Volcanoes (16 page)

I looked at him with surprise. What could I possibly do? "I was thinking of updating the kitchen anyway. I could
use your help with finding new appliances and cabinets. We'll also need entirely new utensils, dishes, paint and tile."

"What are you, Martha Stewart all of a sudden?"

He shot me an offended look and huffed, "I cook all of my own meals, thank you very much
. You haven't had cause to complain."

He had a point. I ate very well when I was forced to spend any amount of time in his presence.

"Um, okay. Just let me know when you want to start." I turned to look at Dylan. "Have you at least apologized for burning
down Heph's kitchen?"

His angry eye roll said yes, but I waited for him to voice it. "Yesss," he groaned.

"Do you know how to turn it on and shut it off yet?"

He shook his head no.

"Okay then. Until you do, you should probably avoid getting scared or ups
et and um…
spend more time outside. Preferably away from people," I added as an afterthought.

His shoulders slumped and I waved him over. Once he'd sighed, hunched his shoulders and stomped over to me, I pulled him down into my lap and tried not to groan
at his weight. "Hey, it could be worse. Look at it like this
–
if you ever get stuck in the woods you don't have to worry about wet matches."

I ruffled his hair, kissed his arm (because I couldn't reach his cheek anymore) and then hugged him close. Thirtee
n was coming up too fast. I didn't know how to raise a teenage boy and his dad wasn't around anymore to help me. "We'll make it through this, kid." I whispered.

"I don't know how," he replied.

"Same way we always do
–
one foot in front of the other. What
was the other thing you wanted to show me?"

I looked up in time to see a ghost of a smile cross his lips before he was suddenly gone. I shot out of the chair in a panic, calling out for him. "Dylan? Oh my God! Heph! Did you see what happened to him?"

I was
well on my way to working myself into a full blown panic attack when the rotten kid reappeared again and clapped me on the back. "Chill, Mom. I'm right here."

"You don't tell me to chill," I muttered, embarrassed that I'd completely missed the point that
he was trying to make.

The kid could teleport.

The feeling that settled around me was one that I hadn't thought I
’
d experience until he got his license. It was a mixture of relief and fear. On one hand, he wouldn't ever be stuck anywhere ever again. Nobo
dy could hold him hostage or leave him deserted in a frozen wasteland. I scowled towards Heph at the memory.

On the other hand
–
I
couldn't hold him hostage or tell him to stay still. He had the complete freedom to go wherever in the world he wanted to go
- all I could do was trust that he'd listen to reason and stay safe.

"That is really amazing news, Bubby." I pulled him into my arms and squeezed him with all of the love and fear and excitement that I had in me. "Promise me that you
’
ll be careful and yo
u'll stay where it's safe?"

"Mooom," He groaned. "Jeez, what do you think I am? A kid?"

I refrained from nodding but only barely.

"I'm going to be fine. Of course I'll stay where it's safe. I think I've learned more than anyone that it's dangerous these d
ays."

He had me there. If having his throat slit or being kidnapped weren
’
t deterrents to wandering the world alone, I didn't know what would be.

I couldn't stifle the yawn that burst through my defenses. It was loud and obnoxious but most of all, it was
an indicator that I was spent. I had to lie down and close my eyes.

"Okay. I gotta go to sleep. Pop yourself into your room and get some rest, bubby. Heph, I'll come by tomorrow morning after I check in with Zeus and Poseidon."

The kid was smart. He nodde
d and popped right out. Hephaestus was not. He helped guide me to the bed - despite my bitching about his lack of manners - and tucked me under the covers.

"Sleep tight, brat," he said with a pat to my cheek before he disappeared too.

I was asleep before
I could count to three.

I woke up to sun streaming through the draperies, casting dancing shadows across the room. I had no idea what time it was, but my stomach was growling and my bladder was doing a Mexican hat dance.

That really didn't
say much as to how long I'd been asleep. Motherhood does serious damage to your bladder. Every time I sneezed, I had to remind myself that it wasn't my child's fault if I peed my pants.

I untangled myself from the covers and limped my way into the bathro
om. I should have kept my eyes shut because the monster that met me in the mirror would have made the strongest woman flee in terror.

Hair snarled and standing on end, black and blue circles under my eyes and a grimace that could fuel memes the entire wor
ld over. Gorgeous, darling. I waved away the reflection and continued onward to take care of the first pressing need. After that it was going to be all about food.

Heph had a point regarding eating with the squidges in the Dining Hall. Instead of having a
leisurely cup of coffee in my bathrobe while reading the day's comics, I had to get dressed, brush my hair and pretend to be civil to the first pre-pubescent troll that crossed my path.

Sometimes that troll was my own kid. Yeah
–
sometimes I even had to
pretend to be nice to him.

