The Blood of the Hydra (28 page)

I wanted to reach out to him—after all, he was the only other demigod I knew—but I was afraid he wouldn’t want to hear from me after his sister’s death. So I kept my distance. But there was so much I wanted to ask him. Because unlike me, he’d
met
his father. We’d
all
met his father, when Zeus had dropped by our yacht in Greece to help us on our mission. Sure, Zeus hadn’t
raised
Ethan and Rachael, but at least he’d bothered to introduce himself.

What had I done to make my father want nothing to do with me?

Blake watched as I toyed with my necklace, and his expression turned serious. “Have you tried to contact your father again at all?” he asked, his voice softer than before, as if he were afraid that bringing it up might upset me.

“Yeah.” I pulled my hand away from the necklace, and the pendant fell back onto my chest. “I’ve been trying every night, before I go to bed. Nothing ever happens. I should probably give up, since he’s obviously ignoring me… but I can’t bring myself to do that. Because what if the night I give up is the night he would have replied?”

Blake frowned, and he grabbed my hand in his, stopping me from reaching for the pendant again. “You have to remember that the gods are busy,” he said. “Especially with the portal to Kerberos weakening. When Ethan and Rachael used their pendants to call for Zeus and he came to help us, we
needed
his help. Maybe Apollo hasn’t come yet because you’re strong enough that you don’t need him.”

“Thanks.” I chuckled, although it felt hollow. “You somehow managed to turn that into a compliment.”

“Well, it’s true,” he said.

“Maybe.” I shrugged. “But I don’t know. Part of me hopes that Apollo is stuck in an Olympian god prison, and that he
wants
to see me, but he’s trapped and he can’t. At least that would be a good reason for him staying away. But he managed to send me this pendant, and the letter that told us how to use the Book of Shadows, so that can’t be it. He really is just ignoring me.”

“Or he trusts that you can handle yourself,” Blake said, his gave unwavering. “You’re strong, and you have a lot of people on your side—me, Kate, Chris, Darius, and even Danielle. You don’t
need
Apollo. Because you have us.”

“Maybe,” I said, although I didn't completely believe it. Because yes, we all had each other’s backs, but who didn’t need the help of a
god
? “But I would still like to get to know him. So I refuse to keep trying, even if it
does
seem hopeless.”

“It’s only been a few weeks,” Blake said. “Gods don’t see time the same way we do—they’re immortal, so a few weeks must feel like
nothing
to them. He’ll come eventually. He wouldn’t have given you that pendant if he didn’t want you to use it.”

“I guess so,” I said. “It would just be nice to have one family member who I could talk to about everything.”

“You always have me,” he said. “And the others, too.”

“I know.” I smiled. “You all understand more about all of this than I think they ever could.”

We finished off the cheese fondue in comfortable silence, savoring each delicious bite. I could tell that Blake was thinking about something important—he had that far-off look in his eyes, as if he was trying to figure out how to put his thoughts into words. But I knew not to pry. He would share his thoughts once he sorted them out in his head. In the meantime, I was happy enjoying the food. My mom didn’t cook, so a meal out was always a treat.

“Have you considered telling your family the truth?” Blake asked after the waitress had cleared the table.

My heart dropped at his question. I’d hoped he was going to say something else … maybe something about his feelings for me.

Blake wasn’t always the most open with his feelings—we were the same in that way—but we knew that we cared about each other. I’d never cared for
anyone
as much as I cared for Blake. When I first met him, it was just a crush—I found him attractive, and it was thrilling to know that he felt the same. But when we were in Greece, we saved each other’s lives on countless occasions. Blake’s feelings for me were strong enough to pull him out of the haze of the hypnotic lotus fruit so we could escape the island. The moment he told me how
that
was what brought him back into focus, I knew I was falling for him, and that there would be no turning back.

“Nicole?” he asked. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah.” I smiled at him, trying to push away the disappointment. It was too much for me to expect him to tell me some revelation about his feelings for me here, in a restaurant, surrounded by so many strangers.

I probably shouldn’t expect anything at all. After all, what did I know about love? Blake had been my first kiss, and now he was my first boyfriend. Yes, we’d been through much more than what other teens our age had to deal with, and we were more powerful than any witches in recorded history, but that didn’t make me an expert on love. I didn’t even know what love
was
, at least not in a romantic sense. I was probably getting ahead of myself because this was my first relationship.

But I’d also never cared for anyone as much as I cared about Blake. He had quickly become one of the most important people in my world, and I would never risk losing him. Ever.

“I’m not going to tell my family,” I finally told him.

“Why not?” he asked.

“Because by the summer solstice, we’ll have closed the portal to Kerberos, and we can get back on with our normal lives,” I said, even though we had no way of knowing if would be true. “As it is now, I don’t want to worry them. They wouldn’t even be able to do anything to help me, since they’re all human. It’s safer for them not to know.”

“I guess,” he said. “And I know it’s different for me, since my parents are witches, but I’m glad that they know about the five of us and what we’re doing. At least if everything doesn’t go to plan, and I don’t make it back from one of our missions, they’ll know it was for a good cause.”

“Don’t say that,” I said, the words coming out faster than I’d anticipated. “Nothing’s going to happen to any of us. We were given these powers for a reason—because the gods know we’re the ones who can complete this mission. We’re
all
going to make it. We have to.”

Blake said nothing, and I worried that he wasn’t completely convinced. “Of course, it helps that we have you on our side,” he finally said, smiling at me. “Our healer. If it hadn’t been for you, I would have died in that hydra’s cave. You saved my life. And I don’t think I can ever tell you how much that means to me.”

