Authors: Cindi Madsen
Persephone’s heart soared when she saw Adrastos leaning against a tree. His black hair hung down, hiding those hooded dark eyes that shot straight to her soul.
He looked up as she approached, and a smile hit his lips.
She ran and flung herself into his arms. “I hoped you’d come tonight.”
“You know I’ll come whenever I can. As often as I can.” His smile faded and his eyebrows drew together. He ran his finger down the knot that had formed on the side of her head. “You’re hurt.”
She put her hand over his and pressed it against her cheek, soaking in his touch. “It’s nothing.” When his concerned expression remained, she added, “Just a minor scuffle, nothing I couldn’t handle, and in the end, it turned out to be a misunderstanding anyway.”
“I wish I could be there to protect you.” He hugged her to him and she wanted to cry. Meeting in their dreams was all they had for now, and their fleeting moments together were as torturous as they were amazing.
“How long until we can really be together?”
He brushed a kiss on her forehead. “No way of knowing for sure, my love, but it’s getting closer.”
She peered into his dark brown eyes and hoped he was right. Every time she woke up from a night with him, only to find herself alone again, her heart broke. The nights she couldn’t find him in her dreams were even worse.
“You know I won’t rest until we’re together.” He pressed his lips to hers. Heat filled her as he kissed her. In his arms was the only place she ever really felt at ease. So she would wait. She would wait until they could to be together always.
“You’re about to wake up,” he whispered.
“No. I’ll try to stay asleep. Just don’t leave yet.” She tipped onto her toes, pressed her lips to his—
The irritating buzz of her alarm clock pierced the air. Persephone snaked her arm out of the covers and slammed the snooze button. She brought her hand to her still-tingling lips, wishing she could hold Adrastos’s kiss in forever.
It was crazy, she knew, to be in love with someone she could only see in her dreams. But she knew he was out there, knew he loved her, just like she knew the sun would rise every day. His love was the most powerful thing she’d ever felt.
After a dream like that, it was hard to drag herself out of bed. But she had no choice but to get up and get going. One misstep and the school might find out Gran had been dead for months. If the higher ups found out, they’d try to force her to live somewhere else. If that happened, Hades Dagger would be exposed, and all Hell—literally—would break loose.
Persephone showered, then threw on some clothes, making sure the lacy white tank showed under her navy Henley. She liked to remind the guys she played soccer with she was a girl while she was showing them up. She fed Turtle, grabbed a pomegranate smoothie out of the fridge, and headed toward the front door.
The knock stopped her in her tracks. Last night she’d been too exhausted and sore to clean, and now she cursed herself for not putting her weapons back where they belonged. Persephone kicked the dagger under the couch and scooped up her short sword. The blade had a wicked jagged edge, and even though it was short, twenty-six inches was plenty if it caught you wrong.
The knocking came again, louder this time. Gripping the weapon, she looked through the peephole. And groaned.
She unlocked the door and swung it open. “What do you want?”
Jax ran a hand through his damp hair. The swelling in his nose had gone down, but his right eye held a hint of blackness. “You said we could talk today.”
“Not now. I’ve got to go to school.”
His eyebrows drew together. “You go to school still?”
“I’m seventeen. Of course I go to school. The real question is why don’t you?”
“I already graduated. A year early.” He looked all pleased with himself about it. “So I could start taking out demons as soon as possible.”
“Sorry, I’m fresh out of gold stars. You’ll have to settle for an uninterested stare.” Persephone replaced her sword behind the peace lily, stepped onto the porch, and locked the door behind her. She readjusted the gris-gris hanging from the door, then turned to Jax. “How’d you break in yesterday, anyway?”
“Just picked the lock. As soon as I’m done dropping you off at school, I’ll figure out what we need to do to better secure the place.”
“It’s secure from the demons, which is what’s important. The wards make it invisible to them. If they come across it, all they’ll see is a vacant lot.”
“I don’t trust some witch’s spells. We need to cover all our bases.”
All of two seconds, and he was already irritating her. With the memory of last night’s dream fresh in her mind, reminding her she had someone she loved out there waiting for her, she could focus on all of Jax’s annoying qualities instead of his good looks. “There is no
we
.
I’m
going to school,
you’re
going…wherever it is you live right now, and then later tonight, we’ll have a quick talk and go our separate ways.”
“Not going to happen,” Jax said, crossing his arms. “I’m staying by your side, and you don’t actually have a choice in the matter.”
She jabbed a finger at him, fighting the urge to reinjure his nose. “That’s where you’re wrong. Don’t push me, because I promise, it won’t work out well for you.”
“I don’t understand why you’re so hostile. I’m just trying to help.”
“The last time someone from the Order helped me and my family out, I was almost killed. My family wasn’t lucky enough for the almost part.” Her heart knotted, the familiar ache of missing them rising to the surface.
Jax’s expression softened. “I’m sorry about that, I really am.” He reached out his hand, like he was going to put it on her shoulder.
