I take a sip.
The sweet liquid rolls down my throat and warms my stomach. Immediately I feel better. Not better in an ‘all is right with the world’ way, but things don’t seem as bleak. Cassie is right; Mavis probably wouldn’t begrudge me a night off.
I take a bigger sip, then pass the bottle. Cassie glugs, then passes it to Hepa. “It’s spelled to never empty,” Hepa explains.
“OMQ,” Cassie says.
“Do you mean OMG?” I ask.
She giggles. “Yeah, that one. We should play Dare or Truth. Just nobody ask me what happened to the magical little baby fawn that Greg and I were supposed to kill for Artemis’s class.”
“Oh Cassie,” I say. “Please tell me it’s not in your dorm room.”
“Who cares?” Tina says. “We have an actual shitting bird in our room. She has a magical whatever that will fade away in a few days.”
“It will?” Cassie’s bubbly mood suddenly falters and her lower lip trembles. I shoot a look at Fern; it’s a little early for the drunken crying phase.
“Cassie, I’ll spell you a magic animal for a graduation gift, okay?” Fern promises. “Whatever you want.”
“Oh, yes, please!” Cassie’s face lights up once more as she claps her hands with excitement. “Okay, let’s do Dare or Truth now.”
“It’s Truth or Dare, and is it even fair to play that with a seer?” Tina asks her but her voice lacks her normal edge. “Don’t you have an unfair advantage?”
“Honey,” Cassie says, leaning toward Tina, “Right now I don’t even know when I’m telling the truth.” She slides dangerously to the side, and Hepa props her back up.
“I’ll go first!” Fern turns to Hepa. “Truth or Dare?”
“I don’t want to play,” she says.
“Booo!!!” Cassie gives her a double thumbs down, then flips her off. Except she uses her pointer finger.
“Fine. Whatever.” Hepa relents, covering up a smile. “Truth, I guess.”
“How do you really feel about Jordan?” Marguerite asks.
Hepa looks thoughtful. “It’s complicated. I mean, I like him, but he dropped me like a hot coal when Mr. Zee announced the dating ban. Jordan didn’t even fight for me. So I turned my back on him, and now he says I’m the only girl for him.”
“Typical boy,” Tina says, swiping the bottle from Fern. “Only wants what he can’t have.”
“He’s been trying to win me back,” Hepa says, a slow smile spreading on her face. “He keeps trying to save me from really mundane things in order to be my hero. Yesterday he took off his shirt and held it over my head while I walked to class because UV rays are harmful to the skin. Except he kept saying SUV instead of UV, plus his shirt did not smell awesome.”
“Jordan is yummy!” Cassie exclaims. “Especially his tummy. He’s got a great six-rack.”
“Girls have racks,” I correct. “Boys have six-packs.”
“Yeah, but Jordan’s is an eight-pack,” Hepa inserts with a smug smile.
There’s a knock at the door and we all startle. “Come in,” Tina calls.
“Gug,” Cassie says, clumsily hiding the ambrosia behind her back.
“Relax,” Tina says as the door swings open. “It’s Val.”
The room swims around me and I’m pretty sure it’s not ambrosia as Val enters the room, his Stymphalian bird riding on his shoulder. He takes in all of us girls as half of his mouth curls into an amused smirk. “I didn’t realize Tina was having a party tonight.”
Tina shrugs. “It just sorta happened.” She snatches the ambrosia from Cassie who has turned her back to Val and is trying to surreptitiously take a sip. “Have a drink.”
Val shakes his head. “Not tonight. I’ve gotta take Kevin out for a game of night tag and then if he’s a good boy, I have some soup bones from the kitchen stashed away as a treat. But only if he’s a good boy.” Val holds a hand out and his bird delicately steps onto it. He and Val look each other in the eye, and the bond between them is so obvious I’m almost jealous. “You’re a good boy, aren’t you?” Val asks, running a hand down the bird’s back.
Tina folds her arms over her chest. “I can’t believe you named your bird. Also, there’s a line of shit running down your back, Val. I don’t think he’s that good of a boy.”
Val breaks his intense eye contact with Kevin. “Yeah, we’re still working on potty training.”
