Chapter Thirteen
Sweat trickled down my nose—slow, tickling, and unseen in the dark. To wipe it away was to line my prison with more shredded skin.
I shuddered, biting my lip hard. Pain sent a jolt to my brain and I peeled my eyes open. It made no difference to the dark, but falling asleep made a difference to my life.
That bread stopped me from feeling hunger, thirst, and the burning urge to pee. It did nothing to stop me from needing to sleep.
And that’s by design. They want me to wobble on shaking legs, desperately fighting to stay awake while pointed sentries haunted the dark. After one night, anyone trapped in here is begging to give Headmaster Drakos everything he wants.
Don’t let him break you. Stay awake, Aella.
Stay awake. Think of Mom holding strong all these years—waiting and trusting that we’d be together again. If she can hold on, so can I.
All I have to do is stay... awake...
THE MAIDEN REVEALEDher prize, and my blood graced the stone before me. I followed, collapsing in a heap on the ground.
“Get up, girl.”
Commander Vasili grabbed my forearms. My blood slicked his hold, dropping me right back on the floor.
“Ahh!” Pain ravaged my entire front and the half of my face unfortunate enough to meet the spikes. “P-please... help...”
“I said get up.”
I tried. Pushing up, my ruined hands dumped me flat. The world spun as two pairs of boots paused by either side of my head.
The commander and a man my double vision didn’t recognize hooked me under the arms. I knew nothing other than I was moving. Leaving. My leather-wrapped toes knocked against each step as they carried me up.
I lifted my head and it lolled, tipping my chin to the ceiling. “How... long?”
I wasn’t asking them. I was speaking to the goddess. She was with me as the hours bled. Always with me, always laughing, always crowing about her imprisonment coming to an end.
“Three days.”
Cool air hit my face. I think I blacked out because when I woke again, I was in the infirmary. Healer Helena bustled over when I sat up.
I was in a soothing place of brown limestone walls and two rows of soft beds resting beneath its own stained-glass windows. They cast a myriad of colors on me as the healer shoved vial after vial in my hand.
“Easy, dear. Give the potions time to do their work.”
“What time is it?” I croaked. “What happened?”
“What happened is the culprit finally confessed. It took three days, but she finally admitted her part in this sorry affair.” She tutted. “One can understand the girl isn’t too fond of children of Hades after one killed her father, but to go this far—putting all of her comrades in danger for revenge—I’ve never witnessed anything so shameful.”
“She?” My head pounded. I tipped one of the vials into my mouth, hoping it would help. “Who was it?”
“Liza Pagonia.”
“Liza?” I cried. “The same girl who spends every night piled under books in the library? She wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
“She confessed in full, child.” A deep frown further wrinkled her lined, powdery cheeks. “She wanted those Hades boys to be sentenced to hard labor or, better yet, death.” She patted my hand. “I’m only sorry all of you innocent trainees were forced to suffer for three long days. One should have just as much confidence owning up to the crime as they do committing it.”
Her chatter faded into the background. My mind spun with a thousand questions. Had Liza really been working for Selene the entire time? Why not? It’s not like I really knew the girl, but why did she sacrifice herself now, and why wait three damn days to do it?
My hands shook, rubbing my arms and the phantom stab wounds—physically healed but mentally... always there. How could it be legal to put teenagers through that torture? Most of them they knew were innocent. What sort of place had I come to?
“Lift your chin, girl. You did well. You didn’t break.”
I waited until Helena walked away to reply.
“Don’t praise me. I thought two years in the hospital was the worst thing I’d ever go through.” I swallowed hard. “I’d do another twenty years if it meant never spending one more second in the reflection room. How could you cause this? How could you do that to Sebastian?”
“Spare me your empty witterings. You care nothing for the Barba boy. You hate him by your own admission.”
“But I—!”
“Enough. You refused to see the boy dead. I found another way. If you disapprove of my nonlethal methods, I’ll take no issue with returning to my lethal ones. Is that what you would like, daughter of the Fates?”
I didn’t reply.
“Good.” The satisfaction in her voice sickened me. “Now cease your scolding and return to the matter at hand. Three suns and moons were wasted while that Liza girl dared to negotiate the terms of her surrender. I should hope you used that time wisely, because I tire of your delays.
“You now have seven moons to find and release me from my prison. Should you fail in that time, I shall kill your useless mother and find a hostage you do care about. Maybe the Damien boy? It has occurred to me that was his role all along. To die in aid of forcing you to break my chains.”
If she expected me to shout, scream, and argue, she didn’t get her wish.
“I’m telling you for the last time, stop threatening me,” I replied, tone measured. “There’s no need. As medieval and barbaric as it was, the reflection room achieved its goal. Thinking about Mom and saving her focused my thoughts and kept me awake.
“I know who the believer is.”
There was a pause. “Do you jest, girl? I warn you, I have no patience for your mortal jokes.”
“I’m not joking, and I fuck sure wouldn’t joke with you.” I made to stand and fell back hard, head spinning. “As soon as the potions kick in, we’re ending this.”
That took about another hour. Eventually, I said thank you and goodbye to Healer Helena and made my way to the atrium of the gods. They stood there, tall and imposing, daring me to reveal their secrets.
“It’s her,” I whispered. “Hestia. She’s the believer.”
“Goddess of the hearth? Why do you say this?”
“Goddess of the hearth and home. Goddess of family.” I touched the feet of her statue, gazing up. “The last three days of that hell, it was Mom I thought of to stay sane. Remembering when I was safe and home with her in our apartment behind our flower shop. That’s where I felt safe.
“In the end, that’s where we all put our faith. It’s what we believe in. The families we’re given or the families we’ve made. Of course, it’s Hestia. I should’ve seen that sooner.”
She sniffed, but she didn’t argue with my conclusion. “You’re quick to congratulate yourself, but you’ve yet to solve the next part of that prophecy. In their eyes hold their lies. What does it mean?”
“I thought about that too. Movies and television make us think prophecies are impossible riddles meant to confuse and trick, but what if this one couldn’t be more straightforward?”
“Explain.”
“Well...” I backed away, following Hestia’s gaze. “What do you see when you look in someone’s eyes?”
“Their eyes.”
“No— I mean, yes,” I corrected, tossing my head. “Of course you see their eyes, but what do their eyes hold?”
“They hold... a reflection of you.”
“Exactly. I went around stabbing eyeballs for nothing. It’s not about what’s in Hestia’s, Athena’s, and Zeus’s eyes. It’s about what they’re looking at.”
“What are they looking at?” Urgency filled her voice. “What is it, my savior, my champion. Find it. Free me!”
I winced at her shout but didn’t let it throw me off. “Okay, Hestia is looking at Apollo’s lyre, I think. Athena is looking at Hephaestus’s hammer, and Zeus is looking at Hera’s... ear?”
“Her diadem, silly girl. It is one of her symbols. The mark of a queen.”
I bobbed my head, stepping back into the middle of the atrium. “Okay, it’s the lyre, hammer, and diadem. What now? Do I have to get up there and touch them? Is there some ord—?”
