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Mydemigod.
That sounds really, really good.
Except for right now. When that magnificent male is causing me every variant of stress there is. Maybe a few new ones too.
I check my locator app again. The result is no better than it was when we got here. Maximus left the library, but there’s been no new ping on his phone since. Not a bizarre occurrence with the tall buildings and scattered clouds likely screwing with the signals but one that still zaps my mind with a thousand possible what-ifs.
And surprise, surprise…none of them end with giant rainbows and sweet kisses.
It’s not the only subject that’s stirring my guts into stress stew. I turn around toward the living room, forcing myself to address the next biggest one head on. As if my sister and her glare are going to let me forget.
“I still don’t think it’s smart to split up,” I state. But even from her place on the couch across the room, she’s broadcasting peeved vibes about her preference for an alternative plan—and my fierce quashes on it. “Sorry, honey. But it’ll take only one reporter or photographer to recognize any of us and then post it to the internet. How freely do you think we’ll be able to move around the city then?”
“But Kell’s also got a solid point,” Jaden ventures. “Maybe splitting the paps’ focus is a good thing. I mean, if what you’ve told us is true, that Maximus isn’t trusted by Iremia nor wanted by Olympus, maybe borrowing a page from our mother’s book is a smart idea. The mortal spotlightiswhere he’s going to be the safest, at least for now.”
“You mean afterwecan find him again?”
He flings a scoff at me. “You mean retrieve him? Weknowwhere he is, okay?”
I compress my lips, but not before jabbing a nail between them. I hate how much sense he’s making, mostly because of the larger dilemma it now presents.
This whole afternoon and evening, my siblings have been my invaluable A-Team. But do I let them continue to help, even if it sacrifices their privacy—and very possibly their safety? Or do I order them to stay here in a passcode-protected building that even the press isn’t hounding right now thanks to the post-quake coverage frenzy? Moreover, a lot of practice has turned me into the family specialist at disguising myself as an ordinary Alameda student. With my practiced slouch and deep hoodie pout, I’ll be able to slip across campus without a hitch. If I can find some earphone wires, even the library’s front desk crew won’t think of stopping me.
If Maximus is still there…
My phone vibrates. The locator app has updated. But checking it has my throat squeezing in again.
The new ping isn’t an anomaly. Maximus has officially left the library. And from the looks of it, he’s now in a huge hurry.
He’s already made it all the way offcampus.
My stress spikes so high, I don’t bother keeping that news to myself. My siblings’ reactions are simultaneously comforting and aggravating.
“Headed where? What’s he up to now?” There’s the odd comfort, coming from Jaden.
“Before you find that out, maybe Jaden and I should head out and pull a few pied pipers with the press.” And the aggravation, on cue, from my tenacious sister.
Jaden emerges from the kitchen with a bowl of mixed nuts and a canned protein shake. It’s enough of an offering to make him dig in as soon as he sits at the dining room table. But his satisfaction aside, I’m stressing just looking at him now.
Next to his knee, in the hiding place that Maximus found for it between the table’s leaf extension lever and the tabletop, is Hecate’s grimoire.
While a genius idea, the stash was never meant to be a permanent spot for the book. It was a quick fix for the moment, in which we were dashing from the apartment after getting the call about Kell in the humans’ crisis center. The intention was to find a more secure location once we got back here with clearer thoughts and more strategic intentions.
That was five days ago.
Clarity and strategy still feel as reachable as getting my masters in metaphysics.
Worse, with my rising doubts about Hecate and the diamonds, I don’t even know if I want to bethisclose to the tome anymore. It seems surreal, despite everything it’s gotten me through. How it helped me focus my energy and get us out of hell. How it calms me whenever I’m simply holding it. How it speaks to me about amazing truths…
The power of Hecate, swelling in my DNA.
The manifestation of that force, drenching my veins.
The ringing of that calling, dominating my heart and mind…
But do I really want it all now? Orever?
Or do I long to simply be free of it? From everything that associates me with…her?
