Hunter

Chapter Forty Two - Presence Is Power

My necklace was on Olympus? Everyone's heads snapped up at his revelation.

"What does that mean, exactly?" Jasper asked, his hands resting on the table, his body leaned forward.

"It means that Andrea isn't the person we should be looking for. Apollo gave Dee a rundown of Andrea's whereabouts. She's in Florida and has been in Florida since Crescent burnt down." I dropped my head into my hands and stared at the table. I was in extreme denial, and I didn't feel like believing a single word that he was saying.

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"Hayley--"

"Jasper if you say something about her being innocent once more, I will not hesitate to throw you out of the window." He didn't finish his sentence, but everyone was watching me.

"Did he say when the necklace reached Olympus?"

"The same day of the dragon attack."

"Then it must be the same people who sent those automatons to the cave! Think about it: if they sent the dragon to get the necklace, and we were trying to figure out where the necklace was, it should be the same person," Jasper added, and what he said was solid.

"Who has access to Automatons like that?" I questioned.

"Hephaestus." Aiden was solemn as he spoke, his eyes downturned.

"Why would your god want to kill you?" Aiden was confused, his eyes questioning, so I answered his questions. "Those automatons in the cave, they weren't coming after all of us. They were going after you. Only when we attacked them did they go after us."

"Hephaestus wouldn't try and kill Aiden," my mom added, her first words since this entire conversation arose. She had the floor, and we were all silent, waiting for an explanation.

"Hephaestus doesn't have that many descendants because he's considered a poorly god. He's seen as a lap-dog, and no one wanted their children to carry around that burden on their shoulders. Before we expanded into civilizations, descendants of Hephaestus were poor and acquired the most worthless of jobs. Those few descendants that he had, he cherished because his bloodline was weak. There's no way that he would intentionally kill one of his own." I snuck a quick look at Aiden for the corner of my eye, and he looked grim.

"So he's out of the question, but who else could it be?"

"It could be anyone, Hayley. Hephaestus has an obligation to comply with the wishes of the gods."

"Well, crap." I threw my head back over the neck of my chair. I groaned aloud while rubbing my hands over my face. I was getting nowhere with that stupid conversation, and I was becoming increasingly restless. We were so close. So close, and we were faced with our largest obstacle yet.

"So, what now?" There was no response. Everyone avoided my gaze, except my mom. She was daring me to say what she knew I was going to. I opened my mouth.

"No."

"I didn't say anything."

"No."

"Well, why not?"

"Because I said no."

"That's all you ever say! Why don't you trust me for once and let me do what I know I can? I went into the underworld on my own and I sure as hell will go to Olympus on my own if you don't give me the permission to go with them!" I stood from my seat, livid and breathing heavily. My mother stood from her seat too, her hand slammed onto the table.

"You better watch your tone with me, Hayley. I could close all portals to Olympus if I wanted to."

"Go ahead. I'll still find a way."