My Boyfriend is a Dead Roman Hero | Jason Grace

I Fall Out of the Sky Pt 2

"Are you an idiot?!"

Julie scowls. "Well, this is going great."

Piper storms across the tent and snatches Juliette by the shoulders. Her eyes have shifted to an angry red that makes Julie think of werewolves and other not-fun things that would enjoy ripping her intestines out. "We have spent the last 6 hours terrified you were dying. And you're telling us it's because you made a deal with Khione?"

"That is what I'm telling you, yes."

Piper laughs, high and filled with disbelief. She whirls around to look at the boys for support. Jason's pale and solemn, not having said a word since his initial relief at seeing Juliette awake. Leo looks too confused to weigh in.

Julie groans in annoyance. "Look, I'm only telling you because I don't want you getting hurt."

Her sister whirls on her. "And what about you?" Piper snaps. "What about if you get hurt?"

"That doesn't matter."

"It doesn't matter?"

Juliette growls out a frustrated noise and scrubs her hands against her forehead. She tries her best to push down the rampant irritation in her and scowls up at her sister. "Why do you even care? Two days ago you literally wanted to push me off the Grand Canyon."

Piper looks taken aback by that. She reels backwards, and her mouth drops open like a fish. Julie rolls her eyes and turns to Leo as he pipes up.

"Wait, so, why are you enslaving a god?" He asks, perplexed. "How are you enslaving a god?"

Jason flicks his eyes up at her in somber interest. She avoids his gaze and addresses Leo's questions.

"Khione can't do it herself." She sighs, crossing her arms. She glares down at her borrowed combat monstrosities the Hunters claim to be shoes. "Jason was right. It's Khione that's been whispering into the gods' minds. But, Aeolus' palace is too well protected. So," Julie points a thumb at herself, frowning. "That's where I come in. I can get inside.

"As for how," Julie raises up her right hand for them to see. In the center of her palm, bright white and shimmering in the moonlight, is a marking shaped like a snowflake. "High five of death, apparently. Just gotta get close enough to touch him."

Leo takes her hand to study and puckers up his lips in thought. "Man...I can't lie - she's got style. And a body. And that face-"

"Leo."

"Sorry, sorry. But, don't we, like...not want her to have more allies? Isn't this plan really bad for us?"

Juliette nods. "Yeah. Terrible. But, I'm working on something."

Piper huffs and puts her hands on her hips. "Working on what?"

"An idea."

"What idea?"

Julie rolls her eyes so hard she gets a bit dizzy. "I can't tell you that. Not with Ms. Eavesdropper listening to me. You just are gonna have to trust me."

Piper clenches her jaw. Leo shifts a little awkwardly and looks away.

She knows how all of this must sound to them. The three of them have known her barely 72 hours, and Juliette has been lying to them for 2/3 of that time. For a valid reason, sure. But, asking them to trust her is a bit ironic given she's just unloaded about 50 examples of instances in which she was explicitly not trustworthy. She glances down at the snowflake on her palm and runs her thumb over the marking. It's cold.