We Will Bleed

by Nicole Thorn

  “Is it worth asking him?” Jasper said. “Would he come for a summon?”

  “Never tried it, actually. Mum wasn’t a fan of bringing gods down, and Dad popped up enough to where I didn’t have to call him. I wouldn’t even know what to use to get him to hear me.”

  So that threw us right back to square one, and we didn’t know what to do from there. Erebus would eventually come back for us, wanting an answer if he didn’t already guess it. Even if we told him no, I felt like he would have kept trying to get to us. He said we entertained him, and it was a dangerous thing to catch the eye of something old and bored. It made me hope that his interest in us might have been enough to get him to make Argus leave us alone.

  “What about Medusa?” Jasmine asked. “She likes us, and she has no loyalty to any god but Persephone.”

  Verin made a face. “That’s true. If Persephone is with her, maybe she would tell Kizzy some stuff.”

  I would have loved to believe that, but my sister sided with our mom on a lot of things. If Mom got to her and said to keep her mouth shut, I didn’t know what Persephone would have done. We didn’t have a strong enough relationship for me to count on her for things.

  “Should we try?” Juniper asked.

  “Might be a long shot,” Jasper responded. “But it’s worth trying. If nothing else, we strike another potential source from the list.”

  I stood up, and Jasper came with me. I kept his hand in mine, saying, “Who’s going?”

  “You have to,” Verin said. “In case your sister is there. I should go since . . . your sister could be there. As much as I don’t want to walk in on a snogging.”

  Juniper smiled. “You could stay home with me if you wanted to. We have . . . cleaning to do. In our room. There are clothes all over the floor.”

  Somehow, I doubted that, and the sad look on Jasper’s face made me think he doubted it too. She could have come up with a better lie, and it would have been nicer.

  “Do you want me to go with you?” Jasper asked. “I can stay here and get the picnic ready for us.”

  I smiled. “Yeah, we can do that. I don’t think we’ll be gone too long.”

  Jasmine hurried up to Jasper, putting her hand on his shoulder. “I’ll help you with your picnic basket of love. I’m not sure if you know this, but I’m an expert wooer.”

  “You wish,” Zander muttered.

  “I’ve already been wooed,” I pointed out. “I don’t need to be wooed anymore. We sleep in the same bed.”

  Jasmine waggled her finger at me. “Ah, one can never be wooed too much. There is always room for one more woo, and you shall have it. Jasper will make the perfect picnic basket, and you’ll be compelled to marry him and have a hundred of his babies.”

  I blinked twice. “A hundred sounds like a lot.”

  Verin put an arm around Juniper, pulling her in. “We’ll stick with the three kids we get to start off with.”

  Juniper shook her head. “Not a chance, buster. You’re not knocking me up with three babies.”

  “I think I am, actually.”

  She started squirming away, and I made room when I realized she was planning to bolt. “Not even.”

  “But yes.”

  Juniper took off running, giggling on her way as Verin chased after her. Jasper shook his head, and Jasmine and I both seemed to think it was adorable. I heard the two of them when they got to the stairs, and it sounded like Juniper got caught.

  “You and me then?” I asked Zander.

  “Looks like it.”

  He moved into the other room with Jasmine, helping her look for something so that I could get a moment to say goodbye to Jasper. Zander got all annoying when we got too touchy feely, which made no sense to me. He should have been happy I let someone touch me at all.

  “I look forward to our date,” I said to Jasper a moment before I kissed him.

  “Me too,” he responded, and then kissed me again.

  We went on like that for an irresponsible amount of time, stretching out a goodbye for a trip that would last an hour. It wasn’t my fault that I loved kissing my boyfriend, and I wouldn’t feel bad about it.

  When we returned to the living room, Jasmine had hopped onto Zander’s back, and I didn’t know why. She stayed there happily while he got the keys to our car. Verin came downstairs with a frown on his face, and his hair a mess.

  “I thought you were cleaning,” Jasper said flatly.

