by Lucy Roy
“No. He demanded that Iapetus do it as a way to prove his loyalty.”
I gasped and felt my eyes widen. “Oh, my gods, that’s terrible! And he did it?”
Nate nodded somberly. “He did. Prometheus and Epimetheus loved Clymene dearly, so her death set them firmly against their father.”
“But Menoetius didn’t care?”
“He was on his father’s side from the start. He craves power and still believes Cronus’ side will win out.”
“And what about Atlas? What’s his deal?” I asked. His absence was niggling at my brain.
“It’s expected that he will support the twins, despite opposing Zeus during the war.”
“Interesting.” I wondered if that meant he was avoiding detection intentionally.
Nate saw my hesitation and shook his head. “According to Prometheus and Epimetheus, Atlas and Clymene were very close. He was devastated at her death.”
“Why didn’t he change sides, then? Fight with Zeus instead of Cronus?”
“He did, toward the end, from what I’m told. As open as the twins are when it comes to discussing the Titan war, they tend to give us the bare minimum once the smaller details of family issues come up.”
“Huh.”
I rolled on my back and stared up at the starry sky as I thought about the twins’ past. It brought me a strange sense of sadness. Their mother was dead, their father was locked away in the depths of the Underworld, one brother was missing, and the other was set to fight against them.
They were alone in the world.
Pushing the thoughts from my mind, I turned my head to face Nate and grinned.
“So, that was a nice depressing conversation. Sorry about that.”
“It’s not the worst conversation I’ve had today,” he said, meeting my eyes. “Maybe next time you can tell me more about yourself?”
I arched a brow. “Next time, huh?” I couldn’t help the small smile that formed on my lips. “I suppose that can be arranged.”
He smiled, and I thought I saw his gaze drift to my lips, causing my heartbeat to speed up. I turned back to face the sky, unsure whether I was ready to be kissed by him. I hoped to death he wasn’t reading my mind right now. Just in case, I started forcing random thoughts into my head.
Chairs. Baseball. Clowns. Jump rope.
He stood, and when I looked up at him, I saw he was trying not to smile. He extended a hand toward me. “Come on, I’ll walk you back. We’ve got an early day tomorrow.”
I reached up and grabbed his hand so he could pull me to my feet. Then I brushed off my pajama pants with my free hand, keeping the other locked in his.
“So, do you guys have coffee in this place? It’s been a few days and I think I’m going through withdrawal.”
He laughed. “Yes, there’s a place on Main. Suzette’s. I don’t know how you stomach it, though.” He made a sound of disgust. “Burnt bean water.”
I wagged a finger at him. “Delicious burnt bean water. And give me time… I’ll make a convert of you.”
He reached forward to pull a branch out of my path, then placed a hand on my back as he guided me through the trees.
“Somehow, it wouldn’t surprise me.”
26
Tessa
I pulled myself up from the ground and glared in the direction of the male voice calling my name. His blond hair was back in a small ponytail, and his green eyes were bright in the sunlight.
“You’re not fighting fair,” I snapped, shoving my hair out of my face.
He sighed and leaned against his long staff.
“No one fights fair,” he snapped. “You keep dropping your shoulder. It makes it too clear where you are going to hit.”
“You just know me too well, is all,” I protested.
“You aren’t trying hard enough,” he shot back.
“I am!” I fumed. “I don’t know what else to do!”
He sighed and turned his eyes toward the sunny sky.
“Stop focusing on your end game. Worry only about stopping my attack as it is happening. If your mind is focused on taking me down, you won’t be able to focus on what’s right in front of you.”
I shoved the staff toward him. “Let’s move to hand to hand. I feel the urge to punch you.”
“Ha!” He took the staff and tossed it down along with his own. “I would like to see you try,” he said, raising his fists. A smirk rested on his scarred face.
A grin spread across my face, and I launched myself at him, fist raised.
Suddenly, light flashed as fire erupted in the nearby trees, quickly encircling the clearing.
A large figure stalked out of the forest toward me, followed by a smaller, more slender one.
There was movement in the trees beside me, a flash of dark hair. I scrambled backward, tripping over something in my path. When I glanced down, I saw the man I’d just been sparring with lying on the ground, injured.
“No!” I cried. I slapped his face, hard. “Wake up!”
I glanced over my shoulder and saw that the figures had transformed into men. I couldn’t make out the shorter one, but the other was tall, muscular, with short brown hair and evil eyes.
He was quickly closing in.
“It would be better for us all if you stopped trying to run from me.” His voice was as smooth as silk as his dark eyes bore into mine. “If he—” he jabbed a finger toward the man on the ground “—had not turned traitor.”
A bolt of lightning shot from my hand, striking him on his shoulder. He winced, then continued traversing the clearing.
Nothing can stop him, I realized as terror engulfed me. The fire around the perimeter continued to grow, boxing us all in.
I felt something brush my arm. I looked down and cried out in relief when I saw my companion staring back at me.
He grabbed my arm, digging his fingers in so sharply I winced in pain. “You need to run!”
“I’m not leaving you here!” I sobbed.
