Blade's Edge || Deception Book II ||

Chapter 17: Uncertainty

It was weird how empty the ship felt, now that all the mortals were gone. I stood at the edge of the railing, watching the first rays of the sun peeking out from the blue horizon.

Four days ago, after the disastrous yet successful conclusion of the quest for the fleece, I'd sat in the stateroom on the velvet cushions with Alabaster as Luke had briefed us on our next plans, which hadn't been much, save for recruitment and informing us that we were going to be travelling to San Francisco sometime later this year. Seeing that everyone was currently cocooned in the safety of the camp, there wasn't much we could do except recruit, train, and prepare.

So we'd done just that. After ditching all the mortals in Miami, we'd travelled up north along the East Coast again, stopping periodically in major cities and towns to go scouting.

Yesterday, we'd stopped in Charleston for six hours and returned with two brand-new demigods in tow. Oh, and about a dozen more monsters.

Now, we were somewhere between the border of North and South Carolina, and it was five a.m. in the morning.

"Why are you up so early?" Luke asked as he leaned against the railing next to me, stretching out his arms as he yawned.

I glanced at him, taking in the dark circles under his eyes and the messy hair he hadn't bothered to fix. The same state I was probably in. "Couldn't sleep. All the monsters on board are making me restless. More demigods, more monsters, more things, more traffic, more work. My sleep is literally being sacrificed on an altar right now."

"Well, I can't exactly say anything to that," Luke murmured, shifting to wrap his arms around me from behind. "It's only going to get more stressful from here on out."

"I know," I replied, finding myself leaning into his warmth as the sky gradually lightened. "I know. But whatever burden comes our way, we'll face it together."

I felt him smile as he tightened his grip on me. "I know. I'm very lucky to have you here with me."

Maybe I was imagining it, but I could have sworn that his chest tensed as he said those words, a slight quiver underneath his tone. Maybe I was just imagining it, but still, I couldn't shake the feeling that, after this summer, things would never be the same again.

***

"S-she-She's back!"

I jerked up from the book I was reading and launched to my feet as the cry echoed through the corridor, startling my wolf who had been dozing with her head on her paws in the corner.

"Who's back?" I said, flinging open my cabin door just in time to see my younger brother, Alexei, barrel past in a beeline for Luke's room. "Hey! Alex! Slow down! What's going on?"

Alex skidded to a stop, whipping around to face me with wide eyes. "Th-Thalia! She's back!"

"Wait, what?" I said, gripping my brother by his shoulders and scanning his face. "Thalia? Like, the daughter of Zeus?"

"How many Thalias do you know?" Alex said sarcastically. "Silena just called. Alabaster received it and told me to go tell Luke."

"Tell me what?" Luke said, annoyance clear in his tone as his door clicked open. "What's all this ruckus? It's the butt-crack of dawn! Can't anyone get any peace around here?"

"Thalia's back," I said quietly, turning to face him.

Luke's hand froze halfway up to his hair, emotions flashing across his face so fast I couldn't even place it before he smiled slightly. "So it worked."

"Yeah. It did," I murmured softly, releasing Alex who slumped over, his hands on his knees, as he tried to catch his breath after sprinting from the deck to our cabins.