Fire & Flood (Mythverse #1)

Book 2 Chapter 10

10

Night gives way to morning too soon and the sun rises over us, making the air shimmer with heat. Our last bit of water disappears too quickly. I’ve passed out on top of Nico when I notice the pillars light up. Through the portal steps—

I blink, certain I’m hallucinating.

“Val?”

He is followed by a team of people. Fern is with them. She runs to me.

“Edie, oh my gods. Let me look at you. We’ll get you patched up, then back to the Academy to heal.”

“Fern, help him,” I motion to Nico. “He’s in even worse shape.”

“Who is that?” Val asks, as he unscrews a bottle of water and holds it my mouth. I gulp greedily and Val pulls it away. “Not too fast.”

“He’s from the Academy,” I answer his question, my voice hoarse. Even with that sip of water, I feel like I’ve been gargling with sand for the past two days and honestly, I pretty much have been.

Val pauses. “Is that…Nico?”

What? Val knows him…of course. I keep forgetting that everyone else has been in school together for years. “Yes, that’s his name,” I say.

Fern exchanges a look with him. “He’s been missing for almost a year—we thought he was dead. How did you find him?”

I shrug. “He found me.”

“Okay, let’s get you back.” Val scoops me up in his arms and carries me to the gateway.

“More water,” I whisper. “I’m thirsty…and…hot.”

I close my eyes against the sun. I’m exhausted, so worn out that I can’t even enjoy the feeling of Val holding me.

A soft rain starts to fall. Wetting my face. I lick my lips and I could swear the water tastes sweet.

“Better?” Val asks.

A soft sigh escapes me. It’s the only response I can give as my head slumps against his chest.

This time when the cold nothingness takes me, I let it.

I regain consciousness in the infirmary, surrounded by people.

“She’s awake!” Greg shouts.

“We can see that,” Hepa says.

“Guys, keep it down,” Fern warns. “You’re not even supposed to be in here.”

“Edie,” Val leans in.

His cheeks are pink, like a little boy who’s been playing out in the snow. Except it doesn’t snow here and the pink only means that Val recently ate. It should be a turnoff knowing that he recently slurped down a rat blood smoothie. Yet somehow it isn’t. The problem is…

“You’re just so damn pretty,” I say.

Val mouth curls into one of his rare smiles. He’s wearing a shirt with a picture of a snake that says, danger noodle. I smile.

Then he says, “That’s my girl.” Those words burst the little bubble that had been forming between us.

“I’m not your girl.”

I scooch up. My skin is raw and my arm is bandaged and sore, but I feel…not like death. Which is a start.

“And what the hell took you all so long to come back for me?” I try to shout, but it comes out more like a whisper.

“We tried.” Greg looks near tears. “As soon as we got back and realized it had closed with you on the other side, we went to Hermes and Themis. But someone had been spelling the portal keys incorrectly—and not just the one we used. All of them were a mess! We just had to keep sending people through portals and bringing them back, and having them tell us where they’d gone… nothing was right, everything was mislabeled!”

Fern leans in. “Val was one of the volunteers; he just kept traveling and traveling. Portals are magic. And with magic, there’s always risk involved. But Val wouldn’t hear it. He kept going.”

“And Fern was at my side the entire time,” Val inserts quietly. He’s moved to the other side of the room—near the door like he can’t wait to leave. “She insisted.”

“Because I should have been with you to begin with!” Fern bursts out, tears filling her eyes. “Marguerite was trying to protect me by asking me to stay behind, but I should have been there with you. This is all my fault!” Her usually calm face spasms as she bursts into tears. She covers her face with her hands.

“It’s not your fault,” Greg says, resting a hand on Fern’s shoulder. “Whoever messed with the keys is to blame. And whoever it was, is a traitor.”

Fern isn’t comforted. Another sob escapes her, and her whole body shakes.

“Well, it all worked out,” I say. “I mean, I wouldn’t have found Nico, otherwise.”

But I’m not thinking about the werewolf boy. I’m thinking about Val, and trying not to meet his gaze. I wonder how Larissa felt about her fiancée insisting on leading the rescue mission to find me.

“I owed you one after you saved me at the Spring Fling. Guess we’re even now,” he tells me, then walks away, no sign of emotion on his face. No flicker of what I saw when he emerged through the portal.

I sigh.

“I believe Ms. Evans needs her rest,” Themis’ voice booms from behind everyone. “I asked you all to leave her in peace.”

“How’s Nico?” I ask before they’re sent away.

“He’s resting, as you should be,” Themis says.

“Oh my gods, Edie,” Fern says. “I can’t believe you brought him back. Everyone thought he was dead.”

“Yeah,” Greg says. “You’re a hero…again.”

“Of course she’s a hero. She saved all our butts,” Jordan tells them. “And we have nice butts.”

