The Blood of Athens (2 page)

Jason set the
alarm on his phone and climbed into the back seat of his Buick
Electra for a nap. He had an hour before he needed to go get Celene,
and he didn't want to stop at home and wake the kids or the sitter.
Being at the hospital all night reminded him of his late twenties,
when he had pulled double night shifts once a week and slept other
evenings in the on-call room. He had been younger then, and his body
was better equipped for sleep deprivation. Being reminded of those
times did not make him feel younger tonight. It reminded him that he
was only getting older.

When his phone
buzzed fifty minutes later, Jason shot up and smacked his head on the
upholstered roof of the car. He climbed into the front seat and made
his first stop at the Dunkin' Donuts drive through. At exactly five
thirty in the morning, he pulled up at Celene Davis' house,
caffeinated and thoroughly disheveled.

Jason knocked
on the door.

Penny Davis
answered it. She was fifteen, a sophomore in high school, and the
youngest member of The Pantheon. Her heart-shaped face, lately marked
with thick black eyeliner and pink glitter lipstick, was clean of all
makeup. It was just too early for any of that nonesense. Jason had
been dating Penny’s mother for nearly seven months, and Penny had
become quite comfortable with Jason.

“
You look
like crap,” she said, sparing him no politeness.

“
Devon had
the baby a few hours ago,” he explained.

“
She did?”

“
Normal. No
horns.”

Penny laughed.
“Awesome. Come on in. Mom's not really super-cheery this morning,
either.” Penny turned into the small house and hollered back
towards the bedroom. “Mom, Jason's here. Devon had the baby. It's
normal!”

Jason came
inside and shut the door. It was a cool March morning, which was
downright frigid by Miami standards.

“
Penny, I
can't make out a word you're saying,” Celene shouted from the
bathroom.

“
I said,
Devon had the baby!”

Celene Davis
came out of the bathroom, zipping a plastic bag of travel shampoo
bottles and walking towards her packed suitcase. She had not foregone
makeup this morning. Her green eyes, framed with thick lashes, were
surrounded by a subtle shading of brown eye shadow. She wore a coffee
colored lipstick that made all of her features pop. Jason had not
stopped being impressed by her cat-like beauty. “Oh, Jason.”

Jason crossed
the room to kiss Celene. Penny tactfully looked away.

“
No offense,
you look like hell.”

“
I was
watching Devon deliver a baby all night,” he said.

“
Is it--?”

“
Normal.”
Jason nodded. “Xander Devon Guerrero. Totally, absolutely healthy
and normal.”

“
Thank God,”
Celene said. “Are you sure you're good to drive?”

“
I've had
coffee. You forget I used to pull doubles at the emergency room.”

“
You were
much younger,” she said.

Jason grunted.

Celene tucked
the plastic bag of toiletries in her purse and Jason picked up her
suitcase. Penny dragged her own (bright pink) behind her on wheels.
“Off we go, then,” Jason said. “You'll need plenty of time to
get through security.”

A mob of
sleepy teenagers stood, clustered next to airport security. Screens
all over the terminal showed boarding times, safety announcements,
and muted CNN reports about a European serial killer. The
international airport was sparsely decorated with white concrete
columns, white tile, potted palms, and posters for local tourist
destinations. It was a massive space with ceilings three-stories
high. A powered cart towed a train of luggage carts past check-in as
they entered through the giant revolving door. The occasional
state-funded art installation filled dead space at the corners of the
terminal.

Penny ran
ahead of her mother and vanished among the sea of hoodies and
backpacks. A few of the faculty members were already scanning the
crowd and checking off names on a roster.

Candice
Matthews, a frizzy, red-haired English teacher, shot a glare at
Celene as she turned to say goodbye to Jason. Candice had held a
torch for Jason for quite some time.

Jason took
Celene's hand and pulled her around behind a concrete column. “I
know you're there to chaperone, but remember to have fun. It's not
every day you get a free trip to Athens.”

Celene smiled
and stretched on her toes to kiss him. She wasn't wearing her usual
high heels to fly. “Promise you'll miss me?”

“
I already
do,” Jason smiled.

“
It's only a
week.” She slid her arms around his back and rested her head on his
chest. Nothing brought two people together quite like ancient secrets
and mortal peril. When she finally lifted her head, she stayed close
and whispered. “I'll be back in time to celebrate your birthday.”

“
I haven't
looked forward to one of those in almost ten years.”

“
You should
get a sitter for this one,” Celene said.

“
We can go
out,” Jason started to suggest.

“
I was
thinking they could go out and we could stay in.”

“
Oh.” He
hesitated and then raised an eyebrow, “Oh?”

“
Oh,” she
said with a smile and stepped away. Jason had been a perfect
gentleman for the last seven months, but he liked the sound of this
plan. “Well, I'm definitely looking forward to this birthday.”

Celene grabbed
the handle of her suitcase and pulled it up. “I suppose I need to
check in with Candice. It's time to go get groped by airport
security.”

Jason slid his
hands into his pockets. “Stay safe over there,” he said. “Keep
your eyes on our bunch.”

“
There
aren't enough eyes in the world for that job,” she joked.

Jason kissed
Celene one last time and then watched her walk towards the crowd of
students.

