He starts off at a jog, clearly not wanting to push Tansy beyond her ability. Without having discussed a plan of attack, I know he's going to keep nudging up the pace until I let him know she's reached her peak. But halfway through the one-and-a-quarter-mile course, he's at top training speed, and Tansy is still in perfect shape. Her form is a little rough-her arms flap around a little too much and she lets her hips sway instead of keeping them in line-but she hasn't missed a step. She doesn't seem to be wearing out.
We hit a straight stretch and Griflin turns to glance back over his shoulder. Our eyes meet. He lifts his brows, silently asking me what I think. I shrug and lift mine back, indicating that everything seems good to me. Then he's facing front again and maintains his pace.
As we round the final bend of the course and the finish line comes into view, Griffin says. "We're almost there."
"Let's do another lap,"Tansy says, not sounding at all out of breath.
"Phoebe?"
"Yeah," I say, suitably impressed by Tansy's endurance and willingness to work hard. Feeling confident, I suggest, "Why don't we switch to the blue course?"
"You sure?" he asks.
The blue course is the longest, measuring in at eight miles. It also has a two-mile-long section that boasts a thirty-degree incline. I've run it a few times, but always on fresh legs.
Something tells me that not only has Tansy run the blue course before, but that she's probably run back-to-back laps.
Just to make sure, I ask, "You up for it, Tansy?"
"Yes!"
"Okay." I say as we cross the finish line and turn immediately back onto the course. "Why don't you take the lead, then."
She turns and looks at me. "Really?"
I nod and before I can say, "Really," she speeds up and passes Griffin to take first position. He drops back to my side and asks, "Are you sure she's ready?"
"She thinks she is," I say, watching her pound the dirt "She deserves a chance to prove it."
Twenty minutes later, we're racing up the incline, working hard to keep up with Tansy's pace. Her training speed is at least fifteen seconds faster than Griffin's. And a couple seconds faster than mine. By the time we reach the decline, he and I are both breathing hard and a low burn is starting in my quads. From behind, I can't tell if Tansy is wearing out. Her arms may be hanging a little lower than when we started, but I can't be sure.
We pass the seven-mile marker. Only one blessedly flat mile left.
I think our distance endurance is improving, but we need to push harder. I'm exhausted after less than ten miles and the trials are only four days away.
"The finish line," Griffin says.
I look ahead. "Thank the gods."
We're so close. For a second, I imagine myself already across the finish line, already starting my recovery. Before I can take another step, I'm surrounded by a bright glow. I blink. When I open my eyes, I'm standing at the finish line, watching Griff and Tansy run toward me.
"What the-"
"That was way cool," Tansy squeals as she crosses the finish line and pulls up to a stop.
Griffin jogs over to me. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I-" I shake my head. On instinct, I reach down and punch off the stopwatch. "I didn't mean to do that."
"I know."
"What do you think of my stamina now?" Tansy asks in between gasping breaths, like I'm not over here freaking out about accidentally using my autoportpowers.
This is exactly what I was afraid would happen-I was so focusedon crossing the finish line, on winning, that I just. . . I don't know.
I bet that's the sort of thing that happened to Dad. He probably never even meant to use his powers to succeed in football. It was an accident, but he got smoted anyway.
I half expect the gods to smote me on the spot.
My legs start shaking, and not just because the muscles areexhausted. Griffin wraps his hands around my upper arms and squeezes.
"Take a deep breath," he whispers so Tansy won't hear. "You're fine."
"But what if they-"
"They won't." He sounds so certain. Like the gods wouldn't dare contradict him. Thankful for his steady reassurance, I lean into him a little.
I nod and whisper softly, "I'm fine."
His bright blue eyes watch me, maybe making sure I'm not just saying that. I give him a tiny reassuring smile. Apparently satisfied that I've returned to my sanity, he steps back.
"I'm impressed, Tansy." he says, grabbing one wrist with the opposite hand and resting it on his head to open up his lungs.
