Chapter 28
Chapter XXVIII
Demi
“Cassie!”
I burst into the cabin, heart racing, thoughts scattered. Okay, I was freaking out a little. Fine. A lot.
Cassie strolled out of her room like she hadn’t shattered curfew—and possibly the show’s PG rating—on her unsanctioned date with Carter last night.
She wore a bright-purple robe with a giant skull on the back—her version of cozy.
Even half asleep, she looked gorgeous. Hair tousled, lips swollen, skin glowing in that unmistakable post-date way that practically whispered, Viewer discretion advised.
I didn’t ask.
She definitely wasn’t going to tell.
“For the love of Olympus,” she croaked, rubbing her eyes, “what’s going on?”
“I have news. Big news.” I paused for dramatic effect. “Oh, and I kissed Roman again.”
Cassie grinned and padded toward the kitchen. “Okay, maybe this was worth getting up for.”
I followed, dropping onto a stool at the bar counter as she rummaged through her apothecary of enchanted teas.
“What should I brew this morning?” she mused. “Something for fertility? Because you’re glowing.”
“Uh, no. We only kissed. And the jury’s still out on whether he’s my true love or not.”
Cassie paused, one brow arched. “Wait. I thought you told me last night—after your interview—you were sure he wasn’t.”
“Well,” I sighed, “I changed my mind. Again.”
She pulled out her special teapot—blackened and gleaming, forged in the underworld by her mother, Hecate—and set it on the burner with a hiss.
“You’re giving me whiplash,” she muttered. “We need a brew of clarity. Maybe with a splash of grounding.”
“Yes, please.”
My head was spinning.
From the kiss. From the terrifying thought that maybe—just maybe—Roman and I had been torn apart unnaturally. And now the universe was trying to stitch us back together.
Cassie grabbed two teacups—each painted with tiny torches that flickered like real flames, enchanted to keep your drink warm and your secrets warmer. “Spill, sister.”
I didn’t even know where to start. So I didn’t, really. I just let it all tumble out.
Roman playing hero.
Roman playing twenty questions and making it feel like he actually wanted to get to know me.
Roman admitting something was missing in his life. Was it me?
Roman quoting his dad about soulmates and unnatural deviations and devotion so deep it bordered on mythical.
And the kiss. Definitely the kiss.
Yes, I’d lied to him again about how good it was. I couldn’t hand him the key to a door I wasn’t ready to open. And I wanted him to keep on knocking because every time we kissed, my heart sparked. I missed my heart so much.
Cassie didn’t interrupt. She just poured the tea, steam curling between us, and waited for me to finish my tale.
When I was done, I let out a deep breath and grabbed the cup Cassie had placed in front of me.
She leaned on the counter, studying me. Her cheeks twitched as if she were holding back ten different smiles.
“What?” I asked, suddenly nervous.
“I’ve just never seen you like this,” she said, voice soft but amused. “You’re bubbly. Not I’ll stab you if you look at me the wrong way anymore.”
“Was I really that bad?”
“Oh yes, darling. But I dug it.” She winked. “But . . . I think this is more you.”
“Probably.”
I wrapped both hands around the cup, letting the warmth seep into my palms.
“But I’m so confused right now.”
I took a sip. It tasted minty and earthy—like fresh soil and old-fashioned peppermint candy. Grounding, just like she’d promised.
Cassie took the stool next to me. “So what do you think this means?”
I rested my elbow on the counter, propping my head up with my hand like it might keep my thoughts from spinning off into the ether.
“Well . . . what if Roman and I were torn apart by unnatural means? Maybe that’s why his soul didn’t recognize mine when we first met.
But then—why did I recognize him? And what kind of unnatural force could’ve done that?
I don’t know. It feels like I’m trying to solve a mystery that might not even be real.
Like I’m twisting the pieces to make them fit. ”
Cassie grinned, stirring her tea without a spoon like it was a cauldron.
“First of all, this is a quest. Of course there’s something to unravel. Pieces to find. Truths to fit together. And you didn’t recognize Roman as your soulmate—your goddess side did.”
“But his god side didn’t,” I countered, too fast, too ready to dismiss this all as insanity. “Except . . .” My head snapped up. A realization hit me like a thunderbolt.
Cassie tilted her head, waiting.
“Except,” I said slowly, “his abilities are limited to touch. And we never touched until I came here. And my heart is locked—so his Cupid can’t read it. But every time we do touch . . . he tries. Like, so desperately I can physically feel it.”
