by Holly Hook
"The others need to follow our footprints," Ronin shouted. "Don't move too fast." He pulled me close so we moved as one unit.
I looked behind me as we left the door to the guys' dorm building behind. The wind was creating drifts out of the white expanse between us and Cursed Academy. With every step, my feet sank.
Not only did Mikey's fate ride on us finding the barrier, I would be asking Zeus to accept Wendy into his school. And if I was bold enough, Maria and Mikey, too. They'd be the bottom of the social ladder for sure, but at least Ronin and I would protect them. This wouldn't be easy. But I had one bargaining chip. And that was me. The gods wanted me, the only budding immortal not bound by the Oath, before the Lower Order could force me into their ranks.
The cold did nothing to ease the sweat gathering all over my body. I put my hand in Ronin's, silently asking for his strength, and he squeezed back. "We'll convince him," he said. "But we might have to compromise. At least Zeus has been a lot cooler lately."
Ronin still didn't call him dad. I couldn't imagine how he could manage the feat.
"Stop," Ronin said.
I did, letting my feet sink into about eight inches of white powder. My boots struggled to hold out the icy invasion. The big flakes flying in front of us calmed and parted for a second, and a whole, faint wall of green, leering spirit faces greeted us from eight feet away. Black pits that were eyes and misshapen mouths leered at us as the magic pushed against itself. It was as if each spirit trapped inside were jostling for whoever could be the scariest.
"Yikes," I said.
"That's what Mikey would say," Ronin said. "We've got to get him and Cal back together. And I'm sensing something wrong between Maria and Ted."
So Ronin had more of a girl sense than I gave him. "Yeah. I've sensed tension, too."
"So, where's this opening?" Ronin asked. "It's hard to tell where we even are with this storm. And our footsteps are almost already gone."
I checked behind me again, but now we were in the trees, in an area that had lots of thick pines, so if Wendy and the others were following, I couldn't see them. "We're somewhere between the paved trail entrance and the combat arena. We'll just have to look for a spot where the spirits aren't as thick. And you know what? This is creepy. Are there really spirits trapped in this wall, tormented for all eternity?"
"No," Wendy said behind me.
I whirled. Wendy had followed after throwing on her thick black coat. Her lipstick looked bloody red and she looked like a dark winter princess. Maria and Mikey stood behind her, and Mikey had his arms wrapped around him, shivering. Maria's dark hair kept blowing into her face. And Mikey...yes, he looked blue, with a savage yet scared glint in his eyes. And he was trying not to look at Ronin.
Wendy seemed to sense my thoughts. "We have to hurry. Third years don't mature very often, but it's happened before. And we're late third years."
"But he's been taking the herb," I protested. My heart thumped. Mikey didn't look completely monstrous yet. Full Sirens had sharp teeth and black eyes. Last year, one of the fourth year girls had matured into one. While she'd still been beautiful, with bluish skin, she'd also had that deadly, razor sharp look about her. My stomach turned when I thought of Mikey that way.
"It must not work the same on everyone and as I said, it might be losing potency now that it's been out of the Underworld for some time." Wendy gave me a shove towards the wall. "If you've thought of a way through, we all need it."
"Hurry," Mikey pleaded, terror stretching out his words. "I can't believe this. I'm feeling worse every hour."
If he matured, Cal would no longer keep his darkness at bay.
"I'll text Cal," Ronin said, breaking into a run.
"I already have," Mikey said, following us. "He's going to meet us outside. What are you two doing out here?"
"We can't tell you." Ronin waved us all down the wall. "Wendy, if you find something, let us know."
Wendy nodded with understanding. "Will do. Come on." She took the lead, sword still hanging off her belt. Keeping her eye on the wall that kept fading in and out, depending on how close we were to it, she led us first through some trees, barely pushing through some thick pine branches that dumped yet more snow on us. I blinked melt from my eyes until the world came into white focus again. "I sense...there's a spot where the magic here is weaker. It still might have an effect. But wow, it's hidden. Hades must have not seen this." She held her sword out to a spot on the magical barrier, a spot that Ronin and I wouldn't have noticed if Wendy hadn't pointed it out. The green spirits still pushed against each other, but there was a clear oval where they were fainter, maybe just half the strength they had been before. As I approached, the fake spirits glowed with death, but not as intensely as the rest of the wall.