Peter Hadley,
a tall, pale boy with dark hair, turned to look at Jason. Jason
waved. Peter broke away from the crowd.

“
How's it
going?” Jason asked him, keeping his voice low.

“
Alright. I
mean... yeah. Free trip to Greece for being the poorest kid in
school. Can't knock that.”

Jason cast a
skeptical eye over the boy. He had no visible bruises, but that
didn't mean that everything was okay. This fall, Peter had come to
Jason with a secret. Jason already knew that Peter was Hades, Lord of
the Dead, able to speak to ghosts and turn invisible. What was one
more secret? As far as Jason knew, only he, Celene, and Penny knew
this secret. Peter had been suffering in an abusive home for most of
his life and Penny had talked him into getting help.

Jason was
trying to help, but the normal procedure of reporting to DHR wouldn't
work here. Peter didn't want to leave Olympia Heights in case another
Titan popped up. He also didn't want to end up in a foster home in
case his cover was blown. That left few options. Peter had caught a
beating on tape and was blackmailing his father with it. Jason knew
that this solution wasn't going to last and had been working on an
alternate plan.

“
Listen,”
Jason said, “When you get back, come to my office. I have a friend
you need to meet.”

“
A friend?
You mean a lawyer?”

“
He
specializes in emancipation of minors,” Jason explained in a hushed
tone.

“
I’ve got
it under control,” Peter said.

Jason shook
his head. “The tape is a stopgap. We can get you a room at the
Youth Initiative, you pay expenses with your wages from work, and
everyone in The Pantheon helps out a little.”

“
I dunno.”

“
Think about
it. You have a whole week in Greece to decide.”

“
He’s
afraid of me now,” Peter said. “He hasn’t laid a hand on me in
two weeks.”

“
Peter,”
Jason shook his head.

Peter didn't
let him finish his thought. “I gotta go. We're moving.”

Indeed, the
crowd of students from Olympia Heights had started to move towards
the security lane. Peter darted back to where Penny stood, guarding
his black duffel bag.

Jason watched
as Celene herded twenty-four teenagers towards the back of the line.

He checked his
watch. Jamie and Scotty would be waking up soon. He waved one last
time to Celene and headed for airport parking. Maybe, if he was
lucky, he could plug in
My
Neighbor Totoro
and
get an hour nap before all hell broke loose.

“
As to
marriage or celibacy, let a man take which course he will, he will be
sure to repent.”

-Socrates

iii.

The
bird sat on a branch outside her window,
carefully nursing its
outstretched, wounded wing.
With a cream colored breast and grey
crested head,
it was beautiful.

Hera
spotted the damaged Cuckoo and brought
it into the small,
seas-side hut where she lived.
Once inside, the little bird
shifted and changed:
Zeus stood before her.

Impressed
with his trick, the goddess let him stay
and before very long they
fell into bed.
This is how mighty Zeus, the king of the gods
won
himself a queen.

“
When a
match has equal partners then I fear not.”

-Aeschylus

III.

Zach Jacobs
heard the front door close. His mother was on her way to church. He
looked over at the glowing red numbers on his alarm clock. The plane
had already left. Two thirds of the football team and half of The
Pantheon were on their way to Greece.

Zach climbed
out of bed, gently turning back the black t-shirt sheets, careful not
to disturb June, and crossed the hall to get a drink of water from
the bathroom. The tiny bathroom had tile that ran half-way up the
walls and then gave way to yellowed white paint. Zach turned the
ceramic knobs on the sink and dipped his head under the tap, drinking
chlorinated town water. When he came back into the room, June was
awake, quietly watching him. A look of maturity had settled on her
features over the last two years. She was growing into a woman. Her
tight ponytail had come loose in the night and June tugged at the
covered elastic, letting her fire red hair fall to her shoulders.

“
Are you
alright?” she asked, sitting up.

“
I'm fine,”
he said. Zach sat down on the bed. “Thirsty.”

“
Fine?
You're not still bummed that your Dad wouldn't pay for Greece, are
you?”

“
You could
have gone, you know,” he said. Zach set the water on his night
stand. “I can last one week on my own.”

June slipped
her hand into his and nodded, “I know. But what fun would it be,
seeing Greece without you?”

Zach raised an
eyebrow. He still suspected that June had stayed home to keep an eye
on him. He didn't exactly have a chaste past, but he had been
faithful since their August reunion. “I dunno. It's Athens. I guess
I just hoped that being there would spark some memories. We still
don't have very many answers. We know what we are, but why?”

June let go of
his hand and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, leaning on his
back. Her red hair tickled the back of his neck. “That's a stretch,
Zach. It might be where we come from, but Greece these days is no
more spiritual or mysterious than America. Besides, who wants to go
visit a country with a collapsing economy and spend the entire week
with teachers breathing down their necks?”

“
When you
put it that way...”

“
Seriously,
Zach. Can you honestly say you'd rather be on that plane with Nick
than sitting in your bed here, with me?”

Zach grinned.
He turned around and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend. His
stubble scratched her face as he kissed her. “This is better,” he
said, breaking the kiss so that his lips could venture down to her
neck. “Sexy girlfriend, beautiful weather, no adult supervision.”