Along with the bowl of oatmeal, he brought her a cup of herbal tea, and sat across from her.
“Thanks.” She blew on the tea to cool it. “Bet you don’t miss being sick.”
He shook his head, chewing a spoonful of oatmeal. “I remember it well enough, though. And if I work myself up to it, I can still feel sick.”
“How? Like if you’re upset about something?”
“Yeah. Stress mostly.” He tossed a self-conscious glance at her. “Like the day we first grabbed you. Thought I was going to hurl.”
“How come?”
“It was so wrong. So illegal. I don’t do stuff like that.”
“I’ve been wondering about that.” She sipped the tea, and found it still too hot. “There had to be some other way for you to approach me. We knew each other online. Why not explain it in an email or something?”
“You’d never have believed it. You’d have thought I was insane, and fed my address into the spam filter.”
“Okay, then what if you just said, ‘I’m going to be in town; let’s meet up,’ and then pulled me into the other realm?”
“Which is nearly kidnapping itself.” He lifted an eyebrow. “And would you have agreed to meet me in real life?”
“Of course. Well…” She frowned at the window. “Maybe. You never know with Internet people.”
“Right. I wasn’t sure you’d agree. And you were moving to university, where you wouldn’t be watched so closely. So I thought, best just appear and get it done.”
“Which you did. Barely two minutes after I’d finished moving my stuff into the dorm.”
He folded his hands around his mug, gazing at the black surface of his coffee. “I couldn’t wait any longer. You’d been in my head all those months—a couple of years almost. It was driving me mad that you barely knew who I was.”
Sophie scraped up a spoonful of oatmeal and swallowed it, unable to taste anything through her congestion. “That’s sounding more like the original myth. The ‘I must have her though she barely knows me’ Hades.”
Adrian rested his temple on his knuckles and examined her from a tilted perspective. “What would you have done? If we’d been the other way round?”
“If I were immortal and had all the memories, and you barely knew who I was?” She picked up her mug and thought about it, watching a flock of other-world birds flap across the sky in V formation. The imagined scenario crystallized easily: the loneliness, the longing for him, the need for him to know the truth. “Yeah. I’d totally have kidnapped you, too.”
SOPHIE RETURNED TO the dorm at midday. Setting her backpack down, she noted the room already felt less like home than the Airstream did—and anywhere that Quentin had invaded would creep her out forever, she was certain. But she couldn’t just live with Adrian, certainly not yet. She’d told him so, when he protested he really didn’t like her wandering around on campus with madwoman Quentin on the loose.
“I have to go to class,” she’d said. “I promise I won’t walk through any dark alleys. And I’ll carry my stun gun and use it if she comes near me, even if it does kill her.”
He looked dubious, but released her into the living world—after a sweet, long kiss, and a moment of leaning his forehead against hers.
Her lips curved in a dreamy smile. She indulged it a few seconds before coming back down to Earth. They did face a few problems. Not only did some deranged people want him dead, and were happy to drag Sophie into the battle, but she had a major decision to make regarding living forever.
Then there was her family.
Coming home for Halloween?? her little brother texted, as she walked to class. What’s your costume??
Sophie sighed. Her costume, indeed. Goddess of the Underworld, maybe.
Don’t know yet. On both questions. What’s yours? she typed back, settling herself into the wooden desk in the lecture hall. Other students milled around her, and she glanced uneasily at them, wondering if Quentin had sent anyone to assassinate her or at least spy on her. Hard to tell.
The Scream remember?? Liam answered.
Of course. Forgot.
U should come back. Wilsons are having a party.
A Halloween party—or any other party. Could she ever attend one of those in the real world with Adrian? Would that ever be safe? She began to grasp the depth of isolation his life involved, and the complications hers would acquire if she became his girlfriend.
Well, even if he couldn’t accompany her, she could go to these things alone if need be. But that wouldn’t be as much fun.
I might, she texted back to Liam. I’ll let you know soon. Shouldn’t you be in class? Not texting?
