Avenging Heart

by Desni Dantone

  I jumped to my feet. “Come on.”

  Nathan chuckled as he rose to a stand beside me. “And if it’s not available yet?”

  “Then we can make out in the common room for a while.”

  It was dark by the time we walked the two blocks back to the hostel. The street lights lit our way, which was surprisingly free of other pedestrians. One thing I had noticed about this town: it shut down at sunset.

  “Do you think it’s weird that this place turns into a ghost town at night?” I pondered as we turned the corner leading to our hostel.

  Nathan glanced around as if noticing for the first time that the normally busy street was deserted, aside from us. “You’re right.”

  “I know I’m right.”

  Nathan shot me an amused glance before he said, “Maybe we should ask some questions, find out if there’s anything to it.”

  I was making a mental list of possibilities for the bizarre behavior when we rounded the corner in front of the hostel. Nathan and I both came up short when we saw the couple against the wall in the narrow breezeway between the street and the courtyard. A sconce fixated on the wall cast them in a dim light, just enough to make out their faces, which were passionately pressed together.

  Alec and Lillian.

  Chapter 12

  Nathan was on my heels as I marched past them, and pushed through the entrance to the courtyard. The metal gate banged behind me, eliciting a curse from Nathan as he pushed it open. I was inside, and well on my way to the hostel’s common room, by the time he caught up to me.

  Someone had started a movie on the television, but the room was deserted. I dropped to the couch with a harrumph as Nathan appeared in the doorway. I felt his eyes on me while I read the subtitles scrolling across the bottom of the screen.

  “What was that?” he asked in a clipped tone.

  I scoffed. “Didn’t you see them?”

  “I do have eyes,” he returned.

  I ignored the obvious irritation in his voice, and silently mulled my own irritation at what I had just seen.

  Nathan chuckled humorlessly from the doorway. “You might want to wipe the scowl off your face, Kris,” he suggested coolly, “before anyone else sees how obviously jealous you—”

  “I’m not jealous!”

  “Yeah,” he retorted. “I can see that.”

  I grimaced at the sound of disappointment that coated his words. He was reading the situation all wrong. It wasn’t jealousy I felt, but an intense desire to protect Alec from harm. Not that I suspected Lillian capable of deliberately hurting him, but I wasn’t stupid enough to believe she had gotten over Nathan this quickly.

  Not to mention . . . had I completely misinterpreted the chemistry Alec seemed to have with someone else? I thought I had detected a little more than friendship between him and Callie, but maybe I hadn’t?

  Of course it had all been in la-la land. Perhaps what I had witnessed in the dreams had only been a byproduct of my own subconscious spurring what I wanted. I liked what I had seen between Alec and Callie . . . or thought I had seen. After imagining my two best friends together as more than friends, seeing one of them with someone else was a shock.

  I wasn’t jealous of Lillian and Alec. It was upsetting to realize I had read the situation wrong. When I turned toward the door to explain myself to Nathan, he was gone.

  In his place, stood Lillian. I sunk into the couch as she moved farther into the room, and took a seat beside me. She stared at the television silently for a moment before turning toward me.

  “Can we talk?” she asked.

  “Sure.” I swiveled in my seat, prepared to tell her exactly what I thought, when she cut me off.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” she declared.

  “If it’s that you’re using Alec to make Nathan jealous, then you are correct.”

  “It’s not like that.” I couldn’t help but notice the sincerity of her words as she continued. “A part of me will always love Nathan, simply because he was my first love. I’m sure you can understand that.”

  I nodded, because I did. I supposed maybe that explained why I felt so protective of Alec’s heart. Because it had been mine first, and I didn’t want another girl to break it.

  “Nathan’s not the same guy I knew,” Lillian added. “He’s changed, and it took me a while to realize it. He’s more mature now . . .” Her eyes shifted into a faraway gaze as she continued. “Even with me, he was restless. I didn’t notice it then, but seeing him now, and seeing the two of you together, I know he’s finally found exactly what he wants.”

