New Olympus Trilogy: Teenage Goddess Teenage Star Hell on Earth (9 page)

“And then?”

“As soon as Hell heard you were badly hurt, he came to you and managed to stabilize you in the nick of time. Then he called me. I brought you home and restored your powers, which effected instant healing, of course.

“So Hell saved me again,” I concluded. “If you hadn’t made me quite so helpless, this wouldn’t have been necessary.”

“Indeed,” Mom agreed, with a dark look at Dad.

“I’m sorry.” We both looked at him in astonishment. It’s not something I had ever heard before from my Dad. “I guess the idea of my little girl seducing mortal boys didn’t sit right with me. I wanted to make it a bit more difficult for you.”

“Seduce boys! I wasn’t even going to.” Not for the first time, I told myself he was a product of his time, and to be tolerant of his different mind-set. It took a couple of minutes to order my thoughts. “Whatever your reasons, my time among humans was certainly educational. Now all I want to do is to undo the problems I caused. Will you free Jason from the effects of that arrow?”

“The boy saved Myra’s life. We certainly owe it to him,” Mom supported my request.

“Very well.” Dad raised his staff – the one that produced lightning and thunder – and spoke a fairly long incantation. I tried to memorize it, in case of need, but gave up after the second line.

“That should do it.”

“Have you tried this before, Dad? What were the effects?”

“A few times, centuries ago. The compulsion to love the other is lifted, and free will comes back. Well, as free as human will can be, anyway. There might be some residual effects, hard to tell in advance.”

“Like what?” I asked, concerned.

“Nothing too bad. One victim had been under the arrow’s influence for twenty years. When I lifted the compulsion, her love had become an ingrained habit. There was no difference in
behavior that I could see.”

“Jason was only hit a few days ago,” I said
, not sure if I was glad about that. “Not time enough to form a habit.”

I wanted to see him again, assure myself that he was all right. To see my bloody broken body must have been a shock to him, and that last anguished call was still sounding in my ear... we never had a chance to say good-bye.

“You said I could not go back if I called for help, but you’ll notice I never did call.”

“Yes, that surprised quite a few of us. Your tenacity was unexpected.”

“And I understand bets were placed on it?”

“What’s that about betting?” My mother was frowning. Dad shifted uncomfortably.

“That’s why Jason got hit with the arrow.“ I still felt bitter about it. “Not because I wanted him that way.”

“Oh, darling, you sure had a difficult time.” Mom shook her head. “This mingling with humans is a very risky practice. You should take a nice long rest now, till you fully recover from the experience.”

“I already feel recovered. And I’m not done with these humans. What of Christabel’s punishment?”

“Hell would know – he’s still down there, at the school.” Mom’s tone was disapproving.

“Oh? I want to see him.”

“We can summon him any time,” she reminded me. I nodded. “You’re not thinking of going back yourself? They all believe you died, though the lack of a body is puzzling them
.“

I had to smile at that.

“The mystery of the disappearing schoolgirl. I can see it as a headline.”

“Well, with the mysterious disappearance of your body, there already are headlines.” Dad clearly did not find this important. “If this Christabel were not compelled to confess what she did, Jason might have fallen under suspicion himself.”

Poor Jason. His publicist, Alice, would have her hands full. How would a murder and love triangle affect his image?

26

I greatly enjoyed my first home-cooked meal in our gold and white dining hall, with ambrosia cake specially prepared to celebrate my safe return. The gods made nectar toasts to my continued immortality and luck. Almost all the family and retainers were present, though Eros made sure he kept well away from me. We used the gold plates and all my favorite dishes were on the menu. Two thousand candles lit the dining hall - in New Olympus they last forever, but I'd never seen so many used.

Almost the hardest part,” I told Pallas, “was surviving on bland human food. They do have some excellent dishes, but Jason’s school did not serve any of those.”

“They probably had their reasons.” She was not sympathetic. “Were there any fat students at that school?”

I thought back. “No, not that I noticed.”

“It was a school for the children of the rich. They tend to be slimmer, and the best-tasting foods are often fattening.”

That did not seem reasonable to me, since surely you could have a compromise. I decided that I’d have to show rather than tell her, by taking her to some good restaurants someday.

After dinner, Dad summoned Hell for a report. My brother materialized in front of the whole family rather tousled and in pajamas, though he quickly converted them into a white tunic.

“Oh, hello Dad, Mum, sis, everyone,” he said, still in a sleepy voice, rubbing his eyes. But then he sniffed. “Is that ambrosia cake? Is there any left?”

I handed him a golden plate with a big piece and a crystal tumbler of nectar. It was the least I could do. "Thanks for the rescue, bro."

Hell took a drought of nectar, and immediately became more alert.

“Report,” Dad commanded.

“Well, it’s quite a mess. The headmaster is deathly afraid that our parents will sue the school after what happened to Myra. There’s a county-wide manhunt for the body. They cannot understand how it disappeared in the few minutes between Jason coming for help, and the teachers rushing to the waterfall. They only found bloodstains. One newspaper speculates that a grizzly bear carried Myra off.”

“What of Christabel?” Mom asked.

“She admits what she did. Christabel’s been arrested, but I don’t suppose that will last long. Her family sent a high-powered lawyer, who quit in disgust after just a few hours. They’ve already replaced him. The new lawyer is trying to put the blame on Jason, and to suggest that Christabel is sacrificing herself out of love.”

“Ha!” I snorted. Nobody who knew her would believe such a story.

