We Will Bleed

by Nicole Thorn

  “Enjoy your swim time,” Juniper said to Verin. “Because I’m not coming in. Go. Shoo!” She waved him off, and he sighed at her before he obeyed.

  Juniper stuck to feeding Nemo when he came to get attention, and I got dragged off by the other boys when they wanted to play a game. I had to be on Verin’s team, while Jasmine got Zander. I thought it would have been more entertaining to pit them against each other, but I got out voted. Jasper and Juniper threw diving rings in, and we had to grab them. Jasmine kind of got left in the dust.

  “Not okay!” she complained when we’d gathered them all up, dividing them into piles. “You’re all demigods, and I’m human. Of course I was only gonna get a couple.”

  Zander patted her back. “It’s okay, sweetie. It’s not your fault I’m superior in the way of sports.”

  Jasmine gasped. “You are not! I kill it at wooing, and I will destroy you in all games from now on. Mark my words.”

  Verin rolled his eyes. “This would have been fine if Juniper had agreed to play. A human on each side.”

  “I’m good,” she called from the side, feeding Nemo a head of lettuce. “I’d rather stay dry.”

  Verin opened his mouth, smirking when I tackled him in the water, and covered his mouth with my hand. I ignored how much I didn’t like touching another person, because he was on the safe list.

  “For Jasper’s health,” I started. “I will not let you make whatever comment was coming.”

  Jasper sighed. “Thanks . . . ”

  I let Verin go, and he shook his head at me. “It was a good one too. Woulda had Juniper blushing, and you made us all miss out.”

  “Get over it.”

  I decided to start floating around, taking in the sun and the clear blue sky. It wouldn’t last long, so I wanted to memorize it while I could. Everything felt quiet and peaceful in this moment, and I liked it.

  Nemo swam around me in a circle, swooping his heads down to get pets from me. I gave in, but he left me for food when Juniper came back with more. I understood and didn’t hold it against him.

  When I finished swimming, Jasper went inside the house with me. I had to make sure I didn’t drip, or Juniper would have gutted me right there on the back porch. To spare her the mess, I toweled off, and then let Jasper walk me up to our room so that I could change.

  I smiled when I passed Jasmine and Zander’s room, knowing how that fight ended. They’d been convinced they could get the other to switch rooms, and it went on for much longer than it should have. In the end, Zander gave up and moved to Jasmine’s room. I didn’t know what his prize had been, and I did not want to know.

  I showered the pool water off of me while Jasper changed back into his normal clothes. We planned on spending more time in the studio, and I decided I would read a book instead of getting frustrated with a project that would only come out ugly. Jasper promised I would get better if I practiced, but I wasn’t so sure.

  I had a towel around my body as I stared at my fresh clothes. I could have put them on. Or . . .

  Wandering back into the room, I walked on my tiptoes, like I was stealthy or something. For a girl, I stood pretty tall at five-foot-ten. There wasn’t anything stealthy about me. But Jasper smiled when I stood in front of the bed.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “Hello,” he responded from his spot on our bed.

  “So . . . ” I dropped the towel and waited for him to say something. He’d seen me naked plenty of times by now, but it still made my heart race a little when the time came.

  We had been taking things slow, because I needed it. I hadn’t felt ready for sex, and Jasper had been more than perfect about it. He never pushed, and I didn’t get the impression that he waited for anything. It could have had something to do with the fact that I did pounce him a lot. We’d done a lot of other things, because they stopped being scary to me with him. Though I tended do things to him instead of the reverse. Those things weren’t a struggle for me, while sometimes I worried when it my turn came.

  I took a step to Jasper, and his hands went to my hips. He pulled me down, and I went willingly as he pressed his lips to mine. The nerves went away, and I relaxed against him. Enough to pull him on top of me.

  Despite my being naked, we kept it fairly innocent. We kissed, and Jasper’s hands only started to wander when I encouraged it. Because he knew I liked it, he kissed the side of my neck, melting me into a puddle of Kizzy.

  “Jasper,” I said quietly.

  “Hmm?” he asked, still kissing my neck.