  And now he was off stewing over what he considered a display of jealousy on my part. Lillian’s words had a way of making me feel even crappier about the whole situation. I would make sure he understood everything before the night was over, but for now, I needed to make sure Alec’s heart was safe.

  “And what about Alec?” I asked Lillian.

  “Alec . . .” She blew out a puff of air. “He’s like a magnet. It’s not love. I’m not naïve enough to think that. But he’s a fun guy.”

  I recalled the conversation I had with Alec about Lillian. ‘I’m not asking her to marry me,’ he had said. Maybe they were both happy with their arrangement. Whatever it was.

  I could deal with that, under one circumstance. I turned to Lillian with my warning. “Just don’t break his heart like I did.”

  “Fair enough,” she nodded. She let a comfortable silence stretch between us before she asked, “Can I ask what happened? You and Nathan? How . . .” She shook her head softly. “Never mind. It’s none of my business.”

  “No, it’s okay,” I offered. “If you want to know, I have no problem telling you.”

  She sighed nervously, and her knee bounced against the sofa cushion hard enough that I felt the vibration from my seat. “I guess, um . . . when?”

  When did it start? Gee, I had to think about that one. It was hard to explain, and I had lived it. We certainly hadn’t experienced love at first sight, but the night he drove me out of Boone was the night it all started.

  “I guess around January,” I explained. “When the Skotadi came for me, and he took me away, hid me from them. We actually sort of hated each other at first, with the horrible situation and stress of everything. It changed somewhere along the way. I can’t really pinpoint exactly when . . .”

  Lillian chuckled like she understood exactly what I meant. “He’s not exactly the romantic type, is he?”

  “No, but he has his moments.”

  “And Alec?”

  I explained to Lillian how everything transpired. From meeting Alec, to running with Nathan, to the reluctant partnership between the two of them, and how I had served as the catalyst in the feud between them. By the time I was finished, Lillian knew everything.

  “And here they are,” she concluded wistfully. “Working together, and actually friendly. I never would have guessed they had that history.”

  I laughed. “I think they were destined to be friends, whether they like it or not.”

  “They’re actually a lot alike,” Lillian mused. “Different in many ways, but still alike.”

  “Don’t tell them that,” I warned her light-heartedly, and she laughed.

  After a moment, she sobered. “Maybe we could be like them?” I wrinkled my brow at her, and she added, “Many reasons to not be friends, but are anyway?”

  Once I got what she was suggesting, I nodded. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

  Surprisingly, I meant it. Never thought the day would come that Lillian and I would be having this conversation, but I was glad that we were.

  We talked some more about the guys, and shared laughs at their expense as the closing credits rolled across the television screen. We made plans to work together on my powers the next day, before parting ways.

  Considering the late hour now, I wasn’t surprised to find Nathan in bed, asleep. Across the room, Bruce snored softly. The family that had occupied the room earlier in the week was g
one. As were Alec and Lillian.

  I sat on the edge of my bed, facing Nathan, as I contemplated whether or not to wake him up to talk about earlier. Suddenly, his arm moved to fold the blanket over.

  “Are you going to stare at me all night, or are you going to get in here?” His eyes shut, he lifted the sheets to create an opening for me to crawl into his bed with him.

  I didn’t hesitate. His arm hooked around me as I stretched out beside him, and I snuggled into his warm chest.

  “I’m sorry,” I mumbled.

  “Me too,” he returned with a kiss to the top of my head.

  “It’s not what you thought it was,” I added.

  “I know,” he admitted. “Well . . . once I stopped and thought about it.”

  I pulled back so that I could see his face. “Then why didn’t you come back, and let me know? All this time, I thought you were still mad.”

  “I did. You and Lillian were talking. I thought I’d let you two have that.”

  “Hmm.” I returned to my cozy space under his chin.