“Yeah, you did good,” Hepa tells me with a tight smile.

“Enough,” Themis says. “Go. Now.”

She shoos them away, repeating that I need my rest. But I’m not fooled. Themis came here to talk to me, and she wants me alone.

That’s fine by me, as I’ve got my own questions.

“Edie,” Themis says, sitting on the side of my bed. “You’re not the result of a bat and ostrich shifter mating.”

Okay, so that was my first question. Now, I’ve got another one.

“Then why would you say that?” I yell as loud as my parched throat will allow. She shushes me with a motion, glancing around. She mutters something under her breath. It feels like the air around us gets heavier, and everything further than three feet away is blurry, like we’re at the center of a snow globe.

“Is that a cone of silence spell?” I ask her. “When do I get to learn the cool stuff?”

“You’re not a magic student,” she reminds me. “You’re on the assassin track. And as to why I said you were a bat-ostrich hybrid, that’s because having Mr. Zee interested in you is not in your own interests. Do you understand?”

I lick my lips. “Um… I’m trying, but—no.”

“Mount Olympus Academy has certain rules about relationships between students and teachers.”

“Um, yeah, any not-creepy place does.”

“Yes, but, Edie, we’re talking about gods and goddesses. We are not accustomed to being told what to do, and following rules does not come easily to us. Even rules we ourselves make.”

I think about Hermes’ wandering hands and Mr. Zee’s jokes before we left. “So, there are rules, but you can’t make the gods follow them?”

“For the most part, they do,” Themis says. “Imagine our enrollment rate if parents of paranormal students knew that their children were being preyed upon?” She shakes her head. “No, even the gods know the students are more valuable as warriors than bedmates.”

“But?” I ask, sensing her hesitation.

“But,” she says warily. “There are still gods—and goddesses—who put their desires above the law.”

I remember the Spring Fling, how Cassie had told me it was really just an excuse for Persephone to check out all the male students and pick out a boy toy for the next few months.

“And…” Themis clears her throat. “Mr. Zee’s tastes have been known to be a bit… exotic.”

“Right,” I say, nodding. “He seemed really into the idea of banging my dragon mom.”

Themis raises her eyebrows, urging me to continue.

“And…” I go on, watching her to see if I’m getting it right. “Since he’s into a dragon mom, he’d also be into…the idea of…banging…” I can’t say it, so I just point to myself.

Themis nods.

“EW!” I say. “That’s gross!”

“Agreed.”

I mean, Mr. Zee is definitely hot and all, but he’s also ancient. Literally. I mean, just ew.

“Rarities are his specialty,” Themis says. “And since you obviously are a dragon, I had to come up with a lie that would make you less attractive to him.”

“So you said I was a bat-ostrich baby?” I ask. “How does that…?”

Then I remember how Mr. Zee had reacted, how upset he got about the mixing and diluting of blood.

“You told him I was—”

“A Moggy,” Themis says.

“A what?”

“A Moggy. That’s the impolite term for children of—”

“Never mind, I get it.” Of course the gods have a mean name for those of mixed blood. “So, I’m not a moggy then?”

“Well…” Themis hesitates, which is weird. “It’s hard to say for sure without knowing who your father was.” She clears her throat and when she speaks again, her voice is crisp. “Regardless, it is best for Zee to believe so.”

Mr. Zee’s very clear hatred for the mixing and mingling of species—even two different kinds of shifters—was powerful. If he thought I was the result of that, he’d be turned off by me.

“You lied so that Mr. Zee won’t try to bang me?”

“Yes, and it worked,” Themis says. “However, I should inform you that Mr. Zee hasn’t quite been well these last few hundred years. He’s been around a long time and—”

“Right, I know. Merilee told me that gods and monsters aren’t necessarily immune to things like dementia.”

She’d been talking about my flying instructor, Ocypete, when she told me that. And maybe that was true. Maybe Ocypete had lost her mind in the end, trying to convince me to switch sides and leading an assault on the school we all call home.

“Yes, but in addition to being forgetful, Zee’s impulse control has lessened,” Themis adds. “Not that he was ever the epitome of control. But still, despite his memory problems he does sometimes get stuck on a certain idea. And having a dragon on campus seems to be one of them. He’s asked Merilee to continue digging into the records. I don’t think he’s fully accepted our bat/ostrich hybrid story.”

“Okay,” I say, leaning back on the pillow, suddenly tired. “So that’s bad, right? Should I start carrying a magical mace or something?”

“No, nothing like that,” Themis assures me. “If he refuses to accept one lie, we simply come up with another. Eventually his interest will wane.” She claps her hands suddenly and a slightly manic smile lights her face. “We could have quite some fun with it!”

“Sounds…so fun,” I agree.

I slip off to sleep thinking Themis could probably use some time off.