The Blood of Athens (14 page)

“
We’re
having a meeting,” Penny said.

“
Alright.
Uh... I need a ride.”

“
Alright.
I’ll call Astin and Diana to get you on their way. They’ll be at
your house--”

“
No. Not my
house. Have Astin come to the gas station.”

“
Is
everything okay?”

“
Sure,”
Peter said. “I just need an energy drink. You know, jet lag.”

“
Okay. I’ll
see you in a bit.”

“
Thanks,
Penny.”

Jason paced in
front of the door at Celene Davis' house. Eleven kids had arrived and
were sitting around, whispering about the serial killer in the hotel.
Devon held her baby-- now with a buzz-cut-- and tried to keep him
quiet. They were all still waiting for Zach and June. They should
have been there twenty minutes ago.

Lewis checked
traffic reports on his phone. He set it down a bit too hard on the
coffee table and shook his head. “Traffic’s clear this leg of
I-95 and he won’t pick up.”

“
Maybe their
car broke down in a dead zone,” Evan suggested, breaking away from
the group and approaching Jason. “Like, no cell service. Back woods
Georgia.”

“
They
weren't that far out,” Jason mumbled. He had the sinking feeling
that something bad had happened.

“
You said he
didn't answer his cell all week,” Nick suggested from his spot on
the couch. “Maybe he's just blowing you off.”

“
We're not
going to accomplish anything just waiting for Zach,” Minnie said.
“There are thirteen of us here. That's enough to start. We'll fill
him and June in when they get here.”

Jason sat down
in the grey, plaid arm chair. He took a deep breath. Everyone sat
down. “We've got a whole handful of problems,” Jason said.
“Including a Titan in Athens who knows who we are and a blackmailer
here in Miami.”

“
Blackmailer?”
Diana asked. “Someone knows?”

“
He knows a
lot. And he called me when I got off the phone with Zach earlier. He
wants to meet tonight.”

Celene shook
her head. “Meeting with him just confirms that we have something to
hide.”

“
Celene, he
says he has photos. I don't think he's bluffing.”

“
There's a
Titan trying to kill us and you want to go out to meet some stranger
this late at night?” The sun had already set. Daylight was not on
their side.

“
Ten, to be
exact,” Jason said. “And he wants me to bring our leader. That's
why I need Zach.”

“
I'll go,”
Minnie said. “I mean, in Zach's stead. I know I'm no Zeus, but I am
the strategist. I'll have to be good enough.”

“
I'll go
too,” Devon said.

“
No way,”
Frank said.

Devon shook
her head. “Listen, if someone with ten-ton muscles shows up, the
guy will get spooked. Let me go. I can put him in a haze if we need
to, throw him off his game.”

“
Are we sure
we need to do this tonight?” Celene asked.

“
He's
talking about selling it to the press,” Jason said. “So yeah. We
need to go tonight.”

“
Then the
rest of us stay here,” Celene said. “If there's a Titan out
there, I don't want you all alone at home.”

“
Our mom is
going to freak. We just got back from Greece,” Astin said.

“
I'm more
worried about your lives than your mom,” Jason said. “Come up
with an excuse.”

Jason
stood up and pulled his keys out of his pocket. He had to be at the
rendezvous with Spade in twenty minutes. He didn’t have time to
argue. “Alright. Minnie, Devon, let's go. We're going to be late.”

“
False
words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with
evil.”

-Socrates

xvii.

Hippolytus
rejected the domain of
the prideful sea-foam goddess,
Aphrodite.
As often happens when man rejects the gods,
she got
her revenge.

His
father had married a handsome woman,
and she, Phaedra, was struck
with overwhelming
desire for the man she was to call son.
He
rejected her.

Driven
to madness by unnatural love,
most poisonous in its unrequited
form,
Phaedra charged that the object of her desire
had claimed
her by force.

The
father, Theseus, was a great hero
who had won three wishes from
Lord Poseidon.
Upon hearing these accusations of rape,
he
cursed his own son.

Lord
Dionysus carried out the sentence
and sent a wild bull to torment
the son's horse.
Spooked, the horse fled in absolute terror
and
dragged the boy to death.

“
What it
lies in our power to do, it lies in our power not to do.”

-Aristotle

XVII.

Jason stepped
out of his old Buick. Julius Spade waited just inside the fence to
the playground, his un-intimidating frame silhouetted by the buzzing
yellow fixture that lit up the jungle gym. Moths flitted around the
lamp, casting wide, soft, dancing shadows on the bark mulch spread
below the playground equipment. Minnie and Devon ducked down in the
car and watched from just over the edge of the window.

“
Alright,”
Jason said. “I'm here. Let's negotiate.”

“
I'm gonna
cut right to the chase, Livingstone. I know one of your kids is
Senator Wexler's boy. So I'm not expecting chump change.”

“
Money,”
Jason said, with an edge of dark laughter in his voice. “So this
all comes down to money. You've got the secret of a lifetime and
you're willing to let it go for a little money.”

“
It's not
that little,” Spade said. He held out a folded piece of paper.
Jason hesitated and took it. “But yeah,” he said. “It can all
go away.”