  “We were,” Verin said. “But someone got pushed a little too hard against the wall, and a shampoo bottle fell in the bathroom. It exploded on the floor, and Juniper has to fix it. She sent me to go with the others to see Medusa.”

  Jasmine hopped off of Zander to give Verin a reassuring pat on the back. “Been there. Walls shake too hard. Try the dresser next time.”

  Jasper closed his eyes. “Don’t give him instructions on how to violate our sister.”

  “I already know all the ways,” Verin promised. He looked too smug about it, and Juniper might have glared if she had been there to see it. Thankfully, shampoo saved Verin from a scolding.

  I said goodbye to Jasper one more time while Jasmine did the same with Zander. I got a nice hug in and snuck one more kiss before I had to go.

  “Love you,” I said to Jasper as I walked through the door.

  “I love you too.” He smiled at me, and my stomach did a little flip.

  Zander insisted on driving to the apartment Medusa had rented for the time being. She didn’t tell us how long she planned on staying, but I hoped it was for a while. I liked having her around, and she could be a lot more helpful than a lot of other people we knew.

  “You always make me sit in the back,” Verin complained. “Why don’t we draw straws?”

  I turned to smirk at him. “Because you would probably cheat.”

  “How dare you. I would never. For that, you have to buy me a milkshake on the way home.”

  “I have a date, so go get your own. Aren’t you getting ice cream with Juniper anyway?”

  “You can never have too much ice cream.”

  Zander got us to the apartment after ten minutes of bickering in the car. Medusa picked out a place that looked normal, tucked away in the heart of the city. With her magic working, no one would have looked at her twice as she went about her business. That must have been the point, since she didn’t like getting stared at.

  When we got out of the car, Zander stared up at a darkening sky. “I thought you said we’d get some sun.”

  I nodded, also looking up at the sky with him. “After a little rain. Don’t worry about it.” It looked gray, but I had seen a lot worse.

  Verin shrugged into a jacket, tugging at the sleeves. “I don’t mind the rain. Cold water is good for the soul.”

  “I doubt that,” Zander said.

  We walked up to the building together, looking for which of the buttons would have led to Medusa. She had a fake name, but we knew what she’d picked. I pressed the button, and waited to hear her.

  “Hello,” she said through the little speaker. “Can I help you?”

  “Hey, it’s Kizzy, Zander, and Verin,” I said. “Don’t suppose we can talk for a little while.”

  She sounded happy when she responded. “Sure! You didn’t bring your people with you?”

  “Not this time,” Zander said. “It’s not a purely social call.”

  “Oh, well come right up.”

  Medusa buzzed us in, and Verin held the door open for me. I went first, and the boys followed me to the elevator that would lead us up to the fourth floor. Walking could have been quicker for us, but we took the lazy way out because we could.

  Medusa let us into her apartment about three seconds after we knocked, and I got greeted with a careful hug. I let her do it, because I couldn’t seem to worry about something bad happening with her. She had been so nice to us in the past, and I trusted her.

  “So happy to see you,” she said after we all got greeted.

  “You too,”
Verin said. “Is Persephone here by any chance?”

  Medusa shook her head. “Not right now, honey. She had to run off and do something, but she should be over in a couple days if you need to come back.”

  I felt both disappointment and relief that my sister wasn’t there. On the one hand, she might have helped us. But on the other, she could have kept Medusa from giving us information that she might have otherwise been willing to share. This risk felt safer.

  “No need,” Zander said. “We’re here to talk to you. We were hoping you could help us out with something.”

  “Well, I’ll do the best I can.”

  She led us into her living room, which looked pretty normal for the most part. I stared a little too long at the statues I saw scattered around, but at least they weren’t people. I spotted a few birds on the windowsill, and a dog in the corner of the room. I crossed my fingers that they weren’t real, but I couldn’t know for sure. Best if I didn’t, I decided.

  The three of us shared a couch, while Medusa sat on the rocking chair across from us. She crossed her legs, and then smiled. “What seems to be the problem?”

  I sighed, looking for a place to start. I began with Erebus, because it seemed like the most obvious thing to go with. She needed to know what happened with us if she could help. I told her about the meetings we had with him, and that the girls couldn’t see anymore. The worry on her face concerned me.

