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DREW TANAKA's backhanded compliments and bitter-fueled words were not things Anya had missed in the eight days she'd managed to avoid her. But here she was, arm in arm with the one girl who hated her dead best friend. Who was hellbent on destroying whatever redemption Silena Beauregard's death had resolved from her conspired betrayal.
Drew walked with a bounce in her step, eyes sparkling with that devious heartbreaking glint that all Aphrodite children seemed to possess naturally. "She's trying to learn from her mistakes," she explained to the blond boy on her other arm. "Poor girl was awfully close to the camp's traitor."
Jason blinked. "Camp's traitor?" he repeated. "Looks like I missed a lot going on here. What happened?" Clearly, he was not too enthusiastic about being included in this conversation.
Gritting her teeth beneath her smile, Anya met Jason's eyes. "I was best friends with Silena. Silena Beauregard. Uh, she was a spy for the Titans' side, but," she quickly added, "she eventually sacrificed herself in battle. She was a hero, no matter what she was forced to do for the Titans. Luke was lying to her and she was in an emotionally bad place back then. Kronos was good at manipulating anyone to do his deeds, and she. . . She fell for their trickery. But she died for the cause, and she regretted everything she did in the end."
"Regret doesn't change the fact that she was a traitor," Drew said sweetly. "Some of you have the words 'traitor' and 'hero' a little confused. They don't mean the same thing, hun."
"Silena was manipulated by Luke. She just lost Beckendorf," Anya said, frowning. "You would do the same thing."
"What, betray camp? Turn on my friends? I'm not a traitor," Drew snapped, her honeyed smile still pasted on, only more forcefully. "I'm sorry you're going through this, sweetie. I know it's hard for you to accept this. I'm here for you." She fake-sympathetically patted Anya's shoulder before stopping in front of the Big House. "Here we are. The Big House, camp headquarters."
"I'm not supposed to be here," Jason said, nervously looking at the house. He retracted from Drew's arm and Anya copied him, eager to put some distance in between her and the other girl.
"That's not true," Anya said. "I know it's hard to get used to all this," she gestured around the camp with a kind smile, "at first, but you really belong here, Jason. This place is made for people like us. Demigods. It's better than anywhere else you could imagine. You fit in here."
"Exactly. Trust me, because I've seen a lot of heroes. You'd be perfect here," Drew added, and Anya nodded, slightly uncomfortable that she was agreeing with Tanaka on something for the first time.
"Look, I appreciate—" Jason started, but Drew cut in with a frown.
"Is it that girl? Oh please, tell me you are not dating the Dumpster Queen." She flicked her glossy bangs out of her eyes, surreptitiously moving her hand to the base of her hip and staring at Jason expectantly. Her sepia brown eyes glittered in the sunlight, her pink eyeshadow sparkling behind her eyelids. It seemed to blend perfectly with the color of her eyes, complimenting her features. As much of a pain in the ass she could be, Anya couldn't deny Drew Tanaka was truly beautiful.
"You mean Piper? Um. . ."
Anya shuffled her feet awkwardly.
Drew rolled her eyes. "Let me help you decide, sweetie. You can do better. A guy with your looks and obvious talent?" She scoffed, as if the sheer thought of him dating someone like Piper would be a waste of time. Her eyes kept darting up to the air above Jason's head.
"You're waiting for a sign," guessed Jason, noticing Anya's glance tiptoeing towards the same place Drew's was. "Like with what popped over Leo's head."
"Your parent seems like they'd be a big shot, I dunno," Anya commented. "Don't think they'd wanna claim you just in front of Drew and me. 'Course, most gods are big shots." But her eyes couldn't help wandering to Jason's head and curiosity sparked inside of her.
"You are pretty powerful from what I've heard, right?" Drew agreed. "So like Anya said, your godly parent's probably super powerful too. You're gonna be really important to camp, so I figure your parent will claim you right away. And I'd love to see that. I wanna be with you every step of the way! So tell me, is your mom of dad the god? Please don't tell me it's your mom. I would hate it if you were an Aphrodite kid."
"Wait why?"
"Then you'd be my half brother, silly. You can't date somebody from your own cabin. Yuck!"
Anya started whistling 'Sweet Home Alabama' softly.
"But aren't all the gods related?" Jason asked confusedly. "So isn't everyone here your cousin or something?"
Drew laughed. "Aren't you cute?"
"Nope," Anya jumped in, humming as she walked, only half present as she was preoccupied in her own mind. "The gods' side is too distant to be related to you, so only your godly parent counts."
"So who's your godly parent, then? Mom or dad?" Drew asked.
"Hi, Chiron," greeted Anya as the sound of hooves stomping in the porch shook her fully back into reality and away from the incoming worries she'd been harboring about her still missing sister.
"Hello Ms. Kimora," Chiron said warmly, rounding the corner of the porch, careful to duck under the porch lights because of his extra height from his stallion half. "I just sent out a satyr to your dad's house to sort out the search for Amalia," he promised. "I know you've been worried, and as you're a demigod, though your mortal sister isn't, I know it's possible that she may somehow be affiliated in all of this. We will—" He stopped talking, eyes flaring in disbelief as soon as he noticed Jason— who had been backing up so fast he nearly tripped over himself. "You. . . You should be dead."