Tina turns to the rest of us. “My brother is apparently an idiot.”
“Tina, we’ve discussed this.” Val voice hardens, while the rest of us sit and quietly watch them squabble like it’s our own personal soap opera. “We can leave or we can make the best of it.”
“Or,” Tina counters. “We can wait for the moment when we can kill these birds and maybe Mr. Zee too.”
“Tina!” Hepa gets to her feet. And looks around, as if she’s not sure who’s in the room. “You can’t say stuff like that.”
“Why not? Everyone knows about the prophecy. Someone with Mr. Zee’s blood will kill him. Who’s to say it won’t be me? I’m a Moggy. My mother was a mix of who knows what. Some of Mr. Zee’s offspring could be mixed into my family tree somewhere.”
“And you’d actually kill him?” Cassie asks in a small voice.
Tina smiles her vampire smile. Fangs fully out. “Gladly.”
I don’t say anything. I don’t know what to say. After finding out Mr. Zee was my father, I was sure the prophecy was about me. But Tina’s right—anyone with Mr. Zee’s blood could be the one…and the dude has definitely gotten around over the years. I expect to feel relief, but my feelings are as mixed up as ever. Even if I’m not the one who’s supposed to kill him, do I let him die? Would I fight Tina to defend Mr. Zee?
“Okay, well, I’ll let you ladies get back to your party.” Val backs toward the door, but Tina grabs his hand.
“Wait. Remember, I told you to come and get your new T-shirt.” Tina turns to rummage in her wardrobe and then tosses the shirt to Val, who easily catches it. Unrolling it, he holds it out in front of his body so we can all see.
It’s a chart with the words “Bird Identification” at the top. Below are pictures of all different types of birds with their names beneath them. Blue Jay. Robin. Nightingale. The final bird on the shirt is, of course, the Stymphalian. But instead of having that name, below it says, Epic Asshole.
“Oh wow! Tina made a funny!” Cassie exclaims. “I never saw that one coming!”
This cracks the rest of us up, even Tina.
“It’s great, Tina,” Val says, rolling the shirt up.
“You should try it on,” Cassie says. “Make sure it fits.”
Val pauses and throws a glance Tina’s way. “She buys the T-shirts in bulk. It’ll fit.”
“No, Val,” Tina steps forward. “Cassie’s right. Try it on.”
He frowns at her and then darts a glance at me. I quickly look away, trying to hide the
blush heating up my face.
“We were just discussing Jordan’s eight-pack,” Hepa says. “I think it’s pretty rare for a man to have that level of musculature. Perhaps just for comparison’s sake…”
Smirk in place, Val shrugs and with one smooth move whips his shirt over his head. Even Fern and Marguerite watch. His smooth torso looks like carved marble. A living statue that would make Michelangelo weep.
As he lifts his arms to pull the new shirt on, I see it. A wound, deep red and angry, that wraps around his side and half his back.
“Val,” I gasp. Without even thinking about it, I’m on my feet, my hand on his bare shoulder. “You need to see a healer.”
“He has,” Fern says. “I’ve healed it several times. It just comes back. Someone sliced him with a spelled knife.”
“Someone did what?” My head spins and not just from the ambrosia. Then suddenly the answer is obvious. “Maddox. You got hurt when you killed her.”
Val looks straight at me but says nothing—neither denying nor confirming.
But T
ina isn’t so tight-lipped. “Nico’s getting all the shifters on campus all worked up, saying we attacked his poor helpless mother after her shifting powers were taken.” She scoffs. “That woman was never helpless in her life. She would’ve been a danger to every vampire until her dying day. We just moved that day up a little, is all.”
“Um, Tina,” Marguerite says softly. “We’re not supposed to admit it, remember?”
Tina frowns and looks confused for a minute—it’s not often she screws up and she seems to be struggling with the feeling. But then putting her chin up she says, “I meant in theory, Marguerite. Of course, we didn’t kill anyone. It was probably actually Nico wanting to get away from his beast of a mother.”
“All right then,” Val opens the door. “On that note, I’m going to say goodnight.”
“Find me in the infirmary tomorrow,” Fern calls right before the door snaps closed once more.
