Val reaches into his pocket, retrieves a little bit of pink powder, and gently blows it into the bird’s face. Its eyes go wide and staring, and its beak falls open.
“Tell him,” Val says.
Feeling awkward, I turn to the bird and reveal everything I know about the dungeons, adding that Mavis is wearing a collar that prevents her from shifting, and that Kratos is now personally guarding her cell.
I nod to Val when I’m finished, and he reaches into his other pocket, this time producing a blue powder. One whiff of it and the bird cocks its head the other direction, beak still open as my voice comes out of its throat, repeating everything I’d just said, word for word.
“Oh gods, make it stop,” I say, burying my face in Val’s shoulder.
“I know, it’s a little bizarre,” he says, tapping the bird between the eyes. It stops talking, then looks to Val for a treat. He hands over the granola, and the bird happily chomps away.
“But wait,” I say. “When I told you about Mavis getting a trial, you basically said it was hopeless.”
“I know, and I shouldn’t have said that. Ever since Larissa died, optimism has not been my first response.” Val shakes his head. “And I won’t lie to you—it is a long shot. Maddox’s last attack on the monsters was a brutal one. They weren’t wiped out, exactly, but a lot of them lost the will to fight. You were there, Edie, you saw it. Maddox didn’t fight with honor; she was killing non-combatants. The monsters are just like us. They have families and children, and people that they love. A lot of them don’t want to risk the lives of their loved ones against an enemy that will stoop that low.”
“I used to have a family, too,” I say, my chin raised high. “And now all I have is Mavis. You’re right, I’m not a stone cold killer. But I will fight for those I love. So what can I do to help the monsters?”
Val hesitates and I wonder if he’s not going to answer. But then with a shake of his head, he says, “We’re still gathering information, trying to see if there’s even a way to get her out of there. Anything you know, any possible weakness could be used to our advantage. But Edie…right now everyone believes that you’re a patriot, a true supporter of Mr. Zee. I’ve been outed as a Moggy and the entire campus knows vampires killed Nico’s mom. I’m not risking anything more by spying for the monsters.” He pauses before adding, “But you are.”
“I accept that,” I say. “Now put this bird on record again, I’ve got a lot to say.”
I tell Val—well, his bird—everything. I spill the beans about the weapon in three pieces, how I believe there’s a piece at each Academy, and how I’ve already located the one at MOA. I don’t say where I found it, though. I would trust Val with the information, but I still can’t forget that a monster killed my father. Each side has its share of good and bad guys.
“And,” I add, finishing up, “I’m pretty sure Themis is poisoning Mr. Zee.”
“What do you mean?” Val asks, eyebrows raised.
“Haven’t you notice that Mr. Zee has been a little…off?”
“He’s been like that for a while now.”
“That’s because of Themis,” I tell him. “Although she’s not doing it directly. Hepa helps by delivering the poisoned ambrosia to him every evening. By itself it won’t kill him—”
“No,” he says, understanding, “but it can wither his powers. Possibly to the point where he can be killed. And there’s a sword out there strong enough to do that, along with a prophecy saying you must be the one to swing it.”
“But I’m not going to,” I assure him. “I meant what I said about no more killing. I’ve done enough.”
I think back to the night of the Spring Fling, and the monsters I slaughtered, including Ocypete, my harpy flying instructor who’d tried to bring me over to their side. I ended up allied with the monsters after all, but not before I charred her to ash.
I shake my head again. “I won’t kill anyone. Not even if they deserve it. But I need the sword as leverage against Mr. Zee.”
Val stands and then holds out a hand to me. I take it and he pulls me up...and then into his arms. I lay my head against his chest, no longer minding the silence that would normally be filled with the beating of his heart.
“Edie, I can get us into Underworld Academy. And I’ll do everything I can to help you find another piece of that sword,” he says softly. “But this is not a place where weapons are used as bluffs. If you put that sword together, you best be prepared to use it.”
