Furious

Chapter Twenty-One

Armed with a large, dusty book, I propped up on one of the sofas to read. It was all I could do while my body recuperated from the recent Fury-eruption and subsequent ass-kicking—by dragon and by fellow Fury. And, finally, I was making headway on the information front. The book had to have answers.

There was another one the meal substitute waiting for me on the couch. I ate it without thinking, even though I wasn't hungry.

Jasper and I spoke very little after our encounter the night Lindsay was released from her jail cell. He took my comment, made in anger, to heart and wasn't hanging around the apartment anymore.

I took a bite of my makeshift meal. Alex and Gregory emerged through the mirror uninvited and unannounced. With a mouth full of granola-y sustenance I grunted at my teachers through closed lips. I didn't have the energy for a real "hello" anyway. Gregory headed for the kitchen, and Jasper. Alex, wearing a sleek outfit of blacks and greys unlike her usual training duds, spread out of the sofa across from me.

For a moment we said nothing; I didn't have anything to say now that I knew just enough to be dangerous. So I chewed. She examined her fingers. I turned back to my book in an attempt to study for what would inevitably be my doom. Alex twirled a knife in her hand, flipping the blade upwards to praise the ceiling and then back down to stare at her belly. I don't know where she had been hiding it.

Ten minutes of pretending I was alone later and I cracked. "Can I help you with something?"

Alex looked at me with a smile. It wasn't the first time I'd been graced with her grin, but it never reached her eyes before. Outside of the training room Alex was almost pretty. Gone were the scary smile and the dark hatred in her face. Even her wings had disappeared. In the days we had spent together, I had gotten used to her wings. Now without them, she looked almost human.

"No. Gregory had a meeting with Jasper and I just tagged along to have something to do. Did you know that all hours not spent with you are hours wasted? At least that's what Jasper says. I think he has a crush." Her wrist flicked the knife back and forth rhythmically as she spoke. "Everyone thinks you're pretty important."

"They have a funny way of showing it. Jasper avoids me, Gregory beats me up, and Hector ignores me. I feel like I'm not doing anything right."

Alex nodded. "Hades ignores most everyone these days. There was a time when he trained with us, when he walked the River with Charon and smiled at his servants, but now if he doesn't get the Nectar soon, he'll cease to be a god outright. It's kind of a big deal."

Don't take it personally, Autumn.

I continued eating, mulling over her words. Forget the knife, forget the situation, forget the location and it almost felt like we were friends. One could be easily fooled into thinking that we enjoyed each other's company.

It was nice, sitting here with her in near-companionable silence. We could gossip about how much everyone hates Lindsay, what her relationship with Hector is or was, and whether or not Alex was seeing Gregory when they weren't kicking my ass. There was something about Gregory, a magnetic pull that made me want to impress him, and Alex emanated an attitude of aloofness; a perfect fit. I took another bite to mull it over.

Alex's calm demeanor fooled even me. Usually she was on edge, like she was itching to kill something, but laying on the couch opposite from me there was no evidence of tension in her body.

She didn't look at me while she spoke. "Do you know what's in those things?"

I didn't. And that should have bothered me, right? It could have been poisoned or drugged and I didn't even care. Even as Alex brought the thought to mind, I kept eating it. I felt fine, didn't I?