Daughter of Aphrodite

Chapter Six: Monsters Everywhere

The one-eyed being scratched his head. "What are you talking about?" He asked.

Jonah was quick to take the pizza from him, throwing a gold coin and taking the pizza away. He held onto it with one hand and took mine with the other, pulling me away from the food court and out of the mall. Outside, he took out his phone to call a taxi and I pulled my hand away.

"What the hell was that thing?" I cried out, taking a step away from him. He briefly glanced at me, shaking his head lightly as he continued tapping at his phone. He released a low growl and continued tapping. 

"Charlotte," he said, "I promise I'll explain, but just for a few minutes you're going to need to trust me, okay?"

"No way!" I screeched, taking a few steps away. "Not until I know-" I was interrupted by my back hitting someone else's. I turned around to see a man shorter than even me with horns poking out of curly blond hair. "Uh," I began, unsure of what to say to him. Hey pal, did ya hit your head?

"I'm so so-sorry," the boy bleated, and I looked down to see that waist down, he had goat feet and fur-covered legs.

Jonah grabbed my hand. "Our bad. Charlie is so carelessly clumsy." He pulled me towards a black car that appeared nearly out of nowhere, shoving me into the passenger seat. He shut the door and I rolled out the window to call out, "Nice pants! I love the fur!"

As Jonah pulled away from the mall, I saw the blond goat-boy's cheeks turn a dark shade of red. "What was with him?" I asked, jerking a thumb behind us. "His pants were really cool."

Jonah groaned, hitting his head on the steering wheel. "You're such a mortal, ya know that?" I was about to retort when he continued. "Those weren't pants; those were his legs. He's a satyr, like Philoctetes from Hercules? He was using his magic to hide the fur from the humans, so bringing it up probably set that poor guy in a frenzy."

"Stop it right there," I said, holding up a hand. "Philoctetes from Hercules? A satyr? Jonah, should we go back to the hospital? I think that accident gave you a concussion."

"It also gave me third-degree burns all over my body, so why don't we talk about that instead." My mouth dropped in disbelief. So the medical chart wasn't wrong... "Charlie, there's something about you. Something special."

"Well yeah," I said, flipping some hair over my shoulder, "I'm beautiful and I know good couples when I see them. I'm like the perfect matchmaker."

"And perfectly arrogant," Jonah muttered, his hands tightening on the steering wheel. "Nevermind, your ego doesn't need this boost right now."

"Excuse me? Did you say that I have an ego?" I huffed. "That's not very nice of you."

"Yeah, but it's true," he spat. "You think you have so many friends just because you're nice? Ha! You're an egotistical prima donna who hasn't worked a day in her life for anything. You've finally met someone who isn't instantly fawning over you for approval and you don't even know what to do with yourself."

My mouth began falling open and shut like a fish out of water. "And for all I know, you could be a serial killer!" I reached for the door handle and started pulling on it. "Let me out!"

"No way," Jonah grunted as he continued driving. "And please put on your damn seat belt, I don't need to get pulled over today." He took a ramp that led to I-5 and began accelerating to dangerous speeds.

"The only one that would get into trouble is me!" I called out, pulling on the door harder. If I was in my right mind, I would've unlocked the door first, but now Jonah was coasting down the highway at a hundred miles per hour minimum, so I didn't dare. I tried rolling down the window, but he must have had the windows locked to stay shut. I took a deep breath. "I could unlock the door and jump out," I threatened with my hand feeling around the door lock. 

Jonah didn't seem phased as he kept his eyes on the road. "We're going fast enough to where a move like that would kill you. Just shut up. We're almost there."

"Almost where??" I pushed the switch to unlock the door right as we pulled into a familiar neighborhood; mine. "How do you know where I live?" I asked warily. 

Jonah shrugged. "This is one of your dad's cars. I made some... modifications."

As we pulled up to my house, I looked at him under more scrutiny. "Just who are you? Are you my long-lost brother?"

Jonah pursed his lips. "In the broadest sense of the term, perhaps. I am a son of Hephaestus, you are a daughter of Aphrodite."