‘Must be Mum.’ Hailey shifted onto her scallop-shell chair and picked up the envelope that had materialised on her desk. ‘Huh,’ she said with a frown. It wasn’t addressed in her mum’s handwriting.
She tore open the envelope and read.
Dear Hailey
I don’t know if I should be writing this, since I’m not sure if you actually want to hear from me. But Amathia mentioned you’d asked about me, and I thought maybe sending you a letter would be okay. It’s Pandora. I probably should have said that at the start. I suppose if you want, you can screw this letter up and throw it in the bin. But I really hope you and the others meant what you said when you forgave me last year.
Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I’m happy. I’m finally living a life that doesn’t involve hurting people. Amathia sent me to live with some humans who have been really nice. They’ve helped me adjust to the modern times. I must admit I was a little terrified at first. It had been a long time since I’d been out in the world. And so much has changed—there are things called tubes that materialise you wherever you want to go. But it’s nice to be free.
I hope you and the others are well and enjoying your new year at Poseidon’s Academy. I miss you.
Pandora/Hope
‘Wow.’
Demi sat up. ‘What? Everything okay?’
Hailey nodded. ‘Yeah. It wasn’t from my mum. It was from Pandora.’
‘Seriously?’ Demi bounded to Hailey’s side. ‘What did she say? Is she okay? Does she like her life? Does she miss us? Oh, just give me the letter.’ Demi snatched it from her.
Hailey was glad Pandora was doing so well and was finally living her life, free from scheming gods and nereids trying to manipulate her. After centuries of misery, she deserved happiness.
‘I can’t believe she thinks we might hate her,’ Demi said, leaning against Hailey’s desk.
‘Well, she did almost kill you and the entire school,’ Hailey pointed out. ‘I can understand why she might be a little worried that we’d changed our minds about forgiving her.’
‘That was so last year,’ Demi said, dropping the letter on Hailey’s desk. ‘I wish she could have stayed here with us.’
‘Me too. I guess I better write back to her and tell her we still love her.’
‘Ooh, I’ll write a letter too. What’s her return address?’
Hailey picked up the envelope and flipped it over. The return address was blank. ‘She didn’t write one down.’ Now Pandora might think she hadn’t replied because she did hate her. She could probably get the address from Amathia, and that would also give her a chance to find out if Lacey was okay. ‘I’ll ask Amathia.’ Hailey pushed to her feet.
‘Okay,’ Demi said. ‘I might go wandering around the grounds and main hall and see if I can find Brax. Or is that too stalkerey?’
‘Only if you go hunting for him in his common room.’
‘Okay, no common room stalking.’
17
Hanging Out
Amathia’s door was wide open when Hailey arrived. She’s probably still out looking for Lacey, Hailey thought, expecting to find an empty room. But Amathia was sitting behind her desk, talking in a hushed voice with Madam Norwood. She was about to turn away, not wanting to interrupt what looked like an important conversation, when Amathia looked over.
‘Hailey, come in.’
‘I’ll let you know what happens,’ Madam Norwood told Amathia and left the room as Hailey made her way towards Amathia’s desk.
‘Was that about Lacey?’
‘Yes,’ Amathia said. ‘Unfortunately I have been unable to locate her. Madam Norwood is working with the Hecates on attempting to suspend the palace’s magic blocking powers long enough to track Lacey.’
‘Can I do something to help?’
‘That is kind of you to offer, but I have everything under control.’ Amathia rose from behind her desk, smoothing out her shimmering dress. ‘Was that all you came to ask me?’
‘Um, no. Hope—I mean Pandora—wrote me a letter, but she didn’t give me her address, so I was hoping you had it.’
‘It’s safer for Pandora if no one knows where she is. She should not have risked sending you a letter.’
‘Why? I’m not planning to hunt her down or anything. I don’t know what she told you, but I don’t hate her. I would never tell anyone who she really is.’
Amathia smiled warmly. ‘I know you wouldn’t. But things are more complicated than you understand. I would be happy to pass along a message for you.’
‘Tell her thanks for the letter, and we’ll always be friends.’
‘Of course. Now, I must re-join the search party for Lacey.’