“They have also sent some expensive psychiatrists to check on her and will probably get her off,” Hell said, “I only know this from the media. The news
are full of the case.”

I did not care about Christabel. “How is Jason dealing with the situation?”

“Not well, from what I heard. The media are sympathetic to him, especially as he tried to save you. He refused to leave the mountain for hours and hours, still hoping to find you alive or dead. His parents are sending a top-flight therapist to look after him. There was talk of a suicide watch.”

I felt a stab of pain in my own heart at hearing this.

“He’s been freed of the arrow’s power,” I told Hell. “Surely that will help him deal with the fall-out.”

“Jason still needs some kind of closure,” Pallas suggested. “Maybe you should go to him in his dreams and tell him you’re all right.”

“Will he even care, now he’s been set free?” That thought also hurt, strangely.

“I think so,” Hell said. “Even without being in love, I expect he feels guilty that Christabel attacked you out of jealousy over him. The uncertainty of what happened to you, or your body, must be nerve-wracking.”

“Isn’t it time you also came home, son?” Dad asked Hell.

My brother vigorously shook his head. “Oh no, Dad, I want to stay on. I’m learning new things about the modern world and its people every day.”

“Not to mention all the Spanish practice that you’re getting,” I added. Hell threw me a look, and I shrugged.

“What’s that?” Mom asked.

“Hell has become very close to a human girl,” I told her. “Melinda, from Colombia. She’s really smart and cute.”

“He’s my son, it’s to be expected.” Dad’s voice was complacent. He was a lot more okay with Hell’s friendships than mine, I thought with a momentary flash of resentment.

“Just be careful,” Mom advised Hell. “Don’t go around breaking hearts. You’re only fourteen -”

“Almost fifteen, Mom.” Hell didn’t like to be reminded of his youth.

27

As soon as the feast was over and I found myself alone in my room, I lost no time appearing to Jason. This was the first time I did so, but I had learned the proper incantation from Pallas long ago.

At first I thought the chant wasn't working properly, but then I saw that Jason had been sedated, which made it harder to get through him. Apparently, the drugs in his system interfered with dreams.

I chose to bring him back to the meadow where we’d kissed so recently, and in broad sunlight.

“Hello, Jason,” I said softly. He opened his dream eyes, and stared at me.

“Myra! Are you all right? What happened to you?”

“Yes, Jason, I’m fine. Thanks to you pulling me out of the water. I’ll never forget that.”

“But then – we couldn’t find you – I’m dreaming, aren’t I?”

Even so, he approached and touched his hand to mine in wonder.

“Yes, you’re dreaming, but I’m really here.” I couldn’t resist passing my dream hand over his disordered locks. ”I came to say good-bye.”

“Then you’re dead?” His beautiful blue eyes filled with tears.

“No, I’m not dead, and I don’t expect to ever die. Jason, I was just visiting Earth for a while. My home is elsewhere.”

“I don’t understand.” His voice was choked.

“Don’t try. Jason, I have a confession to make
.“ Even in the dream, the next thing was difficult to say, but I forced myself to plough ahead. ”You were compelled to love me, although not through my doing. I’m sorry if that caused you pain. Now the compulsion to love me has been removed, and you can forget me.”

“You want me to forget about you?”

“It’s for the best.” A good thing that goddesses don’t cry.

“And are you going to forget about me?”

“No.” I said it so low that I wasn’t sure he heard, but apparently he did.

“Why, Myra? I haven’t loved anyone before. I don’t want to love anyone else. If you’re truly all right, can’t you come back to me?”

“You’d still want that?”

“Always.”

I was torn. Did he know his feelings? He’d been drugged, after an extremely stressing time. In a week, everything might look very different.

“I’ll stay away for a while. If you still feel the same at the end of the school year, send me a message, and I can come for a visit.”

“You promise you’re alive?” He still seemed anxious.

“I promise. Quite alive and well, even the broken spine is healed already.”

“Nobody else would know about that,” he breathed, eyes wide. “I just told them you were badly hurt, bleeding from the head and nose.”

“All that is past now, you can relax.”

He was looking me over carefully. “You look different somehow. More alive, more real.”

“That’s because I’m my true self now,” I said. “I’m not exactly human. Does that bother you?”

“You mean, you’re an alien?” That thought seemed to intrigue him.

“No, not an alien, but a supernatural being.”

“Wow. Just wow. I always knew you were special, but that’s incredible.” He blinked. “Can I still kiss you?”

I had to laugh at that.

“A kiss good-bye, for now.”

It was a great kiss, even if it was only in the dream. I ended it with a slow fade. Then I was at home in my room in New Olympus, and he was deeply asleep in Colorado.

It was strange to come to the end so unexpectedly. I was feeling happy and sad at the same time.

As long as Hell remained down at the school, I’d be able to keep tabs on my first boyfriend. Maybe I could save him from some danger in the future, to repay his own quick action?

Jason would probably forget me over the next starlet in the upcoming Hurricane Riders II, but at least I had relieved him of the unearned guilt. After my dramatic demise as a human student, I liked Jason more than ever before. He was a good guy, and deserved better than either Christabel or me.

But if he should by any chance persist in his delusions, well, who knew what the future would bring…..

THE END

Children of New Olympus Series

May Burnett

Copyright © 2014 by May Burnett. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording , scanning or otherwise without the prior written permission of the author.

This book is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons or institutions would be unintentional and mere coincidence.