by Lucy Roy
I stared at him incredulously. “You’re joking, right? You can’t compare—"
“Enough,” Chiron interrupted, shooting Hermes a glare. “We’re here to cheer him up, remember?”
“Oh, is that why you’re here? I thought we were just recounting all of the shitty things that currently exist in my life.”
Dionysus laughed. “Now you really do sound like Apollo.”
Hermes laughed, then ruffled my hair, a move he knew I hated. “Like I said, Nathaniel. Two sides of the same coin.”
40
Tessa
I trained with Ares and Athena for eight hours every day for the next three weeks.
The first few days were touch and go as we tried to figure out which powers I could manipulate and which ones I needed to learn, but once we got past that, we spent each day focusing on something new.
It was incredible but still felt a bit haphazard. I was relieved when they brought Genevieve in to help give me pointers on the Elemental powers. Charlise and Fletch traded off working with me on Mentalist powers until I felt I had a pretty good grip on them.
With the guidance of a few of the other mentors, I created small wind storms, set fire to piles of leaves, then doused flames with blasts of water. I froze patches of dew-soaked grass and even managed to bend the light a bit to make myself hazy, although I couldn’t go full invisible. I used psychometry to learn new weapons skills, I used Coercion to shatter illusions, mentally tracked mentors through the forest, and finally, after several hours of practice on the tenth day of training, I was able to teleport. It was only a few feet, but it was progress.
At the end of the second week of training, they decided to change things up.
“Today we’re going to talk about how we can weaponize your powers,” Athena explained when we were five days from my demonstration. Genevieve was standing beside her and Ares, awaiting instruction.
Excitement and fear ran through me as I thought of the possibilities.
“It’s what they’ve started doing with the other recruits,” Genevieve explained. “Ye need to, as well.”
“Yeah, Mary and Yana told me. What should I do?”
“Genevieve is going to show you a few tricks she’s cooked up over the years,” Athena replied.
“Sounds great. What’s first?”
“I think I’ll have ye start with fire,” Gen said, tapping her finger to her chin.
“What are your thoughts?” Ares asked her.
A slow grin spread across Genevieve’s face. “Whips.”
My eyes widened. “Whips? You want me to make fire whips? Like the kind I’d use on a horse?”
“It’s an incredibly efficient way to weaponize fire. Watch.” Without further warning, a long rope of fire sprung from Genevieve’s palm. She wrapped her hand around it and flicked her wrist, sending a ripple through the length of it, scorching the grass ten feet away.
She closed her hand to reel the fire back in.
“See? You can do that with electricity, as well, and even water, if you get the right amount of ice worked in.”
Ares crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you think you can do that, Tessa?”
I eyed the blackened patch of grass warily. “Maybe?”
“There’s been no indication that you wouldn’t be able to, so there’s no need to be apprehensive,” he said.
I put my hands on my hips and nodded, looking the war god directly in the eye. It seemed like the only person doubting my abilities was me.
“Yes, I think I can. Gen, can you show that to me again?”
That evening, after several more hours of practicing with Genevieve’s whips, I opted to walk home. I was exhausted, but weaponizing my powers had left me on edge, and I needed to burn off some energy.
When I entered the courtyard, I was surprised to see Eric sitting on one of the benches.
“Hey, Tess,” he said.
“Hey. You waiting for someone?” I asked, sitting down next to him.
He smiled and turned toward me. “I was actually hoping to catch you. How’s training going? I haven’t seen you much these last few weeks.”
I leaned back against the edge of the fountain and stared up at the darkening sky. I’d given Mary the okay to let Eric in on what was going on with me. I knew he wouldn’t blab to the other recruits, and I also didn’t want him to drive her nuts with questions.
“It’s going well. I’m having a lot of fun, even though Ares and Athena are kind of terrifying. Genevieve is cool, though. How about you?”
“It’s going, I guess. I’m really getting the hang of these fire balls Genevieve’s been showing us.” He grinned. “They’re like little fire bullets.”
“Oh, that’s awesome. Can you show me?”
“Yeah, here.”
He created a small ball of fire in the air in front of him. Slowly, it split off into small chunks, each taking the form of a bullet.
“Now you can fire them off wherever you want.” He turned around and fired them into the fountain, each one sending up a hiss of steam when it hit the water.
“Cool,” I told him. “I’ll definitely keep those in mind.”
He smiled. “So, what did Gen show you?”
“Fire whips.”
His eyes widened. “Whips? Can I see?”
“Sure. It’s not as fancy as hers, but you’ll get the idea.”
I opened my hand and called up fire, forming it into a smaller version of Genevieve’s rope. I gave it a light flick so he could see the way it moved.
“Cool, huh?” I closed my hand.
“Wow, that’s…” He shook his head, looking amazed. “That’s awesome.”
“Yeah, I thought so, too. She’s crazy talented.”
“She is,” he agreed.
“So what’s up? You said you were waiting for me?”
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat, suddenly looking uncomfortable. “So that thing with you and the Coercer…that’s done, right?”