Lunch break! What abt u??
Class just starting. Bye. Love you.
And though he was a twelve-year-old bad-ass skateboarder, Liam texted back, u2.
Chapter Thirty-Six
SOPHIE ATTENDED CLASSES THE NEXT week, caught up on assignments, banished her cold with plenty of nutritious soups and teas, and endured a whirl of confusion about immortals and Thanatos.
Whitney got Sophie’s lock changed, and issued new keys to Sophie and Melissa. (Melissa looked wide-eyed and petrified when Sophie told her about the crazy woman in the room at midnight, and vigorously nodded in approval of the new locks.) Sophie took to sleeping with the stun gun under her pillow too, just in case.
In her dreams that week, her control slipped and gave her memories she’d already seen, from other lives. Adrian said that happened sometimes when you were ill or exhausted. He also said she could find the shut-off switch if she liked, and just have normal dreams for a while. She tried that, and succeeded: for a couple of boring but restful nights, she returned to “ordinary” dreams, such as riding a Ferris wheel with Abe Lincoln and her eighth grade math teacher, and arguing about which Lord of the Rings movie was best.
Meanwhile, Quentin remained at large, hiding out, no one knew where. Nikolaos was scouring the city for her, still to no luck. But no one bothered Sophie that week, perhaps because of the extra police attention, and her habit of fighting back. The police checked in with her the day after the break-in. Bill Wilkes, they said, had a solid alibi: he was working a night shift in his own district, in Salem, when the incident occurred. Furthermore, he claimed no knowledge of Quentin or Sophie.
“But if they dug into his emails—” she said to Adrian on the phone, frustrated.
“I know, I know. But they’d have to get a warrant to do that—keep in mind we’re reading his messages illegally—and at the moment they don’t have a strong enough connection with your case to get one. Which sucks.”
She scowled. “You said it.”
The man she had zapped with the stun gun remained in custody. According to the cops, he claimed he’d been hired as backup for this break-in job, but he didn’t personally know anything about the people involved or what they were after. He had nothing against Sophie and didn’t even know who she was. So he said.
“Could that even be true?” she asked Adrian—again in the utmost frustration—as they took a walk in the spirit realm on a mild afternoon.
“Sure, it could be. I wouldn’t doubt if Thanatos made a habit of hiring criminals off the street to do their dirty work. Makes it harder to find out the real brains of the operation, if the people caught don’t know anything about the cult.”
“Grrr.” Sophie borrowed a page from Adrian’s book, and picked up a rock and hurled it as hard as she could against a tree.
Throwing rocks didn’t particularly help. But Adrian draping his arm around her afterward did.
“We still have this realm,” he reminded her. “We’re the royalty of the Underworld, love. They come to our domain when their lives are over, whether they like it or not—and if they were bad enough, they definitely will not like it. So in a sense, we always win in the end.”
Appeased, she wound her arm around his hips. “True. By the way, when are you taking me back to the Underworld? We can ask around for more dirt on Quentin an
d Wilkes, visit your mom and my grandpa. And besides, I really want to see the place again.”
“Do you? Then, sure. Whenever you like.”
“How about this weekend?”
He smiled. “It’s a date.”
ADRIAN PICKED UP Sophie on Friday after her classes. A chilly October sun drifted between puffy gray clouds. They climbed into the bus, and she stashed her backpack beneath the front seat.
Adrian couldn’t help wondering how much different this overnight stay was going to be from the night she’d spent in the Airstream. She seemed healthy again, and their kisses had certainly grown steamy lately. But, he reminded himself, this trip was about business, and letting her revisit the Underworld. Nothing more.
Not that he’d argue if she invited him to sleep beside her in the bed.
He picked up the wool blanket and unfolded it. “Where’d the dreams take you last night?”
“Nothing new. Some memories I’d already seen before, from when Persephone was younger. The cold must still be messing with me.”
“You seem better today, though.”
“I am. No more plague.” She smiled.