Persephone stepped back. “Yeah, well unfortunately for me, I got no time for feeling sorry.” Before she could start thinking too hard about all the things she’d lost, she turned and charged toward her car.
All she’d wanted to do was have a nice, normal day. Guess when you’re the guardian of an artifact that could basically ruin the world, that was just too much to ask.
Persephone tossed her bag in her locker and went to find Dean and Danielle. The twins were her best friends and provided the best of both worlds. Danielle was funny, full of energy, and great with the girly stuff; Dean was mellow, easy to talk to, and he’d gotten Persephone into soccer. The downside was they sometimes fought and drove each other crazy, which drove her crazy. Especially when she got dragged into the middle of their arguments.
Dean turned as she neared. Two creases formed between his eyebrows. “Did someone get a hit on you during soccer yesterday?”
Compared to how bad the side of her face had looked last night—all swollen and red and purple—the faint red mark that remained was nothing. Not nothing enough to go unnoticed, apparently. “Um, I got up in the middle of the night, thought my door was closed, but it wasn’t, and I ran right into it.”
“You’ll still be good to play after school, though, right?”
“I’d play with a broken leg.”
Danielle groaned. “Not lame soccer again. Can’t we do something else that’s actually fun?”
Persephone couldn’t help but smile at Danielle’s exasperation. “You could play, you know.”
Danielle’s eyebrows inched up, and she tilted her head, a never-going-to-happen expression on her face.
“We’ll go do something girly afterwards, okay? I just need to beat up on the guys a little first.”
Especially on a day like today, when I feel so frustrated.
“Fine. I’ll deal with soccer, but then we need to have an
Upper East Siders
marathon. Just wait until you see Michael, Chloe’s new love interest. He’s so yummy I want to lick him.” Danielle tucked a strand of her golden brown hair behind her ear, then leaned against her locker, a dreamy look on her face. “Why can’t we get any boys like that at our school?”
Dean rolled his eyes. “That show is fake, that’s why. All those guys do is go around whining about their feelings. They’re more obsessed with their looks than you are, and that’s saying a lot.”
Danielle smacked his arm. “Geez! Rude much? Did you ever think if you weren’t such a jerk, Abbey Stevens would be cuddled up to you instead of Joshua Bryant?”
Before a fight broke out, Persephone stepped in. “Have you guys picked which author you’re going to do your paper on for Miss Nelson’s class yet? I have no idea who to do mine on.”
Dean put his hand on her shoulder. “I’ll help you pick one during the
Upper East Siders
marathon if you don’t think you’ll miss the non-existent plot.”
Persephone waited for Danielle’s retort, but her attention was on something further down the hall. “Holy eye candy! Just when I said we needed hot guys here, one magically appears.” Her eyes widened. “And he’s heading right for us.”
Dean sighed and shook his head. “I’ve really got to start hanging out with the guys in the morning.”
Persephone glanced back to check out the new guy.
And saw he wasn’t new to her.
“I was hoping I’d run into you,” Jax said, stepping up to her. “I need someone to show me around my new school.”
Danielle looked at Persephone, hazel eyes wide and questioning. “You know this guy?”
“Our families go way back,” Jax answered before Persephone could, draping his arm over her shoulders. “So I guess you could say we’re friends who are getting re-acquainted.”
Persephone glared at him and he dropped his arm.
Mega-watt smile on her face, Danielle threw her hand over her heart. “I’m Danielle.”
Jax returned her smile with one of his own. “Jax Nikas. Nice to meet you.” He turned to Dean. “You’re not Persephone’s boyfriend, are you?”
“That’s it!” Persephone grabbed Jax’s arm and yanked him away from her friends. She led him to a relatively quiet corner and whipped around to face him. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I thought about it, and I kind of rushed through my last year of school, so I decided to enroll here.”
His calm manner only caused her anger toward him to grow. “So you can keep an eye on me?”
He put his hand on the wall behind her and leaned in. “So what if I did? You can’t ban me from coming to school. My papers say I’m legit, and you’re not going to be able to prove otherwise.”
Teeth clenched, she shook her head. “I’ve known you for less than a day, and you’ve already annoyed me more than I’ve ever been annoyed in my life. So no, I can’t ban you from school, but I can ignore you, and I’m going to start with that right now.” She ducked under his arm and started down the hall.
Within seconds, he was at her side. “Fine. Ignore me, but I’ll be here if you need me.”
Persephone quickened her pace.
“Sorry if I messed up things with your boyfriend,” Jax said. “I’ll explain that we’re just really close friends, and that while you’re obviously attracted to me, he has nothing to worry about.”
Words could not express her rage, so she continued to act like he didn’t exist.
Obviously attracted. Puh! Obviously an egotistical, conceited tool, that’s what you are.
“He is your boyfriend, right?”
How is he not getting the hint I don’t want to talk to him?
“Not that I care either way,” he said. “I just need to know about you. To keep you safer.”