“Where is she? You were supposed to deliver her to me by now! I’m getting tired of waiting.”

I bow my head, knowing I need to move my plans up. There are gods in the world. Maybe now’s the time to take her. No one would expect it. Better yet, they’d think she was overwhelmed and ran away. Yes. Today is the day.

“Give me a few more hours, then you will have the power you dream of.”

 

“Natalie? Oh-my-fucking-god!” I practically push Hecate out of my way in the rush to get to my best friend who is standing in front of me, naked as the day she was born.

We grip each other and laugh. I’m just so relieved I didn’t kill her!

“I’m so, so, sorry,” I murmur against her hair as she sobs on my shoulder. She pulls away, a glare on her face, and I wait for her to berate me for doing what I did. After all, I turned her into a crow!

“Don’t you dare be sorry for saving my life. Do you know what happens when you get a vision of your death? You die. There’s no way around it. My vision showed me dying that night, and thanks to you I’m alive.”

I let a relieved smile cross my lips when a sudden thought strikes her. “Though, maybe next time how about making me something cool like a wolf or a giant bear? I heard that ass talking so much shit about you that I figured I’d shower him in literal shit, but if I was a bear, imagine the damage I could have done to his car?” Her eyes mist over as she imagines the destruction and I can’t help but laugh. This is my best friend. The one who would do anything for me, just as I would do anything for her.

“Wait, Jaxson was talking shit about me?” I ask.

The smile she returns tells me she’s on the same page. We’re going to find that ass and confront him. Damn. I forgot how much I loved Natalie. She brings me out of my shell and makes me feel normal for being weird.

“Right. While you two are plotting the demise of one of my daughter’s guardians, there are pressing matters to attend to. Maybe you want to go get your friend some clothes, Valerie?” My biological mother suggests with a small smile.

“Shit. Yes, I can’t exactly have her walking around naked in front of my boyfriends. I’ll meet you all in the kitchen in five.”

Wasting no time, I throw a spare blanket over Natalie’s body and drag her out to my room. She gets dressed in the dark wash jeans and a bright green tee while I have my back turned. When I face her, I can see the weight of the world on her shoulders and I don’t like it one bit.

“What’s wrong, Nat?” When she shakes her head I see the tears welling in her eyes. I pull her into my arms and let her cry out her fear and frustration.

“My parents think I’m dead,” I hear among her tears.

Shit. I didn’t even think of that. What kind of selfish friend am I?

I pull away and look into her eyes, letting her see I mean what I’m about to say. “When we finish downstairs, the first thing we will do is call your parents and tell them. I promise.” I hold my pinkie up and smile when a giggle escapes her. It’s always been our thing. No matter how old we get, a pinkie promise is binding.

“Okay, let’s go deal with this god stuff. I still kinda can’t believe you’re a god. I thought you were a witch. That’s why Sally, Jess and I thought we were all drawn to you. Now I guess we know it’s something much stronger than that.”

“Minor goddess,” I correct as we walk out the pool house before her words register. “You’re a witch?” She grips my arm and turns me to face her, studying my face, for what I’m not sure.

“Val, forget witches right now. Did you even listen to Zeus? Your bio parents are two gods, something that has never happened, like, ever. That makes you more than a minor goddess. Especially if you inherited both your parents’ powers.”

“Well shit. I didn’t even think of that. You’re right. How do I find out what powers I have?” I ask, not liking this. I guess I assumed what he meant was I was still a demigod. To be honest, none of what was said has really sunk in yet.

“Jeez, Val. You have the sons of Zeus for boyfriends. I’m pretty sure one of them could teach you.”

“Oh, yeah,” I murmur.

She shakes her head at me before grinning. “Yeah, ‘oh’ is right. But for now we have to figure out why Zeus wants you to help lead his army.”

We head into the house and I can’t help but feel excited by Nat’s presence. The guys have been great, but nothing beats having the one person you could tell every little secret to.

As we pass the entry way I hear a slight tapping at the front door. Nat looks back to see I’ve stopped and she cocks her head.

“Sorry, go straight ahead until you reach the double doors that are like swinging doors in a restaurant. That’s the kitchen. I’m just going to answer the door.”

She nods and keeps walking to the kitchen while I answer the door. I swing the door open, cursing the fact it doesn’t have a peephole of some kind to see who’s there, but no one would be here unless they needed to talk to Cassandra, my father or one of the guys.

Which is why it surprises me when I swing open the massive door and find Justin standing there looking tired and dishevelled. “Hey, Val, can we talk?” 

Son of a motherfucking duck. He wants to do this now? I can’t exactly invite him in. When I opened the door I was expecting a mail carrier or something.

“Um, five minutes? I have guests wanting to speak to me.”

He nods, his face drawn, and I step outside, closing the door behind me. He grabs my hand the same way he has before and leads me away from the house before speaking. “I’m sorry I reacted the way I did. That was stupid of me and I have regretted it every day.”

“Oh. That’s okay. I should have told you that I wasn’t sick. I didn’t mean to hurt you, but I was dealing with some emotional drama.”

His lips purse and I see a spark ignite in his eyes. “Yeah, I heard. I also heard you were fucking Jaxson.”

Wait. Hold the fucking phone! How would he know that? The only time Jaxson and I had sex was in the shower. And unless he was in my bedroom, there was no fucking way he could have known that. Unless Jaxson told him, but I highly doubt Jaxson would go around bragging.

“I have no idea what you’ve heard, but that’s none of your business,” I say, pulling my hand from his as my temper rises. Part of me feels guilty because I know this must hurt him, but it wasn’t like Justin and I were dating. I had hoped for something at one point, but then I saw a side to him I couldn’t get on board with.

“Sorry,” he apologizes, but there’s no life to it. He doesn’t mean it. Even his eyes show no regret.

“What did you need to talk about?” I ask, trying to speed this up. I still have other things I have to do. Mainly, discuss what being in the Light Realm entails and how it will affect me. I should also ask them about whether Zeus will sense me as he did the first time.

Ugh, so many questions, but I have to deal with Justin first. He chose a horrible time to come here. Why couldn’t he have come tomorrow?

Justin sighs and his head faces the ground. “Sorry, you have company and I’m just dealing with stuff. I’ll go. Can I have a hug goodbye?”

“Of course,” I reply, my heart melting. He wraps his arms around me but instead of being like our previous hugs, this feels tense and uncomfortable. Obviously he’s going through his own stuff and I want to support him as best I can.

“VAL! GET AWAY FROM HIM!”

Natalie’s voice echoes across the driveway and I try to turn around to see what the fuss is about when I feel a pinch in my neck. Justin whispers in my ear, “Don’t worry, Valerie, I’ve got you.”