“Good. Ready to cross international boundaries?”
“Ready.” She scooted close and kissed him.
He savored the taste and texture of her lips for a minute before pulling back. “Here. It’ll be cold.” He swooped the blanket around her. In tugging it down over her shoulder, he accidentally swiped her breast. They exchanged bashful smiles. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She picked up his hand and drew it straight back to her breast. “This is allowed.”
He swallowed, transfixed, as he watched his fingers spread over her chest. She wore a thick ski coat, which rather disguised shapes, but he still could feel the softness and curves. A second later, he decided he maybe shouldn’t be going for it so eagerly, and let his hand slide to her waist. Kissing her once more, he murmured, “Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.”
They took off in the bus, Sophie nestled under Adrian’s arm. Clouds and rain splashed past, then a cool autumn sunshine took over on the plains.
“I don’t offer that to every guy who’s driving me somewhere nice,” she mentioned. “Just in case you wondered.”
He chuckled. “I didn’t expect so. I wouldn’t do it to every girl who offered, either.”
“With you it’s different. I feel like I’ve known you forever.”
“You have. Or near enough.”
She snuggled closer, and was quiet a few minutes. “Meant to tell you, I looked up Thanatos,” she said. “Obviously the cult doesn’t have a webpage. But the Internet says Thanatos was the god of death in Greek mythology. I thought people called Hades that.”
“Sometimes. More accurately Hades is the god of the Underworld. Thanatos is the actual god, or spirit or something, who causes death. Not that there ever was an immortal named Thanatos.”
“I was wondering,” she said. “I couldn’t remember one.”
“No, the cult of death is all them. Those few crazy, bitter mortals.”
They swept out above the Atlantic, its humid marine smell engulfing them. “I’ll do anything I can to keep them from hurting you.” She sounded scared, her voice small.
Adrian kissed the top of her head. “I’ll do the same for you, love.”
And sadness swamped him, for Persephone and Hades’ enemies had destroyed them eventually, and she still had that memory to live through.
But not today. That was how people got through life, he supposed: by acknowledging death and telling it, “Not today.”
THIS TIME WHEN Adrian brought Sophie into the fields of luminescent souls, he got to watch her beam and look about in joy and recognition. He let her take the lead. Atop one hill, she poked at the grass with her sneaker. “A tree was here. A willow. Guess that was a long time ago. But…ah ha. These rocks don’t change much, do they. There was a good seat right here.” She circled the pile of boulders and found the bench-like ledge.
Then she turned to face him. “Okay. Grandpop and your mom. Ready?”
“Yep.” He hooked an arm around her waist and walked back through the fields with her. “Who first?”
“Your mom. That way in case I cry again when I see Grandpop, I won’t have to meet her all puffy-eyed afterward.”
Adrian’s mother sat atop a tree-dotted hill in sight of the orchard. Seeing him approach with his arm around Sophie, his mother stood up and smiled, awaiting them.
His mother had long, wavy black hair and tan skin. She had died young enough that she still looked youthful as a soul, with her favorite flowery summer dress setting off her petite figure.
“That’s her, in the purple dress?” Sophie said. “Oh, she’s pretty. How’d you know where to find her?”
“She’s usually on this hill. It’s the highest one around. She always liked tramping when she was alive.”
Sophie laughed. “She liked what, now?”
“Tramping. Walking about, outdoors?”
“Oh, you mean hiking.”
He grinned and elbowed her. “Sure, tease the Kiwi.”
They reached his mother, and she stretched out her arms with a smile, though of course he couldn’t embrace her. “Ade, sweetie! You’re back.”
“Hi, Mum. Had someone to fetch. This is Sophie.”
He had of course told her about Sophie by now, and she beamed to see the reincarnation of Persephone in person at last. “Welcome. It’s so good to meet you.”
“You too.” Sophie shyly kept her hands folded before her. “I’ve never met anyone from Adrian’s real life until now. Almost seemed like he’s been—you know, supernatural forever.”