“I’ll be alright,” he assured me. He pulled himself into a sitting position and used his staff to stand. “It’s not me he wants. Just go!”
A rough hand grabbed my shoulder and yanked me back, causing me to fall into the grass. Then a heavy arm wrapped around my chest and began dragging me backward.
“Leave her be!” A female voice cried from the opposite side of the clearing. She was standing at the edge of the forest, her long hair falling in a tangled blond mess around a sharp-featured face. Bloody gashes tore across her white dress as her chest heaved with exertion.
“Take her,” the brown-haired man said coldly, jerking his chin toward her.
The smaller man, thin, with light brown hair, stalked toward her, eyes narrowed in anger and determination. He held out one hand, palm up. White light began to pour from her chest as pure agony screamed from her throat.
“No!” I pulled myself from the man’s grasp and launched myself toward her. “No!”
I stumbled, crashing into the smaller man.
Lightning sparked from my fingers as I wrapped my hands around his neck and jerked him backward, immobilizing him.
He fell to the ground just as the light finished leaving her body. She collapsed in a heap, unmoving.
A dark-haired woman appeared through the flames behind her. I saw her lips moving but couldn’t make out the words.
A witch.
The light that had poured from the lifeless body was sucked from the blond man’s hand. It began to swirl around me, forcing my hands away from his neck. I struggled uselessly as my body slowly lifted off the ground.
“Chaos, take her!” the witch screamed.
There was a furious roar from somewhere behind me.
“No!” My companion was running toward me, but it was too late. No matter how hard I struggled, I couldn’t move. The light around me grew brighter.
Vicious pain ripped through me, then everything went dark.
My room was pitch black when I bolted upright in bed, chest
heaving and tears streaking down my face.
I couldn’t control the sobs that wracked my body. I tried to reach for the water on my nightstand, but fell to the floor with a hard thud, instead.
“What is—Tessa!” Yana cried, jumping from her bed. She fell to the floor next to me and gripped my shoulders. “What is it?”
“I… I…I” I latched onto the neck of her shirt and tried to steady myself. “Get—M-M-Mary.”
Yana’s eyes were wide with concern, but she nodded quickly, then flew from the room.
I closed my eyes and focused on my calming exercises.
A few seconds later, Mary barreled into my room. She crouched in front of me and put her hands on either side of my face.
“What happened?” Her hands moved to my shoulders and she gave me a shake. “Tessa! What happened?”
She looked up at Yana. “What fucking happened?!”
“I—I do not know. I just woke up and she was on the floor, like this.”
“Did you have another nightmare?” Mary asked.
I took a deep breath and nodded. She reached over and grabbed my bottle of water and held it to my lips.
“Drink, then explain.”
I did as she asked, sucking down the cool water. When I was done, I exhaled in relief.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“Is this how you woke up after every dream?” Mary asked.
I gulped and shook my head. My mouth felt dry again.
“Well that’s not good,” she said.
“Girls, what is going on?” Yana’s voice was gentle but full of concern.
Mary raised her eyebrows in question, and I nodded.
“Tessa has been having nightmares for a while now,” she explained. She frowned. “But she never actually saw anything until Nate pulled one from her mind.”
“Nate—” Yana closed her eyes and shook her head. “I am confused.”
I pulled myself up onto my bed and wrapped my comforter around my shoulders. Mary sat beside me, and Yana plopped down on the floor in front of me.
“Join the club,” I muttered.
“Should I go get him?” Mary asked tentatively. “Do you think he might be able to help?”
I shook my head, not wanting him to see me like this. “It’s done now.”
“Have any more Elders paid you a visit?” Mary asked.
“No, not since Hestia.”
“Wait, are you saying that Hestia visited you?” Yana looked incredulous. “When?”
“In a dream walk about a week ago. The next morning, Nate came to my school to talk to me and ended up showing me what I’d been dreaming about.”
“And what was it?” she asked softly.
I explained what I’d seen with Nate as briefly as possible. Having just come out of a nightmare that felt a thousand times worse, I didn’t want to dwell on what I’d already seen.
“What happened this time, hon?” Mary asked.
“It was like…what came before my other nightmare, I guess. What I saw with Nate was blurry… a guy running toward me, then just darkness. This time it was everything leading up to that, only none of it was blurry.” I shuddered. “Everything, all of their faces were crystal clear.”
“How many were there?” Yana asked.
I sniffed and wiped my nose. “Five, I think.” I frowned. “I think there was someone else there in the woods, too, but I couldn’t see who it was.”
“What about the guy you were sparring with? Had you ever seen him before?”
“No, but he felt really familiar, if that makes sense.”
“Like a lover?”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t think so.”
We sat in silence for a few more moments before Mary suggested I lay back down.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to get Nate?”
“No, I think I’ll be okay.”
Her brow furrowed. “Are you sure? I can stay.”
“It’s okay.” I wrapped my comforter tighter around me. “I’ll be fine.”
Yana cleared her throat. “Um, Tessa? You were out with Nate earlier. Do you think…?”
Mary’s gaze snapped from Yana and back to me. “Wait, what? You were with him earlier?”