"Ditto," I say, trying to act like everything is fine. I suppress the urge to bend over and rest my hands on my knees. That will only make it harder to breathe-and won't do anything to steady my tremulous nerves. "But maybe a little fast for a training run."
"Sorry," she says, her eyes wide. "I guess I was trying extra hard to prove myself."
"You did," I insist, trying to reassure her. "So next time we can try a non-life-threatening pace?"
"Next time?" She sounds shocked, like we would never want to run with her again after that.
Soon she'll understand that we live for this kind of torture. Like my T-shirt says, running is a lifestyle, not a sport.
"Yeah," Griffin says, dropping his arms back to his sides as hecontinues to cool down in little circles. "You're a better slave driver than Coach Lenny."
As we all keep circling, Tansy beams. She looks like we promised to give her a pony for Christmas-or the ancient Greek winter holiday, Brumalia.
"What was our time?" Griffin asks, his breathing returning to normal.
I look at my watch. "Sixty-two minutes!"
"Nine and a quarter miles in sixty-two minutes?" He shakes his curly head. "At that pace, we wouldn't just finish the trials, we'd win them."
"Amazing job, Tansy," I say, resetting my watch. Our running time disappears and the actual time flashes. ''It's just after nine. We'd better finish our cooldown and head to the showers. Why don't we cool down on the track?"
We all agree, and Griffin and I grab our sweatshirts from the drinking fountain-way too heated up to put them on.
As we walk toward the stadium, I slip my arm through Griffin's. He smiles down at me and then presses a quick kiss to my nose. Everything with Griffin feels completely back to normal. Now if I could just get the rest of my life there.
* * *
ORCS AND STORMTROOPERS ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK
"Knock on the door already," Troy says.
Shaking my head-I need to stop trying to understand the descendants of Hephaestus… they are beyond normal comprehension-I rap twice on the door. Nothing happens.
Nicole pounds repeatedly on the smooth wooden surface. "Open up."
"Not like that," Troy says, snatching her hand away from the door. "How I showed you."
I take a deep breath and hold it. Having a secret knock is a little extreme, I think, but clearly Urian is not answering the door for anything else. Repeating the pattern Troy taught me, I finish knocking and then step back-as if the door might explode or something.
"Password?" Urian's voice is muffled by the still-closed door.
I can't bring myself to say it.
"Holy Hades," Nicole snaps. "Just let us in, Nacus."
No response.
Troy elbows me in the ribs.
I clench my jaw and grind out. "Ares wears pink underpants."
Griffin would so kill me if he heard me utter those words.
The door swings open and Urian waves us inside. I'm not sure I want to go, but Troy pushes me in ahead of him.
"What did you find out?" he asks Urian as he closes the door behind Nicole.
Urian drops into his desk chair and grabs his mouse. A few clicks later, he says, "Nothing yet. My bot is still scanning the Academy server. It's at ninety-eight percent, so it should be done soon."
"Okay then," I say, turning and trying to scoot around Troy to reach the door. Thanks for trying. See you later."
"Not
so fast." Troy grabs my shoulders before I can escape. "You have an hour until midnight. Maybe Urian's search program will find something by then." He looks me straight in the eyes with a very serious older-brother-like intensity. "Sit."
While I appreciate the whole looking-out-for-me thing, I don't need a babysitter. And I don't need to sit around in the dark when I could be staking out the courtyard or something.
"Chill, Travatas." Nicole shoves against his chest until he steps back.
"Like I said in my note," Troy says, giving Nic a narrow-eyed glare. "I'm not letting you go to the courtyard until we know who you're meeting."
"As if you could stop me," I mutter, crossing my arms over my chest. I'm starting to get annoyed. "What note? I never got a note."
The one I tucked in your pocket while you were running this morning," he argues-not the best move at the moment. "I saw your sweatshirt hanging on the water fountain when I was on my way to your house."
"There was no note," I repeat.
Since I'm wearing the same sweatshirt I took with me this morning, I slip my hands into the pockets. Empty.