He kisses the top of my head. Gently. And then releases me and leaves.
Alone beneath the tree, I hug myself, chilled more by Val’s words than his touch.
16
That night, I can’t sleep. I feel like I’m being torn in half with conflicting advice.
Themis and Metis want me to get the sword and use it to threaten Mr. Zee.
Mavis wants me to kill him.
And Val just thinks I should leave this place and never look back. I wonder if he wants me to leave him too...or if he’d offer to come along with me.
Not that it matters. I’m not going anywhere.
Not without Mavis at my side.
But I don’t want her in a body bag.
And I don’t want blood on my hands.
Which leaves me...where?
“Stop sighing,” Tina snaps at me on her way to the bathroom in the morning. Even though she doesn’t use the toilet, Tina spends at least an hour in the bathroom. I think it’s time spent primping, applying sunscreen, and just standing around in order to make me wait longer.
Normally, it drives me crazy. But since I’m not yet ready to face the day. As I snuggle deeper into my bed. I can’t help but wish my dad was here. Or mom.
Not my biological parents, but the ones who raised me. They always listened when I had problems. And even when they didn’t have answers, it helped to have them there, knowing they’d back me up.
But they’re both gone now.
Instead I have...Mr. Zee.
I can’t really see him as the heart-to-heart type. Also, it would be awkward having a chat with him about how I should probably kill him, but I really don’t want to.
That leaves Adrianna. I could, I suppose, go to the Hall of the Dead and pour out my sorrows to her portrait. But she wouldn’t answer back.
Flinging my covers off, I jump out of bed, suddenly remembering the letter I got from Metis. I put it in my desk drawer intending to read it when I was ready. Some part of me imagined lit candles and soft classical music playing, as I finally opened the scroll. Like it was a scene in a movie.
But all that is forgotten now as I grab the letter and crawl back beneath my covers to stay warm.
“Okay, Adrianna,” I say while untying the ribbon holding the scroll closed. “I know we never got a chance to have any mother/daughter moments, and I’m kinda putting a lot of pressure on a letter that wasn’t even written to me, but please give me sort of direction here.”
“Stop talking to yourself, weirdo,” Tina yells from the bathroom.
Ignoring her, I slowly unroll the letter and start to read.
Dear Metis,
I am writing to ask for your help. In approximately five months’ time I will be giving birth. As the child’s father is a god, your help will be necessary if I want any chance of surviving the baby’s birthday. I know that I am not the first student to come to you with such a request.
I hope you will not withhold your help on account of my waiting three months before sharing this news with you. I feared you would encourage me to abort the child. In truth, when I first realized my condition, this option was my own preference. However, as you know, I am close friends with a seer of no small talent. She sensed what I had brewing in my belly and after laying hands on me, told me the child would be a girl. A girl with the power to destroy the world as we know it. I’m aware that carrying such a fearsome creature within me should have frightened me. But I actually believe the world could do with a bit of destroying. And why shouldn�
��t a girl get to try her hand at it?
So I held this secret and the child has grown. The woman in my family carry small, and my magic uniform has adjusted to the few pounds I have put on. I meant her to be my own little seed of rebellion, even if I never lived to see it. You see, I was willing to risk dying in childbirth to bring her into the world. Perhaps I even wished to bring an end to my own existence. It is a foolish mortal who tangles with gods. Though at the start it was exciting, over time it’s become clear I am not special in any way. That this god has an endless thirst and I was but a cup of water pressed into his hand.
He swallowed me up and pissed me out.
Ah, sorry to be crude. The bitterness bubbles up, although less so these days. You see, in the last few weeks something has changed. My little Edie—for that is what I have come to call her—moves within me. I imagine her face and her laugh and...her life.
I no longer wish to bring a destroyer into the world. And I no longer wish to push her out into a cold world without her mother at her side. I want to live, Metis. I need to live. I will teach my little girl that not all gods can be trusted. I will teach her to see the foolishness of this endless unwinnable war. I will teach her that there is a difference between justice and vengeance.