"This is the hole?" I blurted. Zeus hadn't done a perfect job. Of course, he'd been working against magic just as strong as his. Hades was a fellow Olympian.
"You knew there was a hole?" Maria asked.
"Hurry. If I die going through, will it be so bad?" Mikey asked. "The alternative is worse." He pulled his coat collar over his cheeks, but the blue tinge of his skin was still apparent. Were his eyes darkening? hile Wendy looked like a winter princess with her dark hair and coat, Mikey looked like something that had crawled from the snow. He shivered with desperation.
And ran through the tenuous hole in the barrier.
"Mikey!" Maria shouted.
He plunged through The faint spirits in the hole converged on him, pressing against each other, but Mikey managed to fall into a snow bank on the other side. White powder swallowed him as he landed on the Olympian side of the wall and didn't move.
"Shit," Ronin said, letting go of me. "I just got old man hands once from this magic. Mikey might now have old man everything."
"Ronin--" I said.
But he went next as the inner hero took over. He was faster than Mikey. More fit. But the spirits, as if hungry, closed in on him. Ronin seethed but managed to stay on his feet as he pushed through death. He leaned over Mikey and slugged him on the shoulder. "Get up, man. I might not be your boyfriend but I'm the next best thing."
"Ronin!" He was okay and he was smoothing this over.
Mikey groaned. He was alive. As he pushed himself up, I realized he had a single gray streak in his hair, but other than that, I saw no other damage. But his skin was still slightly blue.
"Come on," Wendy said, slugging me on the arm. "Don't linger."
"Captain Obvious," Maria said.
But Wendy just grinned. The three of us went through the opening, together, but as I did, the low thrum of dread filled my ears and stabbed into my brain. I blinked and leering faces looked back. Weakness filled my knees and I stumbled onto the other side.
Ronin pulled me up. "Sorry, Mikey, but I'm Giselle's boyfriend."
"Not offended," Mikey said. He still trembled and I wondered how long that gray streak would take to go away. I let myself fall into Ronin, but already strength flowed back into my limbs. "Cal," I said.
"We need him," Maria said, looking to Wendy.
Ronin cupped his hands and faced the woods. Beyond these trees, the white marble campus of Olympian Academy waited. "Cal!"
Someone shouted back and I knew he was coming. I shoved all thoughts of talking to Zeus aside. Mikey needed help, and quick.
"Crap," Mikey said, leaning over a fallen log.
"Keep going." Maria slapped him on the back, with more force than she meant, because Mikey lost his grip on the log and landed over it. "You know what? I'll carry you. Ronin. Keep shouting for Cal. Send up a lightning bolt beacon, or something." With that, she wrapped her arms around Mikey, and tilting her body back, hauled him over her shoulder.
My mouth dried. My friends were losing their humanity despite the Underworld medicine. And there was nothing I could do to slow it down.
We all broke into a run together. Mikey continued to tremble. I hoped it was from the biting cold, but he grasped his jaw as if it were hurting.
The blue tinge to his flesh remained. Mikey kept his eyes squeezed shut as if that could shut out the horror.
My sides burned and I ran beside Ronin, but I could keep up despite the snow sucking at my feet. Ronin shouted Cal's name over and over, and slowly, Cal's return calls got louder. The wind whistled, pushing us back as if the universe itself were trying to make Mikey mature. He moved his hands to cover his face.
We burst into a clearing, one so close to the main grounds of Olympian Academy that I could see the flat, neat expanse of the front lawn through the trees. Cal stood off to the side, facing left, and it was clear the wind had carried Ronin's and Cal's calls in strange directions. But when we entered, Cal snapped his gaze to us.
"Mikey!" he shouted.
And his eyes widened when he saw Mikey slumped over Maria's shoulder.
"Cal's here," she told him. "Set him down."