I gently ran a brush through my tangles and pulled everything into a ponytail. My fingers probed a knot on the back of my skull which I assumed was a result of whacking it on the shower tile. If I kept using my head as a landing
pad, I was going to end up a vegetable. Ouch, the ponytail hurt.  I pulled it out, decided that the people of Olympus could deal with a bad hair day and then proceeded to find something that wasn't dirty, torn or blood encrusted to wear.

Thankfully the s
tyle of clothing around here was loose and the drawstring pants hung nicely around my hips instead of squeezing uncomfortably against the enormous bruise on my butt. A bright blue camisole completed the outfit and I was out the door.

And then I was back i
n again. I'd forgotten the bra. I squinted against the sudden attack of rage that filled me. There was a reason I kept trying to go home and stay there. I needed my space. I needed my kitchen and most importantly, I needed my favorite coffee.

Once the bra
was securely fastened and I was once again decent enough for public consumption, I breezed out the door of my quarters and down the hall to the dining area.

No, not really. I limped through the door, forgot where my room was in relation to the Dining Hal
l and went in search of a living soul to tell me where to get food.

For a place this big, it was surprisingly deserted today and my curiosity was piqued to epic proportions. It was a good ten minutes before I saw anyone and that left me in a bit of a pani
c. I kept thinking while I limped on, had the apocalypse happened while I was asleep? Had Hypnos invaded Olympus and killed everyone leaving me alone to suffer in silence because I had no idea where I was or how to get home?

When I saw the small shape buzz
ing down the hall, I had to blink twice to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. The body would disappear and reappear a few feet away. It wasn't until I was standing nearly on top of him that I realized it was Scott. He must have learned to teleport as well
a
nd it was wreaking havoc on his speed powers.

"Hey kid!" I yelled, hoping that he'd hear me before he phased out again.

The lump paused and shifted into focus. He turned around and blinked a few times at me before his face broke into a smile. "Hey Grace!
"

He blinked out and was suddenly standing in front of me. It took an act of Congress for me to stay standing still. I gripped his shoulders and pulled him into a hug. "Hey, kid. How's it goin
’
?"

"Good." He breathed excitedly. "Just learned how to teleport
but my body wants to keep running fast so I'm practicing."

"Hey, where is everyone?"

He became so very still that every single alarm I had started blaring.
‘
Clang clang clang went the trolley,
’
was repeating over and over in my head.

"Scott?" I injected
the imperious motherly tone into my voice and hoped that it would work.

"Almost everyone is gone."

Those quiet words made the 'clanging' in my head start screaming. "Gone where?" I asked quietly. I didn't want to make him as nervous or panicked
as I was.

"There was another incident and then someone said something about a rescue mission and suddenly most of the adults were gone except a few who stayed here with the kids."

Son of a BITCH! They
’
d left me!

It wasn't that I craved the excitement or
adrenaline or the danger, but I had this compelling need to know what was going on. Of course I was virtually useless right now and of course they wanted to keep me out of danger. But damn! To go off without even leaving a note? That was cold.

I released
my grip on Scott and rubbed the red mark that I'd left on his shoulder. "Sorry
‘
bout that buddy. Who stayed behind?"

"Ummm," he quavered nervously. "Your mom is still here and my mom and uh…
I don't know?"

"Cool
–
thanks. Good luck with your practice. Sta
y out of the hallways. You don
’
t want to accidently end up in one of the walls." I distractedly patted his arm and made my way to the medical unit ignoring the growling in my stomach. Maybe I'd get lucky and my mom would have some food lying around.

I did
n't know if I should count myself lucky that I've been beat up, bruised, concussed, stabbed, wounded and nearly killed enough that I could find my way to the med unit blindfolded. Probably not.

I took a shortcut through the library and ended up nearly run
ning into my mother coming out. She took one look at my mutinous glare and rolled her eyes. "We weren't leaving you out of the loop, Grace," she began before I could open my mouth. "You were wounded and so tired that you slept for nearly two days."

Two day
s? Jeez. "Well, you have me there. Can you look at my tailbone? I can't tell if it's bruised or fractured and there's a lump the size of Texas on the back of my head. Also," I paused for dramatic effect. "I would kill a bitch for something to eat."

Diana l
et loose a belabored sigh and shook her head. "Do you have to swear so much, Grace? It's so unlady-like and I know you have a better vocabulary than that."

"It started as a shock effect thing and now it's just habit," I shrugged and made my way past her in
to the spacious entry to the medical units beyond.

"I see," her raised eyebrow suggested that she been planning on saying something sarcastic but it lowered and I was spared her smart assed reply. "Go into room two and I'll be there with some fruit and co
ffee shortly."

Did she say coffee? "I love you." I beamed at her and then continued as an afterthought, "Just in case I hadn't told you lately."