There’s a silence after that. The party mood has dissipated as reality intruded once more. It’s a bummer to be reminded that my friends and my...um, Val, killed someone in cold blood. Although maybe Tina does have a point. Even without powers Maddox would’ve remained a formidable opponent. But going after her when she was leaving seems wrong. On the other hand, is it honorable or just plain stupid to wait until she has time to regroup and attack again?
My head hurts with the questions. Or maybe it’s the ambrosia.
But then Tina thrusts the bottle of ambrosia into the air. “One more round!” she declares.
Or maybe I just need more ambrosia, I decide as Tina passes the bottle my way.
After taking a long swig, I pass it to Cassie who does the same. Once the bottle has gone around the whole room and returned to Tina, we are loose once more.
Marguerite gives Fern a big wet kiss and stumbles to her feet. “Maybe we should get back to our rooms,” she says, never taking her eyes off Fern.
“Nuh-uh,” Tina moves to block the door. “We’re finishing Truth or Dare first.” She points a finger at me. “It’s my turn and I pick Edie.” She levels her eyes at me. I’m sure she’s going to ask me about her brother Val and what my intentions are toward him but she surprises me. “What’s going on between you and Themis?”
Hepa and I exchange a glance. She’s tight with Themis too. How much does she know? Cassie passes me back the bottle and I take a long drink, for courage.
“All of you in this room are my friends,” I say.
“Well, I just kind of put up with you,” Tina says. “You’re kind of like this bird. I’m stuck with you both.” She takes a swing at her Stymphalian bird, but misses by about three feet, the momentum rolling her off the bed and onto the floor. “And you both stink.”
I reach out, pulling her up. “I would die to protect anyone in this room.”
“That got dark fast,” Marguerite mutters.
The ambrosia is flowing freely through my body, my blood light with the feeling, my head dizzy. I’m warm and happy, ensconced here with my friends. The fear from earlier has evaporated, and I think of how much better I would feel if I could just tell them everything, let it all out. I’m sure this awesome group of girls would know what to do.
But I can’t, and I know it. As much as I want to share my biggest secret with them, my parents both died to keep it safe. I can’t disrespect them like that. But that doesn’t mean I have to keep everything from my friends.
“I need you all to promise that what I’m about to say will not leave this room. That you won’t tell anyone.”
“What about Jordan?” Hepa asks. “I mean, I need to have something to talk to him about so that he stops swatting all the mosquitoes that come near me, while informing me about the latest statistics of West Nile virus.”
“Oh yeah. You can tell Jordan,” I say. “I trust him completely.”
“And Greg?” Cassie blushes for some reason. “I can’t have a secret from Greg.”
“Well, of course Greg can know,” I amend. I mean, if I trust Jordan, I can certainly trust Greg.
“Wow,” Hepa says with an eye roll. “A secret that only half the campus can know. I feel really privileged to be in on it.”
Tina opens her mouth but before she can speak I clarify. “Look, I need you all to promise that you won’t tell anyone except for Greg, Jordan and” —I glance at Tina— “Val.” They all nod solemnly. I take another swig and pass the bottle on.
“I’m a Moggy,” I admit.
“What?” Marguerite asks. “No way!”
“Well,” Hepa says. “Honestly, I kind of suspected. I mean, you’re a freaking dragon shifter! What kind of weirdo combination made that?”
Cassie’s eyebrows come together at Hepa’s question, and I can only hope she’s not thinking too hard about the answer. Tina’s the only one who looks even remotely upset. “Wait…if you’re a Moggy, how did I get stuck with this stupid bird and you didn’t?”
Fern raises her hand. “I did a thing.” She swallows, the booze definitely getting to her…or, I realize, it’s guilt. “A spell,” she explains, crossing over to Tina and hugging her. “I tried to reach you, the day of the announcement. I really did. But I failed you.”
Tina pats her on the back awkwardly. “That’s okay. You tried, I guess.” She turns to her bird, which cocks its head at her. “It’s just so annoying. I mean, it watches me twenty-four seven. At least the non-vamps get some time off when they’re sleeping. I can’t even apply my sunscreen without it creeping on me.”