I pitched forward, my body heaved off the floor and dropped none too gently on my hands and knees. Crying out, the sound was lost under the rumbling, creaky groaning of the stones beneath me. My eyes bugged as they fell away.
Scurrying back, I stared as the stones holding up the spot where I was standing crumbled and dropped, escaping into a pit that grew bigger and bigger.
“Oh my gods,” I breathed, crawling to the rim of the pit. Carefully, I looked down.
Darkness. Nothing but darkness—
“Except...” I squinted. “Is that water? Is the entrance to your prison an oversized well?”
“I suspect that’s Lethe water, girl. You must swim through it to get to me. Hermes,” she spat. “Always the clever one.”
“That’s why no one can remember their own name before they even get to you.” I flicked up. “The protections on this are clever. A passphrase that won’t come up in casual conversation. A Lethe bath. No other markings or indications that this place or those statues are important. No wonder no one found you for thousands of years.”
“Jump.”
“Slow down. I’m no use to you either if I wind up another clueless, babbling idiot, wandering around and asking every twig and rock if it’s my mommy. It’s only your guess that my past can’t be taken from me. If you’re wrong, we won’t get another chance.”
Mom won’t get another chance.
“That is not the case. You have an advantage my allies did not have. Me,” she stated. “I am in your ear. That Lethe water will not work on jewelry. I will tell you who you are and remind you of your purpose, should you forget.
That was so not happening, I didn’t have the words to express it. The last fucking thing I was going to do was let a cruel, vengeful, mother-abducting goddess who still wouldn’t tell me the truth of why she was imprisoned, fill in the blanks on my personality, mission, and purpose.
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not getting into all the reasons why that’s not an option because”—I reached down into the pit—“we have another problem.”
“What is it now?” she snapped.
“Don’t get mad at me.” I pushed, then pushed harder. “Why didn’t you tell me there was some kind of invisible barrier above this thing? Is there more to the prophecy that you left out? How do I get past this?”
“What did you say?”
“I said how do I get past this barrier?” Swinging my legs above, I hammered my heels against the unseen force. It was like kicking a wall. “Fuck’s sake, what’s the point of this? Why reveal the hole and the Lethe trap if you can’t even get in it? Might as well not have a passphrase to open it at all.”
“Arggh!”
I jerked, crying out and clamping my hands over my ringing ears. “What the fuck was that for!”
“There should be no barrier. It does not belong there! Every time,” she cried to herself. “So close. My freedom. So close.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It is not within the power of the Twelve gods to erect the magical barrier before you. That is the purview of Hecate, and she was not present when I was banished and locked away.”
My mind whirred, putting the pieces together. “Does that mean a child of Hecate did this?”
“Yes.” Her voice was no more than a hiss.
“Did they do it after you had Mom taken?”
“It is the only explanation. The barrier is between the Lethe water. My allies would not have been prevented from telling me of its existence.”
I leaned over, pressing my hand to another barrier between me and Mom. “What does this mean? Someone found out the prison was opened and erected this barrier to make sure no one else could go in? Or come out?”
She didn’t reply.
“How do I get rid of it?”
“A child of Hecate is the only one who can, and no,” she barked, “you may not recruit one. No one else is to know of what you’ve found here tonight. I clearly have an enemy within these walls, working against my freedom. They could be any child of Hecate. That Hecate spawn could have allies of their own. You shall not take the risk, and you will not have more time!
“Seven moons. Either I’m freed, or your mother never will be.”
Her voice faded.
I didn’t need to ask to confirm. The conversation was closed.
I RAPPED ON ALEX’Sdoor that night. There was no worrying about being caught by Sirena. She was one of the still lumps on a mattress in the infirmary. I wouldn’t lie. My vindictive side delighted that the Fates saw fit she should be beaten to a pulp a second time.
Alex opened the door, and I threw myself in his arms.
“Aella!” He spun me off my feet. “Thank the gods you’re okay. I went looking for you after they let me out, but the reflection rooms are scattered about the bowels of this place. I searched until Hondros found me and put me to sleep. I woke up to you knocking on the door.”
“It’s okay, Alex, but please, let’s never talk about that room again. I understand now why instructors only had to say the name, and everyone got their shit together quick.”
“It’s barbaric.” He cupped my cheek. “I hate that you’re only seeing the ugly side of Olympia. Monsters, forced conscriptions, dirty politics, that room, and your mother’s abduction. I bet every day you’re thankful you didn’t grow up here.”
I smiled softly. “It’s not exactly paradise in the mortal dominion either. All those thieves breaking in and ransacking our shop to figure out our secrets. War, rape, murder, locking away anyone who doesn’t speak what the majority decides is reality.
“There are monsters in every world, Alex, but at least in this one, there’s you.”
He groaned a ragged breath, hugging me tight. “Gods, I love you so much.”
I opened my mouth to say I loved him too when his slammed on mine. I promptly forgot about speaking.
It was like our first kiss, except better in every way.
Alexander cupped the back of my head, tipping me in his hold. I clung to him—the only thing keeping me up. Anchoring me to everything.
Eyes so heated, but his lips were soft and warm. They banished my hate, anger, fear, and the horrible deadline hanging over my and my mother’s head. Nothing existed in this room—in this life—except me and Alexander.
He guided me onto the bed, our bodies and mouths still connected. I’d never gotten blind drunk before, though I had to believe this was what it was like. My head spun. Pulse raced. Breaths quickened. I felt clear and silly at the same time. Like I was about to jump off a cliff without wings, but the joy of falling through the air was worth the end.
His tongue tangled with mine, inviting me to play. I moaned as he caressed me, suddenly sure that this was nothing like being drunk. If wine gave this feeling, no one in the land would set down a bottle.
Fingers tickled my ankle, skating higher along my thigh and slipping under my clothes. I dropped my knee, making clear what I wanted him to do.
Alexander brushed over my band and kept going—chuckling at my grunt of irritation. His arm tugged my tunic along with it. My heart thumped as he slipped it over my head. Why? I did not know.
I was horribly nervous and we’d gone further than this before.
But that time, those times, we were lost in love. This time is different. We know how precious this is because we’re on the edge of losing everything.
I pressed my palm to his heart, secretly thrilled it beat as hard as mine. The son of Zeus boiled everyone’s blood, but I boiled his.
Alexander popped my breastband, tossing it somewhere over his shoulder. I smothered a laugh when it landed in the fireplace. Alex was always saying it was a crime for me to wear clothes.
Our scant clothes came off in a flurry of kisses and moans.
Alexander kissed under my ear, rippling goose bumps down my flesh. “You’re mine, Aella Vanda. I’ll follow you anywhere. Everywhere. I’ve been yours since the day fate dropped you on my head.”
“You know, when we tell people the story of how we met, we can leave out the dropping-on-head part. To be fair, I—”
He captured my lips, ending my noise full stop. I broke from him, gasping. The ceiling spun overhead as his mouth moved lower, leaving nipping, teasing kisses down the valley of my breasts to my tender stomach. Alexander flipped me over, continuing his path one by one, kiss by kiss, up the ridges of my spine. I melted like putty on the mattress.