  Actually, my conversation with Lillian had been kind of fun. After tonight, I would say that our relationship had changed for the better. Finally, I could leave the past behind, and get to know her for who she was now.

  “It’s about time,” Nathan sighed. “I’m glad to see the two of you finally getting along.”

  “Why is it so important to you?” I asked.

  I felt his body move with a shrug. “I know her, and I think she could be a good friend to you. Once you both forget all the crap wedged between you,” he added with a light chuckle.

  “I think we finally have.”

  ~ ~ ~

  We slept late the next morning, choosing to cuddle in the small bed instead of training. We met the others for breakfast at the diner, where Jared and Bruce filled us in on what they had discovered the night before.

  They had not seen much of anything, but talking to a few locals had gathered some intelligence. Reportedly, another nearby town, Vachos, had recently experienced an increase in criminal activity that had its residents nervous. Though nothing had happened yet in Areopoli, or any of the other small towns, the residents were nervous that the crime wave would soon expand to them as well.

  “That explains why everyone stays inside at night,” Nathan volunteered.

  “The people we talked to yesterday said that most of the villages around here have been enforcing a curfew,” Jared said. “It hasn’t really helped Vachos though.”

  “So what are we thinking?” Jas spoke up. “Skotadi? The demigods?”

  “Well . . .” Jared spread out a map of the local area. He pointed to a dot that indicated the town of Vachos. “What’s interesting is where this place is located.”

  “What’s so interesting about it?” I asked tentatively, afraid I was the only one who didn’t understand its significance.

  Jared waved his hand over the wide open area between here and Vachos. No roads. No dots to indicate communities. Nothing.

  “This is supposed to be the area over which the underworld is located. As you can see it’s barren. And this river here . . .” His finger landed on a squiggly blue line that ran through Vachos. “It’s one of the rivers that supposedly runs through the underworld.”

  “That’s where the demigods came out,” Nathan concluded. “Not here. Not the Diros Caves. But there.”

  Jared nodded once. “I think so.”

  “So what’s the plan?” Alec asked.

  No one spoke for a few moments as we all stared at the map, as if waiting for a resolution to materialize in front of us. Finally, Lillian’s quiet voice broke the silence.

  “I know that town,” she whispered softly. All heads spun in her direction, and I noticed that her eyes appeared glazed as she stared at the map. From the horror-stricken expression on her face, I suspected she visualized something far more ominous than a map.

  “I’ve been there.” She blinked a few times as if to remember . . . or to forget. “It’s bad news, guys. The Skotadi have been there for years.”

  “What do you know about the demigods’ influence there?” Jared asked.

  Lillian shook her head solemnly. “They’ve been there. I never saw them, but many of the high-level Skotadi were in touch with them.”

  Nathan turned to look at Jared. “Maybe we should go check it out?”

  “All of us,” I added, earning an exasperated look from Nathan.

  He spun back to Jared. “Dig up what you can before we go. In the meantime, we’ve got some work to do.” His head nodded in my direction, and Jared smirked at me as I groaned.

  It wouldn’t have been so bad if he didn’t make me go running first. We ran one way along the surf before stopping to do a series of sit-ups and push-ups. As we ran back, and approached the stretch of beach where we had started from an hour earlier, I spotted Alec sitting in the sand. He looked relaxed as he stared out at the surf crashing to the shore.

  Today, the sea was angry. Kind of like my mood.

  I dropped to my knees in utter exhaustion at Alec’s feet.

  “Glad you could make it,” Nathan said to him as he gradually came to a stop beside me.

  I glanced up at his form. Tall and sturdy, and not even a little winded from our workout.

  “I can’t say that I’m happy about it,” Alec muttered as he rose to a slow stand. He took a long drink from the coffee mug in his hand. “I’d have rather gone back to bed, but you didn’t really give me much of a choice.”

  “What’s going on?” I glanced between the two of them.

  Nathan looked down at me while I resisted the urge to curl into the fetal position on the sand—only because I didn’t feel like digging sand out of my hair later. His eyes twinkled like he knew exactly what I was thinking.

