Page 7 of Flirting with Death

Apollo didn't stick around for long after we agreed to help, and Lex assured him that he knew what the muse looked like. He told us how to contact him or send a message to him through the Messenger God, Hermes, although we were told he preferred the name Mercury. I knew Hermes was a nephew of Apollo, from the Mythology class I took last year, which might make him like a cousin to me, if Apollo really considered me a niece. My head spun with the information. I would put that away in the little box in my head and examine it when my life was a little more manageable.

At least this new mission would keep my mind off of the more tragic aspects of my life. I rubbed at my chest. Just the thought of Bellamy and Alastor felt like someone was stabbing me in the heart. This muse had something to do with both, I was sure. Whoever had her was targeting me. I knew it in my very soul.

I watched the feeds over Lex's shoulder. He found her and traced her the night she was here. She had been seen talking to a demon, then she left with them. I didn't recognize the monster, so it probably wasn't one we had been up against already, or they played in the shadows and didn't reveal themselves.

"We should tell my family," I said the words, but they felt like sandpaper in my mouth. I was still angry at them, but they needed to know there was a muse out there that was focused on bring tragedy to our lives. Maybe all of this happened the way it did to optimize the pain. Was that how it worked?

"I need to see my mom," Lex said, finally looking away from his screen. "I can meet you back here later, and we can make a plan. We will need all the help that we can get. You should bring the dragon."

"Raiden?" I asked, though I knew. What other dragon did I know?

He nodded. His distraction had me concerned. What had he found?

"Okay—" I drawled. I hesitated in giving him a hug goodbye, but he dragged me fully into his arms and buried his head in my neck.

"I'll see you soon," he promised.

As I crossed the city to my parents' house, his words tumbled around in my head as I tried to put the puzzle pieces I didn't have together into a picture I could understand. It was like they were waiting for me, the door swung open, revealing my mom as I walked up the front path to the steps.

"Sweetheart," she said, stepping out onto the porch. Her face was bruised still, her healing slower now that she was older. Tears pooled in her eyes as she watched me approach. "I'm so sorry about everything."

"I'm not here to make up," I said a little harshly. Seeing her reminded me she killed Bellamy. "I came to warn you."

She moved to the side and didn't hug me, which was probably best for both of us. "Ty and your dad are inside. Raiden is coming over soon for dinner. It’s your favorite." She wrung her hands, and my stomach growled as I inhaled the aroma of tacos coming from the house.

"I guess I can tell you over food." I passed into my childhood house with fresh eyes. What other things had they kept from me? Was Raiden being a dragon the only thing? I shook off the intrusive thoughts. I wasn't even sure if they were mine now. What if the muse was working her magic on me and my family? Causing even more grief between us. The idea of that had me swinging back toward my mom and throwing myself into her arms. "I love you still. I might be mad, but I still love you all," I mumbled into her shoulder as her arms crushed me to her.

That was how Raiden found us, flowing tears and snotty noses in each other's arms. It felt like I was little all over again, and she was helping mend a broken heart. Only she caused this one. I couldn't say I didn't understand, because I did, and I would have done the same to save someone I loved. She couldn't have known that Bellamy wouldn't have killed me. Not the way I knew.

A cautious smile spread across his face as we pulled apart to let him into the house. "It's good to see you here," he said. Then I had my arms around him, a sob breaking free. My mom excused herself as I fell apart in his strong hold. I was grieving more than the loss of Bellamy and Alastor. I had lost my innocence too, faced with the lies and what felt like betrayal of my closest people. "Shhh, it will all be okay."

I leaned back, looking up at him, then. "But what if it isn't?"

"It will have to go through me, and I don't know if you heard or not. I'm a dragon," he whispered the last word while he looked around like he was telling me the secret for the first time. It didn't sting as much now. Maybe that was the first step to healing.

I sniffed and rubbed my face against his shirt to wipe at the leftover tears on my face, sort of a childish vengeance, knowing he would hate it. I could feel him tense beneath me before he started to pull away, a disgusted look on his face.

A laugh erupted from me, and he scoffed. “Gross, Sammy.”

"It’s the least you deserve,” I replied, grinning up at him, feeling a little lighter when he returned my smile with a soft one of his own, before I admitted, “I'm going to need all the help I can get."

"Is that my Sammy asking for help?" he asked. His eyebrows shot into his hairline as fake shock coasted across his face.

I punched him lightly in the arm as I pulled fully away. "I do that sometimes, you jerk."

Ty was leaning on the doorframe like a creeper, a smile on his face as he observed us. "I thought I was going to have to make a drastic move to fix you two. And look at you both doing it for me."

My eyes rolled involuntarily, and I shook my head. "You had nothing to do with this."

"Oh yes I did, I totally match made you two. I expect to be the best man and flower girl," he said.

A snort broke free at his words. "The flower girl? So what would that entail? Would you like to walk down the aisle tossing flowers and then stand next to Raiden to give him the ring?" I laughed at the image.

"Now that you mention it, maybe I should be the ring boy too." He crossed his arms and eyed us, a grin taking up most of his face.

"Dinner is ready," mom's voice called to us, ending the silly conversation. I led the way into the warm kitchen and took my usual spot across from Raiden. He sank into the seat next to me instead. When I lifted an eyebrow at him, he shrugged and reached for my hand. My mom paused as she turned from the stove and took in the new positions around her table, but she said nothing as she placed the meat in the center for easy reach.

Dad came into the room as Ty settled in his place. He also stopped to take us in. "That's new," he said.

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