My excitement built as he turned me back and dipped his head between my legs. Alexander kissed the hollow between my thigh and entrance, then pecked down to my knee.
“What made you this way, son of Zeus?”
A low, rumbling chuckle tickled me. He enjoyed teasing me just as much as screwing me. This would be a problem.
Growling, Alexander buried between my legs—tasting me with abandon. I gasped on a cry, back arching off the bed. Okay, he definitely enjoyed this more.
Alexander both took his time and chased me to a high. His tongue probed, rolled, and flicked my tortured nub, waiting until my cries grew hoarse to stop and start all over again. I was a sweaty, limp mess in no time at all.
“By the g-gods,” I stuttered, feeling the fuse lighting and zipping, burning through my veins. One more and I’d—
Alexander flicked the nub and I exploded—snapping over his head and flipping him over as I spasmed, coming so hard white spots danced on the wall.
He escaped my trap and draped himself over me, humming as he bit the shell of my ear. “Who do you belong to?”
My face heated. This was new. “Only one man. The love of my life. My reason for living. The blood that pumps through my veins.
“Orfeas.”
A swat landed on my backside, teasing out a shrieky giggle. Alexander tipped my chin and we kissed slow, sweet, and mind-scrambling.
“On your back, Damien.”
His brows climbed his forehead. “Am I in trouble?”
“Often, I suspect. But not this time.”
I guided him back, marveling at his sculpted, powerful body. It was sinful to be this gorgeous. Alexander had all of Calix’s power without the pink-and-silver smoke.
Flicking down, I bit my lip. His cock stood erect and proud between his legs, daring me to take it on. If anyone’s cock could be brash and smug, it’d be his.
Palming him, the smug bastard and I came eye to eye. I would have Damien out of control and begging under my mercy on this bed.
Feeling it out, I licked his tip. Alexander hissed a sharp breath, thighs tensing.
Emboldened, I swallowed his head and copied the things he did with his tongue.
“Rhea and Cronus, Aella,” he groaned, saying the words like they pained him.
My head bobbed between his legs—licking, sucking, and nipping his length to my heart’s content. Filthy promises and sweet nothings poured from his lips.
“Gods, woman, you’re incredible. Come here.”
“Oh.” Alexander tugged me up with a pop and a squeak. I flew into his arms as he opened them, wrapping my legs around his waist. We rolled on the sheets, kissing and laughing—happier than I knew either one of us had been in a long time.
Rolling to a stop, I found myself beneath him—his forehead pressed to mine. Endless, flinty pools beheld me, transporting me to a land of mossy beds, tickling grass, and a blanket of leaves overhead, shielding us in our own private world.
“Ahh,” I moaned, lids falling shut as he slid past my folds. Alex kissed them, enticing a giggle out of me.
“I love you and belong to you, Aella Vanda.”
I kissed my love. My friend. My savior.
My Alexander.
“I love and belong to you too.”
We moved as one, meeting each other rise for dip. I brushed my lips over the scratches I made on his shoulder, murmuring apologies.
We came together in a fury of moans and promises—bodies shuddering against each other as he spilled inside me.
For hours, days, weeks, an eternity, we made love, exploring every inch of each other. It was too soon that we collapsed into an exhausted, sated heap.
I laid my head on his chest, drifting off to the steady thrum of his beating heart. All that time I wasted agonizing over if I could trust him with everything. As long as there was Alexander, there was only one decision, and I made it.
Consequences be damned.
“Alex, there’s something I have to tell you,” I began.
Selene couldn’t interrupt. I shoved her in a drawer, claiming I was going to the library to study how to break a magic barrier, and I needed to read in peace without her bugging me to read aloud.
“You can tell me anything, Aella.”
I smiled across the pillow, lacing our fingers together. “I know I can. It’s about why my mom was taken in the first place.” I took a deep breath and let it out slow. “The thing is I was born a—”
Knock. Knock.
Alex frowned at the door. “Who’d be knocking this late? Ignore them,” he said, pulling me closer. “What were you saying?”
Knock. Knock.
“Son.”
Alex shot up.
“Wake up. I apologize for the late hour, but we must speak.”
“What the hades?” Alex hissed. “What is he doing here?”
“Your father?” I pulled the covers over my chest, whipping around. “What do we do?”
He scrambled out of bed, hurriedly doing up his underclothes, pants, and shoving on his tunic. “He can’t find you here,” he whispered. “Aella, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, but...” His gaze drifted over my head.
I followed his line of sight to the wardrobe. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“Shh,” he hissed, waving his hands. “I wouldn’t ask you to do this if there was another way.”
Another knock sounded on the door—louder that time.
“Aella, please, he doesn’t need me to open that door to come in, and he won’t wait much longer. You have to hide.”
Swallowing my protests, I got up, quickly dressed, and ducked into the wardrobe just as the door banged open. I clamped my hand over my mouth, smothering a surprised cry. Through the crack in the wardrobe door, I saw an imposing, muscled figure cross the carpet.
“Are you all right, boy? I thought I heard voices.”
“Fine, Father.” Alex yawned loud, and rather obvious to my ears. “I must’ve been talking in my sleep. What are you doing here, kiri? Can the palace spare you?”
“I dare say they can for one night. Sit,” the deep voice ordered. “I have something to discuss with you, and it had to be said in person.”
“Is something wrong? Did something happen to Aunt Sara? My cousins?”
“They are perfectly well.” Shuffling, then they ducked out of my sight. I guessed they moved to the armchairs by the fire. “I’m here because of Sirena. We are here because of Sirena. Her mother traveled with me.”
“But I checked on her a few hours ago,” Alex cried. “She was fine. What happened?”
“She is not fine, boy. She was beaten, disgraced, and humiliated before the entire novice class. Sisypheans outsmarted and ambushed you. Ambushed all of you.” I heard the anger and disgust in his voice loud and clear.
I could feel him thinking that none of this would’ve happened if the Sisypheans had been kicked out of Deucalion like he wanted.
“Kiri, if you’re here because you want to know how this happened, it’s because the Titans keep treating the Sisypheans like—?”
“No,” his father sliced in. “I know why this happened. It’s because Sirena was under the impression you have a lover. Is it true?”
I held my breath as silence reigned.
“Does it matter if it’s true? Sirena and I aren’t promised to each other. We’re not engaged,” Alex said. “You’re the one who told me I needed to be absolutely sure of who I commit to. Even more so who I marry.”
“Yes, yes, I don’t deny it,” Maximos replied. “I told you to sow your oats and enjoy your freedom while you’re still young enough to do so. I said as much to Lia. It was I who encouraged you, and therefore caused this rift between you and Sirena.”
“Rift?”
“Come now, boy. You and Sirena have been friends since swaddling. We know her. We trust her. There will never be a more suitable wife. I allowed your exploration, because I knew you’d choose Sirena in the end. I daresay, Lia and Sirena knew the same—which is why neither pushed for the marriage contract. Unfortunately, things have changed.”