  “You’re getting too strong for me,” he told me.

  “I am?”

  “You need a bigger challenge than I can give you anymore.”

  I sighed. “No offense, but I have fought a few demigods, and I haven’t used my fists once.”

  “Not yet,” Alec countered.

  I swiveled my head to find him in complete agreement with Nathan on this discussion.

  “Hades’ demigods are different from what you’ve seen so far,” Nathan added. “Especially Sagriva. He’ll fight the old fashioned way.”

  “Ares’ son?”

  Nathan nodded glumly. “He’s going to be a tough one.”

  “In which case, I’ll use my magic to gain the upper hand. Like I have been doing.”

  “What are you going to do when you’re weak from using too much magic?” Alec strolled to my side, and offered a hand to help me up.

  I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at both of them. “Alright, fine.” I waved my arms in the ‘give it to me’ signal. “Challenge me up then.”

  Alec grinned wickedly as he sized me up. I straightened my spine when he stalked me, as if I was his prey. Before I knew what he was planning, I found myself face down in the sand. And I had thought Nathan was fast. Alec’s nearly pure bloodlines gave him a significant advantage.

  I pushed myself up, and shot Alec a hard glare as I swiped the sand from my face.

  “Ooh, she’s mad now,” Alec teased, and tossed a grin in Nathan’s direction.

  “Careful,” Nathan returned. “She fights dirty when she’s mad.”

  And now they were ganging up on me . . . and enjoying it? What warped parallel universe had I stepped into?

  “Just don’t bite me.” Alec pointed a warning finger at me. “I like to reserve that type of disturbing behavior for the bedroom.”

  He lunged for me again. This time, I allowed my demigod speed to take over, and I dodged his attack. I shoved him from behind as he whizzed by me, and sent him sprawling to the ground.

  “Maybe we need to be training Alec instead,” Nathan muttered to me, loud enough for Alec to hear.

  “Shut it, Rocky!”

  “Rambo,” Nathan corrected.<
br />
  “Same actor.” Alec shrugged.

  After that, Alec upped his game. But so did I.

  Nathan stepped in a few times to point out a flaw in one of my moves, and to instruct me on a better way to do it. Though Alec was faster and stronger than I was used to, and I had a harder time keeping up with him than I had Nathan, I started to enjoy the new challenge. It didn’t take long for me to adjust, and handle everything Alec threw at me.

  I was happy to see how far I had come in such a short time. So much so that the two of them resorted to trading off on fighting me, to give themselves a break. I was consistently leveling both of them with ease by the time Jared showed up an hour later.

  His loud clap of applause grabbed my attention, and I swiveled away from Alec, where he lay sprawled on the ground at my feet. Jared stood next to Nathan, where he sat, tending to his sore knee.

  “As much fun as this has been to watch,” Jared declared, “we have a trip to make.”

  Nathan slowly lifted to a stand. “What did you find out?”

  “Twenty-three murders, seventy assaults, and over a hundred thefts in the past six months,” Jared stated. “All in Vachos. There are two tourist-popular restaurants there, and three pubs that attract a good bit of business. But one of those pubs has recently been marked as a no-go spot. Locals advise tourists to steer clear of it. They don’t always listen.”

  Of course, that was where the guys wanted to go, to find out what kind of shady business might be going on there. I was game for anything, if it led us to the demigods.

  But first, I was in desperate need of a shower. Nathan and Alec needed one too, so we stopped by the hostel to clean up first. As the three of us passed through the door, the concierge called out to Nathan.

  Though I couldn’t hear the words that passed between them, I saw the transfer of keys from the concierge to Nathan. To the private room?

  It must have been. If I had any doubt, it was squashed by the look on Nathan’s face when he turned away from the desk.

  If we didn’t have somewhere to go right now, I would have led the way to the room. Once again, mission objectives trumped that idea.