But mostly, I will teach her love. For I love her already, almost more than I can bear. I will endure anything to bring her safely into this world and to keep her in it.
Please help me and my little Edie.
With the greatest of hopes,
Adrianna Aspostolos
Tears course down my cheeks as I press the letter to my chest. I didn’t find the answers I wanted here. Instead I found something better.
My mother loved me. She wanted to live. Tried to live. For me.
Carefully, I roll the letter up once more and place it at the back of my wardrobe. I get dressed for the day and by the time I’m ready, I’ve made up my mind.
I will ask Val to help me get the next piece of the sword. My mother trusted in me, even while knowing the destruction I might be capable of. Maybe I need to trust myself a little more too.
Tina finally comes out of the bathroom and must immediately sense the change in me, because she sighs and says, “Awww, no more gloom and doom face? And I was just about to lend you my black nail polish.”
“You’re all heart, Tina,” I respond, just as there’s a knock on the door.
“That’s probably Val,” she says. “Kevin likes playing with Bowie.” Before reaching to open the door, Tina removes Bowie from the box she keeps him in at night. Popping him on her shoulder, she flings the door open.
My back is turned as I gather my books for the day, but there’s no mistaking Tina’s hiss. I spin around to see her in full fangs out mode as Nico stands in the hallway.
“Go away,” she says, pushing the door closed once more.
With a growl, Nico shoulders his way in. “I’m not here to see you, Moggy.”
Normally Tina lets my friends come and go, but well...Nico isn’t exactly a friend. And there’s so much tension between him and the vamps that I can see why she doesn’t want him in her personal space.
It’s no surprise when she moves in front of him, blocking his way. “You take another step into this room and we’re gonna have a problem.”
Nico puffs up as hair sprouts all over his body. He purposely pushes forward, leading with his shoulder. Tina leans forward too.
Hiss.
Growl.
Thunk.
Somehow poor Bowie gets in the middle and falls to the ground.
We all stare down at him. He looks dead. Very very dead.
“What the…” Nico starts to say as he leans down toward the bird. Before he can get any closer, Vee attaches herself to his face.
It happens so quick that I didn’t even see her growing a long tendril until she was stretched across the room trying to devour Nico’s nose.
“Gah!” He grabs hold of Vee’s “throat” and squeezes. I swear Vee moans.
“Nico, no!” I rush forward just as Tina’s hands close around Nico’s ruined face.
I shove her away with one talon and Nico with the other. Then I reach down toward Vee.
“Don’t!” Tina exclaims, nudging me aside. “You’ll hurt her more, you big clumsy dragon.”
I didn’t even realize I’d shifted. It’s the first time that’s happened. Usually there’s a moment where I give way, but this time—it was seamless. Maybe someday I’ll actually reach a point that most shifters begin at: being at one with my other half. For Nico, Jordan, and Greg—they are their animal and their animal is them. It all fits under the big “me” umbrella. I’m not quite there yet.
With the tip of a wing, I scoop up Vee’s now crushed tendril and drape it over Tina’s shoulder. She glances up at me in surprise, as I shift back, having proven my point. Although, as usual, she doesn’t seem to care.
Tina gathers up Vee and her pot, then stalks toward the door. She pauses in front of Nico and leans in close, “If you ever invade my room again, I will kill you.”
He starts his growling nonsense again, but this time I’ve had enough.
“Nico, we’ve got the whole campus. Do you really need to be here?”
He turns to me wide-eyed and almost hurt. “I can’t come to my girlfriend’s room then?”
“Girlfriend?” Tina laughs. “Okay then.” She glances back at me. “I’m gonna go meet Val. He doesn’t need to start his morning being part of this mess.” With that she sweeps out into the hallway. “Bowie, c’mon,” she calls as an after-thought.
Somewhere in all the chaos Bowie found his feet again, and he totters out the door.