I sighed and stared down at my shoes. I’d barely spoken to anyone about my situation with Nate after I’d explained everything to Yana and Mary more than two weeks ago. It still hurt to think about, much less talk about.
“I don’t really know, to be honest. Things are a bit weird right now.” I frowned. “Why?”
A hopeful smile bloomed on his face. “Well, I was thinking that maybe…Igor is thinking about asking Yana out and I wanted to see if you maybe wanted to do something with them.”
Shit.
I shouldn’t have been surprised. The crush he had on me was never a total secret, even if he tried to conceal it. It was frustrating because he still represented a much simpler time in my life. Every now and then, I wished I could go back to that time where my biggest worries were trying to convince my guardians to let me skip training for a day. I was pretty certain being with someone like Eric would be as easy as breathing.
I gave him a sympathetic look.
“Eric, I just don’t—I’m sorry, I just don’t feel that way about you. I wish that weren’t the case.”
He slumped, looking crestfallen. “Yeah, I guess I kind of figured it was a long shot.” His tone was laced with bitterness. “You’re super important now, anyway. You need a super important boyfriend.”
“I don’t ‘need’ a boyfriend, Eric. I need my friends, and I think you know me well enough to know I wouldn’t turn my back on you guys just because I have this freakish power.”
“I know,” he mumbled. “Still sucks, though.”
Against my better judgement, I wrapped my arms around him in a sideways hug and rested my chin on his shoulder. “You’ll always be one of my best friends, you know that, right?”
“Friendzone. Woo hoo.”
“Stop that. You’re going to find yourself someone amazing one of these days, and when you do, I’m going to be happy for you. I need you to do the same for me.”
I pulled back and turned his chin to face me.
“Please, Eric. If you
can’t just be my friend, then tell me now.”
“No, I can. It just might take some time, ya know?”
I smiled. “I know.”
“Tessa! There you are.”
I turned and saw Mary walking into the courtyard.
“I was just coming out to see if you’d gotten back yet. Hey, Eric.” She eyed the two of us suspiciously. “What’s going on?”
Eric and I stood, and I reached up to give him a hug.
“We good?” I asked him.
“Yeah,” he whispered. He gave me a quick squeeze, then avoided my gaze as he said goodnight to Mary and walked off.
Mary linked her arm through mine and we started walking back to our rooms.
“What was that all about?”
“Nothing important. So how was your day?”
“Good! I learned how to make knives out of ice. My mentor said a bow and arrow isn’t always practical but thought knife throwing might be something worth looking into.” She gave me a self-satisfied smile. “And I kicked ass, of course.”
“Of course you did,” I said, returning her smile with one of my own.
Mary’s initial concerns that she wouldn’t do well had been squashed by the end of her first week. Her mentors turned out to be fantastic, and she’d managed every task they threw at her with ease.
I pushed open the door to our hall. “Anette asleep?”
“Yeah. I was waiting for you with Yana and got worried when you were late.”
“I needed to burn off some energy, so I walked home.”
“Ah, gotcha.”
I opened the door to my room and found Yana sprawled out on her bed, her pillow over her face.
“Hey,” I greeted her.
She pulled the pillow away from her face. “Hey. How was training?”
“Long and exhausting,” I said, sitting down on the edge of my bed and pulling off my shoes. “You?”
“The same,” she replied, then grinned at Mary. “Mary and I learned a cool trick, though.”
Mary’s eyes lit up. “Ahh, I forgot to tell you! Tess, it’s so cool.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Can you show me, or do I need to guess?”
“We can’t really show you,” she explained. “But basically, you know how if you stand in water that’s touching an electric current, you’ll get electrocuted?”
“Yeah…”
“Well, the mentors had me form a big puddle of water on the ground, then Yana shot a jet of electricity at it. It was crazy. Anyone who’d been standing in the water would’ve been toast.”
“Huh. That is pretty cool. Definitely useful.”
“Yes, I think my favorite part has become working with the others,” Yana said.
“Must be nice,” I muttered, sliding my sneakers under the bed.
“Aw, Tess, she didn’t mean it that way,” Mary said, giving me a sympathetic look.
“I know.” I sighed. “It just sucks sometimes, you know? You guys are all getting to explore this stuff together and I’m just kind of on my own.”
Yana frowned. “Is there a reason they have not let you back to work with us?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Well, maybe tomorrow you could ask them,” Mary suggested.
I rubbed a hand across my eyes.
“I don’t know. I’m beat. I just need to go to shower and sleep.”
Mary gave my leg a squeeze before getting up to leave. “Talk to them tomorrow. You never know.”
“Yeah, I’ll see what they say.” I tried to smile, but I didn’t know if it was as convincing as I’d hoped. “I won’t know until I ask, right?”
She smiled. “Exactly. See ya in the morning.”
“Night.”
I recognized the dream walk as soon as I opened my eyes. I almost expected Hestia’s garden again and to see the beautiful redhead waiting to speak to me.
Instead, I saw the clearing where I’d been sparring with Atlas, the stone house about one hundred yards away on the edge of a cliff.
In front of me stood a tall and imposing dark-haired man.