‘I really hope you find her soon,’ Hailey said as the two of them walked into the hallway.
‘I will,’ Amathia promised, and glided down the hallway to the left, entering into a forbidden part of the palace. Hailey had been down there before; it was a mess of hallways, but if you followed the right ones, you eventually found the nereids’ room.
Is that where Amathia is heading? To see if she can find something in there that can help—maybe some ingredient the Hecates need for a special potion? Although Hailey doubted the nereids had left anything behind. They’d probably taken every last pearl in their room, just to spite Amathia.
Hailey leaned against the wall and dropped to the floor, the jewels and shells embedded in the crystal poking into her back. Where are the nereids right now? Hiding somewhere near the palace, watching and waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike? Amathia would sense them or something if they were nearby, wouldn’t she? Hailey wished she had a magic pool of water that could show her the nereids so that she could see if they were sitting around plotting.
‘Is Amathia inside?’
Hailey glanced up at Zara, her heart tugging when she saw her red eyes. She could only imagine how awful it would be if Demi vanished one day and nobody could find her. ‘No. She left… I’m really sorry about Lacey.’
Zara wiped the back of her hand across her nose. ‘I don’t know why Lacey didn’t ask me to go with her. I would have, and if we’d gotten trapped somewhere I could have used my powers to get us out.’
Hailey wasn’t sure what to say. The only thing she could think of was offering a way for Zara to take her mind off things. ‘I was about to head to the main hall for dinner. Do you want to come?’ she asked, standing up.
Zara shook her head. ‘I should wait for Amathia.’
‘She’ll come and find you if she figures out where Lacey is.’
Zara hesitated, her eyes drifting to the hallway Amathia had disappeared down five minutes ago. ‘Okay, I guess.’
Hailey moved to take a step.
‘Oh, we’re not walking.’
Hailey cocked an eyebrow. ‘We’re not?’
Zara moved her arm in an arc, and the end of a rainbow beamed down from the crystal ceiling. ‘This will take us.’
Hailey had never travelled via rainbow before. Demi will be so jealous, she thought, right before stepping into the multi-coloured stream of light. She waited for tingles to sweep over her body like they did when she dematerialised.
But it wasn’t anything that pleasant.
She shot up and across in an arc. The rainbow’s stream of colours blurred around her, before she fell through the air. Her feet hit the entryway’s pearl floor.
‘Wow,’ was the only word Hailey could muster as students stopped and stared at her and the half a rainbow arching from the wall beside the left archway. She was pretty sure her stomach had been left outside Amathia’s classroom.
Zara appeared beside her. ‘Feel okay?’
Hailey nodded, her head dizzy. ‘Uh huh. Just fast. Really fast.’
‘You get used to it. I’m going to see if I can find my friends inside.’
Hailey stood frozen for a few more seconds before she decided she could walk without vomiting or losing her balance. She walked into the main hall and spotted Demi, Alec
, and Aaron sitting at a table right near the archway.
‘You okay?’ Aaron asked when Hailey collapsed into the chair beside Demi. ‘You look a little pale.’
‘Yeah, I just travelled via rainbow. It’s… different.’
‘What?! Why didn’t you take me?’ Demi demanded. But her eyes stayed fixed on the main hall’s entrance.
‘Because you weren’t there,’ Hailey countered.
‘I’ve heard people say travelling via rainbow is like going on a giant slide,’ Alec said matter-of-factly. ‘Is that how it felt?’
Hailey materialised ginger ale in her goblet. ‘More like being flung by a giant catapult.’
‘Oh, fun,’ Demi said, her eyes scanning the face of every person entering the main hall.
‘Why are we sitting here?’ Hailey sipped her ginger ale, her stomach calming. ‘It’s a bit busy.’
Aaron rolled his eyes and twirled spaghetti around his fork. ‘Demi wanted to sit here. She apparently needs to see this Brax guy walk in or something. You’d think her life depended on running into him.’
‘It does,’ Demi said, still not looking away from the archway. ‘I couldn’t find him earlier, so now is my only chance to casually ask him to hang out sometime.’
‘I think you need to look up the definition of casually,’ Aaron remarked.