Nico frowns, watching it, then turns to me. “I could’ve sworn that bird was dead.”
I shrug and force a smile. “Tina taught it to play dead. Convincing, right?” Nico doesn’t look convinced, but I’m not really in the mood to appease him right now, so I cut to the chase. “Nico, what are you doing here?”
“Sorry. Next time I want to surprise you with a gift, I guess I’ll schedule it with Tina first.” With angry, jerky movements, Nico takes off his pack and unzips it. Just barely I keep myself from rolling my eyes at this passive aggressive display. “Here,” he says, shoving a bouquet of red roses in my face. “These are for you.”
My eyes widen in surprise. Nico never really struck me as the giving flowers type. “Okay,” I say, taking the crushed roses. “Thank you?”
Nico nods as if whatever this is has gotten back on track. I’m still confused when he takes my hand in both of his and places it over his heart.
“When my father first met my mother, he wanted to prove he could be useful to her. So he killed a satyr, cut it into pieces, and gifted her different parts for five days—ending on the last day with the head.” Nico has a dreamy look in his eyes, like this is what happens in epic romances or something. “My mom always said she was pretty sure she I was conceived on that fifth night.”
“Ew.” I don’t mean to say it out loud, but it’s hard to keep that level of disgust bottled inside.
“I know,” Nico says, nodding like we’re on the same wavelength. “Parents having sex is gross, but it’s important because it’s where my life began and...it’s where I want to begin with you.”
Releasing my hand, Nico gets down on one knee. The way a person does when they’re getting ready to propose marriage.
Since I’m at the point where I don’t even want to share a turkey sandwich with Nico, I really hope he’s not gonna suggest we pledge to share the rest of our lives together.
He pulls something out of his pocket. I breathe a sigh of relief when it’s only a piece of paper and not a ring box.
“Edie, I’ve noticed you’ve been a little distant lately. And I realized it’s because I haven’t proven myself to you the way my father did with my mom. So I want you to have this.” He stretches his arm up to me.
After a moment of hesitation, I take it from his hand.
“R
ead it,” he urges.
Slowly, I unfold the piece of paper and then read the words written upon it.
Leviathan. Bay of Biscay.
Nico stands, a grin on his face. “I’ve got a portal key, so we can leave right away. Mr. Zee gave us permission to miss classes.”
My head is pounding and my mouth has gone dry. Leviathan killed my father. I came to Mount Olympus Academy with the goal of killing him. But that seems like a million years ago.
“I…” No words come to me, until finally, “How did you even know about Levi and what he did?”
“Your sister told me.”
“What?” My hands clench, crushing that paper. “Is this when you were torturing her?”
“No, of course not!” I’m slightly mollified when he seems offended by the very thought. But then he adds, “It was when I was threatening to torture her. She told me you loved red roses and then when I told her that I needed more than that, she gave me the whole ugly story of your parents’ love triangle with Levi.”
“It wasn’t a love triangle!” I respond angrily. “Levi fell for my mom and she wanted nothing to do with him.”
Nico shakes his head, “That’s not what Hermes told me. I went to him for the key and he said your mom was a bit of a tease. Hermes says she flirted with Levi, encouraged him—”
I am so mad that I can’t see straight. “What does Hermes know about it?”
Nico responds with something about my mom coming on to Hermes too...but it’s lost behind a buzzing in my ears as the pieces fall into place.
“Is Hermes the one who gave you Leviathan’s current location?” I ask, interrupting Nico mid-sentence.
“Yes. As a personal favor to me,” Nico says, as if making sure he gets the credit instead of Hermes is the important thing here.
But that really couldn’t matter less to me, because suddenly I’m seeing the big picture.
Hermes killed my grandma. He was there that day at the same time as Leviathan—almost like he knew the monster was coming. Hermes is the one who first focused my attention on Levi too. Using him as proof that the monsters are bad. And that I needed to come with him to Mount Olympus Academy.
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