  “It figures your parents didn’t help,” Medusa said with an eye roll. “Good for nothing. I don’t know much about the seers, but the vision thing sounds fishy. It sounds like something is blocking them. Maybe an upcoming event, or a god trying to be annoying. Have you made progress on that?”

  “No,” Zander said. “And it’s driving me crazy. Every second we spend wondering, is a second we can be spending fixing the problem.”

  “He stresses too easy,” Verin said. “Whatever comes, I’ll handle it.”

  The woman smiled at him. “Your confidence is admirable, but you can’t solve everything, sweetie. Don’t be heartbroken when one day you find a problem that you can’t mend.”

  “Won’t happen.”

  That cockiness would to come bite him in the ass one day, and I didn’t want to be there for it. Last time he couldn’t fix a problem, people died. I knew he wasn’t proud of it, but that still happened. Those people wouldn’t come back, and there we couldn’t do a thing about it.

  “I don’t know Erebus,” Medusa went on. “But I’ve heard about him wandering around Earth when he gets bored. I don’t like the sound of him hanging around the six of you. Whatever he offers, don’t take it.”

  “Never,” I promised. “We don’t want to be part of whatever crap he’s pulling. This isn’t a game to us.”

  “I’m glad you understand that. Not all demigods are like you. Most think they’re unstoppable. They think they can do whatever they want and get away with it. The world is theirs.”

  We all shot a look to Verin, who glared. “Sod off. I’m not like that. I just know that I can set a goal and achieve it if I try hard enough. I’m not going around making trouble for the fun of it. Besides, someone has my leash now.”

  Yeah, but that someone was pretty willing to let go of it if she needed to. That someone didn’t think he could do a thing wrong, and that girl would eventually find herself wrong about that.

  “I don’t know anything about the visions,” Medusa said. “And I haven’t heard about Erebus or who he might have aligned himself with. I’ve been staying inside a lot lately. When things get rough in the human world, it’s best to stay away. They already found that camp.”

  As if I wanted the reminder of that bad day. “I’m hoping it’ll blow over eventually. The humans like to pretend that nothing is wrong if they can help it.”

  “Oh, I know. It’ll be interesting if Erebus causes a stir that they can’t look away from. I wish I knew more about who he’s working with. I didn’t know he did team ups, so that might be new for him. Again, I don’t have a clue.”

  “So, you can’t help us?” I asked, disappointed. At least she sounded like she wanted to, instead of our mothers, who couldn’t have cared less. They had all the answers we needed, and they refused to budge. They never budged unless it helped them out in some way. I wished I had a mother who could have loved me like any other would have.

  “I’m so sorry,” Medusa said, and I believed her. “I’ll see if I can find anything out for you, and I’ll stop by if I get something. I have a handful of contacts that might have seen something. There are eyes everywhere, so someone knows something.”

  We just had to find someone willing to talk, and who wanted it all to stay quiet. I worried for how far the latter would have gone to keep it that way. How many more bodies would have hit the ground by the time this ended?

  “Thank you very much,” Zander said after he rose to give her another hug. “You’re way more helpful than anyone else.”

  The woman laughed. “Don’t say that until I can give you something useful.”

  “Ah, I bet you will,” Verin said. “I have no doubt that you’d be able to slither around and get something good.”

  She lifted an eyebrow in response to his smirk. “You think you’re so cute, don’t you?”

  “I am.”

  “Not cute enough, you mouth. Don’t make me tattle to your stepmother about you. She’ll come up with an apt punishment that would probably make all your friends laugh.”

  “Worth it.”

  “We’ll see you soon,” I told Medusa. “Maybe we can get dinner after this all passes over. Something fun.”

  “That’s a great idea. We can make it a four-way date.”

  Verin closed his eyes, sighing at the world as he said, “Never call it that again, please.”

