Fire & Flood (Mythverse #1)

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Cassie leads me out of the dorms and around the back of the school. From the center of campus comes the typical sounds of a party. Music. Voices raised in laughter. And wolves howling. Okay, not all the typical sounds.

“I forgot about the party,” I say, looking up where sure enough a full moon is overhead.

I also forgot about my promise to watch Tina. Or watch her fangs so they don’t accidentally sink into my neck. It’s probably best I’m not anywhere near her right now. Too late, it occurs to me that Cassie might’ve wanted to attend the party.

“You weren’t planning on going, were you?”

“Nah, it’s not my scene.” Cassie shrugs. “When Emmie was here we’d go together and it was fun, but now that she’s gone everyone just ignores me or makes fun of me.”

“Yeah, I get it. I’ve had some bad party experiences too. People suck.” Cassie nods in agreement and yet I can’t help but look back toward the party sounds and wonder what a certain guy who definitely sucks is up to right now.

“This way,” Cassie says, taking a turn that leads us almost back into the swamp. There’s some Greek-looking ruins, crumbling pillars and statues.

“Um, I know we’re in the assassination class but you’re not taking me out here to kill me for extra credit or anything, are you?”

Cassie throws me a wounded look. “I would never! We’re besties!” She motions toward the ruins of a building, stone steps descending into the earth. “This is just the secret way to get to the vault. Come on!” She jogs down the steps and I can’t do anything but follow.

The corridor is damp and dirty. Creeping vines hang along the stone walls and as I peer closer several giant spiders quickly scurry away. As I quickly jump back, Cassie fiddles with something in her pocket, and a light goes on.

“It’s super dark down here. I’m glad I remembered my flashlight.”

We walk along the corridor until it slopes up slightly, leaving the spiders and brackish puddles behind. Cassie motions to an ancient-looking door, slightly ajar. On the other side is a normal, if dusty, room. It’s filled with artifacts, from pottery to gold coins to stone busts and jewelry.

“This is the non-magical objects room,” Cassie explains. “No one ever comes in here. It’s just junk.”

Sure, ancient priceless artifacts are junk. I don’t argue. She leads us to the other side of the room and turns off her flashlight. “Let’s peek around the corner,” she whispers. “See if the way is clear.”

I open the door a bit and have a peek. The way is definitely not clear.

Standing just a few feet away is Hermes. He’s speaking to an older gentleman who is wearing a toga. Obviously the toga thing goes with the whole ancient Greek vibe here, but it’s still hard not to think of it as a silly costume.

The older dude moves a bit and his outfit choice becomes more obvious. The man knows how to rock a toga. Which is to say: he’s ripped. With all the six-packs walking around this school you’d think I was attending Mount Olympus Gym Rat Academy. The sight of rippling abs has almost become humdrum. But the toga guy has the type of abs that Men’s Health double-page spreads are made of. His six-pack is more like an eight-pack and his arms are sculpted like a Greek god.

“That’s Mr. Zee!” Cassie squeaks in my ear and I shoot her a look. I hold my breath, hoping they didn’t hear her, but Hermes continues.

“I just don’t understand the need for secrecy,” Hermes is saying. “Bats don’t spontaneously set themselves on fire. An accident of this magnitude—”

“We don’t know it was an accident. I will not sow the seeds of fear and dissent.” Toga guy—er, Mr. Zee—has one of those super deep commanding voices. I bet even when he says, “I gotta take a piss,” it comes out like he’s ordering an army to advance and kill.

Hermes raises his voice. “Well, if it wasn’t an accident, that’s an even better reason to inform the students. They need to protect themselves.”

Mr. Zee puts a hand on Hermes’ shoulder. “We will protect them. We always have.” He pulls Hermes in closer. “Now, let’s retire—”

Hermes shakes his head. “You’re not going to distract me with s*x. Well, maybe you will. You’re lucky you’re so hot.”

My eyes widen as they share a wet slurping kiss. After several long moments they part, both panting hard.

“Let’s find someplace more comfortable,” Mr. Zee says. Hermes quickly answers in the affirmative and the two walk down the hall and disappear.

“Did you hear that?” I ask Cassie.

“What, Hermes and Mr. Zee? Yeah, everyone knows they bang. Hermes is the most sexually fluid person in the world. He even tried to come on to Ocypete at one point—she almost gouged his eyes out as a rejection!”

Hmm. Well, there goes my feeling special about having a god flirt with me. Apparently Hermes will make a move on anything. With a shake of my head, I refocus on the more important thing here.

“No, they said there was an accident! What if we’re in danger?”

She pauses. “Do you want to go back?”

“No.” We’ve come too far. “Where are the Seer Stones?”

“Across the hall. If it’s clear, I’ll lead the way.”

I double check that no one else is lurking in the halls. “Yeah, it’s clear.”

Cassie leads me to another room, but this one is better kept. It’s full of books and objects, which Cassie informs me are all magical. Some glow from within, but most just look ordinary. Like, how is a frying pan magical? Does it make perfect frittatas?

“Here!” Cassie calls from across the room where she’s opening drawers in a cabinet. I rush to her side. There’s a stone the size of a Venti Starbucks cup. It’s gray and kind of boring looking, really.

“That’s it?” I ask.

Cassie nods, her eyes wide. “My mom always warned me against touching them. I think she’s afraid ramping up my abilities will be too much for me.”

“Wait, it won’t be harmful, will it?”

“No, Probably not. Maybe,” she says uncertainly.