  I pressed my lips together, then said, “Could you . . . ”

  He looked up at me, smiling before he kissed my cheek. Then he made me giggle, zooming under the covers. The monster tickled my hips on his way down, making me jerk a little under the blanket, and laugh more. He pulled the blanket off of his head then, and I could see him perfectly, because I needed to see him.

  My breath hitched when I felt his mouth on me, and my fingers went to his hair so that I could relax. This was Jasper, and I knew it. I reminded myself a couple times, and everything eased.

  It had taken a while for me to let this kind of thing happen. Even longer for me to decide it was all right that it felt good, and I liked it. No more letting the past ruin what I could have. I still had to fight a little, but not like before.

  I closed my eyes, running Jasper’s hair through my fingers. Jasper, Jasper, Jasper. It’s Jasper. Once the information settled, I smiled.

  CHAPTER THREE:

  Peace is Overrated

  Jasper

  “DON’T ACT LIKE you know!” Jasmine screamed at the television. I wondered why we thought it’d be a good idea to watch a documentary on Greek mythology. It only brought up sore spots. On the bright side, Kezia hadn’t started screaming at the television yet, so I felt like it’d be rude to suggest shutting it off.

  “Athena is the Goddess of—”

  “Bitchiness,” Jasmine said. “She is a bitch. Like the bitchiest bitch that ever bitched.”

  Zander smiled at my sister with enough affection to make even her blush. She ducked behind her pillow, and whispered, “I’m only telling the truth. Don’t give me that look. These shows are so wrong, someone has to correct them!” She flailed, and would have fallen off the couch if Zander hadn’t wrapped his arm around her middle. He hauled her into his lap and began to nuzzle her neck.

  I looked back at Kezia. The two of us sat on the loveseat. She had leaned against me so that she could prop her bare feet up on the other arm rest. I had my arm loosely around her, and she squeezed my fingers every few minutes. A smile lifted her mouth, and she said, “Maybe you should cool it. You know how the gods feel about people dissing them.”

  “They won’t touch her,” Zander said, his voice lower than normal.

  Kezia and I both frowned at him. While I appreciated his assurance that my sister would not be touched, I did not agree with his statement. The gods seemed keen on paying attention to my sisters and I lately. I’d met more gods in the last six months than most demigods ever did. They just showed up when things started happening.

  Most of them had been . . . callous, but not unkind. Very callous, actually. I knew that Kezia and Zander loved their mothers, but I thought they didn’t see things clearly with them, either. Those women never lifted a hand to help their children. People could argue with me that the goddesses couldn’t interfere, because of Zeus. However, the gods disobeyed each other all the time, and they always seemed to be in some sort of fight with the others. As far as I was concerned, Demeter and Aphrodite chose not to help their demigod children, because they didn’t matter much to the gods.

  I wouldn’t say that, obviously. I didn’t need to see that hurt look in Kezia’s eyes. She didn’t expect help from her mother, so operating under the belief that her mother loved her a great deal didn’t hurt anyone.

  “Up next, Hercules and the trials,” the person on television said.

  “Ugh!” Kezia groaned, turning around on my lap. Sh
e buried her face in my stomach, and Zander tried not to frown. “Just once, I’d like someone to use his actual name. Is that too much to ask for?”

  “No,” Jasmine said. “In fact, it’s kind of rude.”

  “Very rude,” Zander agreed. “Of course, he also killed a hydra, and I feel like Nemo would consider that rude.”

  Jasmine perked up. “I bought him this huge bucket of cheese puffs. They aren’t as good as Cheetos, but he can eat them without getting the bag stuck on his nose. I’m hoping that he will accept my offering graciously, and not be a dick.”

  I smirked.

  Juniper came out of the office, and sat down in a chair. Verin had gone over to his house, to get some clothing. After his mother died, we hadn’t known what to do with the place. He had just bought it, and that might’ve looked strange. One month seemed like the kind of turnover that would make clients nervous.