“Huh,” Cassie said casually, but the way her eyes were lighting up was anything but casual. “That is more than interesting.”
“Interesting how?” I begged to know.
“I’m no expert here, but I can’t find any source that has ever documented a divinity lying to his or her mortal side. And armed with this new information, I think you have to conclude that Roman is your soulmate.”
I rubbed my lips together, fearing she was right.
“Oh. My. Titans.”
“Yeah,” Cassie agreed.
“But if it’s true, how do we get our souls to recognize each other? My heart is locked. And what unnaturally tore us apart?”
“Didn’t you mention something about having to lay it all on the line?”
“Um, yes,” I said uneasily. “I don’t really like the way that sounds. I don’t want to die for Roman. Sure, he’s pretty, and his kissing skills are second to none, but I don’t think that’s worth dying for.”
Cassie gave a cackling laugh.
“You’re not going to die, and neither is he. Although if I have to go to another hoedown or play minigolf on another date, somebody is dying or at least getting poisoned.”
I giggled, but the anxiety hadn’t gone anywhere. If anything, it was heightened.
“So, what does it mean?” I asked. “And how do I get Roman’s Cupid to recognize my soul before the full moon in August? Which, by the way, is terrifyingly close,” I said, panicked. We’d already been here for almost two weeks.
“I could be wrong here, but I don’t think it’s that side of him who needs to lay it all on the line. Roman does. He has to fall in love with you enough to risk everything. Enough for your heart to unlock so that you can love him the same way.”
I laid my head dramatically on the counter, brain swimming with what all this meant.
“Cassie,” I murmured. “How do I get him to fall in love with me?”
She didn’t even flinch. “You’re going to have to be vulnerable. Lay everything on the line.”
“What does that even mean?”
“Demi, you’re a goddess of love. I think you know what that means. You even said it in your audition tape when you quoted your mom—that the other’s person’s happiness needs to become more important than your own.”
“Is that all?” I asked, voice rising. “How is any of that supposed to happen in the next month? A month where he’s not even supposed to be fraternizing with me, and I’m supposed to be pretend dating the other cast members?”
Cassie shrugged, unfazed. “Obviously, he doesn’t care about breaking the rules for you. That’s a start.” She wagged her brows. “I mean, maybe you could just tell him he’s the one.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. This sounds weird, but I think part of it is . . . he has to come to recognize me on his own. Because if not, would he really be risking everything? Does that make sense?” I wasn’t even sure if it did. I sounded more like a mystic instead of myself.
Cassie considered that, her teasing expression softening. “Actually,” she said, “I think that does makes sense.”
“But does that mean I’m not risking everything because I know?” That thought scared me enough to make my voice hitch.
Cassie took my hand. “I think you did risk everything when you were seventeen and you went to him. You laid your heart on the line that night.”
I closed my eyes for half a moment and saw her.
That scared, lonely girl who just wanted Roman to see her.
The real her. I really had laid it all on the line that night.
And when it turned out horribly, it had crushed me.
It sounded so dramatic, but maybe it also made sense, given what I now knew.
When the other part of your soul rejects you, it does something to you.
Breaks you. But that begged the question:
“If this is all true . . . who or what unnaturally ripped us apart?” I thought about Roman saying how he felt as if he’d been placed on the wrong path.
Cassie tapped her finger against her lip. “Well, we are Greek goddesses. Our history is basically a highlight reel of shady divine interferences. You’ll probably have to ask Zeus or your father. I bet they know. It might even be why they sent you on this quest. It was a course correction.”
That thought irritated me. “Why not just tell me?”
“Like you said, maybe true love is something you have to discover on your own? And would you have really believed your dad if he told you that you had to fall in love with Roman, of all people?”
I groaned. “Yeah, that probably wouldn’t have gone over well.”
We both took a moment to sip our tea and let all of this sink in.
Holy celestial drama. Roman and I were meant to be together.
This was not a drill. I really should apologize to my divine half for calling her a liar all these years and refusing to let her guide me.
Maybe if I’d been more in tune with her, I wouldn’t have locked my heart . . . or started wearing black muumuus.
“So, what do I do now?” I asked, voice barely above a whisper.
Cassie didn’t hesitate. “I think it’s pretty obvious. You have to get Roman to fall inexplicably and undeniably in love with you, and you’re going to have to love him as much as you can with your locked heart.”
“Oh,” I sang, mock cheerful. “Is that all?”
This was going to take a miracle.