Tempest

Fifteen

[guadia certaminis / the joys of battle]

Well, that makes a lot more sense, Tessa thought to herself. Her sea green eyes softened as she looked upon the goddess sitting before her, smiling at her and Kaden as if they weren't apart of some mythological mess.

Aphrodite's eyes flickered to their joined hands, and her kaleidoscopic eyes glinted mischievously. She looked up at her son. "Well, looks like all of those prayers paid off, Kaden." She winked.

Kaden stiffened. "Mother, with all due respect, not the time."

Aphrodite waved her hand in dismissal. "Oh, hush." She shook her head. "We've got some time before you all are supposed to go. Let's chat." She glanced to Tessa and grinned. "I'm glad Kaden has found you, dear. He carries a lot of weight on his shoulders from his past and—"

Kaden coughed, interjecting his mother. "Elle ne sait pas de cela."

Tessa's head whipped to the side so quickly at hearing Kaden slip into French. It took her a moment in that circumstance of utter weird to realize that it was the language of love, so it would make sense for Kaden to speak it fluently.

Aphrodite made a face. "Vous deves lui dire bientot, Kaden. Cela va vous deranger plus tard. Surtout si vous allez a la Californie."

Kaden opened his mouth to speak but Tessa cut him off. She looked straight at the goddess sitting before her. "Kaden told us that you could offer us transport to California. Is that true?"

Aphrodite's eyes glimmered with something Tessa couldn't place, and she hoped that she hadn't angered their only chance west. Thankfully, Aphrodite smiled. "Of course," she said sunnily. "One of my personal chauffeurs—oh, he doesn't know who I am in actuality, though—will be outside momentarily. He'll take you to California, to one of my other favorite places to stay while off Olympus."

Tessa blinked. That was easier than expected. "Thank you," she said.

Aphrodite straightened out the fabric of her dress, despite there being no wrinkles or folds where they didn't belong. "Not a problem, dear, I quite enjoy helping demigods. Especially if one of them is my child." She looked back up, and her visage changed slightly—almost sorrowful.

"Is something wrong?" Tessa asked softly.

Aphrodite took a breath. She glanced around the room, although the three of them were the only people in the cove. "Zeus has forbidden us to offer much aid to you five, but I can't keep this to myself any longer. There is a spy at Camp Half-Blood, waiting to do Deimos' bidding. I do not know who, no one does, but while you do not have a deadline on this quest, I urge you to finish within this next week. It is best that Deimos and his cohorts do not get that much leisure to wreak havoc."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop and Tessa half expected her breath to crystallize as she let go of one. "What else is new?" She cracked a weak smile.

Aphrodite matched her disposition, and her crystalline eyes turned gray. "Tessa, there is something else," she whispered. "Your mother. She's alive."

Tessa felt as if someone had pulled out the floor from under her. She felt far away, like she was falling, she was drowning in this truth that she somehow believed to be a lie. She had seen her house explode, the army of monsters breaking into it. There was no way her mother could have survived that, as much as Tessa wanted her to.