“Oh, he’s a real human, all right. I toilet trained him myself.”
Adrian splayed his hand over his eyes. “Mum.”
From there she did, at least, take them to more acceptable topics, surrounding his young life and the unusual transformation he’d recently undergone.
“I’m the luckiest soul here, hands down,” she said, smug with maternal pride. “To have my son be the one who runs this place.”
“It runs itself. I just hang out here. Because I’m weird.”
But Sophie linked her arm into his and pressed her side against him, as if she were proud too.
His mum then asked Adrian if he’d seen his father lately.
“A few weeks back,” said Adrian. “He’s all right. Just lonely.”
“You could bring him here for another visit,” his mum said.
Sophie looked at him in surprise, and he realized he’d never told her about that. “It was a long time ago,” he told Sophie. “Just after I’d eaten the orange.” Then, to his mum, he answered, “I’ll see if he wants to, but he seemed kind of disturbed about the first one. This still doesn’t match his idea of heaven.”
“You get him here,” she declared. “I’ll get the message through his thick head.”
“I don’t know, Mum. I don’t want to be the cause of a…posthumous divorce.” While he paused to think about whether that was the right term, Sophie and his mum looked aside and smiled at someone else. He turned to find the soul of Sophie’s grandfather strolling up to join them.
“Heard you were here,” he said, with eyes only for Sophie. “Hello, sweetheart.”
Sophie, as it turned out, didn’t cry this time. She smiled and made introductions, and launched into the complicated explanation of what she was doing here, including who she’d been in a past life.
Adrian let the two of them drift aside to talk in privacy while he and his mum chatted.
Finally he and Sophie said their goodbyes to their relatives for the time being, and walked down the hill. Sophie slid her arm around his waist while still in full view of Mum and Grandpop. Warming at the display, he draped his arm around her as well.
“I told Grandpop about Mom and Dad’s companionate marriage thing,” Sophie said. “He said he sort of already knew, or guessed. He tells me they’ll be all right.”
“Does that make you feel better?”
“I don’t know. He might have just said that to relax me.”
Adrian looked aside at her downcast profile. “There’s only so much you can do, you know. Keep being their loving daughter. That’s all you ever signed on for.”
“It’s still weird to me, is all.” She glanced up at him, swaying closer. “Only because I can’t imagine being in a marriage like that.” She smiled. “We sure weren’t, when we were married to each other in past lives.”
“Mm.” Nearing the river, he stopped to kiss her. “Indeed. Romantic chemistry much?”
“Whole big vats of it.”
Just wait till you see, he thought. Indeed, remembering some of those memories made it hard to keep from tackling her on the grass here and now. Please, Goddess, let her get to those soon.
“So, out of curiosity…” She sounded sober now. “The orange. Where are you growing it?”
“Oh. Over here. Same spot as it used to be.”
He handed her the flashlight and again let her lead the way, to see if she remembered. She did, or near enough. They walked through the orchard, emerging on the other side, almost to the upstream curve of the river. There she stopped and knelt by the tiny tree. It was barely knee high, and its leaves shone glossy in the beam of the flashlight. Only one fruit was left now, a small orange just ripening. Adrian, Niko, Sanjay, Freya—they had all plucked and eaten the first round of fruits, and now this orange was the last.
Sophie touched the orange lightly and quickly with her fingertips, as if it were hot, then pulled her hand away. “So that’s it. Immortality.”
“That’s it. Saving it for you, when you’re ready.” His fingers and toes tingled. Would she eat it today?
She touched the three white blossoms on the tree. “More fruit soon, maybe.”
“Yeah. Another couple of months or so.”
“Good.” She rose. “Then I have time.”
He nodded, not sure whether to feel relieved or disappointed.
“So.” She looked at him, clear-eyed and businesslike again. “How do we put out a call for souls who have dirt on our Thanatos peeps?”
Persephone's Orchard (The Chrysomelia Stories) Page 29