She placed him in the shelter of a huge pine which had blocked all but a few tiny patches of snow. Cal leaned over Mikey as Maria placed him gently on the ground, but Mikey kept his hands over his face.
"Mikey," Cal said, grasping his bluish wrists. Sunlight burst around them, warming the air a bit, and it spread up Mikey's arms and stopped there. "Don't go all dark side on me now. I know Hades didn't make the atmosphere great at school, and I tried to get over, but that barrier threatened to ruin my face and literally kill me." Regret and pain filled the spaces between his words. "Come on. Stop resisting. Let go of your face."
I backed away as Maria and Wendy joined me. Ronin lifted one eyebrow at us, but there was no smile there.
"I can't," Mikey said, muffled through his hands.
"Come on. You're putting up a fight."
My heart dropped into the ground.
What if it was too late, and Mikey was ashamed to show Cal the truth? What if, when he lowered his hands, he wanted to destroy Cal?
Ronin grabbed my shoulder. "This isn't good."
I whirled on him as Cal lowered himself to lie beside Mikey. "But--"
He drew his sword. "Cal, it might be--"
"Mikey's just stuck," Cal said, rising. "He's close to maturing but he's not there yet. If he sees me, or any other guy, he'll go over the edge." Helpless, he shot me a desperate look. I had never seen Cal with his eyes shining like this. "There's no time. Giselle. I need your help."
Chapter Eight
Mikey groaned, keeping his hands over his face, and I understood what Cal wanted me to do.
He never wanted to feed on girls. Just guys. I had to take Cal's power and heal Mikey. I shook my head, casting away the low groan of Chaos, but even though I was on the Olympian side of the barrier, a bit of it remained. "I'm not sure if I can."
Ronin lowered his sword. For a moment, he'd been ready to defend Cal against Mikey. "Giselle, if Cal can't do it, you have to."
Cal took off his glove and extended his hand, which glowed with sunlight. "Take it."
"And then what?" My heart thumped. I wasn't sure how Cal healed Mikey or kept the darkness back. But it must involve--
Cal swallowed. "You have to, um, take my power and then kiss him. It's more effective than just touching. Hurry!" He shook his hand and the heat of his magic rose to my face.
Maria and Wendy gasped. I'd never asked exactly how Cal kept Mikey's monstrous changes at bay, but I imagined it was similar to how Ronin and I did it.
Now I would have to...
Ronin patted me on the back. He was giving his permission. It wasn't as if Mikey would get off on me kissing him. We weren't attracted to each other but that might make the magic fail. Cal nodded. I had to try.
I took Cal's hand and breathed in.
Chaos flew away, fleeing from the sunlight that surged into me. Light and warmth filled the space behind my eyelids. I breathed the heat into every corner of my body until I was a glowing being of light. Was this what Cal felt all the time? I inhaled until I couldn't anymore and Cal released my hand, almost pushing me away before I could breathe his growing magic back into him.
I opened my eyes.
The whole world had taken a warm glow. I'd used some of Apollo's powers before, by handling a few other peoples' birthright weapons, but nothing like this. Snowflakes melted when they came near me, offering a small bubble of warmth. Ronin, Wendy, and Maria stepped back and Mikey kept his hands over his face, hyperventilating. My heart thudded with terror as I approached. "Um, Mikey? This is going to be awkward. Drop your hands."
Ronin and Cal vanished into the trees, turning their backs. Neither wanted to see this.
And slowly, Mikey dropped his hands. He was bluer than ever. One eye was pure black. Hungry. He was close to maturing, but when he laid his gaze on me, the glint of hunger in that eye calmed. Sunlight streamed through me. I couldn't hold onto it forever. "Sorry, but you're not going to convert me."
Closing my eyes, I mashed my lips to Mikey's.
Nothing happened at first. Mikey's lips were cold, unresponsive. I wrapped my arms around Mikey in desperation, and at last, he gave in.
We molded together.
I breathed sunlight into him, draining Cal's power into him, and as if sensing it, he accepted the gift. Shaking and drained, I rolled off Mikey, putting distance between us. As the cold of the storm wrapped around me, Wendy shook her head, looked down at me, and smiled. I'd never hear the end of this.