“Changed?” Alex repeated. “What’s changed? Father, why are you here?”
“I am here because the mere suggestion of you being in love with another girl resulted in an embarrassing public spectacle, a dressing-down by an upstart horse talker, and then Sirena’s defeat.
“None of which would’ve happened if you hadn’t publicly rejected the girl. The whole world watched you tell the strongest Hera’s daughter in a generation that she wasn’t good enough for you.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
I was tenser than a bowstring—barely moving. Barely breathing.
“I reminded her that we’re friends, only friends, but still friends. You taught me to behave honorably with women. Most importantly not to lead them on.”
“Right you are, Alexander, and that’s why I’m here. Despite your intentions, Lia and Sirena feel you have led the girl on. Lia gets a hundred marriage requests for Sirena a day. She’s turned them all down unseen because she assumed what most have—that Sirena was meant for you.
“Now she says she will endure no more assumptions. The marriage contract between you and Sirena must be signed by end of week, or the Cirillo family is ending their allegiance with the Damiens.”
“But, Father!” There was a thump and crash of something falling over. “She can’t do that!”
“She can, and she will. She feels you have treated her daughter badly, and it’s hard to disagree when I see the girl broken and bleeding in a cot for want of loving you.”
“But you—!” Alex cut off. I could feel him holding in his temper. “Father, you promised me I could choose my wife for love, not position. Like you chose Mother. You said you’d never deny me the happiness you two had.”
“I did say that, son, and I shall not go back on my word.”
What? I leaned forward, eyes wide.
“What do you mean?” Alex asked.
“I told Lia that who you marry is your choice and your choice alone. I agreed to come here and inform you of the situation face-to-face, but ultimately, I shall not tell you what to do, and I will support your decision.”
“I... Thank you, Father.”
I released a breathed I’d been holding since I jumped into the wardrobe. I wondered at the man Sebastian, and possibly the rest of the world, was forced to know. At least with his son, Maximos Damien was good. He was kind, supportive, and everything you could want in a dad.
“So,” Maximos said. “Who is she?”
“Excuse me? She?”
“That’s right.” His tone took on a sharper edge. Harder. “The girl, Eleni Mallas, claimed you were in love with someone, whereas you weren’t in love with someone before.”
“My father has me watched.”
“You did not deny having a lover—although I’m sure you thought yourself very clever dodging the question. Who is this girl, Alexander, because you know very well... this won’t do.”
Clapping my hand over my mouth, I dug the heel of my palm against my heart. It fluttered so wildly against my rib cage, I was sure everyone could hear it.
“There are no secrets between us, son. There can’t be. The last lover to get close to you poisoned you in your sleep. It was by miracle only that you were found and saved in time. For you to be in love with this person—”
He kept saying love like it was a shameful word.
“—indicates a seriousness about the relationship that I did not encourage. I told you to sow your oats. Not plant them in one field. Who is she?” he demanded. “And why have you taken pains that I not already know?”
“I don’t know what you mean, kiri. There’s no way you could know one way or another because you’re no longer having me watched and followed—like you promised.”
“Don’t be a child,” he barked. “I said I would allow you more freedom, and so I did. You weren’t prevented from training with the Wardens of War, or venturing into the mundane dominion. But if you thought I’d toss you out into the cold—alone and unprotected—it shows how na?ve and unprepared for reality you are.”
“Yes, kiri,” Alex spoke, tone neutral. “Of course, kiri.”
“Who is the girl, boy? How unsuitable is she that you’ve gone to lengths to hide her? I tell you now, if she is in any way a threat to you, our position, or our reputation, I will respond thusly. And if she’s a Sisyphean...” His voice trembled like the very idea overwhelmed him with rage and disgust. “She will be removed.”
“There’s no need for that because there is no girl. No one. At all. I’m not in love.”
Even though I knew he had no choice, those words were a dagger through my chest.
“So the Mallas girl lied? She told Sirena that nonsense merely to enrage her?” He hummed. “I see. Her punishment will be forthcoming.”
Heavy footfalls made for the door.
“Wait, no.” Alex stopped them in their tracks. “I wouldn’t say that she was lying, merely that her gift must not be that specific. The notes Sirena stole and read were from a girl I met this summer. I cared for her, but she didn’t feel the same way about me. Lately, I’ve been rereading her notes and imagining what it would’ve been like if she felt the same way, and we could’ve made it work.
“I guess you could say I fell in love with my daydreams and the idea of her, but we’re not actually together, and she’s not here in the academy,” Alex said. “I’ve been hiding nothing and no one, kiri. I’ve only been trying to train, study, and cling to the little bit of privacy I’m allowed—even though that allowance seems to only get smaller.”
A deep, pressing silence filled the room.
Does he believe him? Did his explanation work?
“If this is true, I apologize, son. You’re right. A man should be allowed the privacy of his thoughts, and of course those thoughts are filled with fanciful notions of love. I encouraged it by letting Sara tell you all those stories of when I courted your mother, and then more so by promising to let you marry for love.”
“Kiri? I don’t understand.”
“Why should you understand. It is my failing that allowed you to become such a fool that you’d turn down the best match you’ll ever receive, for a box of old notes and your right hand!”
I recoiled, jaw slackening.
“At least if there’d been a girl, I’d understand this stubborn refusal to marry Sirena, but you admit there’s no one. For no one, I will lose an ally on the council. For no one, trade, loans, and support will cease between our great families. For no one, the imperial heirs—my heir—was shamed and beaten by a couple of Sisypheans with rocks.”
“But, Father, you said this was my choice. You said you’d support me.”
“And so I will. I will stand by and say nothing— No, I will defend you as you foolishly throw away Sirena, even though sense says to secure her hand in marriage, and all the benefits that go with it—and take a mistress or divorce her later.”
I gaped at the crack. Kind? Supportive? Everything you could want in a dad?
Fuck no! Maximos Damien was a bullying, manipulative, evil pig. He tells his son to be honorable with women, and turns around and says to trap one in marriage, so he could use her, cheat on her, then dump her when he was good and ready.
But then, Alex told me plainly. His father was not a good or kind man.
“I could not do those things, Father. Sirena is a friend. She deserves better,” Alex replied. “She deserves love too.”
“You are not hearing me. Nothing is preventing her or you from finding love and companionship in other partners. You’re both free to design the type of marriage that best suits you, but at least before Olympia and the five dominions—you will be Hera and Zeus. The king and queen of Olympia. The king and queen of all.
“But,” Maximos drew out, “the choice is yours. Part of being a man is making and owning your mistakes. It is no longer my responsibility to clean up after your foolish decisions, but know this, my son, with the free time I’ll have now that I’m no longer arranging an engagement celebration, I’ll personally devote myself to finding the girl who mushed up the other side of the bed and left her perfume in the air.”
Horror leadened my soul.
“I am very much looking forward to making her acquaintance,” Daimen hissed. “The girl my son gave up everything for.”