"See," I say, pulling the pockets inside out. "Empty."
"No, that's not the-"
Knock, knock, knock.
We all freeze at the loud banging on the door.
Well, most of us freeze. Nicole reaches for the handle.
"Don't move," Uriun whispers, grabbing Nic by the wrist. "They'll go away."
They don't.
Knock, knock, knock.Louder this time.
Nic glares at Urian-like he is the dirt stuck to the gum attached to the bottom of her combat boot-until he releases her. Actually, his hand snaps back like she gave him a 220-volt shock. I wouldn't be surprised.
She goes for the handle.
"Nooo!" Urian shout-whispers.
But he doesn't have to stop her. Before she can reach the handle, it turns and the door flings open.
"Griffin?" I gasp. "What are you-"
"I was about to do my laundry when I found this"-he shoves a crumpled piece of paper in my face-"in my pocket."
I pull back, trying to bring the paper into focus-even though I'm pretty sure I know what it is.
"That's my note," Troy says, pointing at the paper. "How did youget it?"
Thanks,Troy. That helps.
Griffin is obviously furious. His eyes are all squinty-thankfully focused on Troy at the moment-and his full lips are clamped so tight they look outlined in white. "You slipped it into the wrong pocket, genius."
"There's no need to get nasty," I say, defending Troy. It's not his fault.
Griffin's blue eyes, burning white-hot, focus on me so intently I'm not sure he even sees anything-or anyone-else in the room. You know that whole protective thing I was thankful for last night? Well, here it is again, lashing out. I try to keep calm by telling myself he's just worried about me. My getting defensive is not going to improve the situation.
"What is this about?" he demands.
Acutely aware of three pairs of very observant eyes, I slam my palms against Griffin's chest and push him out into the hallway. He and I have been through enough. We don't need an audience. "Privacy."
"Phoebe," he practically growls.
"You know I got that note pointing me to the record of my dad's trial." I point out. When he nods, I explain. Then I got an e-mail. And another."
"How many?"
"Five, in all."
"From who?"
"I'm not sure," I say. The sender's address was blocked."
"In your Academy e-mail? Not possible."
"Apparently it is," I insist, trying not to get annoyed that he doesn't believe me. Like I would make that up. "I couldn't get them to print, either. So we asked Urian"-I nod at the door behind us- "for help."
"What did the e-mails say?"
I explain the content, inching away as his expression grows darker with every word. He looks like he could explode at any second. By the time I finish, I'm pressed up against Urian's door.
"Why didn't you tell me about this?"
"We weren't exactly in a sharing mood the past few days," I say. "Besides, I don't see why this is such a big deal."
"I don't think you should go."
"Why not? Everyone seems so sure this is some master plot or something." Like I'm important enough for someone to master-plot against me. "What if it's just someone trying to help me out?"
Although the fire in his eyes is gone-replaced by an equally intense blank look-and he isn't moving a muscle, his entire body is practically radiating tension. If Nola were here, she'd probably tell me that his aura is fire-engine red right now. It doesn't take major deductive or psychic powers to realize he's upset. And, if it wasn't my dad we were talking about, I'd probably appreciate the concern.
"Then why all the games?" he replies. "Why not just mail you the record or leave it on your doorstep? No." He shakes his head. "This recks of mischief."
"You're being ridiculous. 'Reeks of mischief.' What are you. a character from Shakespeare? I'm going," I say, daring him to argue. Which, of course, he does.
"No," he grinds out, "you're not."
"You can't stop me." I turn to grab the door handle, but Griffin snags it first, holding it shut.
"Yes I can," he says, sounding overly alpha male. "I will do whatever I have to do to protect you from harm."
I want to spin around and chew him a new one. To say that it's just his Hercules heroic gene that's making him so protective.
But I know that's not true-not entirely anyway. Besides, I don't like using that against him, like it's a tool I can use to win an argument.
