The Blood of the Hydra (10 page)

I lost track of how long we played volleyball—all I knew was that Rachael beat us, and that I could barely pay attention to the game because everything about Ethan was so ridiculously distracting. I wondered if he was equally as distracted by me, too. I doubted it, but it didn’t hurt to dream.

“That was a blast,” he said once the game was over. “Now I just want to collapse in the sand and do nothing for the rest of the day.”

“That sounds tempting.” I smiled, and then plopped down right in the middle of the volleyball court. “Come, join me!”

Ethan tossed the ball over the net and dove down next to me, spraying sand all over me. I laughed, shaking it out of my hair and onto him.

“I’m going for a swim,” Rachael called over to us. “See you both later!”

“Bye!” we called back, waving to her as she ran out to the ocean.

Now it was just me and Ethan, lying together on the sand. He was watching me with so much intensity in his clear blue eyes that I nearly forgot to breathe. With the bongos playing out in the distance, and the waves lapping on the shore, this moment was so incredibly perfect. I wouldn’t want to be here with anyone but him.

“Water?” he asked, handing over a bottle.

“Thanks.” I sipped from it, needing to cool off after the game. The water was the most incredible thing I’d ever tasted. Sweet, like the smoke from the flapper lady’s pipe. “This is amazing,” I said, taking a few more sips. A drop fell down my chin, and I caught it and licked it off my finger, not wanting to waste a single bit of it.

“Save some for me.” He winked and snatched back the bottle, taking a few gulps. I reached for it to finish whatever was left, frowning when I realized it was empty.

“There’s plenty more where that came from.” He pried it from my hand, letting it fall to the ground. “We’ll get some later. For now, let’s just hang here, together.”

“Okay.” I smiled and twisted a strand of my hair around my finger, liking the sound of spending more time with Ethan. This was the most perfect day ever.

I vaguely recalled something I’d wanted to ask him before… what was it? I tried to search my mind for it, but everything felt so hazy. Oh, well. It must not have been important.

“I’m glad you’re here, Nicole,” he said, putting his arm around me and pulling me close. His skin glistened with sweat, and it rubbed off on me, but I didn’t care. Even his sweat smelled delicious. “You’re going to be fun to have around. I can tell.”

I smiled, my heart beating a million times a minute. The way he said it, in his perfect accent, made me believe that it was true, too.

That
was what I’d wanted to ask him about! His accent.

“Where are you from?” I looked up at him and tilted my head, resting it on his shoulder. “England?”

“No.” He laughed, as if the question were silly. “I’m not British.”

“Where then?” I asked. “Because you’re definitely not American. No one in America talks like you.”

“You like my accent?” he asked.

“Yes.” I smiled. “I do. Is it Irish? Scottish?”

“No…” He shook his head and scrunched his eyebrows, as if it were taking him effort to remember where he was from. “Australian.”

“Wow,” I said. “I’ve never been there.”

“Most people haven’t.” He shrugged and looked out over the ocean, his eyes distant. As if he were searching for an answer he couldn’t find.

“How’d you get here all the way from Australia?” I asked.

“It’s a long story.” He ran his fingers through my hair, untangling the knots I’d gotten while playing volleyball. “I’m sure you would find it boring. Especially compared to all the fun we can have here.”

“I doubt I could find anything about you boring,” I said. “I could listen to you talk forever.”

“Forever?” He raised an eyebrow. “I doubt that.”

“It’s true!” I laughed. “So… tell me. How did you get to this island? You’re wearing normal clothes, so I guess you got here recently, right?”

“It feels like I got here yesterday…” he trailed, his eyes going distant again. “Maybe it was a few days ago? Or a week? I’m not sure. My sister and I went on a gap year program, and Greece was one of our stops. We were jet skiing, and we ended up here. The island is paradise, and our tour group will be in Greece for three weeks, so we figured it couldn’t hurt to stay for a bit.”