  It seemed to me, however, that Verin didn’t want to part with the house. He hadn’t moved anything since his mother died. Or, almost nothing. He’d brought his clothing and stuff over, but everything else had stayed in the other house. Juniper hadn’t wanted to leave this house, and I hadn’t wanted her to go either. Neither did Jasmine. That would’ve been a huge change for Juniper, and I worried that it would make her backslide.

  At the same time, I could see the worry in her eyes, and the way she played with the hem of her blue dress. The house still had to look just so, but she had given the backyard to Kezia, and started to dress in colors. But sometimes, I could still see the anxiety in her eyes. The want to put everything in order once again, the way that it used to be.

  Jasmine glared at the television when the show came back. They started talking about Hera, making her seem like a truly bad person. I’d never met her, so I thought judging would’ve been stupid. My sister, apparently, agreed. She stood up with a huff. “That does it. I need ice cream to make up for this bullshit show. Zander, you should totally take me to get ice cream, and then we can park outside the store . . . ” She waggled her eyebrows, and I pretended not to see that.

  Jasmine still hadn’t gotten her car keys back from Zander. She claimed she still didn’t trust herself, but I wondered if she liked making Zander go with her everywhere instead. I didn’t say that out loud, since I wanted to have my limbs firmly attached to my body.

  She seemed to be doing the best of all of us, but I didn’t know how much of that could be trusted. Jasmine had always been good at hiding behind a cheerful smile. She could’ve been thinking anything, and the only person who would know, was Zander. If he wanted to keep us in the dark, it wouldn’t have been all that hard.

  Zander smiled at my sister. “All right.”

  “Yay!” Jasmine shouted, and jumped to her feet. She rushed up the stairs without a backward glance. Zander smiled as he followed her.

  When they got out of ear shot, Juniper said, “A lawyer called me.”

  “About what?” I asked.

  She bit the corner of her lip. “Dad’s stuff. We need to clear out his house, sell it, and do something with all his things. He left everything to Jasmine. I don’t know how to bring it up.”

  As if on cue, the front door opened, and Verin stepped into the house. He seemed to bring a shadow with him, like he always did when returning from his home. It was only a few doors down, but the house had an air around it. I hated going in and refused to unless someone needed me inside.

  Everything whispered. Every object in that house wanted me to read it, and I worried about what I would see.

  Juniper got up and went to the man. He wrapped his arms around her, pressing his lips to her forehead. If he hadn’t cared about my sister so much, I would’ve booted him out of the house. I didn’t trust him, or the things that he had done. I couldn’t trust him. He had killed our father. It had become this open secret in the house, that everyone but Jasmine knew.

  Kezia had figured it out, and she told me. Juniper had always known, but . . . my sister needed Verin. She needed him in such a way that it didn’t matter what he did. She wouldn’t have been okay if he touched Jasmine or myself, but anyone else, and I thought she’d forgive him. He had gone on a killing spree, and Juniper had defended him with her entire heart and willpower. And Juniper had a lot of the latter.

  “Do you want me to tell her, Juni?” I asked.

  My sister sighed, while Verin glanced at us, confused. “No,” Juniper said. “We can tell her together. At some other point in time. We just need to do something with all of Dad’s things, because they don’t want an empty house sitting on that street.” She rolled her eyes. “They said it looks bad.”

  Kezia sat up. “If you need me to help, then I will. If you want me to wreck that entire house, I’ll do that too.” She beamed, and I smiled at her. No one hated my father like our demigods did.

  Verin said, “Burn the place down. That’s the only solution that makes sense.”

  Juniper frowned. “That would be chaos.”

  Verin kissed her temple, but that didn’t make the frown disappear.

  Jasmine came bouncing down the stairs, a huge smile on her face. Zander followed her a second later. He glanced around and must’ve sensed the mood in the room. His shoulders tensed for a second, and he loosened them. Jasmine, oblivious said, “I’m so excited for this!” She allowed her eyes to go distant as she stared at the opposite wall and sighed.

  “Is she having a vision or something?” Verin asked.