“You don’t have to.” I reached for his hand again, giving it a squeeze. “Because I already know. I saved you first in that cave, and I would do it again in a second.”

“Even if you knew Rachael would die?” he asked.

“Yes.” I held his gaze, not having to think about my answer. “I would never risk losing you. Ever.”

“I wish I could tell you that you should have saved Rachael instead of me,” he said. “It would be the noble thing to say. But I can’t, because if you’d saved her instead of me, we wouldn’t have this chance to be together. And I wouldn’t give up this chance for anything.”

His eyes didn’t leave mine, and I could feel the words on the tip of my tongue.
I love you
. I wanted to say them out loud. It would be so easy—so natural.

But then the waitress came to serve us our main course, and I pulled my hand out of Blake’s, jolted at being brought out of the moment so suddenly. I had to blink a few times to reorient myself. I couldn’t believe how close I’d been to making such a huge confession.

If the waitress hadn’t come over right then, would I have said it?

Maybe.

And I knew, deep in my heart, that I would have meant it.

Blake and I were getting started on dessert—chocolate fondue—when our phones both lit up with a text message.

911 – I need you all at my place. ASAP.

It was from Darius, and he’d sent it to everyone in our group—me, Blake, Chris, Kate, and Danielle. Which only could mean one thing.

“I guess another monster’s escaped from Kerberos,” Blake said exactly what I was thinking.

“I guess so.” I dragged a strawberry through the melted chocolate, looking at it sadly. “But this looks so good. Darius couldn’t have waited to text us until
after
we finished dessert?”

“Apparently not.” A mischievous glint passed over his eyes, and he leaned over the table, looking at me in challenge. “How fast can you eat?”

“I’m not sure.” I raised an eyebrow, having a good idea about where he was going with this. “Why?”

“Because we’re about to have a contest.” He divided all of the items on the dessert plate in half—a mix of strawberries and bananas, and bite-sized brownies, sponge cakes, and marshmallows. “Let’s see who can finish their side faster.” He held his fork up, and I did the same, nodding to let him know that I was ready. “One… two… three…”

Before he finished saying three, I’d already shoveled the strawberry into my mouth and was spearing the brownie in preparation to dip it into the chocolate. I ate so fast that I barely had time to enjoy it. I continued wolfing it down until most of my side was gone—I’d never eaten so quickly in my life—but somehow, Blake managed to beat me.

He finished chewing and dropped his fork on the table. “Done,” he declared, sitting back and crossing his arms in victory.

I forced down the last few bites of cheesecake, even though I wasn’t actually hungry anymore, and each bite made me feel as if I might explode. But I had to finish it so I wouldn’t be
completely
defeated.

“Thanks for not letting me win,” I said once I was done, taking a few sips of my water to help wash all that food down.

“Is that sarcasm that I detect?” he asked.

“No.” I smiled and shook my head. “I’m serious. I hate when people let me win. If I win, I want to know that I earned it.”

“Which is exactly why I didn’t let you win,” he said. “You’re competitive. I know that. And lucky for me, you’re good competition. I wouldn’t expect anything less from a girlfriend of mine.”

I smiled, loving how it sounded when he called me his girlfriend.

“What?” he asked, as if my silence concerned him.

“Nothing,” I said. “It’s just… I’ve never been someone’s girlfriend before. It’s nice to hear you call me that.”

“Then I’ll remember to say it more often.” He signed the check for both of our meals, stood up and held out a hand to me. I took it, allowing him to help me up. Once our eyes were almost level, he leaned forward and kissed me, letting the kiss last slightly longer than what was acceptable in public. It was like he was announcing to the world that we were together—that I was his, and that everyone else should know it.

“Now, are you ready to go?” he asked once he pulled away.

All I could do was nod, my stomach still fluttering from the memory of his kiss.

He smiled, clearly amused by how much he affected me. “Good,” he said, taking my hand and leading the way out of the restaurant. “Because
my girlfriend
and I have some monsters to slay.”

“Wolves,” Kate repeated for the third time since Darius had told us what we were up against. “In the
cemetery
. It sounds like something out of a television show.”

“Just make sure you don’t get bitten,” Chris teased from the way back seat of the van. “We wouldn’t want you turning into a werewolf.”

“Werewolves don’t exist,” Kate said, rolling her eyes. “But the legend of them
did
start from the story of Lycaon. He was a king in the ancient times. To test Zeus to see how powerful he was, he cooked up his own son and served him to Zeus for dinner. But Zeus knew what he did, so as punishment, he turned Lycaon and all of his offspring into wolves. It’s no wonder the wolves fought against the Olympians in the Second Rebellion. They blame Zeus for being as they are.”

“You knew all of that off the top of your head?” Danielle asked.

“I wish,” Kate said, holding up her phone. “But no. I looked it up on Wikipedia.”

After leaving the restaurant, Blake and I had rushed straight to Darius’s house. Everyone else was already there. Once we arrived, Darius explained that the witches on patrol had reported what resembled a pack of wolves escaping from Kerberos. The wolves had run across the street to the cemetery, where the witches were able to conjure a protection spell to keep them trapped inside the fence. But the spell wouldn’t stop humans from entering the cemetery, so it was up to us to take care of the wolves before they could turn an unsuspecting human into a late night snack.

After hearing what had happened, we gathered our weapons and jumped into the van, which was where we were now. Blake was driving, since we all agreed it would be unnecessary for Darius to come along. Darius didn’t have anywhere close to the physical strength that we did, and we didn’t want to risk his getting hurt.

It didn’t take long to reach the cemetery. Once there, we hopped out of the van, grabbed our weapons, and located one of the witches on patrol. He was older than us, but still young—probably in his mid-20s.