SAFE . . . reyna ramirez-arellano

36 - aftermath

BRIAR DIDN'T REMEMBER much about the rest of the night. She, Leo, and Jason told their story and answered a million questions from the other campers, but finally Chiron saw how tired they were and ordered them to bed.

It felt so good to sleep on a real mattress, and Briar was so exhausted, she crashed immediately, which spared her any worry about what it would be like returning to the Aphrodite cabin.

But her dreams were horrible. Well, they weren't exactly dreams — they were memories. Briar got back memories of her fighting the Titan Koios, of her running around the country doing quests with Jason, Reyna, and the girl Piper that Reyna had mentioned, and of a fight with a man that Briar presumed was her father, considering she'd called him dad.

The next morning she woke in her bunk, breathing in deeply to catch her breath after watching such jarring events. The sun came through the windows along with a pleasant breeze. It might've been spring instead of winter. Birds sang. Monsters howled in the woods. Breakfast smells wafted from the dining pavilion — bacon, pancakes, and all sorts of wonderful things that Briar hadn't had in so long.

Drew and her gang were frowning down at her, their arms crossed.

"Morning." Briar sat up and pulled a fake smile out from her ass. "Beautiful day."

"You're going to make us late for breakfast," Drew said, "which means you get to clean the cabin for inspection."

A week ago, Briar would've either punched Drew in the face, or stormed out of the cabin. Now she thought about the enemies she'd faced in the past three days, along with the shit she'd gone through the past fifteen years of her life. Looking at Drew, who used to bother her, Briar laughed.

Drew's smug expression crumbled. She backed up, then remembered she was supposed to be angry. "What are you—"

"Challenging you," Briar said, feeling a burst of confidence. "How about noon in the arena? You can choose the weapons. Or we could even duel it out in the basketball arena, it's your choice."

She got out of bed, stretched leisurely, and beamed at her cabinmates. She spotted Mitchell and Lacy, who'd helped her pack for the quest. They were smiling tentatively, their eyes flitting from Briar to Drew like this might be a very interesting basketball game.

"I missed you guys!" Briar announced. "We're going to have a great time when I'm senior counselor."

Drew turned red. Like, Briar's red dress red. Even her closest lieutenants looked a little nervous. This wasn't in their script.

"You—" Drew spluttered. "You ugly little witch! I've been here the longest. You can't just—"

"Challenge you?" Briar said. "Sure, I can. Camp rules: I've been claimed by Aphrodite. I've completed a quest, which is one more than you've completed. If I feel I can do a better job, I can challenge you. Unless you just want to step down. Did I get all that right, Mitchell?"

"Just right, Briar." Mitchell was grinning. Lacy was bouncing up and down like she was trying to achieve liftoff.

A few of the other kids started to grin, as if they were enjoying the different colors Drew's face was turning.

"Step down?" Drew shrieked. "You're crazy!"

Briar shrugged. Then, as fast as a viper, she pulled her knife out from under her pillow and thrust the point under Drew's chin. Everybody else backed up fast. One guy crashed into a makeup table and sent up a plume of pink powder.

"A duel, then," Briar said cheerfully. "If you don't want to wait until noon, now is fine. You've turned this cabin into a dictatorship, Drew. Silena Beauregard knew better than that. Aphrodite is about love and beauty. Being loving. Spreading beauty. Good friends. Good times. Good deeds. Keeping people together. Not just looking good, or breaking love just for fun. Silena made mistakes, but in the end she stood by her friends. That's why she was a hero. I'm going to set things right, and I've got a feeling Mom will be on my side, and so will the rest of the gods. Want to find out?"