“If you don’t feel comfortable,” I tell her, my heart sinking.

“This is for a good cause,” she quickly replies, now determined. She holds out her hand. “Give me your dad’s phone.”

I do and she places her other hand on the stone. It flashes a brilliant white light and Cassie’s eyes roll back in her head.

“9372.” Smoke pours from the stone, and flows around her. “The answers you seek will lead to ruin. The father you want is not the father you had. Beware, the light is coming for you.”

What does it all mean? That bit about my father sends a chill through my whole body. A second later Cassie releases the stone and blinks at me. “Wow. That’s a rush. I…” She’s blushing a little bit. “Sorry if that upset you. The bit about beware the light and all. Sounded pretty dangerous, huh?”

I swallow. “Yeah.”

“Well, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. You know me and my prophecies. It probably just means that you’re going to get a bad sunburn or something.”

She looks at my dad’s phone, still unlocked in my hand.

“And it’s okay if you don’t want to get into your dad’s phone. Sure we risked a lot to get down here and were almost caught by Mr. Zee himself. Also, using the Seer Stone is kinda giving me heartburn, but it’s fine if—”

“Okay! I’ll do it. Just, please…be quiet for a minute.”

Cassie opens her mouth to say something, but then quickly closes it again.

I take a deep breath. The truth is, no matter how bad whatever I find might be, it’s better than not knowing. I type the digits into the phone.

“We’re in!” I tell her as I look at Dad’s home screen.

Now that I have access, I don’t even know where to start. I try his email, but it’s just a bunch of boring old sales notices and stuff from work. Then I notice he has some voicemails. They must have all downloaded before I came to the Academy, because there’s no WiFi here. Several are junk calls, but I freeze when I come to the date of the rogue wave.

It’s from Layla. Aka Mom.

The time stamp is from the exact moment Dad and I were running up the stairs, escaping from the waters. It doesn’t look like Dad ever listened to it.

My hand trembles as I press play.

“Danny, they’re here. I think they may have gotten to Mavis too. Get Edie to the safe house. I’ll try to hold them off as long as I can.” Her voice is strained and hurried. And yet also so very much Mom. Tears stream down my face.

“What is going on in here, ladies?” I hear from behind me, while at the same time on the voicemail, there’s a loud crash and then Mom says, “I love you. Tell Edie I love her and Mavis too, if she’s...” A sob. “Just tell them both—”

That’s it. The message ends. I stand frozen, while Cassie gasps, “Themis!”

Slowly, I turn to face Themis. “This is a restricted area. You could both be expelled for this.”

Cassie, bless her heart, tries to deflect. “I wanted to show Edie the Seer Stones and what I can really do. I was trying to impress her!”

“No!” I can’t let her take the fall. “I’m responsible. I insisted.”

Themis evaluates us and her eyes immediately go to Dad’s cell phone in my hand. “You’re not supposed to have that.” She holds out a hand. “Please give it to me now.”

I clutch the phone to my chest. “No. I wasn’t calling anyone. Hermes said there was no point in bringing it, but he didn’t say I couldn’t have it.”

“You are mistaken. You are also in a restricted area. The ice on which you are skating is very thin.” Themis stretches her hand out further. “Ms. Evans, I will not ask twice.”

I gulp and consider running for it, when without my control, my arm stretches out and my fingers release the phone, dropping it into Themis’ waiting hand.

“What!” I gasp. “You can’t control me! That’s gotta be against the rules.”

“I would never do anything against the rules!” She snaps. “What I do is anything that’s needed to enforce them. If you do not like it we can begin the Academy removal procedures tomorrow.”

Cassie grabs hold of my arm with two hands. “Edie,” she whispers. “Leave it.”

Rage. Despair. And the ache of hearing my mother’s voice after all this time, churn inside me. Somehow I force myself to say, “Yes, ma’am. I mean, no, ma’am. I do not want to be removed from the Academy.”

“That’s what I thought.” She nods and slips the phone into a pocket in her skirt. “It’s late. I think you ladies ought to get into bed now. I will escort you to the dorm.”

And she does, like we’re children caught sneaking a late night snack. There’s nothing else to say as we’re marched up through the archive room and to our dorm building. Cassie and I both shuffle along. I notice that all the party noises are gone and wonder if Themis broke that up too. It is only once we’re inside front door of our dorms that Cassie says, “That was weird.”

“The Jedi mind trick, you mean?”

“I don’t know what that means. But what I meant was Themis didn’t send us to Mr. Zee. She just let us leave.”

I close my eyes and bite back sobs. I haven’t felt this low since the day I first arrived at the foster people’s house. “What does it matter? Dad’s phone and any answers it held are gone.”

“Well…” Cassie hesitates. “Not quite.”

“You think we can steal it back from Themis?”

A high whinnying laugh comes out of Cassie. “Noooo. Are you suicidal? Steal from Themis. That’s—no.” She continues to chuckle nervously. “I was thinking more like, that phone might’ve had answers, but there are answers in other places too. Like maybe in the archives. Where my mother works. Whatever your dad’s connection to the Academy was—someone will have recorded it and filed it away at some point. We just have to find it.”

I spin toward Cassie and grab both of her hands. A new urgency is inside of me. After getting so close to answers and having that little taste of mom’s voice, I need more. “When can we go? Tonight? Tomorrow?”

Her eyes go wide. “Tonight might be pushing our luck. We wouldn’t want to bump into Themis again. But tomorrow night…I think we could do it then.”

“Tomorrow,” I agree. “We get answers tomorrow.”