Point two
–
Not only did I receive my temper from my mother, but I do believe my smart assed commentary seemed
to be derived from her gene pool as well. What was the saying? 'We hate in others what we hate most in ourselves'? No wonder I annoyed her so much.

"Yes, I can see that." She replied dryly.

She disappeared and I shuffled to the second room on the left. T
he longer I walked, the more my ass hurt. It didn't look promising for my derriere. I heard a snuff and turned around to see my dog trailing behind me.

"Hey buddy," I said to Scooter - who wasn't actually my dog but I wasn't going to tell him that. I pref
erred he be my lovable Lab instead of a scary Mercury Golem any day. "You look bummed out. Did they leave you here, too?"

He wagged his tail and nodded a little before shoving his metallic nose into the palm of my hand. I gave him a good rub down before of
f-handedly saying, "I don't suppose you could turn into a horse and cart me around so I don't have to walk, could you?"

He started shifting immediately and I yelped. "No!" He stopped. "No," I said more gently. "I wasn't serious. I like you as a dog and I d
on't even want to think about having to clean up horse crap out of the hallways." I smiled and ran my fingers between his ears, rubbing along the ridges. His tongue lolled out and I knew that we were okay.

"Hey, I gotta get into this room before my Mom ge
ts back, but you can come with me and I'll continue with the happy ear rubbing until she kicks you out."

Big ugly Mercury Golem came out and scooped me up into its arms before I could squeak in my immediate terror.  He was in the form that he had used to k
ill Athena and I couldn't suppress the shudder of fear that ran through me at the memory.

He set me gently on the bed and morphed back into the dog form that we'd grown used to seeing. He knew that I was afraid of him and he lowered himself to the floor b
efore scooting as far as he could under the bed.

"Heyyy," I said bending over the side of the bed so I could look at him. "None of that, mister. You know you're my favorite dog."

An ear perked up so I continued. "Sure, that other form is scary, but Zeus w
anted it to be
, right? You're bad
ass and if it weren't for the Scary Scooter, Dylan would still be in danger, right?"

He inched back out from under the bed and shoved his head back into my hand. I smiled. If only life were always this simple. Diana found u
s like that a few minutes later
–
me hanging over the side of the bed on my stomach and Scooter knocking over lamps and bedside plants with his furiously wagging tail.

I looked up with a little guilt as she walked in with the tray. After receiving her arc
h look I muttered, "What? He had an itch."

She shooed Scooter out of the way, handed me the tray filled with cantaloupe, blueberries and yogurt and went to work on my backside.

"I cannot begin to tell you how embarrassing this is for me."

"It's not like I
haven't seen your ass before, Grace," she replied, distracted.

"Why do so many people keep saying that to me? Was there some point in the last year that I paraded through Olympus with my ass hanging out?"

She paused for a moment to think about it. "Could
have been."

"Guh," I answered and then let out a tiny shriek as she probed my tailbone. Scooter sat up with a threatening growl.

"Oh shush," she admonished. "I know how to dissolve you buddy. You don't growl at me."

That did manage to stop him mid-growl b
ut I was fiercely proud that he was standing up to my mother for me, even if it was my own fault that I was in pain.

"Crap," I gasped as she pressed hard against my posterior again.

"Concentrate on something else, you big baby." She prodded again. "I don
't think it's broken but you have bruised it. Did this happen the other day when you were visiting the Mermend?"

"I wish. I ran smack into Heph while I wasn't paying attention and he knocked me on my ass. The bruises on my knees, the cut on my elbow and th
is scrape to my shoulder are from the visit. Good call on that one, Mom. Way to send me into an ambush."

I wasn't really blaming her for it and I hoped that she grasped that from the sardonic tone of my voice.

"I cannot believe that happened. They have bee
n a peaceful species for hundreds of years. Turn over."

I eased onto my back and she pulled the strap down on my camisole to take a closer look at the scrape on my shoulder, then inspected my elbow.

"I have a cream for this. Hold on a minute and I'll be ri
ght back. Try not to hurt yourself while I'm gone?"

I couldn't help it. I grinned. "I can't make any promises," I shrugged and she laughed in response. I was adding sense of humor to the list of things I
’
d got from her.

She was back a moment later and rub
bing a foul smelling cream on my shoulder and elbow. "Oh my God!" I recoiled from the smell, trying not to gag. "What is in that? It smells like shit."

Her eyebrow arched and she took a step back. "If you don't want me to heal you, I can let you suffer for
a few more days."

"It's not that, I just…
Gods, Mom. It smells horrible."

"Well it's not suppose…
" She stopped and closed her eyes. "It's enriched with waste to feed the nanites that help heal the minor scrapes and cuts. They normally fuel themselves with
our body's waste but they aren't living in your body yet now are they?"