The Broken Curse (8 page)

"Come on." He waves his hand and pushes the front door open, letting me in before closing it and locking it behind us. I follow him into his dark living room, where I take a seat on his leather couch. He flicks on the overhead light and turns on a standing light, casting the room in creepy, dark shadows.

"Do you want anything to eat or drink?" he asks while he stands before me, his hands shoved into his pockets. I shake my head, so he sits across from me, waiting for me to make the first move.

"Why did you give my mother to Hades?" I jump right to the point.
 

"To get you back."

"But why'd you have to give her to him?"

"I know this isn't what you want to hear, but Hades wants the Originals. I used Athena as a bargaining chip to get you back. And while it's unfortunate that your mother is down there, she's an Original. She can hold her own, and I have no doubt she's doing fine. But I couldn't imagine leaving you down there. You were just coming into your powers."

"I judged you so fast," I admit, dropping my head into my hands. My body slumps over itself in humiliation. I'm such an idiot.

"I know," he answers. I hear movement but don't have the guts to raise my head. And then I feel him. The couch indents beside me, and his arm snakes its way around my shoulders. "But it's okay. I forgive you."

"Why? You should hate me by now. I know that you're hurt, and I've broken your heart." I scoot across the couch, putting distance between us. My sadness is replaced with fury—anger with myself.

"I don't know how to make this clearer." He looks away from me, almost like he can't stand the sight of me.

"What?"

"I love you." He stands and comes closer to me, never letting up on his pursuit. He stops in front of me and drops to his knees on the carpet. His hands find my thighs, and his warmth instantly fills me. "Whether you hate me or not, I still love you. Because you're you and I know you're going through a lot, so I understand. But I still love you. It won't change, I promise."

"What if you're not my soul mate?" His green eyes widen at my question, but he doesn't miss a beat. I can't look away.

"Then I'm not. It doesn't change the way I feel deep in here," he says, clutching his chest with one of his hands.

"I'm just so scared."

"It's okay to be scared. But you can't let your fears run your life. Be scared; be worried. But when it comes down to it, persevere. You're strong, Eury; act like the woman I know you are."
 

I lean forward and grab onto the fabric of his black shirt. I bunch it in my hands and tug him forward. I lean onto his chest, my face nestled against his shoulder, as his arms wrap around me like a warm blanket. Ari is comfort. Ari is peace.
 

"I'm sorry," I murmur into him, my voice captured by his body. I hold onto his waist as he crouches in front of me, never letting go.

"I love you," he whispers.
 

I clutch him like my life depends on it. When sleep comes for me, I almost let it take me away. But a loud bang resonates through the house. I jump back from Ari, like a teen caught making out by her parents. I look for the source of the bang.

"Thank the gods," Cristos says as he comes down the stairs.
 

"Hey," Ari says over his shoulder. Ari fixes his shirt that I've crumpled up and stands to greet him, pushing away from me.

"I'm so glad you came by, Ryder. It was getting real annoying having this sad sap around lately. At least now he won't be such a terror."

"You're kidding, right?" I ask Cristos, a smile in my voice.

"Of course, he's kidding." Ari helps me up from the chair, and pointedly glares at Cristos. Cristos chuckles to himself and walks past us to the kitchen. We follow, and when we enter, Cristos is rummaging through the refrigerator, mumbling something about a hearty sandwich in his stomach.

"So, are we going to create an army?" Cristos asks, looking up from his dark lashes. I look to Ari who just looks straight at me, as if asking me the same question.
 

"Yeah. We are going to war."

"You don't sound so sure," Cristos teases.

"Leave her be." Ari steps in front of me, territorial-like. "She can make her own choices, and we have to respect them."

"Really?" I narrow my eyes on Ari. "Like how you've already been finding people for said army?"

"Wha—How?"
 

"You forget I get these things called dreams. I may have seen an exchange between you and Professor Onassis."

"You really should stop spying," Ari chides, running his hand up my back to my neck. My entire body erupts with goose bumps, his touch an icicle against my skin.

"I didn't mean to! It just came to me."

"
Right
." Cristos exaggerates the word, his skepticism clear. I grab a piece of lettuce from the counter and chuck it at him, but he easily dodges my attack.
 

Before I know it, a piece of ham is catapulted towards my face. I use Ari as a shield and hide behind his towering form. Unlucky for him, the flying meat nails him in the face.

"Can we not make a mess of my kitchen?"

"Soften up, will you?" Cristos says, taking a piece of ham and eating it from the bag of cold cuts. I grab onto Ari's hand and lead him to the counter, and we both sit down across from Cristos.

"Have you spoken to your brother?" Ari asks. The atmosphere seems to change almost instantly the second the words are out of Ari's mouth. I look at Cristos. His body stiffens.

"No. Orpheus has though."

"Is he coming?" Ari questions.

"No."

I leave Ari's house soon after the strange exchange between him and Cristos. I feel like they need some time to talk one on one, and I was just getting in the way. It's too late to go to Professor Onassis and tell her that I'm okay with creating the army. So, I head back to the dorms instead.

I sprint up the stairs and go straight into my dorm room. I don't have a key and, luckily, it's unlocked. It's dark in the room, and strangely quiet, so I flick on the light right beside the door.
 

Kara screams from her side of the room, and I jump back in alarm. Immediately, I see Kara and Junior, completely naked. I scream and slam my eyes shut, covering them with my hands just to make sure that I don't see anything.
 

Luckily, I know the room like the back of my hand. With my eyes shut, I use my back to follow the wall to the bathroom. I can't see a thing, but I can hear their panting and my stomach rolls with disgust. This is a nightmare.
 