Jason opened
the paper. $25,000. It was a lot for Jason, but not much for such a
big scoop. Couldn't he get more from
The
National Enquirer
for
the story? They paid millions for first photos of celebrity babies,
and these were kids with superpowers. Something wasn’t right with
the number. Maybe Spade didn't think they'd even look at his
evidence. Maybe he didn't think he had a story.

“
You're
serious?” Jason said. “Senator Wexler is worth fifty-six million
dollars and you only want twenty-five grand?”

“
I don't
need much. But you, you need this to go away.”

Jason looked
back at the paper. It wasn't like Spade could retire on this amount,
or even take a year off of work. Jason wondered if this was evidence
that he should call his bluff. Maybe the photos weren't that great,
or maybe... “This won't be the end of it, will it? You're only
asking for twenty-five because you know Teddy can't get this much
without going to his father. But you'll be back. You're not going to
let it go away, are you?”

“
Right now
I'd like a new car,” Spade said, smiling. “We'll see what my
tastes are further down the road. You've got that much, don't you?
You've got a saving's account with some life insurance from Mrs.
Livingstone. Heck, you can't even buy your daughter a semester at a
private college for that.”

Jason's fist
slammed into Spade's mouth. Spade staggered back, grabbing his lip as
blood pooled in his palm. Jason advanced on him again, pushing him
and swinging at him. Spade was a private investigator: he'd had his
experience with fights. Once he recovered from the shock of realizing
that he'd pegged Jason all wrong, he blocked Jason's swing and socked
him in the gut.

Minnie saw
Jason draw his fist back for the first strike and sprang from the
Electra. She blew past the fence and threw her shoulder straight into
Spade's side. Her roller-derby check sent him sprawling on the
playground bark. Devon wasn't far behind.

“
You brought
kids?” Spade shouted from his position on the ground. Blood dripped
down his chin and spotted his brown coat.

“
Yeah,”
Minnie scowled, “The same kids you're blackmailing. Stay down.”

“
We're not
kids,” Devon added. “We're eighteen.”

Jason coughed
from the blow to the stomach and put his hand on Minnie's shoulder.
“Thanks,” he said. “I kind of lost it.”

Spade spat at
Jason, who stepped back and dodged the glob of saliva mixed with
blood. “I've got video of your little blonde friend turning that
body into sod this summer. I've got photos of the center beating that
guy’s face in. You don't think I can get someone to pay for it? It
might take me a year, but I'll do it. I’ll monetize it on YouTube
if I have to. Then they'll come for you and your freaks. You'll wish
you'd just paid me.”

Devon crouched
down beside Spade. He stopped talking and stared at her with blank
eyes.

“
Mr. Spade,
right?”

He nodded.
“You can call me Julius.”

“
That's
sweet,” Devon said. She placed her hand on his cheek. “You know
that I'm not a kid, right?”

“
You
certainly don't look like one.”

“
No, I
don't. And I've just had a baby, so my hormones are really not in
balance right now.”

Spade nodded.
Jason watched hesitantly, wondering if he should interrupt. Was it
worth the risk to let Spade go? Would paying him off ever end this?

“
Which is
why,” Devon continued, “You'll have to forgive me.” She pressed
forward and kissed him. It was brief and Jason could see the disgust
on her face as she pulled away. “Go kill yourself.”

“
Devon!”
Jason shouted. “No!”

Devon stood up
and spun around. “He's not just threatening me, he's not just
threatening you. I have Xander to think of now, so if he insists on
blackmail, he leaves me no choice.”

“
We're not
murderers.”

“
Call it
self-defense.”

“
Devon,
there's a better way to do this,” Minnie said. “You could order
him to destroy the evidence.”

“
So he can
follow us around and find more? My power has a short time-frame: it's
not that strong. If it wears off before he can get to the photos, it
won't do us any good. This is the only way to be sure.”

“
I thought
you'd learned something this summer,” Jason barked.

“
About what?
About responsibility? I'm a mother now, Doc. I've got to worry about
more than just being able to sleep at night. I thought you'd
understand.”

“
Take it
back,” Jason said. Spade had gotten up and wandered off while they
argued, and Jason looked around wildly for him. “Don't do--”
Jason's phone rang. “What now?” he growled.

It was an
unknown number. Devon planted her hands on her hips and watched
Jason. He cursed and slid his finger across the screen to answer his
phone.

“
Hello?”

The line was
quiet for a minute before someone with a voice like nails on a
chalkboard spoke. “Is this the mortal speaking?”

“
Who is
this?”

Jason's
question was met with cold laughter. “You know who this is. I'm the
reason your masters are holed-up together, shaking in their boots,
pet.”

“
I'm
nobody's pet.”

“
Doesn't
matter. You're going to do something for me.”

“
Why is
that?”

“
Because I
have your friends Zeus and Hera here. They're taking a little nap.”

“
What do you
want?” Jason asked. Minnie's phone vibrated in her pocket. She
picked it up and walked away, whispering into it.

“
I want to
talk. Man-to-Titan. What do you say? Meet me at midnight. Play
diplomat.”

“
Talk? Why
don't I believe you? Oh, right, must have been the slasher film you
staged at the hotel.”

“
That was
just a little fun. This is business. Meet me on the roof of the high
school at midnight. No backup. We'll exchange words.” The Titan
hung up the phone.