And Maria pulled me up.
"Please say Ronin didn't see that," I said.
"He didn't watch. And Mikey's better."
Whirling, I watched as he wiped off his lips, frowning. A faint glow hovered around him, not yellow but invisible, and his skin had returned to its normal shade. Now he was my friend again.
"That wasn't awkward," Mikey said, blushing.
I wanted to hug him despite the pressure of his lips lingering on mine. I couldn't believe what I'd just done. Yes, I could. "You're not a monster. Get up. Cal! Where did you go?"
He emerged from the trees beside Ronin and extended his arms to Mikey.
"Just to make this fair," Ronin said with a forced smile, "Cal and I made out just now."
"Ronin!" I slapped him on the arm.
"We got married and eloped that time, remember?" He slapped me on the back and his electricity was nervous. Tense. "Why not?"
"I'm okay now. Can we let this go?" Mikey asked.
"Look," I said. "We should leave Cal and Mikey alone and get to the school already. I'm nervous enough about asking Zeus to let Wendy transfer, too. And I want to know how much longer I'll have to wait." The fact that the schedule was for my fourth year didn't bode well but it beat nothing. Besides, my third year was more than halfway over. It was too late to transfer, anyway.
But still--
Behind me, Cal helped Mikey up while Wendy and Maria backed towards Olympian Academy like they were ready to get this over with.
* * * * *
"Mikey was not into that kiss and neither was I," I said to Ronin as we stepped through the front doors.
"I know you weren't," he said, curling his fingers tightly into the sleeve of my coat.
"You're not acting that way."
"Come on, you two," Wendy said behind us. "We both know it was a scene out of a romantic comedy with supernatural elements. Let's move on." Our new friend sounded nervous. And felt nervous. Even the low thrum of dread that she normally gave off was absent right now.
At least the inside of Olympian Academy was warm. The golden seals reflected the colored lights from the electric signs. Loud music blasted somewhere, probably from one of the dorms upstairs.
"There's always a party happening during these storms, so we shouldn't run into anyone," Ronin said. "Well, almost anyone. A few students might be walking around if they're sick of the dumb games they play."
"Aren't you still supposed to be the life of the party?" I asked. While I knew Olympian parties could get crazy and usually involved drinking, I'd been cooped up in Cursed Academy and wanted a break already. I eyed Maria and Wendy, who turned their gazes
upward. They wanted the same.
"Not now," Ronin said. "This is the time to talk to Zeus and whoever else is here. I haven't been over here for a few days, but I'm sure he's expecting us during this time. Why else would he send that note?"
I nodded. "Maybe afterward?" The more time I spent over here, the better.
"Maybe. Cal and Mikey might meet us up there. Sounds like it's coming from the rec room."
So Olympian had a rec room. That was no surprise. I hadn't explored the whole place and since we didn't have Combat Training this afternoon, we had the chance. The gods wouldn't be breaking the Oath by letting me explore a bit, would they? That only counted if I tried to attend classes.
The office doors were shut today, and a single Olympian girl in a white toga walked quickly out of them. She averted her gaze from us as we passed her. A first year, maybe, judging by how young and timid she looked. I didn't see too many timid people over here at this school.
We knocked, and the mean secretary let us in before retreating behind her desk. "The gods have been expecting you," she said without another word or even a look at us.
"I thought so," Ronin said, eyeing the closed office door that belonged to Zeus.
The secretary pointed to the conference room before going back to typing on her computer. It was clear we were to leave her alone.
I wondered how badly the first year girl had been chewed out. Pushing those thoughts aside, I motioned for Wendy and Maria to follow. I couldn't believe the massive risk of what I was about to pull. Could I convince Zeus to let Wendy in, let alone Maria? Attending Olympian would just put Maria even lower on the social ladder than she already was. I could imagine how some of the Olympian students would treat her, especially after she matured. But maybe coming over here would allow me to keep healing her the way I had just healed Mikey. Just hopefully without the kissing. She was going to be the manager for Orpheus, anyway.