"I'm going to take a shower!" I yell as I quickly uncover my eyes, face the bathroom, and slam the door shut behind me. I turn on the shower so that it drowns out the noises that most likely will start to come from my bedroom.

I take an excruciatingly long shower, knowing that I don't want to go back into my room any time soon. With nobody else on campus, there's plenty of hot water to go around, and from being on the hard bench all day, my back is a little sore.
 

I soak my body with extra soap. I lather it in my pores. I wash my hair twice with shampoo and then once with conditioner, actually leaving it in for a minute like the bottle says to. My fingers are raisins by the time I shut the water off. I actually feel faint from the hot steam.

When I get out of the shower, I grab a pair of pajamas from the bottom drawer of the bathroom where I keep a spare, and then knock on the bathroom door to alert my friends that I'm coming back.

"Is it clear?" I ask as I wiggle the handle, not leaving anything up to chance. I want to make sure that they know I'm coming and dress appropriately. I don't want to see Junior naked again for the rest of my life.

"Yes!" Kara yells back.
 

I go into the room, peeking only my head in to make sure it's clear. Kara is sitting on her bed, her legs crossed over each other, her makeup and hair back to their perfect state. Kara's cheeks have a light blush to them: embarrassed from me walking in on them or the vigorous activity she just participated in. Junior is already on the computer, playing some video game—Call of Duty it looks like from here.
 

"So, what's up?" Kara asks me as I put my things down and hop onto my bed.

"I'm sorry," I tell her, shaking my head.

"Excuse me?" She tilts her head to the side, a smile trying to break through her stone-like composure. It's like she's never heard the words before.

"I'm sorry," I repeat, smiling.

"Junior, did you hear this?" Kara asks as she leans over and pulls his gaming headset off his ears. "Ryder apologized to me. She does have a heart!" Kara falls backwards onto her bed, clutching her heart with both hands. She sighs and shuts her eyes. Then she bounces back up and grins at me.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I mutter.

"Hey," Junior says over his shoulder, a quick wave, before returning back to the game.

"So, do you accept?" I ask her, leaning my ear forward to hear.

"Duh. So, now that we're good, what's going on?"
 

"I decided to do the army after all. I got cold feet when I saw the vision last night, but I think it's what's best. My dreams can change, so we'll just have to make sure that you're always safe."

"I knew you'd make the right choice!" she yells as she leaps from her bed to mine and envelops me in a hug. I fall backwards, Kara on top of me. Surprisingly, for the first time in a while, I don't mind the love.
 

CHAPTER TEN

yes

First thing in the morning, I get geared up for a long day of tough decisions. Kara is sound asleep in her bed, with Junior's body wrapped around her like a boa. But, she needs to prepare, too. I refuse to let anything bad happen to her. So, she's about to get a dose of tough love. Today will be her first day of training with me.
 

I have to make sure that Kara is one hundred percent prepared for this war, or I won't bring her. It's as simple as that. But, I know that being left out would crush her spirit. So, day one begins now.

I creep over to her bedside and, luckily, she's on the outside of the bed so I get easy access. I peel Junior's arm from her neck and move his leg, which is draped over hers, so she's freed.

"Kara," I whisper, not wanting to wake Junior, too. I know how he is when he's woken up before he's ready, and it's not a good scene. Being on the receiving end of a tired and grumpy Junior is not somewhere I want to be today.

She moans a little as I tap her shoulder and whisper her name, but she's not waking up at all. So, I pull her towards me, her leg and arm falling off the bed. But, it doesn't work.

Finally, I just shove her off the bed. She wakes up instantly, catching herself before she face plants on the hard floor. She darts up and glares at me, but I put my finger over my mouth so she knows to be quiet.

She looks backwards at Junior and softens a bit. But when she looks back at me, she's steaming. She grabs onto my shoulder, her purple nails biting into me, and drags me into the bathroom with her, quietly shutting the door behind us.
 

"What the hell?" she angrily whispers at me, her hands flying in the air.

"We're starting your training today. Let's go!" I tell her, looking at my phone for the time. It's already six am. Usually, my morning run begins around five, so not only is she late, but I'm an hour behind, too.

"Are you kidding me?" She glares at me with her hazel eyes. "This can't wait an hour or two? When normal people are alive?"

"No," I state sternly, not relenting. "Get your butt in gear. You have five minutes. Do you want to be in this army or not?" I play into her soft spot. I know she'd do anything to be part of the group, so I use that to my advantage.
 

"Fine," she huffs and stomps back into the room.
 

Surprisingly, she gets dressed in under five minutes—which for Kara, is unheard of. Her red yoga pants are like a flashing stop sign. Topped with her lime green windbreaker, I know that I won't lose her along the way, no matter how slow she goes.

"I like to start with endurance," I tell her as we exit the room, explaining why we're running. "We'll do a run, then grab breakfast, and then strength train in the gym. After that I'll let you leave, because tomorrow, we do it all over again."

"I can't believe I'm letting you do this to me," she mutters, which makes me smile.
 

Luckily, she came prepared with her iPhone, an armband, and headphones. She gets all set up as we stumble down the stairs and leave our dormitory. I swear she's like a blind bat because she walks into walls and trips on nothing at all the entire way down.

"Just follow me," I tell her. She plugs into whatever world she's listening to, and I quietly begin to jog ahead of her. I haven't used my iPhone to listen to music while I run in a while. I prefer the quiet to the chaos.
 

I like the peace now. My mind is silent when I get into a cardio zone. I love and crave it almost like a drug. Without my daily runs, I may have gone insane by now. Actually, I definitely would have.