“The people who live here are fine with that?” I asked. “They don’t make you pay or anything?”

“We go on rotations to gather more lotus, but that’s all,” he said. “Anyone who wants to stay is welcome. I’m sort of hoping…” His cheeks flushed, and he looked down at his hands, twisting them together.

“You’re hoping what?” I held my breath, hoping he was about to say what I thought he might.

He raised his eyes to meet mine, trapping me in his clear blue gaze. “I’m hoping that you’ll stay here, too.”

The butterflies exploded in my chest all over again. “I think I might,” I said, excitement flooding my veins at the thought of it. “Everything is just so
stressful
back at home. There’s this portal that’s weakening, and all of these monsters are escaping, and I’m supposed to be able to handle it, but I’m only a teenager. And I recently found out that my bio-dad is a
god.
How crazy is that?”

“No way.” Ethan smiled. “My dad’s a god, too!”

“Really?” I asked. “Which one is he?”

“Zeus,” he said, sitting straighter. “King of the sky. The leader of the Olympians. But he’s only talked to me and Rachael once. Pretty lame parenting if you ask me.”

“Yeah.” I huffed, blowing some pieces of my hair off my face. “At least that’s better than my dad—Apollo. I’ve
never
met him. He’s left me a present and a note, but that’s it. It’s like he’s afraid to talk to me or something.”

“His loss.” Ethan leaned closer to me, and my cheeks flushed at the realization of how close his lips were to mine. “By not knowing you, he’s missing out on something pretty great.”

Then he kissed me, and he tasted so sweet that I never wanted the kiss to end. He pulled me closer, and in his arms, I’d felt safer than I had since first coming to Kinsley. Here, on this island, with Ethan, everything felt so
right
.

A few people behind us hooted and clapped, and their support made me even happier. I tangled my hands in Ethan’s hair, pulling him closer. This island was an incredible place to be. It was like I’d found the family I’d never known I had. I really did want to stay here forever.

“Nicole!” someone yelled, and then that someone grabbed my arm, pulling me up and away from Ethan. I looked up at Blake, his eyes swirling with anger, his hands clenched to his sides. But Blake wasn’t looking at me. He was looking at Ethan. “Who are you?” he asked. His voice was eerily calm, as if it took everything in him not to kill Ethan on the spot. “What do you think you’re
doing
to her?”

“Whoa, there.” Ethan held his hands up and scooted away. He glanced at me, confused. “Is this your boyfriend?”

“No,” I said bitterly. Which was stupid, because it was technically my choice that Blake wasn’t my boyfriend, but whatever. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Good,” Ethan said, standing up to face Blake. “What’s your problem, then, man? Nicole and I were just having a good time.”

“Yeah.” I crossed my arms, sticking my chin in the air. “Ethan and I were bonding. Because we’re both demigods. Isn’t that
crazy
?”

“So when two people find out they’re both demigods, the first thing they do is stick their tongues in each other’s mouths?” Blake scoffed. “Is that some kind of traditional demigod greeting that I’m unaware of?”

I giggled, because as annoying as it was that Blake had forced me and Ethan apart, he
was
being pretty funny. “No,” I said, laughing again and grabbing both of their hands. “We were just having fun. This whole
island
is fun. I think we should stay here.”

Blake turned to Ethan, and I stayed between the two of them, still holding both of their hands. I didn’t know what was going on between them, but if this was a war, then I would be Switzerland.

“What did you give her?” Blake asked, his eyes blazing.

“Just a little lotus water.” Ethan picked up the empty bottle and shook it. “No big deal.”

“It’s really good,” I added. “You should try some.”

“No.” Blake stepped closer to me and pushed my hair off my face, his hand cupping my cheek. “Nicole,” he said my name slowly, his eyes not leaving mine. “There was lotus fruit in that water you drank. That’s why you’re acting like this. This isn’t
you
. You need to focus. Okay? Can you do that? For me?”

I glanced over at Ethan, and we both collapsed into giggles.

