Outcasts of Olympus: Book 2

Chapter Five

When I next woke up, I found my arms wrapped around Stella's torso, her head tucked close to my chest. My head lay on hers, her soft, dark hair pressed against my cheek. The sun shone in through the window, casting a pale golden light across the room. It illuminated her fair skin, making a sharp contrast between it and her raven black hair.

Why didn't we do this sooner? Oh... Right... The oath on the river styx.

I pressed a light kiss on her forehead, and slowly disentangled myself from her so I could get out of bed. She stayed there, sleeping serenely, and I smiled once more before quietly opening the door.

I shut the door slowly behind me, then turned to find Leo still on the couch. "Someone seems to be very chipper," he said with a smirk as his arms were folded. I blushed, then turned and headed into the kitchen to find some breakfast.

There were some eggs in the fridge, so I grabbed a few and scrambled them, making enough for all three of us. "Cooking's my thing, Athena," Leo said pushing me to the side with his hip. I didn't even get annoyed at him; I was in too good of a mood for it. I just laughed and stepped aside.

Leo looked at me as if I had two heads. "Did you get possessed? Or taken over by an alien? Or worse... Did you take Aphrodite's advice on being a girl?!" he asked. I laughed and shook my head. "None of the above, thank you very much," I replied.

Leo rolled his eyes while he cracked an egg and reached to grab more, but when he tried to pull the carton to him, his arm wobbled. He hissed and dropped the eggs onto the floor and held onto his arm tightly. "Whoa, take it easy," I said, picking up the carton and the broken eggs. "Don't overdo it, okay?"

Leo glared slightly. "I'm fine, it's just a little pain. Besides, it's cooking eggs, how hard can it be? I just wasn't ready," he said, glancing at the bandage on his arm. I tossed the broken eggs in the trash and went over to wash my hands. "Leo, I'm just saying, be careful. Those wounds are still pretty nasty."

As if to prove my point, one of the wounds on his chest reopened slightly, a blush of blood spreading across the bandage. "I'm going to go get Alexa," I said, drying my hands off. "You stay here and go sit down, alright? I'm trying to look out for you."

Before he could protest, I hurried out the door and down the hall, knocking on Castor and Evadne's door. "Just a sec," I heard Evadne shout. I waited a moment, and Evadne opened the door, looking at me inquisitively. "I need Alexa," I said. "Leo's wounds reopened, and I figured I should get her as quickly as possible."

"Oh," Evadne said, her eyes widening in surprise. "Got it. I'll go wake her up." She retreated back into the room, leaving me to wait outside for a few minutes while she tried to rouse Alexa. It didn't take as long as I thought it would, because within a few seconds Alexa emerged, her hair a dark, poofy mess, holding her first aid kit. "I heard Leo's gonna bleed out?" she asked, still groggy. "I'm not entirely sure," I said. "But his wounds did reopen, and I wanted to make sure he got attention in case it was serious."

We hurried into my room to find Leo standing stubbornly in the kitchen. Alexa glared slightly and dragged him to the couch and sat him down. Leo was being stubborn as always, but let Alexa take a look at the wound. She unwrapped the bandages and took a look at the cuts.

"It's nothing very serious, if it was left undetected, than maybe it'd open up way more," Alexa said before handing Leo a rag. She began stitching it back up as Leo bit down on a rag to stop him from screaming curses. "That's a relief," I said, and I noticed Stella standing just outside our shared bedroom, looking at the scene with wide eyes.

I went over to her and offered a tight smile. "Quite the morning," I said, chuckling slightly. "Yeah, it seems to be," she said, not taking her eyes off of Leo slamming his fist onto the arm rest and Alexa scolding him for acting like a kid. I grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the kitchen table, gesturing for her to sit while I finished making the eggs.