Instead, I say softly, "You won't." I lay my hand over his on the handle. "Because you would never forgive yourself if you kept me from finding out the truth about my dad." His hand softens beneath mine, but doesn't move. "And because you're afraid I'd never forgive you, either."
His hand drops away.
Before I turn the handle and slip back into Urian's room, I say, "Thank you for trusting me."
* * *
At eleven-thirty, I'm leaning against the courtyard wall, trying to stay in the shadows and keep an eye on the two entrances at the same time. All of the classrooms that overlook the courtyard are dark and only the faint glow of moonlight illuminates the smooth stone floor. The tiny pieces of the intricate mosaic at the center shine like those glow-in-the-dark jellyfish we learned about in freshman biology. I can't make out the design at the moment, but I know from memory that it depicts Plato and Athena-the cofounders of the Academy-locked in a heated debate.
I can just imagine what they're arguing about. The ideal political state. Ethics and education. Who looks better in a toga.
I stifle a snort at my own joke.
"Somehow I knew you wouldn't wait until midnight."
I spin around, face-to-face with the one person I never expected to see here.
"Damian?" I can't stop blinking. Damian isn't here, he's in Thailand with Mom. Trekking through the Southeast Asian jungle. On their honeymoon. They're not getting back for another two days. Oh no, maybe something happened. Maybe Mom-
"Your mother is fine," he assures me with a knowing smile. "She is sleeping peacefully in our Nakhon Pathom hotel room.'
It still bugs me how he can read minds, but I'm more in shock over the fact that he's here. In this courtyard. Right now.
"Then what are you doing here?" I ask. "How did you know I-"
"I sent the e-mails, Phoebe." He places his hand on my shoulder. "I sent the note."
That doesn't make any sense. Why would Damian go through all this mystery and superspy subterfuge? He could have just picked up the phone-or, considering the rates to place a call from Thailand, sent a nonblocked e-mail. Besides, he is so not the type to play games.
When he doesn't seem to be reading my mind-or at least he's not acting on what he reads-I ask, "Why? The mystery, the suspense, the secrecy. Why would you do it this way?"
For many reasons," he
replies cryptically. "The foremost of which is that I wished to distract you from your looming test. I believed that if I diverted your worry from your powers, you might more easily control them."
Ha, like that worked.
"Skepticism aside," he says. "Consider this: When was the last time your powers behaved erratically?"
"This morning," I say without hesitation. "Griffin and I were training with Tansy, and as we-"
"I know." He always seems to know way more than should be possible. It's like he's got this whole island wired or something. "Autoporting surprised you, but it did not misbehave. That was exactly what your subconscious was trying to achieve."
Maybe he's right. I mean, I was exhausted and desperate to get across the finish line and then, suddenly, I was. At least I hadn't zapped myself to Finland or anything. The last time my powers truly freaked out on their own was the first day of camp, when I turned Stella into a birthday cake.
His distraction had worked.
"Was that the only reason?" I ask. "Keeping my mind on something else?"
"No," he explains. "I chose the lure of your fathers trial in an attempt to draw out your strongest emotions."
"Why?" I shake my head. "Everyone says emotions hijack your powers."
"Exactly."
"I don't understand."
"Phoebe, learning to control your powers is about more than passing a single test." He steps forward and places his hands on my shoulders. For your own protection, you need to have complete mastery over your powers. Even in the face of emotional upheaval."
"Oh." I guess that makes sense. Nothing could shake me up more than anything to do with Dad. If I can control my powers in the midst of all that, then I can control them in any situation.
But does that mean it was nothing more than an emotional distraction?
I shake my head in disbelief. "So this was all some kind of mind game," I say, a wave of really uncomfortable emotion welling in my chest. "There never was anything new in my dad's trial record, was there?"
"On the contrary," Damian says, clasping his hands together in his very formal way. There are many things in the transcripts you may wish to see."
So there really is something in the record. And he really is going to let me see it. I'm about to ask what it says when Damian steps sideways into the darkest shadows.
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