The Fleece Job (Olympus Drive Chronicles)

Chapter 20: I'm definitely grounded (wait am I too old to be grounded?)

Ev

"And thank you SWEET Lord Jesus for saving me today in the name of the grifter, the Jason, and the thief, amen, amen dear Lord-----took you long enough," Jason growls the last bit as I unlock his door.

"The others are outside, cops are asleep," I say, nodding for him to follow.

"What—all of them?" he picks up Puppy (that's what I'm calling his sword) and follows me.

"Yeah, I don't really know why," I say, leading him out to the parking lot.

"One two three---seven eight—got you all, line up, right there," Hugh lines us up. Then Jason and I try to immediately walk different directions and so do both sets of twins and we start getting handcuffed. Penny goes to her safe space after all that time around florescent lights (her safe space is my arms, in a tight Ev-hug). And meanwhile people disjointedly tell me how everyone is related and how they got here.

"The Evil One mind controlled Jason to want to steal the fleece—it was her all along," Bronte says. She's Cassian and Peter's sister, and she looks like a witch. More than that, she looks like what every single goth/emo girl aspires to be. True make up goals. And fashion goals, right down to her heavy black boots, black leather coat with blood red leather lining, and fingerless gloves. Just an icon for witchy children everywhere. I realize they said she's about my age, but she looks like she's twelve. She's about five foot zero inches and that's with big boots.

"Yeah, but still—," Jason begins.

"Still nothing. You're all going home, I called parents, people who want you are coming to collect you and take you far away from me," Hugh instructs.

"You're our parent," his twins are trying to take a burrito he's eating. He and Zephyr either stole or got food in the time they were making out out here. In my humble experience, I think I know what people who have been making out look like. And these two do.

"Yeah and I'm selling you—,"

"You're not selling us."

"You can't sell us, dad."

"I am. I'm selling you. To fucking China. I'll get a real good price for you too; they love people with blond hair over there. That's how your grandpa sold me into slavery. True story. Don't worry you're gonna love it; it'll be a real good experience for you," Hugh says, unconcernedly and clearly not about to do any such thing. He smiles tolerantly at his boys, occasionally breaking off bits of burrito to feed them. He hugged them when he first saw them, obviously delighted with their existence in general. They grumble and seem to fear little reprisal for their actions. They look about like swarthy clones of him, they have his same ice blue eye but their hair is darker, though they are both tall with thick muscles under their matching varsity soccer jackets.

"I hear a car," Reese says.

"We're by a road," Ari is leaning against me, holding a snake he found I don't know where. I also don't know where his shirt is or what happened to his pants and why he has different ones, but to be safe I'm blaming Than.

"There is a car pulling into the parking lot," I narrate. Reese lost his vision an hour ago and Ari lacks the supplies to heal it.  For now, Frankie is guiding him around and I was voted best at describing things. "It looks like it's your dad, who apparently Hugh called."

"Did you tell him I'm alive?" Ari asks.

"I said I had two kids claiming to be his who are theoretically alive, yes," Hugh says.

"Your dad is wearing a 'Be Gay do Crimes' t-shirt and is inexplicably covered in rainbow glitter and is wearing light up shoes and you might want to brace because--,"