“Stop being so serious,” I told Blake, yanking my other hand out of Ethan’s so I could place it on his chest. “You should have some of that water, too. It’ll help you relax.”

“We’re about to cook some of the fruit by the fire,” Ethan said. “You should both try that. It’s even better than the water.”

Blake’s jaw tightened, and he turned to look at Ethan. “Why don’t you go over there first?” he told him. “We’ll meet you in a few minutes.”

“Sure.” Ethan looked back and forth between the two of us, holding out his hands as he backed away. “Sorry about all of this. I didn’t mean to cause any trouble.”

“Sure he didn’t,” Blake muttered once Ethan was out of earshot.

I looked past Blake, watching Ethan as he joined a large group, smiling and laughing and having fun. Just watching him made me smile, too. I couldn’t wait to go over there and join him. Mainly, I just wanted to kiss him again. He was an amazing kisser. My heart melted at the memory of our kiss—it had been broken apart way too soon.

“Come on,” I said to Blake, pulling him toward the bonfire. “Let’s go join them.”

“No.” He held me in place, shoving something into my other hand. A water bottle. “You need to drink this. It’ll help you focus.”

“Is that the yellow energy water?” I asked, recognizing the bottle. I moved away from it, scrunching my nose. “I don’t need that. I need more of the water that Ethan gave me. So do you. Trust me. It’s
so
good.”

“It’s not energy water,” Blake said, smiling down at me. He had such a nice smile. He should smile more often. “It’s the same water that Ethan gave you.”

I tilted my head, confused. “But I thought the energy water was in that bottle?”

“I emptied it and refilled it with the water from here,” he said, holding it in front of me. “Here. Drink.”

“You first,” I said playfully, swatting at his hand. “You need it more than I do.”

He uncapped it and took a sip, his gaze not leaving mine. His eyes blazed with so much intensity that I could barely breathe. “Done,” he said, handing the water bottle to me. “Now, it’s your turn.”

Greedy for more of the delicious water I’d tasted earlier, I grabbed the bottle from Blake and took a long gulp. But instead of being hit with euphoria, an icy clarity swept through my veins. The fuzzy, relaxed happiness from seconds ago was gone, the world around me now sharper and more defined.

I looked out at the ocean, where the sun glowed orange above it, inching closer to the horizon. How was it sunset already? The last I remembered, it was noon. I blinked, thinking back to what had happened. We’d arrived on the island, walked to the drum circle, and the flapper woman had blown smoke into my face. After that…

I had no idea what had happened after that. I searched my mind, but it was like trying to remember a dream. The memories slipped through my fingers like fog. It was so strange, knowing that I’d been living life for the past few hours, and not remembering a bit of it. I shuddered and wrapped my arms around myself, feeling violated by my own body. What had I done?

“That was yellow energy water, wasn’t it?” I whispered, even though I already knew the answer.

Blake nodded, not saying a word. I looked back up at him, hoping he could tell me what happened. But the moment my eyes met his, my heart sunk into my stomach. Because seconds ago, I’d thought his eyes had been intense with desire. Now that my mind was clear, I saw the truth—what I’d seen hadn’t been desire.

It had been disappointment. In me.

And I had no idea what I’d done to deserve it.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked, barely able to get the words out. “What
happened
?”

He walked over to my bag—I must have dropped it at the side of the volleyball court at some point—and brought it over. Still saying nothing, he pulled out my still full bottle of yellow energy water and handed it to me. “Drink more,” he said. “It’ll bring your memories back.”

He was right—the more water I drank, the less fuzzy my memories became. Once I’d finished half the bottle, I remembered everything. Meeting Ethan, the intense attraction I felt toward him, playing volleyball, wanting to stay on the island forever, and kissing him.

I’d made out with a guy I’d just met, in front of everyone. In front of
Blake
.

I wouldn’t blame him if he hated me forever.

“Blake.” My voice cracked when I said his name. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know why I did that…”