“Yes, I was, and no, before you say it, I do not think he did anything to me. It was really freaking obvious when he was going through my mind before, and that definitely wasn’t happening tonight.”
“Okay.” Mary sounded unconvinced, but then she grinned. “If that’s the case, you owe me details tomorrow, first thing.”
I rolled my eyes. “Good night, Mary.”
“Hang on,” I said to Yana as we entered the courtyard the following morning. “I told Mary and Anette we’d wait for them.”
“Ah, okay.” She looked around, then pointed toward the front of the courtyard. “I think I see them up there.”
We made our way to the gate and found Mary and Anette waiting for us.
“Morning!” Anette beamed when she saw us, her pigtails bouncing as she waved.
“You guys ready?” Mary asked.
“Yup.” I nodded. “Let’s do this.”
Mary eyed me speculatively. “You good?”
I took a deep breath and nodded. “All good, I promise.”
She gave a sharp nod in return.
We were about halfway down the hill, heading toward the portal field, when I saw Nate walking toward us.
I heard Yana whisper loudly to Mary from behind me.
“So Tessa really did not tell you she had a date last night?”
Anette gasped. “Tessa! You had a date with him?”
Mary smacked my arm. “Yeah, what’s that all about? Since when do we keep secrets?”
“It wasn’t a date. Nate came by and we walked and talked.” And almost kissed. “That’s all. Now shut up, both of you. He’s right there.”
“Walked and talked?” Yana laughed. “Is that what you Americans call it?”
Pursing my lips, I stopped dead in my tracks, causing her to crash full force into me. The momentum had her stumbling sideways into Anette, who let out a surprised squeal.
“Bitch,” Yana hissed.
I smirked. “You deserved it.”
Just then, Nate fell into step beside us. “Morning, ladies.”
“Good morning,” my friends chorused in sing song voices.
I shook my head and raised my eyes skyward. They were going to be the death of me.
“Hey,” I said, giving him a sunny smile.
“How’d you sleep?”
Yana elbowed me, and Mary cleared her throat loudly. I slid a glare at them.
“Not too great, actually. I think you jinxed me when you asked if I’d had any more nightmares.”
Mary coughed, and I realized I hadn’t told her that he and I had actually talked about my dreams.
“Really?” His voice was laced with concern. “What was it about? The same?”
“More or less.”
“Tell him!” Yana hissed, poking my side. I swatted her hand away, but he’d already heard.
He raised his eyebrows. “Tell me what?”
“Later, okay? I don’t feel like talking about it here.”
“Of course.” He paused. “You could’ve come to me.”
“That’s what I said…” Mary muttered.
“No need,” I said. “It was the middle of the night and you wouldn’t have been able to do anything, anyway.”
“That’s not the point,” he murmured as he slid his hands into his pockets.
‘If it happens again, you can call out for me. I’ll hear you.’
‘Really?’ I was impressed. I thought he’d need to be nearby to hear me.
‘Really. It’s why I leave my walls down, remember?’
“Oh, Tessa! Did you tell him about your fire thing?”
I shot Anette a silencing glare, but it was too late.
Nate frowned. “What fire thing?”
I opened my mouth to explain,
but Yana interrupted me.
“Eric almost started a fire at the restaurant, and she put it out.”
“What?” He stopped in his tracks and turned to face us. “What happened?”
I grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and tugged him along.
“That’s not what happened. He was playing with his candle, and the flame got kind of high. I got a little freaked out so I…might’ve pushed it back down with my mind,” I said in a rush.
He ran a hand across his face. “Okay.”
“That’s it?” Mary asked. “Okay?”
He dropped his hand to his side and gave her a disparaging look. “‘Okay’ as in, we’re going to go talk with Chiron when we get to the arena.”
“Aw, come on!” I groaned. “It’s only the second day!”
He shook his head. “Something isn’t right, Tessa. We need to find out what’s going on with you.”
“I probably just have more than one affinity. That’s totally normal,” I protested.
“Not when we’re talking about both Mentalist and Elemental affinities. That’s not ‘totally normal’ and you know it.” He blew out a frustrated breath. “I wish you’d told me about this last night.”
“Sorry,” I muttered, annoyed. “So what now?”
He scratched his ear. “As I said, I’ll take you to speak with Chiron when we get to the arena.” His expression softened a bit. “We’ll figure it out, don’t worry.”
We reached the portal field, and he pushed open a stark white door with a glass handle. We came out at the rear of the arena, off to the side of the running field.
“You all go get settled inside with your mentors. They’ll tell you what the game plan is for today.” He raised his eyebrows at me. “Tessa, come with me, please.”
Shoulders slumped, I followed him into the arena and toward our lead trainer who was standing near the main entrance.
“You know,” I began. “Maybe there’s just something wrong with me. Maybe I’m a dud.”
He chuckled. “You’re not a dud, I can assure you.”
“Yeah, but how do you know? You also didn’t see me using these other powers. Hey!” I brightened. “Maybe you’re—”
“If you call me a dud, there’s an excellent chance I’ll get angry.”
“You? Get angry? I don’t believe it.”
