand and One Nights.
“Are you done making goo-goo eyes at yourself?” Amy huffs.
I nod and follow her out. Downstairs, Aphrodite is waiting for us. She claps her hands excitedly when she sees me come in.
“I knew the dress would look fantastic on you!”
I grin back; her enthusiasm is contagious. The other girls glare at me with envy. Aphrodite’s dress is almost identical to mine, except that hers is in the turquoise shade she favors.
“We’ll start with the heroine of the day! Here…” Aphrodite hands me a large pink seashell. “You have to breathe into it a few times before we head off to Poseidon’s palace.”
I place it on my mouth, inhaling and exhaling into the domed seashell like an oxygen mask. It is as if I’m back under the ocean, the sound of the waves echoing from the seashell as I bring it against my ear. Then I hand it to Amy, who winces at the salty ocean smell. She hates it, but it’s one of my favorite scents.
The seashell passes between the hands of the eight other girls left in the competition. We had fourteen three days ago. One died and four were robbed of their memories in this short span of time. I suddenly agree with Amy—I’m ridiculous in my fancy gown.
“Ready?” Aphrodite asks me.
I force a smile on my lips, and she snaps her manicured fingers, shimmering all of us away from Helen of Troy’s villa.
The next instant, we land inside Poseidon’s palace, in the center of a pink coral and ivory dance floor. Warm water caresses my skin but doesn’t penetrate my open mouth. It is as light as air but more soothing, like an embrace. The girls dart astonished looks at mermaids, sparkling under precious jewelry, waltzing around the dance floor with dashing mermen. A crab pinches Melody’s toe, making her shriek in surprise. We break into bubbly peals of laughter, which helps break the tension.
When I stop holding my ribs and look up, Kieron’s on the dance floor, standing unnaturally still with one of the Muses whispering in his ear. My hands clench into fists as I fight the urge to yank her away from him. The violence of my reaction staggers me. I should look away but I can’t, especially when Kieron stares back at me over the Muse’s shoulder as if I were the only person in the ballroom. I exhale shakily as he pushes her aside and strides in my direction, but she won’t let go that easily.
“What’s wrong with you?” she snarls, clutching his sleeve. “You used to be fun!”
Kieron looks about him at the dancers who’ve paused to gawk at them. “You’re making a scene.” He pries her fingers off of him. “People change, Erato.”
She thrusts out her chin stubbornly. “I haven’t.”
“It’s your loss then.”
“No, it’s yours. You may try to pretend you’re all good and superior now, but people don’t change that much. You’re no saint.”
Kieron locks eyes with me again while dismissing Erato with a wave. “I never pretended I was.”
I ignore Erato’s furious scowl and focus on Kieron instead as he crosses the distance between us. The square set of his shoulders exudes confidence as he extends his hand to me. “Dance with me.”
Whether it’s the hypnotic quality of his voice, or a result of my surprise that makes me obey him, I give him my hand and let him drag me away from the challengers’ group. I am clumsy, but he amply makes up for it. His grace seeps into me so we can twirl together as a perfect pair.
The other girls’ envious stares burn a hole between my shoulder blades, but it is the black fire in Kieron’s eyes that holds me captive. I can hardly hear the music as I let him sway me across the dance floor.
“What was that about?” I ask him, replaying the scene with Erato in my mind.
He grits his teeth. “My past.”
I try to keep my expression even. “Is she your ex?”
“I don’t want to talk about her.” His grip intensifies around my waist. “You reminded me what fear was today,” he says in his usual puzzling manner. “I don’t like it.”
I stay quiet, waiting for him to elaborate. Even if I wanted to speak, I doubt I could as long as I’m this close to him. When he’s near, I’m a child playing with fire—captivated and forgetful of the danger ahead.
His face edges closer to mine. “Why are you so careless with your life?”
“As someone who embodies death, I don’t see why you’d care,” I snap, breaking free from his grasp.
I can’t have this conversation if he holds me; I can hardly think when he’s around. Kieron takes one step further away from me.
“Let’s find a place where we can talk.” He strolls away from the dancers before I have a chance to agree with his proposition.
I follow him. Kieron stays clear of Poseidon, who sits on his throne holding hands with his wife, Amphitrite. He moves toward the other side of the grand hall where dolphins carry trays of delicacies on their backs and sharks deliver drinks. Kieron stops by a shark to pick up two flutes of champagne from the platter held in its powerful jaws, saving me from having to approach the deadly animal.
