My Boyfriend is a Dead Roman Hero | Jason Grace

I Get In a Stranger's Minivan

She doesn't fall to her death. That's a win. But, the experience still isn't pleasant.

Her wings collide with tree trunks. Sticks embed themselves in her skin and tear her clothes as Julie crashes through the vegetation. She does her best to keep up her transformation to slow her descent, but a particularly painful head-on with a large oak tree sends a snapping noise through the forest and a blinding pain down her right wing. She falls from her transformation and tumbles into the dirt.

The canopy of leaves above her spins and morphs like a kaleidoscope. Julie groans and blinks to get her head to stop swimming.

Taking inventory, her arm is definitely broken. But, that seems to be the worst of it. Her backpack is currently hanging like 30 feet above her head in a tree, so that sucks. But, aside from some scrapes, bruises, and an impressive collection of splinters, Juliette seems to have made it through that without too much damage.

She lets out a relieved sigh. A tiny twitch of her lips arcs them into a smile.

Aphrodite listened.

Whadd'ya know?

If she knows her mother, the goddess probably would have delivered Julie's friends to somewhere near Mount Diablo. That's good. Juliette has a destination.

It's East of the San Francisco Bay, Piper had said. Okay, cool. So, all Julie has to do is...find the bay.

That shouldn't be too hard, right? She doesn't have a map, but, like...how many bays could there be?

In California.

The coastal state.

Julie groans and lifts her uninjured arm to rub at her eyes.

"Miss?"

Juliette startles violently and leaps to her feet. She wobbles, but tries her best to look imposing as she yanks the arrow charm off her bracelet and holds out her bow defensively.

Maybe she can't draw it with a broken arm, but these recurves are sharp. She can still shank a sucker.

Standing hesitantly in front of her is a man in his early forties. His palms are up in surrender like he's approaching a wounded animal, face nervous and sweaty dark curls hidden underneath a wide-brimmed hat like those safari guys wear on the Discovery channel. Julie hides her injured arm behind her and widens her stance for combat.

The man purses his lips. "I'm not going to hurt you!" He says hastily.

Julie narrows her eyes at him and doesn't move. He nods at her right side.

"That looked like quite a fall. That arm is probably broken."

"Yeah, thanks, Sherlock." Julie snaps, raising her bow higher.

This man is mortal. She can sense his hesitance and...fear. But, there's something about him. Something that scares her. She makes no move to drop her stance.

The man lowers his hands slowly and frowns, something strange sparking in his eyes as he studies her. His eyes scan her face. Then, her hair. Then, they rest on her eyes, and his own widen comically. His posture falters, and his mouth drops open in surprise as the fear in his aura swells so much Julie's skin starts to buzz.

She glares at him. "Get lost," Julie snaps impatiently. "I don't have time for this. Go away."

He blinks at her. Then, he blinks at her arm again. And the scratches on her face. His shoulders slump, and his aura dims. "You're...you're a demigod, right?"

Julie freezes. She grips her bow tighter as the man raises his palms again frantically.

"I'm harmless, I swear! It's..." He struggles with words, guilt radiating from him. "My daughter. My daughter is like you."