Monster! Evil bastard. Twisted, maniacal, power-hungry, scum-licking—
“There’s no need, Father.” Alex’s voice was flat. “Now that I’ve had time to think and consider, I realize how fortunate I am to marry my best friend.”
No. What’s he saying? No, Alex! No, no, no!
“Love fades, but friendship and trust doesn’t. What could be a more worthy foundation to build a marriage? I’ll do it,” Alex stated, blowing my heart to pieces. “I’ll sign the contract. I’ll marry Sirena.”
“I’m most pleased to hear it, Alexander.” Maximos’s tone changed in an instant. The cold disapproval vanished and the supposedly loving, supportive father returned. “You’ve made a wise choice, son. One that will make you happy, I’m certain of it, for it is your happiness that I hold above all.”
I almost blew another raspberry. If anyone had bullshit pouring out of their mouth, it was Maximos Damien. Never had a bigger load of crap been dropped on the floor. He didn’t care about his son’s happiness. He cared about his son looking happy while he controlled every facet of his life.
“I know you do, Father, and I thank you.” Alex yawned. “If it’s all right, I’d like to go back to sleep. Vasili made it clear lessons resume at dawn. We get no time to rest after the reflection room.”
“Nor should any of you. I should hope the Titans used that time to reflect on how far they’ve fallen, and the Sisypheans used it to repent for how they dared to treat their betters.”
So that’s who Sirena got that irritating word from.
“Good night, Father.”
“Good night, son.” There was a noise that sounded like he was clapping Alex on the shoulder. “I’m very pleased for you both. I will tell Lia the good news now.”
“Thank you.”
The door opened and swung shut. Maximos was finally gone.
“Aella?” The wardrobe swung open. His handsome, pale face found mine through the pants and tunics. “Aella, I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
I just looked at him. “How can I be okay, Alex? I just listened to you agree to marry another woman.”
He winced. “Aella...” Gently, Alex reached in and helped me out. “I hate myself. I have no excuse. No defense. You shouldn’t have had to hear that but—”
“But I did hear,” I broke in. “I heard him threaten me plain as day. If you didn’t agree to marry her, your father was going to hunt me down and remove me.” I smiled mirthlessly. “Don’t know what that means, but I can guess.”
“I did it—”
“—to protect me,” I finished. “Yeah, I know that too. You love me, and you know your father. You know he’ll hurt me.” I shivered. “Just by hearing his voice, I know it too.”
“Aella, please.” He turned my chin to look at him but I tore away, moving to the fireplace. “I don’t want this! I never wanted this. The only thing in this world I want is you.”
I pressed my lips tight. Squeezing my eyes shut, wetness leaked down my cheeks. “I know, Alex. I believe you. I believe that you don’t want to marry Sirena. I believe you love me. I believe that you’re trying to protect me. But...”
I faced him, gaze empty. Soul broken. “I don’t believe you’ll ever stand up to your father. You’re not going to elope and run away with me, Alex, and I’m not going to be your secret, or your mistress.”
“I’d never ask you to be!”
“I know,” I said calmly. “You’re stuck in an impossible position. You’re trying to be a good friend, a good son, a good leader, and a good imperial heir. I don’t fit anywhere in those goals. I’ll always be the half-mundie sesza who doesn’t belong here.
“It doesn’t matter what’s in my eyes or what latched on to my soul like a clingy, god leech. I came here to rescue my mother, and then go home,” I flung. “I want my life back. I want my home back. I want to go to a college where I’m not trained to kill, and then shoved in an iron maiden when I fail!”
“Aella—”
“This isn’t my life, Alex. It was never supposed to be my life,” I cried. “My parents sacrificed everything to save me from this world, and every minute I’ve spent in Olympia has shown me why.” I swallowed hard, shaking my head. “Let’s be honest, you and I have been living in a fantasy.”
“That’s not true!” He closed the distance, taking my face in his hands. “We love each other. That’s not a fantasy. It’s real. We are real.”
“I’m. Going. Home.” My eyes pierced his. “As soon as I rescue my mom, we’re taking the first potion out of this place. Are you coming with us?”
“What? Coming with you?”
“That’s right. Are you willing to leave behind your family, your friends, your fight, your world to live in the mundane dominion with me. Forever.”
He hesitated.
I flung away, making for the door. “That’s all I needed to know.”
“But— Aella, wait!” Alex shot in front of me. “That’s not fair. You sprung that on me without giving me a second to speak. To think.”
“What’s there to think about, Alex? Of course you don’t want to leave your home to live in my alien world with its bellcones, GPS, and all the things I say that you don’t understand. There’s nothing wrong with that,” I said. “You have a duty here. You have purpose, and people relying on you.
“But I’ve only ever had my mom.” Tears welled in my eyes. “You can’t abandon your people, any more than I can kick my mom across the barrier alone. Our relationship always had an expiration date, and even though your father is wrong to force you to marry Sirena, he’s not wrong that your secret lover shouldn’t be the reason you don’t.”
“Stop this. I don’t accept any of it,” he said, tossing his head. “If you’d just slow down and talk to me, we can figure this out. We love each other, Aella. Figuring it out is what people who love each other do.” He turned to lead me back to the bed. “We’ll sit down and discuss all—”
Slipping from his grip, I bolted out the door.
“Aella? Aella, wait!”
Heavy footfalls followed me out, spurring me on faster. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t endure a long, painful talk where we came to the same inevitable conclusion. There was no future for me and Alex. As much as it broke me, we shouldn’t have gotten together at all.
All I’ve done since walking into his life is made it more complicated. It was because of our secret relationship that he was being forced into the marriage contract. All Alex wanted was freedom, and I helped his father tighten the chains.
We never made sense. An Olympian and a half-mortal. A Titan and a Sisyphean. The future leader of all, and the girl clinging to the shadows.
Selene was right to yell and shout in my ear about wasting time with love when Mom needed me. Love wasn’t going to save my mother. It wouldn’t change our realities. It wouldn’t change the future.
Like Sebastian said, sometimes fate isn’t the bitch, it’s the enemies standing in your way. Selene and Maximos Damien. Those were two enemies we were never meant to defeat.
At least not together. Separately... we may have a chance of eking out a happy life.
“Aella! Aella, please, wait!”
His shouts faded as my speed quickened. I’m sorry, Alex. I’m doing this for you.
Tears blinded me.
One day you’ll understand.
I slammed into my dorm and locked the door, heart thundering.
Our space was dim and quiet—barring soft snores from Theron’s alcove.
I stumbled my way through, wanting nothing more than to crawl under my covers and never come out.
Ducking inside, hands seized me. I cried out as a large sweaty palm clamped my mouth.
“Our wise and hallowed goddess would prefer you stop removing her from your wrist,” a deep voice hissed in my ear. “This is so you don’t need to be told a third time.”
Something shoved roughly over my hand, bending back a finger. I was flung away to crash onto the bed.
Whipping around, I shouted, “Hmphf! Hhmphf!”