  We all stood up, ready to leave again. We had nothing that we didn’t come here with, and I had to keep the disappointment off of my face. I didn’t want Medusa feeling badly that she couldn’t do more, when I knew she wished she could have. The effort mattered a lot to me, but we needed that information. We needed to know why the girls couldn’t see, and who might be on that list of people Erebus wanted to play with. I didn’t want to find out the hard way.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN:

  Conversations with a Murderer

  Jasper

  “WHY?” JUNIPER ASKED, throwing her head back. “You could’ve taken it outside and thrown it into the pool with Nemo. That would’ve been more preferable to this.”

  Jasmine gasped and covered her stone cat’s ears. “First of all, Lorenzo is a he, not an it. Second of all, how would you like it if I threw Verin into the pool whenever he needed a good dusting?”

  “Verin is my demigod boyfriend. Lorenzo is a dead cat that you keep in your bedroom!” Juniper said.

  Once more, Jasmine gasped. “Shut up! We don’t know if Lorenzo can be fixed. Rude.” She hugged the stone cat to her chest, effectively soaking herself, since she had been in the process of giving the thing a bath in the kitchen sink. I sat at the table, quietly. When they started physically fighting, I’d jump in. Until then, I felt content to stay at the table and watch.

  Back when Arachne had been after us, she had gorgons working for her. One of them happened to turn a neighborhood stray to stone while trying to kill Jasmine. My sister, being the kind, good soul that she is, decided to keep the cat. It weirded Zander out, as evidenced by the two times he attempted to throw it away, but the rest of us could ignore the thing. Except when Jasmine didn’t have it in the sink, getting a bath. With sponges.

  “Fine,” Jasmine said, turning back to the cat. “If you won’t let me make Lorenzo all clean and pretty, then I’ll be forced to walk him back upstairs. Dripping soap all along the floor in the process. And then he’ll get dusty, and covered in cobwebs, and we all know how I feel about spiders. I hope I don’t scream in the middle of the night, making everyone come to my rescue.”

  “You are . . . the biggest bitch,” Juniper said. “Fine! Fine, clea
n the damn cat in my sink. See if I care.”

  Jasmine smiled and kissed our sister on the cheek. Juniper swatted at her, but Jasmine still said, “Thanks so much.”

  “Whatever,” Juniper said. “Just don’t let it drip everywhere.”

  “Calm down, Juni,” Jasmine said. “I am a master cat cleaner. Lorenzo has yet to scratch me.”

  “Might have something to do with his stony façade,” I suggested.

  Jasmine twitched her nose. “Neither of you are any fun.” She grabbed her sponge and started cleaning the cat between his spikes of fur. He had been frozen in the Halloween pose, which meant that cleaning him took time. Only my sister could have such patience with a probably dead cat. We didn’t know how the petrification process worked, but it involved a lot of magic. Perhaps Lorenzo’s unfortunate state could be reversed. Eventually, we’d ask Medusa. When we decided that possibly owing her a favor would be worth the cat’s life.

  Juniper came over and sat at the table with me. She put her chin in her hand, sighing. “I’m ready for the demigods to come back. I would like Verin to chase Jasmine out of the kitchen for me.”

  “You know that he would only help her clean the cat,” I said.

  “He would. That punk,” Juniper said, crossing her arms. “And I can’t even get revenge, because anything I did to him would only make me seem crazier. Oh, he’s sly. He’s super sly.”

  “I can punch him again, if you want,” I offered. “Though eventually, he’ll punch back. I don’t want to go to the emergency room with a broken jaw, while also trying to stop Kezia from beating the crap out of your boyfriend.”

  “He would deserve it if he broke your jaw,” Juniper said. “And no, don’t punch him. I can fight my own battles.” She got up and went toward the stairs.

  “What are you doing?” I called after her.

  “I’m going to hide his drumsticks behind the vacuum cleaner,” Juniper said. “He’ll be looking for them for hours.” She jogged up the stairs, and I laughed. Verin wouldn’t understand why he had been punished for a false scenario where he helped Jasmine out with her dead cat. He would only be confused. On the bright side, he wouldn’t be confused for long. When he said his drumsticks went missing, and Juniper didn’t freak out, he’d know that she had done something with them.