Finally, we both sat down and dug in. Though, after a few bites, I wasn't hungry anymore. The buzz of euphoria from this new... thing... between us had taken away my appetite. Stella gave me a look. "So... are we going to tell the others?" she asked, quiet enough so only I could hear. I bit my lip, unsure of how to answer. "I don't know," I said, just as quietly. "I don't think it would be the best thing if they knew, because... I mean... Technically I'm almost breaking my vow on the river styx. I feel like, until we can figure out how to deal with that, we should keep it on the downlow."

Stella slowly nodded. Leo growled in pain. "Watch it!" he hissed. That caused Alexa to slap him across the face, which got him quiet. "You need to hold still!" she hissed back at him. Leo stared and nodded.

After being quiet for a moment, Leo spoke up. "Sorry," he said. Alexa sighed and smiled slightly. "Don't be, it's fine. I'm just not used to people moving while I do this. Usually Nick doesn't even react..." she said softly. "Sorry for slapping you." That little comment made Leo grin slightly. "I deserved it," he said. But that grin soon faded as he winced in pain.

I looked more at his face, which seemed to register astonishment. I wished he didn't have to deal with the pain, but we didn't have anything to numb him with, so he just had to muscle through it as best as he could.

"Poor Leo..." Stella muttered. I nodded in agreement. "I really hope what comes next won't be too much for him," I muttered. "I still don't like the plan."

"Same," she replied. "What if his wounds open again? Or what if we're not fast enough and the empousa..." But Stella didn't finish her sentence. She didn't need to. "We will be fast enough," I said quickly. "I'm not going to let those stupid blood-suckers get him."

"Love you too, Athena!" Leo called from the couch. I smiled a little bit at that. He actually believed me this time, which gave me some hope that the problems he and I were having could be resolved.

Finally, Alexa finished stitching him up and cleaned off her tools before putting them away. "Try not to move so much and it'll be just fine," she said. "I'll try, but I can't--" But Alexa glared, making him stop. "...Yes, ma'am," he muttered abashedly.

Alexa smiled and walked out. "I wish we had that power over him," Stella muttered. I laughed softly. "Don't we all," I said jokingly. She giggled at my comment, and I flushed with pride. "You guys done with your breakfast-date?" Leo asked, trying to fix his position without messing with the new stitches.

I rolled my eyes and nodded, trying to look nonchalant about it. I grabbed the plate I'd gotten for him, though it had gone cold a little while ago, and brought it over to him. "Lesson learned?" I asked him.

"Like hell I did," he said with a smirk. "Okay then," I said.

...

After we'd all finished, I went over and asked the others to convene in our suite so we could bring Leo up to speed on the plan and figure out just how it would go down.

His reaction was nowhere near surprising. "Oh fuck no!" he shouted. "Are you all insane?!"

"Calm down, Leo. We'll be there to stop them." Castor said. "You're joking, right?" Leo demanded. "I can't run in this condition! I can only see through one eye, I can't use my right arm and I get random bursts of pain from my chest and arm cuts!" He winced and hissed, forcing himself to calm down.

I looked at Castor, as if to say, see, I told you! "Look, Leo," I said. "I promise that I won't let them hurt you. We'll be practically right next to you, hiding in the shadows. We're not going to let you get hurt."

Leo stared at me, not knowing what to say. He then sighed. "Fine," he grumbled.

"We'll have to wait until nightfall anyway," said Evadne. "The sun doesn't kill them, but they're not exactly a big fan of it either. Besides, we need the darkness to hide in." Leo grumbled and looked at the wall. "I wouldn't be asking for you to do this if there was another option," I said softly.

He sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I know... Can you guys just leave me alone for a few hours?" Leo asked. I nodded. "Fair enough," I said, and I gestured for everyone to leave. Everyone left, and as I was about to, Leo spoke up.

"Athena, don't be shocked when you find me lying in my own blood with those things eating my corpse," Leo said. "It's not going to happen," I said sternly. "I'm not letting you die."

I turned around and left, shutting the door behind me, effectively ending the conversation.