  Jasmine frowned. “Okay, first of all, I am daydreaming about ice cream, so don’t make assumptions about me. Second of all, there is no way that my face looks that blank while I’m having a vision. There just isn’t anyway that’s possible. Third of all, I haven’t had a vision in like a week, so watch yourself.”

  I frowned.

  Juniper cleared her throat. “I’d hate to tell you this, Jazzy, but you do kind of look blank when you have a vision.”

  Jasmine gasped. “I do not. I am too lively and happy to ever look blank. You take that back right this second!”

  Juniper ducked behind Verin, and peeked around his shoulder. She had a smile on her face when she said, “No.”

  Jasmine launched herself at Verin and Juniper, but Zander got his arm around her middle. “How about we don’t play the game of which demigod is better at fighting. It would only wreck your house a second time.”

  “I’m fine with that!” Jasmine shouted.

  “No!” Juniper begged.

  “We both know that I’d win,” Verin said.

  Zander laughed obnoxiously. “You would think that. I would win, and not only would it be a crushing defeat, but it would make everyone in this house think less of you, for how hard I beat your ass.”

  “Nah, that’s okay,” Verin said. “I would have you down in two seconds.”

  “Or,” Kezia said, speaking over both of them. “I would wrap the two of you vines and hold you to the floor until you stopped acting like stupid, macho men that need some kind of referee.” She stood up, putting her hands on her hips. That drew my eye, naturally, and Zander frowned at me when he noticed.

  In all fairness, I had seen him going from his bedroom to my sister’s—back when they still fought over it—without clothing on. I felt like he had screwed up more than I had in this scenario.

  “Please don’t touch my house,” Juniper said. “I mean. Please . . . ”

  Jasmine stuck her tongue out at Verin, and I leaned forward. “Jazz?”

  My sister turned to look at me, her mismatched eyes big and bright. “Yeah?” she asked.

  “You said it’s been a week since you’ve had a vision?”

  “About that, yeah,” Jasmine said. “Why?”

  “When’s the last time that’s happened?” I asked, because I thought I knew the answer, and it worried me.

  Jasmine thought for a second, a frown pulling at the corners of her mouth. “When Arachne was blocking my visions,” she answered after a moment, if somewhat reluctantly. Arachne had been up to som
ething that no one wanted to tell us. She had been gathering up able bodied nonhumans and training them to fight. Athena claimed that she wanted revenge, but none of us believed the woman.

  When it had all gone down, the Oracle had started to cause trouble. Arachne wanted to kill the Oracle, to keep her from warning people of her plans. Also, killing the mouth piece of the gods would’ve been one hell of a message to send. Only, Jasmine and Zander had gotten in the way, and Arachne had turned her sights onto them.

  That had been months ago. Athena had turned Arachne back into a spider, and I highly doubted the goddess had forgiven her already.

  Zander immediately became worried, and inched closer to my sister.

  Jasmine frowned. “I’m sure that this is just a coincidence. I’ve gone a week without a vision before.”

  “When?” I asked.

  She didn’t have an answer for that, because it had never happened before. Not in the entirety of our lives. Juniper and I had full control over our visions. Mine, visions of the past, were locked events. They had happened in a certain way, at a certain time, and could not be changed. I could trigger them by holding an object that had been around the event. Juniper’s visions, of the present, also couldn’t be changed. She triggered them just by thinking hard enough. Jasmine, however . . . The future didn’t have any solidity to it. Every second, something could happen to change what would happen. She couldn’t focus on a person to trigger a vision, because we had no guarantee that the person would still be alive then. Because she had no control, anything could make her visions pop up. It had been pure chance that she had a vision of Kezia and Zander with the furies. Pure chance that she had brought us together with the loves of our lives.

  “What about you two?” Jasmine said. “Can you see anything.”

  Juniper glanced around and sighed. Her eyes lost focus, and she started talking. “Red light, red car. Revving the engine to get the attention of the boys in the car next to them. Hit the gas. They’re speeding away and laughing really hard. Persephone puts her hand on Medusa’s thigh, and . . . oh . . . ” She blinked again and shook her head. “I didn’t need to see that.”