I tried and pulled at my lips, but they wouldn’t budge. Rapid footfalls beat it for the door, leaving me in silence of another kind.
“Calm yourself, girl. The effect on your mouth will wear off. More’s the pity. But the effect on the bracelet will always remain.
“I will never leave. I will never stop. I will never release your mother,” she barked, “until you release me. Get to work.”
I STOPPED GOING TOclasses.
It was the only thing that made sense. The answer to how to dissolve a witch’s barrier wasn’t in self-mastery or hidden in Hondros’s humorless lectures. The answer was written somewhere in the library section dedicated to children of Hecate. All fifty shelves.
The only thing waiting for me in my lessons was Alex’s beseeching looks and desperate attempts to talk to me. I survived one hour of it, and ran out crying halfway through a lecture on how to kill a hydra.
I already knew how. Break the damn creature’s heart, and she’ll find a corner to curl up and die all on her own.
I threw Barriers and Wards: A History across the alcove, stifling a scream. Three days. Three days I’d been at it, burying my head in books, and they all dared to say the same thing. Only the witch who erected the barrier can give you the means to either bring it down, or pass through it unharmed.
That’s what made them so damn effective. No point in locking a gate if everyone has a key.
Rubbing my eyes, I swallowed through sandpaper. When was the last time I had something to drink? To eat?
No time.I shook myself, reaching for another book. Mom only has four days left.
Daciana stuck her head in. “Aella?”
I grunted something in her direction.
“Aella, are you ready? It’s almost time for class.”
“I’m not going.”
Silence.
“Is this...?” She hesitated, stepping inside. “Did something happen between you and you know who? You don’t smell like him anymore.”
I strangled the book spine. “It’s none of your business, Daciana. No offense, but could you take yourself and your super nose out of here? I’m busy.”
My voice sounded harsh to my own ears, but it was for the best. It wasn’t just Alex that I was living in a fantasy world with. I got so caught up in having friends again, I ignored the fact that none of this would last past me rescuing Mom and getting us back home.
Tycho, Theron, Nitsa, and Ionna weren’t allowed to leave Olympia, and Daciana had her own business to take care of when she left this place—like becoming leader of all the packs in North America.
All the time I wasted with them—studying for tests that didn’t matter, laughing while we wrote scrolls I had no use for, looking forward to a future side by side in an army that would never have me.
All of it was pointless. Meaningless. Sisyphean.
It wasn’t like we were even real friends. How could we be when I was lying to them about almost everything? Sure, Daciana knew I was half mortal, but she didn’t know I was here to spring an ancient, deadly being out of the trap lurking beneath all of our shoes. None of them did, and what were the odds that these duty-bound future soldiers, and a werewolf who believes in duty to the pack above duty to yourself, wouldn’t kick me over to the council the minute they found out?
Zero. In the end, no one risks everything for the crazy, desperate loser.
Kylie and Dina were becoming cool and popular. They weren’t about to let their insane best friend who wouldn’t shut up about impossible monsters bring them down. Half the novice class was wearing Daciana’s clothes, and the nasty comments about her were drying up.
Theron discovered girls outside the palace were mightily impressed by him being the son of a councilwoman, no matter that he wasn’t an heir. He was drowning under the attention.
Tycho was training with Calix almost every night. Ionna met other asexual children of Athena and sat with them during lunch. Nitsa was on the hunt for a hookup she didn’t have to share with literally everyone, so we didn’t see her most evenings.
They all knew what it was like to be lonely and looked down on, and now they got to know what it was like to fit in.
They were never going to let a girl they just met drag them down into a pit with the other treasonous outcasts. The only person I ever had was Mom. It was time I started acting like it, and got her the hell away from Selene.
“—lla? Aella, did you hear?”
“What?” I tossed my head. “No, I didn’t, because I’m not listening. I told you I’m busy. Just go already.”
“Okay.” The hurt in her voice nicked my heart. “I just thought you’d want to know that Hondros said he’d put you in the reflection room if you missed another class.”
I froze. If anything could’ve gotten my attention, it was that.
“You’ve no choice, girl. Confined torture will be no excuse. If I’m not freed by week’s end, I rid myself of another weeping parasite. Go,” Selene ordered, “and hold your tongue.”
I bit sharply on said tongue, holding back what I wanted to say to the bitch. There were times when Selene was understanding, even apologetic—and all of it was a conniving bitch’s lie. The last three days, any trace of humanity in her disappeared.
She screamed and ranted in my ear at night, ripping me out of sleep when I nodded off. She berated me whenever another book turned up nothing—drilling in my head how stupid and useless I was. And every day and every minute, she warned me what would happen to Mom if I failed.
But the joke was on me. Of course there was no humanity in a god.
“All right,” I said to both of them. “I’ll go.”
I got ready and followed my friends out to the mess hall. We were a silent bunch walking down the hall with the other novices streaming around us. I saw them trading looks and silent communication. All of them were wondering what was going on with me, and electing someone to ask.
“So, Aella,” Tycho began. “We were wondering if everything’s—”
“What’s that?” I sliced in, picking up the pace. “The mess hall’s closed?”
“Closed? No, it’s not.”
Tycho said that, but the sign hanging above the door and stopping all the novices in their tracks clearly read Closed.
“What’s going on?” Nitsa asked. “Did one of the instructors say something about this yesterday?”
“Everyone’s clueless on this side of the door, but I do hear people on the other side,” Daciana said, cocking her head. “It sounds like they’re saying... they’re preparing for—” She snapped up, stiffening. “Guys, why don’t we take off today? We’ve been talking about heading back to the lake on our own. Let’s do it.”
I pulled a face. “What? Now?”
“Yeah, now.” She laughed. “Life’s too short to be all about training, training, training.”
“Life gets even shorter when you’re trapped in the reflection room. You said Hondros would punish me if I missed another day.”
She shrugged. “He won’t put all of us in the reflection room.”
“He will,” I drew out. “He absolutely will. They’ve already carried out that threat.”
“Guys, don’t you think it’s a good idea?” She spun on the others. “We’ll go for a swim, pick the fruit trees, and Theron can make out with the dryads.”
Theron hummed. “It is starting to sound pretty good.”
“But, Daciana, what about—?”
Daciana shook her head sharply, eyes bulging. Something dawned in Nitsa’s eyes because the daughter of Hera nodded, then elbowed Ionna.
“Yes,” Nitsa said. “I’m dying for a swim. Let’s go.”
I didn’t get another word out before they were grabbing my shoulders, arms, and hands, and leading me away.
A shadow fell over us.
“Where do you novices think you’re going?” Hondros clapped a hand on Theron’s shoulder. “Food will be served in class this morning for the next ten minutes. I suggest you make haste.”
There was nothing to be done about it. We followed Hondros to the lessons wing—the guys looking way more put out about it than was necessary.
“Really, Daciana, you can go swimming tonight,” I told her.
She was making her way down the food table at the back of class, but her plate was loaded with stuff I knew she hated. She wasn’t paying a lick of attention in favor of staring at Hondros and the door, the door and Hondros, as if wondering if she could make a run for it without him noticing.