“Ugh,” Marguerite says, wrinkling her nose. “Pervy bird.”
“It is a perv,” Tina says. “You’re a perv,” she repeats, shaking her fist at the bird. She’s got the bottle in her other hand and is about to take a swig when she changes her mind. In a lightning fast motion she grabs the bird by the throat, shoves the bottle in its beak and upends it.
It flaps madly, feathers flying around the room as the rest of us dive for cover to avoid its talons. It makes a strangling sound, but Tina isn’t letting go anytime soon. The bird’s eyes roll, then it gives up, and swallows. She releases it, and it flies around the room, weaving. Cassie screams and I pull my cover over both of us, while Marguerite throws herself on top of Fern to protect her. The bird hits the window with a tremendous thunk, and falls to the floor, one wing sticking up in the air, as if in surrender.
“Is it dead?” Cassie asks.
“I hope so,” Tina mutters.
“I think it’s just sleeping,” Hepa says, turning it over onto its side. A healer to the core, she pulls a blanket off Tina’s bed and covers the bird up, tucking it in.
Marguerite crawls off of Fern. “Are you okay?” she asks, running her hands all along Fern’s body. “You didn’t get scratched or anything, did you? I would die if anything happened to you.”
“Vomit,” Tina says.
“I’m fine,” Fern tells Marguerite, giving her a peck on the cheek.
“Guys,” Cassie says.
“Is it your turn for Truth or Dare?” I ask.
When it’s my turn I’m gonna ask her if she’s crushing on Greg, because I have my suspicions.
“I really don’t feel good.” She grabs her head and I think she’s about to lose all her ambrosia, but instead her eyes roll back in her head and she goes starkly white.
“A weapon, one in three to defeat the king of the gods. Three places of learning. One child of his loins. Three in one to wound. Three in one to kill.”
Cassie’s eyes go back to normal. She leans forward and barfs between her feet.
Nobody moves as we eye each other. I’m feeling suddenly sober.
Cassie just told us how to kill Zeus.
9
The mix of bird poop and Cassie’s ambrosia puke is enough to drive me from my room. We did our best to clean everything up, and Fern even cast some sort of air-freshening spell, but Tina and I have still been dealing with the lingering scent of stomach acid. Plus, a hungover Stymphalian bird is not the best roommate. It was beating its head against
the window when I woke up this morning, apparently believing that the best way to get rid of a headache is to bash your head the rest of the way in.
The night before brought a nice reprieve; I haven’t thought about my parentage for twelve full hours. But daylight—and a hot shower—brought everything back into perspective. I couldn’t drown my sorrows in ambrosia, and I couldn’t forget Adrianna Aspostolos—or the letter she’d written to Metis, asking for help in delivering her child.
The child of a god. Me.
I find a bottle of good old ibuprofen at the bottom of the bag I brought here what seems like ages ago. There’s also a handful of old photos and I can’t resist quickly flipping through them. Some of them are old, of Mavis and I as little kids in Thing 1 and Thing 2 Halloween costumes. Another is one of those cheesy posed family pictures done in a studio. We all look stiff and unnatural.
I pause on the final one. It’s just Mavis and me again, posing together as we got ready to leave for a middle school dance. It was my first real dance. I was nervous and scared and excited all at once. Mavis was in eighth grade and of course had a date. But she ditched him to hang out with me and my friends. They were so impressed with my cool sister. My feet hurt the next day from all the dancing.
My throat thickens. I thought I’d lost her once and I’m not losing her again.
Shoving the pictures back into my bag and then under my bed, I get to my feet.
I need to find out if the person in the prophecy is me. And I want that letter my mother wrote to Metis; maybe it will have a clue.
I visit Merilee first, but after taking a moment to mentally scroll through the information in her head, she shrugs. “Often the gods hold onto their personal correspondence instead of passing it along to me. They’re not supposed to, but…” Merilee shrugs again. “Gods, you know? What can you do?”
Discouraged, I leave Merilee, unsure where to go next. I’ve met Metis once before and she’s pretty intimidating. I’m not sure how she’ll react to visiting her office and asking for a letter from my long dead mother.
Wither & Wound Page 6