He hands me a glass when we reach an alcove hidden behind two twisted coral columns. On the alcove wall, a mural of Poseidon riding majestic waves is depicted in a mosaic of seashells. We sit on a low bench strewn with satin pillows in shades of blue.
“You said I embody death,” Kieron says.
I take a sip of champagne in search of liquid courage.
“But do you know what my powers are, Hope?”
“You know I don’t.”
The alcove, the champagne, Kieron’s silky voice—this is all too romantic for my taste. My spine tenses as his eyes skim my face with unabashed curiosity. He tilts his head to the side, as if listening to something only he can hear.
After sitting in this uncomfortable silence for a while, he shakes his head, his eyes wide with wonder. “I can’t hear your dark thoughts, Hope.”
“I have plenty.” I bite my lip, thinking of all the times I’ve wished Madeline or other challengers to lose just so I could win. How can saving my mother justify their cruel fates?
“Not really. I’m the God of Shadows. Darkness calls to me—in that I am my father’s son. I hear people’s darkest desires, everyone’s without distinction.”
“Even the gods’? Is it why you keep to yourself so much?” It must be unbearable, suffering everyone’s petty thoughts and evil desires.
“Even the gods. But your thoughts are hidden behind a wall of light. I wasn’t sure at first but now I understand why. Your deepest desires are pure and selfless.”
“I’ve been accused of being selfish,” I say, thinking about Amy. “I want my mother to heal as much for me as for her.” I bite my lip to stop from crying. “I’m not ready to say goodbye.”
Kieron looks like he wants to comfort me, but instead he sinks deeper into the pillows at his back.
“Trust me. Shadows whisper to me. I’ve heard thoughts I wish I could forget. But yours are well beyond my reach. Protected from my darkness.”
“What makes you think you’re so dark? What have you done that makes you guilty?”
“I’m the product of darkness and despair. My very existence is shrouded in evil.” He shuts his eyes. “I try to make amends now, but I used to be as bad as my father. Using my powers selfishly, toying with women’s hearts. Hope, I’m as dark as it gets.”
I try to picture Kieron as this selfish player he describes, but since I’ve met him, I’ve seen no proof of his alleged darkness—except for erasing the challengers’ memories that is. But if not him, someone else would have taken care of it. I remember his anger that night, after the Unveiling Ceremony.
“You didn’t want to erase the losers’ memories, did you?”
“I was ordered to by my father, part of the bargain I made with him when I chose to sponsor you.”
“Why did you do it? Step up for me that night?”
Without thinking, I’ve moved closer to Kieron. I’d only have to extend my fingers to touch his
hand. My heart resumes the erratic beat it inexorably reverts to when Kieron is near.
“At first it was the silence that surrounds you that drew me in. People’s desires are so loud, it’s exhausting.” Mirroring my thoughts, Kieron’s hand edges toward my fingers, but at the last instant he snatches it back. My chest heaves in disappointment. “But then your drive to return home—you’re different than the other challengers. You don’t care about glory or victory. I never wanted this competition to happen, but if we need a hero, then it has to be you. Hope, you may be what the world needs.”
Blood rushes to my cheeks at his admission. I fight against the stupid grin eager to bloom on my lips.
“Will you train with me again?” he asks.
“Of course. When you stayed away these past couple of days, I thought you hated me.”
“I was angry, and so were you. I thought stripping the challengers of their memories would be a blessing. But by observing you, I realize some humans want to hold onto their memories. That not all of them are bad.”
My lips curl up as I remember my mother’s imprecations in the kitchen when she messed up a meal, her hand pushing my hair behind my ears as she tucked me to bed when I was little, our vacations at the beach.
“Some memories are worth cherishing,” I whisper.
Kieron runs his hands through his hair, sighing in frustration. “As far as I recall, I have no good memories. And you must understand…I’ve been dreading this competition for almost two centuries. I thought the divide between our worlds was there for a good reason. But I’d never talked to a human before you.” He stares at me now with an open admiration that makes my cheeks burn crimson. “When you forsook your safety earlier to help the heroes, it was the love in your heart, the love that’s etched in your memories that propelled you forward. You were as splendid treading the water as you are tonight, adorned like a goddess.”
“But I’m only human…”
Olympian Challenger Page 19