Someone bumped into me from behind.
“Oh, sorry.” Sebastian smiled at me—no trace of his trademark smirk anywhere to be found. “Are you okay...?”
“Aella,” I filled in.
“Of course, Kayla. Nice to meet you,” he said, enthusiastically shaking my hand. “You’re pretty.”
I blinked. “Um, thanks, but it’s Aella.”
I said that to his back. He was already walking off.
Shaking my head, I turned back to Daciana. “Anyway, it’s not a big deal. The lake isn’t going anywhere.”
“It is a big deal,” she said softly. “I’m sorry, Aella. You’re going through a hard time right now. All I want to do is help, but I don’t know how.”
I frowned—at her... and myself. I was exhausted, hungry, stressed, and heartbroken. Now I had a shitty heaping of guilt on top of it. Daciana was worried about being a good friend to me after I spent three days ignoring her. “I don’t need help,” said my undereye bags and ratty hair. “I’m fine.”
“You will be fine.” She squeezed my arm. “It’s hard now, but I promise, you can get through this.”
I swallowed hard, lips trembling. There it was. Another nick in my heart. “Thank—”
“Why does the wolf say these things? What does she know?” Selene barked, shattering the nice moment. “I warned you, girl. You believe because you’re out there and I’m in here that you can test me? You believe my words are to be ignored? Well, if you will not hear me, you will hear this.”
A scream tore through my eardrum. Loud, piercing, familiar, and not Selene’s.
“Mom!”
My plate slipped through my fingers, crashing on the floor. I grabbed the bracelet and half shoved it in my mouth, crying, “Mom? Mom, are you all right? Can you hear me? Mom!”
Silence reigned. From the bracelet, and from the room.
I snapped up, latching on to the wide, incredulous eyes of everyone who saw me freak out and shout into my wrist.
“What the fuck’s wrong with her?” someone whispered.
“Freak.”
“Madwoman.”
“Crazy.”
I shrank, eyes welling. I hated that word. I really, really hated that word.
“Wow. That was a freakish bid for attention.” Sirena clapped, drawing every eye off me. Any other day and any other person, I might have thanked her. “Everyone, up here. I have an announcement.”
I rocked back on my butt, slumping on the floor and trying not to cry. That was my mom. No question. Two years couldn’t make me forget her voice. Twenty years wouldn’t do it. I was so tired, so stressed, working so hard, and Selene was hurting my mom for my failure.
Why should now be any different? I didn’t save her back then. I just stood there while they stole Mom away. Now I’m just sitting here crying on the fucking floor when Mom needs me.
My parents gave me the wrong name. Useless little shit is much more fitting than little warrior.
“—Aella,” Daciana broke in. “Aella, please, let’s just go.”
“Actually.” Sirena bounded across the room—all smiles. She’d completely recovered from her well-deserved beating, and was her beautiful, radiant self once more. “We have an announcement to make.”
Sirena returned to the head of the lecture room... with Alexander in tow.
I hadn’t seen him since I ran away from him the other day in class. One glance and my heart deflated and sunk into my gut.
He looked terrible.
Nothing on this earth could make Alexander Damien less handsome, but bloodshot eyes, bags, uncombed hair, and rumpled clothes gave it their best shot. He looked like me.
A wreck.
“Congratulate us,” Sirena squealed, jumping up and down with his arm. “We’re getting married!”
Half the room broke into applause—the imperial heirs loudest of all.
My friends didn’t clap. The Sisypheans didn’t clap. And the Hell Boys, minus Sebastian, not a sound.
Alexander found me across the bodies and noise. Eyes brightening, he made for me in an instant.
“Xander, where are you going?” Sirena hauled him back. “We’re not finished yet. We haven’t told them about the contract-signing ceremony tonight, and that you’re all invited!”
Another burst of applause.
“It’ll be in the mess hall. Formal dress. No disgusting wolf clothes. And Titans only,” Sirena added. “Of course.”
“Contract-signing ceremony?” I rasped.
“Contract to make the marriage official,” Nitsa said. “Once it’s signed, it’s done. The wedding is just a formality.”
My stomach heaved. Fist shaking, my world crumbled and fell into the festering pit of shit and despair it’d been falling into for the last two years.
Dropping my head on my knees, I bawled.
Right there. In the middle of the room. On the floor like a little child. I cried my eyes out.
So this was it. This is what it was like to have a complete mental breakdown.
No wonder Sunny Breeze loved their bed cuffs and padded rooms. It’d be dangerous if I got my hands on someone with the way I felt now. Like someone named Sirena, or Selene.
“Hera, help me, what the fuck’s wrong with her?” Sirena snapped. “Get her out of here. She’s ruining the mood.”
“Aella, please, let’s go.” Daciana hugged me tight. “Let me get you out of here.”
“That would be for the best,” Hondros spoke up. “She is clearly unwell. You should’ve said the girl was ill, wolf. Take her to the infirmary.”
Daciana and Nitsa got me on my feet.
“No, wait!” Alexander broke free and came for me. “Just let me talk to—”
Something streaked out of the corner of my eye and struck Alex in the face. He jerked back, eyes blowing wide as the paradise flower crumbled into ethereal dust that went right into his nose and mouth.
Alex changed in a blink. Grinning goofily, he swayed on his feet—bursting into laughter.
“Hey!” Hondros spun on Jason. “What do you think you’re doing, boy!”
“What’s it look like? It’s a party, right? A celebration of the long-awaited union of Alexander Damien and Sirena Cirillo.” Jason jumped on the table. “Flowers for everyone! Free of charge.”
Flowers burst out of him like a fire hose, flying in every direction. Sirena and her handmaidens lapped them up—clapping and jumping up and down to celebrate the joyous occasion. Whoever else wasn’t doing the same, quickly changed their minds with one touch of the flowers.
Hondros’s shouting and bellowing cut out with a snap of his jaw, and the beam of his smile.
My friends got me out fast, narrowly escaping the onslaught.
“You knew,” I croaked, wiping my face on my sleeves. “You heard them getting ready for the party from the other side of the door.”
Daciana looked away. “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?” Theron asked. “Besides the obvious catastrophe that is Sirena claiming the full power of the Hera seat, what’s it matter if Alex and Sirena get... married...?” Theron trailed off, taking in my expression. “Oh.”
“Oh?” Nitsa, Ionna, and Tycho flicked between the three of us. “What oh? What did I miss?” Tycho asked.
“You’re the one Sirena was talking about, aren’t you?” Theron said. “Alex fell in love with you.”
Dropping my gaze, I nodded. The gasps only made me feel worse.
“And it’s over now? That’s why you both look like a gorgon carcass left out in the sun?”
“I... yes.”
“Is it over because Alex’s father won and forced him into this bullshit marriage?”
“Yes.” My voice was getting smaller and smaller.
Theron nodded slowly. “And did he do it by threatening you?”
My head snapped up. I gaped at him, eyes wide. “How did you know?”