‘You’re just—there he is.’ Her eyes lowered to her plate of uneaten sushi. ‘Medusa, he’s coming. Now what?’
‘Get his attention.’ A steaming pile of mac and cheese materialised on Hailey’s plate.
‘How?’
Clang. Aaron’s goblet toppled to the floor; the protein shake he’d been sipping on splattered over the white pearls before disappearing a heartbeat later. ‘Oops,’ he said with a smirk.
Brax glanced up as he walked towards their table, his lips curving into a smile when he spotted Demi. ‘Hey, Demi.’
‘Oh, Brax. Hi,’ the words came out in a rush.
‘Fancy running into you again after seeing you at breakfast.’
Demi twirled her hair. ‘Yeah, I know. It’s just so random.’
‘Yeah, how random that you eat dinner in the same main hall,’ Aaron muttered under his breath.
Brax narrowed his eyes at Aaron. ‘Hey, you’re the son of the guy who took over the school last year. That’s you, right?’
Aaron’s hands clenched into fists, ready for a fight. ‘Yeah, but I’m also the reason he’s gone.’
‘Anyway, I should go. My friends are waiting.’
‘I also wanted to ask you something… like… would you… um… maybe… like. Oh, I already said that. Um…’
‘Would you like to hang out with her sometime,’ Hailey finished for Demi, watching her friend turn redder and redder.
Brax grinned. ‘Sure. Let’s hang in the grounds tomorrow after class.’
‘Okay,’ Demi blurted out so loud Brax jumped.
‘Cool, see you then.’
‘Did that really just happen?’ Demi asked when he was out of earshot.
‘Yes, you really did just embarrass yourself falling all over a guy.’ Aaron pushed away his half-eaten plate of spaghetti, acting as if he’d lost his appetite.
‘He said yes,’ Hailey reminded Demi.
‘I can’t believe it.’ Demi pressed her hands to her cheeks and shook her head. ‘Oh, Medusa. I have barely anytime to work out what to wear. I have to go.’
‘You’ll be in uniform,’ Alec pointed out.
Demi ignored him and bolted from the main hall.
***
Demi stood in front of the mirror above her chest of drawers, fluffing up her wavy hair with her fingers. ‘I don’t even know what I’m going to say.’
Hailey was lying on Demi’s bed. ‘Just talk about anything. Ask how his day was.’
Demi dabbed on pink lip gloss. ‘That’s so boring. Who wants to talk about school.’
‘Then ask him where he’s from. He sounds like he has an accent, so start with that.’
‘That’s a great idea.’ She pinched her cheeks and spun to face Hailey. ‘Do I look okay?’ She ran her hands down her skirt. ‘I feel stupid staying in my uniform, but if I change that’ll look too desperate.’
Hailey threw her legs over the side of the bed. ‘You look perfect. Now you better get to the grounds or he’ll think you stood him up.’
‘Will you come with me? I mean, not to sit with him. But just be in the background somewhere. I’d feel better if I knew you were around.’
‘Of course. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this nervous before.’
‘I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous before.’ Demi threw open their dorm door and ambled into the hallway. ‘I feel so sick. I really like this guy.’
‘And he’ll really like you too,’ Hailey assured her, following her best friend through the common room and down to the entryway.
Demi turned to Hailey before they stepped outside. ‘Wait here for like ten seconds then come out. I don’t want him to think I brought you to spy on us.’
‘Okay. Good luck.’
Demi smiled nervously. ‘Thanks.’
One, two, three, Hailey started counting in her head before realising Demi probably didn’t mean literally ten seconds. Hailey would give her a couple of minutes to settle down with Brax. Her gazed turned to the statue of Poseidon in the centre of the entryway. She walked up to it, staring at the god’s glass eyes. Where are you? Where are the other gods? Are you alive? What did you mean by Nemertes knowing what to do when she got to Olympus? The statue stared at her, a certain smugness about it. I just want to know that you and the gods won’t come back in my lifetime. You can come back when there’s a more worthy Zeus than me—someone who doesn’t mess everything up and can actually shoot lightning from their hands.