“Hello, Tessa.”
He was massive—easily a foot taller than me; his chest a broad expanse of muscle straining under a black shirt. His gray pants looked dirty, like what you’d expect to see on a mechanic, only the dirt looked…off somehow. He had wavy black hair tucked behind his ears, revealing a chiseled jaw, sharply defined cheekbones, and piercing black eyes. About two days’ worth of scruff covered his chin. A long, silver knife hung loosely in one hand, its blade glistening an iridescent shade of blue.
“Who are you?” I glanced at our surroundings. “Where have you taken me?”
“I haven’t taken you anywhere. You’re still tucked safely in your bed. We’re just having a conversation.”
I eyed the knife warily, the shimmering blue color sending chills through my body. A familiar sensation tugged at my memory.
“Who are you?”
He laughed as though I’d just made a joke. “Oh, you’ll figure that out quite soon, I’m sure. I just thought I’d pay you a visit and see for myself that you exist.”
“What are you talking about? Of course I exist.”
His eyes widened and his lips parted in a disbelieving expression. “That blasted witch did quite the number on you all, didn’t she?”
“Witch? Hecate?” I narrowed my eyes. “What do you know?”
“Plenty, sweet Tessa, plenty. Personally, I enjoy watching you drown in your own ignorance, though, so you won’t get anything from me.” He cocked his head, eyeing me curiously. “You know, the resemblance to Atlas truly is astounding. You’ve been dreaming about him quite often, haven’t you?”
I felt my heart start to sprint.
“What—” I stopped myself as I thought back to the rustling bushes and feelings of being watched. My blood ran cold as I realized this man had been stalking my dreams long before tonight.
“That was you, wasn’t it? In my other dreams, in the forest?”
One corner of his mouth curled up in a leer.
He didn’t answer, instead just tapped the knife softly against his dirty pants. “You know, I’ve always wondered something about these dream walks.” He looked around at the trees that encircled us.
“What’s that?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
His eyes met mine, and a cruel smirk formed on his lips. “If someone were to say, die while we were here, what would happen to your body in the waking world?”
He began to stalk closer, causing me to stumble backward into a tree. Before I could raise my hands in defense, he’d shoved me against the wide trunk, crushing me against the rough bark. He pressed a large hand to my throat. Something flashed, an image of a darkened forest, but it vanished before I could latch on.
“For example,” he growled, raising the knife to my throat. “If I were to cut into your skin with this godsbane blade and let the poison run through your veins, would you ever wake up to see the people you love? Or would the poison eat through your body before they even realized you were gone?”
“Please,” I begged, my voice hoarse. Desperately, my hands scratched against his as I tried to fight him off, but my nails brushed uselessly against his skin. I tried to access my power, but all it did was thrash against me, unable to escape.
He pressed harder against my neck, bringing the knife dangerously close to my throat, and grinned.
“Tell me, has anyone told you how painful pure godsbane is when it touches your skin?”
He grabbed my hair and yanked my head to the side. Slowly, he pressed the flat edge of the knife against my neck, sending a searing pain across my skin.
I cried out, struggling uselessly against his grip as I felt the sting of poison on my skin.
“It’s pure torture,” he whispered.
“Tessa!”
Distantly, I heard someone calling my name, but when I tried to respond, he just put more pressure on my throat. Black spots clouded my vision
. Desperately, I tried again to access my power, but it felt like it had been locked in a cage. If I could just tap into Coercion…
“Ah, you think you can Coerce me into letting you go? I guess your mentors haven’t taught you how to fight against someone who can disable your powers, have they?”
His laugh was cruel as he pulled the knife from my neck and brushed it against my cheek.
“You were always shit with mental abilities, anyway.”
I thrashed against him as tears leaked from my eyes. The pain of the blade over my bare skin was nauseating, and the fear that I’d never wake up began to consume me.
He began dragging the poisonous blade along my body, leaving trails of blistering pain everywhere it touched.
“What are they going to do with you when they realize you aren’t as perfect as they think?”
I heard the voice call my name again, and a weird vibration went through my body.
“Stop—please—” I begged.
Finally, he dropped the knife and released me.
I crumpled to the ground, my chest heaving against the fiery pain that coated my skin. Too weak to do much else, I lifted my face and glared at him.
“Why—" I brought myself up to a kneeling position and leaned back against the tree he’d just pinned me against. “Why won’t you tell me who you are?”
He leaned down so that his face was level with mine, and pure malice flashed through his eyes. “I’ll see you soon, Tessa.”
With that, he clamped a rough hand to my face and sent me back to the waking world.
41
Nathaniel
‘Nate, you son of a bitch you need to get here now! Tessa needs you!’
Mary’s voice jolted me out of a deep sleep.
‘Mary?’
‘Yes, it’s Mary, now get over here! I’ve been calling you for ten minutes!’
I stumbled out of bed, grabbed the clothes closest to me, and teleported to the dormitories.
Before I could knock, the door swung open and Mary grabbed me, pushing me toward Tessa’s bed.
“Fucking help her!”
