𝗪𝗔𝗜𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗠𝗘 ━━ l. valdez

v ━━ camera flashes, welcome bashes (get the matches)

03. chapter five

━━━━━━━━ ( 💫 ) ━━━━━━━━

"WHO IS AUNT ROSA?" HAZEL ASKED.

"long story," leo said. i could tell he didn't want to talk about it. "she abandoned me after my mom died, gave me to foster care."

"i'm sorry."

"yeah, well..."

"what about nico?" i said. that seemed like the most important subject right now. "what are we going to do?"

leo nodded. "yeah... what nemesis said about your brother?" he turned to hazel.

hazel blinked like she'd gotten salt in her eyes. "nico... he found me in the underworld," she explained to leo. "he brought me back to the mortal world and convinced the romans at camp jupiter to accept me. i owe him for my second chance at life. if nemesis is right, and nico's in danger... i have to help him."

"what nemesis said about nico only having six days to
live," i said. "and rome getting destroyed... any idea what she meant?"

"none," hazel admitted. "but i'm afraid..."

whatever she was thinking, she decided not to share it. she climbed one of the largest boulders to get a better view.

i pulled myself into the boulder beside it, just as large, but more unstable and jagged. leo tried to follow and lost his balance. i caught his hand. i pulled him up
and we found ourselves atop the rock, holding hands, face-to-face.

leo's eyes were bronze like festus the dragon. his hands were really warm. it felt like sitting in front of the fireplace during a cold winter day.

"um, thanks." he let go of my hand, but then i noticed white steam emitting from his hair. we were still standing so close, i could feel the heat radiating off him.

"um, leo..." i pointed to his head.

he looked up and his eyes went wide. "aw! not again."

he batted at the steam until it dissipated. he muttered something under his breath about not being able to work his magic or something which confused me because his magic was clearly working too well.

"when we were talking to nemesis," hazel said uneasily, "your hands... i saw flames. and your head was steaming."

"yeah," he said. "it's a hephaestus power. usually i can keep it under control."

"oh." she put one hand protectively on her denim shirt, like she was about to say the pledge of
allegiance.

i gazed across the island. the opposite shore was only a few hundred yards away. between here and there were dunes and clumps of boulders, but nothing that looked like a reflecting pool.

no matter how hard you try, he will end up just like all those who ever get close to you do. there's no escaping fate. one day, you will be faced with the ultimate trade-off; a sacrifice for a sacrifice. the real question is, would you do anything for love?

there's no escaping fate... could nemesis have been referencing my prophecy? was she talking about leo and i? the last person i had a close relationship with was my dad and i ended up being responsible for his death. could that mean that i'll kill leo? the ultimate trade-off?

"millie?" leo asked. "are you okay?"

i looked at him. if anything, he looked worse than i did. his shoulders hung sadly and his eyebrows were laced in distress.