‘Please stay dead,’ Hailey told the statue and headed outside, pushing all thoughts of the gods from her head. They weren’t back yet, and that’s all that mattered right now. She’d drive herself crazy if she kept waiting for them to reappear.
Demi was sitting near the edge of the grounds, laughing at something Brax had said. Hailey planted herself a few trees away from them and leaned her back against the coral trunk of a tanzanite tree.
‘Hey, Hails.’ Jayden dropped down in front of her, a book in his hand. ‘What are you doing out here alone?’
She glanced over Jayden’s shoulder.
He swivelled his head. ‘Oh,’ he said, sounding surprised. ‘You’re chaperoning Demi’s date. Well, I guess it’s a good thing she’s got someone.’
Hailey caught a flicker of something in his eyes. Jealousy? Disappointment? ‘It’s only their first date—although technically it’s more like a hang out.’
‘Oh, okay.’ He flicked a tanzanite across the ground, sending it skittering into a pile of emeralds the same colour as Demi’s eyes. ‘Is he a nice guy?’
Hailey shrugged. ‘I don’t really know him. But he saved her life, so I’m guessing yes.’ There was that look again, this time Hailey was pretty sure it was jealously. ‘Where’s Cady?’
‘Library. She spends a lot of time there now. She’s a real bookworm.’
‘Is everything okay between you two?’ Maybe he’s looking jealous because he’s worked out that he doesn’t like Cady after all, and that he really wants to be with Demi.
‘Yes, we’re doing great. I love her.’ He grinned when he said it, and his eyes turned all dreamy, like a siren had spelled him with her singing.
Hailey’s shoulders slumped a little. So much for Demi having a chance with Jayden. ‘Love her?’
He grinned even wider. ‘Yeah. I know it’s only been a few months, but when you know you know, I guess. So where are Alec and Aaron?’
‘Aaron said something about working on his core, and Alec is studying. He’s probably in the library, actually.’
‘Anything interesting happen lately? Like getting locked in a dungeon or attacked by a knoxen?’
Hailey smirked. ‘No, nothing
that interesting—at least not since the sea-monster attack.’
‘Yeah, that was just like old times.’ Jayden leaned back on his hands.
‘Oh no,’ Hailey said when Venus and the twins sashayed into the grounds. She hadn’t seen them since they’d shoved Demi over the guardrail. The rumour was that they’d been sentenced to a month of detention, and two months of wearing a neutralising bracelet. It wasn’t as good as expulsion, but at least they wouldn’t be controlling an army of boys again anytime soon.
‘What’s wrong?’ Jayden followed Hailey’s gaze. ‘Ah, the evil trio.’
Venus stalked towards Demi and Brax. Not good. Hailey jumped up. Demi was so enthralled in whatever Brax was talking about that she didn’t even notice Venus and the twins. So Demi wasn’t prepared when the three of them grabbed her arms and threw her through the force field.
‘No!’ Hailey yelled, just as Jayden sprinted past her.
He was about to dive through the force field, but Brax had beaten him to it, and was already pulling Demi back into the grounds.
‘Demi, are you okay?’ Hailey dropped to her side.
‘Yeah, wa-t-t-ter was a li-i-ittle c-c-old.’
‘I’ll take you to the healing wing,’ Jayden volunteered.
‘I’ll do it-t. I’m a lit-t-t cold mys-s-self,’ Brax said, pulling Demi up with shaking hands and steering her back towards the palace.
Hailey whipped around to Venus and the twins, who were cackling a few feet away. ‘What in Tartarus did you do that for?’
‘She’s the reason why I’ve got this thing on for the next two months.’ Venus held up her arm to show off the gold neutralising bracelet, which was as wide as a watch strap. ‘So I think it’s only fair I get to torture her a little.’
‘You almost killed her! You should have been expelled.’
Venus flicked her curls over her shoulder. ‘That was an accident. Demi shouldn’t have been standing near the guardrail.’
Hailey ground her teeth. Getting a month of detention would totally be worth breaking Venus’s nose again.
A wave of water ploughed through the force field before Hailey could even clench her hand into a fist. Water sprayed against her face as the wave crashed over Venus and the twins like a waterfall.
Poseidon's Academy Box Set Page 77