“I didn’t know,” he admitted. “I just know Maximos Damien. My mother may be a councilwoman, but the council doesn’t share equal power. Maximos would prefer not to share power at all.
“He’s always going up against her for daring not to support everything he wants and does. When diplomacy doesn’t work, he resorts to threats.”
“He’s awful,” I rasped. “I never thought I could despise someone I haven’t met this much.”
“I’m really sorry, Aella.” Nitsa hugged me. “Being separated from the one you love for reasons neither of you can control.” She shook her head. “There’s nothing worse.”
Separated from Mom and now forced to break up with Alex. Nitsa’s right. There’s nothing worse.
“Let’s go to the infirmary.” Ionna led me away, arm tight and warm around my shoulder. “You shouldn’t have to be around Sirena’s insufferable smugness today, or be punished for it. Healer Helena will understand, and she’ll give you something, so you can get some sleep.”
“Everything’s going to be okay,” Tycho said.
“We’re here for you.”
“I’ll lock Sirena in a dungeon if you need me to,” Nitsa chimed in. “She’ll break out in a second and hunt me down, but we’ll enjoy her squawking outrage before we die.”
I cracked a smile. It was immediately washed away by tears.
They were all being so kind and supportive after I’d been nothing but a jerk to them for days. I didn’t deserve friends like them, but they deserved a better friend than a no-nothing, worthless loser like me who couldn’t save her mom, or hold on to her boyfriend.
The guys helped me to the infirmary, told Healer Helena what happened, and then left for class, promising they’d come back and spend the night with me, so I wouldn’t spend it thinking about what was going on in the mess hall.
“Here you are, dear.” Helena handed me a vial of bright green liquid. “Drink this. Won’t taste the best, but it’ll help you sleep.”
“Thank you,” I replied, bringing it to my lips.
“What are you doing?”
The sudden cry made me jerk, spilling the potion on the sheets. Helena tutted and went off to her storeroom to get me another one.
“Don’t talk to me,” I hissed. “Not after you hurt Mom for no fucking reason! Daciana was comforting me because she knew Alex and I were over. Not because I told her anything about you. You’re an evil, manipulative bitch who enjoys destroying lives, so either fuck off, or let me talk to my mom.
“Either I hear she’s okay from her right now, or I’ll tell the whole school about you.”
“Are you finished with your tantrum?” She couldn’t have sounded more bored and unfazed if she tried. “I interrupted you, stupid girl, because you were about to waste a perfect opportunity to speak to a daughter of Hecate. Even possibly the daughter of Hecate that erected the barrier at the mouth of my prison.
“My ally tells me it is she who erected all the barriers around the academy.”
I blinked. Sweet, old Healer Helena was the power behind the invisible walls that kept some of the strongest demigods in the world trapped in this pretty prison?
I do need to know how to get past that barrier no matter what. If Mom is okay, and she has to be okay, she’s still waiting to be rescued.
She returned with another vial for me. I turned over in my head what to say to her.
“Madame Helena, can I ask you something?”
She paused turning away. “Certainly, dear.”
“It’s about magical barriers.”
“Ah, yes.” She gave me a knowing look. “I always get a few questions about that at some point during the season.”
I chewed my lip. I couldn’t come right out and ask her how to get past one, but the children of Hecate didn’t walk around the castle wearing badges. Here was one right in front of me, and not in a dusty, dry tome.
“I was wondering,” I began. “Why aren’t there barriers around every home and village? If they work so well to keep monsters out, isn’t that the solution to saving us?”
“Oh. That wasn’t the question I was expecting, but it’s a very good one.” She took a seat at the foot of my cot. “The answer is yes. Barriers around every town, home, and city would go a long way to protecting us from the monster scourge, and if every child of the goddess had the full power of Mother Hecate, we might be able to do so.
“But the fact of the matter is we don’t,” she said. “We only have a piece of her power within us, and like all demigods, it manifests in different ways. Some of us are able to erect powerful magical barriers. Most of us are not.”
I nodded taking that in. “Does it take a lot of power to erect a barrier?”
“Without question. A Sisyphean Hecate demigod could not do it.”
“What if Titan Hecate demigods were messing around and putting up barriers around the castle to keep Sisypheans out of their territory? Would they get in trouble for that? I didn’t see it in the handbook.”
“They would most certainly get in trouble,” she cried, planting her hands on her hips. “Barrier magic is strictly prohibited by the council. Only demigods with special permissions from the palace are allowed to practice the magic. Everyone knows this.” Her eyes narrowed. “Where have you been seeing these barriers? Who’s behind this?”
“I don’t know who it was. I ran into one literally the other day when I went down to the dungeon training rooms to practice. It was probably done by a couple who wanted privacy. Some people use the practice rooms for that.”
“Gods,” she sighed, shaking her head. “Because you don’t have perfectly good beds for such things. I swear, my most brewed and used potion in a single week is the contraceptive potion. I’m all for enjoying your youth, but erecting unsanctioned barriers is irresponsible in the extreme. If one of the staff had stumbled on such a thing, they’d have been forced to report them to the council for a mandatory prison sentence of ten years.”
My tired eyes bugged. I wanted to ask why so harsh, but if that was another thing everyone already knew, I’d be giving away my ignorance. “I’m sure they didn’t mean any harm. Besides, I can’t be the reason someone is sent to prison for ten years. I shouldn’t have brought it up,” I said, turning away.
“You were right to mention it, Aella. This is more serious than a lover’s tryst. Only the witch who erected it can bring down a barrier. Only a complex, closely guarded transport potion can get you on the other side of one. What if there was an emergency and you wound up trapped behind a barrier you couldn’t get past?”
I already know what that’s like.
“That would be a disaster caused by accident, but ill-meaning children of Hecate have used barriers for far worse. Theft, ransom, hostage-taking, murder.”
My brows climbed higher and higher.
She patted my ankle. “If you run into such a thing again, do your duty and report. They will face the consequences they have coming to them.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Helena didn’t move. “Drink up now.”
“Oh, right.” I tipped the contents of the vial in my mouth.
“Good girl. You get some rest.”
Selene was in my ear the second Healer Helena disappeared into her office. “Do not let her go, girl. She’s already loosened her tongue more than was wise. Keep her talking.”
“I told you not to talk to me. I want to hear from my mom. Now.”
“We can’t yet be sure she erected the barrier,” Selene continued on. “She is a powerful daughter of Hecate, but not the only one here. There are many children of Hecate in this place. Many still among your precious Titans.”
“Let me talk to my mother.” My head sank on the pillow. “You’re not making me do another damn thing until I do.”
Pulling up the covers, a boulder pushed down on my forehead. Or that’s what it felt like. My head wasn’t rising again until sleep released me. Three days of exhaustion bowled me over, weighing my whole body down. Sleep. I just needed sleep.
Vision blurring, my eyes fluttered shut.
“Aella?” Mom’s voice rang loud and clear in my ear. “Is that you, my little warrior? Tell me it’s you.”
My lips parted, and darkness claimed me.