Lost Stars

Chapter Forty

-Athena's POV-

"Jason," I said, warily, creeping around him. He kept his back towards me, still standing at the sink. My fingers trailed down to my dagger. Something was off. I could feel it.

"What's up?" Jason answered casually. The running water filled the silence, encouraging my suspicions. Every drop that splattered against the metal sink echoed inside of me. I was focused on every single ounce of blood that coated Jason. He never held things for me. He was acting strange.

I had experienced this before. This type of behavior was always followed by betrayal. I was armed and ready for Red Hood to take me out. I knew too much. I had to be eradicated. It happened with Ra's, it happened at Honor Island, and the boys at the School for Superior Boys always cut me out. Or tried, rather.

I crept closer. Jason kept his wide shoulders turned away, not suspecting anything. I glared at his back, gripping Thalia's dagger. I lunged toward him, slashing across his back.

"What the fuck!" Jason faked, jumping back. His face was still red with blood. His eyes were frantic as I came towards him again. He grabbed my wrists, turning me around. The whipping motion tossed the dagger from my fingers. I used my own momentum to come forward at him, tackling him to the ground.

He grappled me, tossing me underneath him. He pressed his boot onto my wrist and held my other down with his strong hand. His breath came out in quick pants as he held me down. I launched my legs up and kicked his back, his chest falling down over my face. I sunk my teeth into his chest, making him screech. This made him let me go.

Once freed, I jumped onto his back, pinning him face down. I grabbed my knife. Taking his hair in my fingers, I yanked his neck upwards to expose the soft flesh on his neck. I pressed my cold blade against his throat.

"Do it," he mumbled, his body going slack underneath me, "Both of us knew we would eventually double cross each other. So, just do it already."

Out of anger, I pressed my blade tighter. I felt the moment it sliced a bit of his flesh. How dare he think he knows me? I never even planned on attacking him. I never even wanted to. "What did you do?" Out of all the questions I could've asked, that was the one that left my lips.

Jason hesitated. He swallowed, further cutting himself. I tensed my muscle. I wanted nothing more than to tear my dagger away and to patch him up, but I refused to move an inch. "It was just personal business."

Despite Jason's usual MO and how often he lied, he was always such an awful liar when he lied to me. On duty, I would almost believe the cover ups coming out of his mouth. But off duty, his lies sounded so obvious, it was like he was reading from a script.

"Tell me the truth," I growled, leaning in close to his ear, "Or I swear to God I will slash your throat open." Unlike Jason, all my lies sounded exactly the same: convincing.

"Get off of me and I will," Jason replied, trying to angle his back to ease the pain in his scalp. I hadn't even realized I was still gripping his hair until I saw one white lock wrapped around my thumb. I eased off of him, standing up with my arms crossed.

Jason removed his slashed jacket, letting it drop to the floor. "I went out to Gotham," Jason said. His eyes focused on me without his pupils shaking. His face stayed the same tanned color. His index finger didn't twitch. He was telling the truth.

"Why?" I demanded, still analyzing the blood coating his neck and face. Some of it was his own, but most of it was not.

"Visit an old friend."

"Who?"

Jason didn't answer. He turned away, running his hands through his hair. Suspicion bubbled inside me as frustration and worry flashed across my face. "Who was it, Jason? Tell me right now." If my voice had any joking tones in it, there was not a single ounce now. I was using what I called "The Assassin Voice." I had developed it over the years. I pushed my personality aside and allowed my training to claw its way up my throat, taking control of my vocal cords. The voice that came out was so unrecognizable, even I couldn't tell it was me talking.