Monsters are real and Catia Delos lives to fight them.
After her father's tragic death when she was a child, Catia was sent away by her stepmother to the Guardians, a race of demigods who live to fight the monsters that threaten the world. To Catia...
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The longer the representative from the Council was here, the more Catia's skin crawled. The spot on the back of her neck that held her tracker still made her nauseous when she tried to touch it, which unfortunately happened a lot.
Sometimes she woke in the mornings, unable to remember why her neck ached. Then, as soon as her fingers brushed the bump, and the nausea rose in her throat, she remembered, and the anger built in her again. Reduced to only a piece of property owned by the Council of Guardians.
They had chipped Skye soon after her and then Connor after him. Their mentor had gone strangely silent while the representative was here. He spent most of his time in his office with Steven.
Nehera continued to train with Skye and Catia, though there was something off about the girl. In the days that she'd been training, Catia noticed she was slower, more unbalanced than Skye or herself. It was strange, since she'd never seen a Guardian without graceful movements. It was an effect of the godly magic and DNA running through their veins. And yet, Nehera was about as graceful as an elephant in a tutu.
And one Mr. Steven Smith had yet to follow the Council's orders for his own daughter. Nehera still lacked a microchip in the back of her neck, which was grating on Catia's nerves.
They still weren't hunting monsters, which was making everyone testy these days. Yesterday, Skye had snapped at her for chewing her cereal too loudly. The entire ordeal had ended in a fistfight in the kitchen, which Connor had promptly broken up.
Skye hadn't said a word as he'd retreated to his room, and Catia hadn't seen him since.
Breakfast this morning was silent, and Skye was apparently still hiding out in his room. Catia grabbed a muffin from the counter, then sat down at the table. Nehera sat on the other side, reading from a book as she ate her oatmeal.
Nehera's father and Connor were absent, which just left the two of them alone.
Catia watched the girl as she ate, a glob of oatmeal falling off her spoon and staining her Hello Kitty pajama top. Nehera set aside her book as she dabbed at the spot on her shirt.
"Why are you so different?"
Nehera stopped what she was doing and looked up at Catia. "What do you mean?"
"Nothing, I suppose," Catia said as she nibbled at her muffin. "It's just you're not like any Guardian I've ever met."
Blush crept across Nehera's cheeks. "I don't know what you mean." She quickly stood up, slamming her knee into the table as she did. The dishes rattled and a string of curse words left Nehera's mouth. "I have to change for training."
Then she disappeared towards the guest bedrooms. Catia stared after her for a minute. She left the book she was reading on the table and Catia grabbed it. It was a book on ways to build endurance and speed. Why would a demigod need more endurance and speed?
