A Thousand Thrones

Sixteen

Sixteen

Zoe drove just like the rest of them.

Freakishly fast.

"You're seriously trying to kill me, aren't you?" I asked as she went a good fifty miles over the speed limit. You would have thought that she was racing for a trophy or something the way she was hugging the curves of the road.

Zoe laughed, looking over at me just as she rolled her eyes. "No, I'm not. Besides, even if we did crash, you'd walk away without a scratch. I would, too. There's nothing to worry about."

"But you're still going over the speed limit."

"Yes, and your point?"

"Um, stop?"

She shook her head, grinning. "Sorry. Daddy's orders. I have to get you to the house as fast as possible," she said. "Just close your eyes and we'll be there in a little while."

"How can I close my eyes with the fear of never opening them to see the light of day again?"

Zoe started laughing then and she patted my knee. "Stop being such a drama queen. Besides, I've been driving for as long as cars have been around, so I'm fairly good at it now."

She did have a point.

And it still blew my mind at how old she was - and me, of course - because the invention of the car had been around for the better part of the last hundred and twenty years.

And, obviously, so had we.

It was hardly a half an hour before we were pulling into the driveway of Damon's house, which she drove even faster on. Once we crested the hill that overlooked the house, I noticed that the house looked a lot livelier than it usually did. There were a couple of cars parked in the driveway, most of them looking about twice as more expensive as my house.

"What's going on? Are other people here?" I asked, looking over at Zoe.

A grimace appeared on her face as her eyes met mine. "I didn't want to freak you out before, but the entire council is here," she said.

My eyes widened. "The entire council?" I asked, swallowing hard.

The entire council. From my knowledge of Greek mythology, I knew it was the big gods and goddesses that were a part of the council: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Dionysus, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Athena, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Demeter. Just thinking of their names and knowing that they were actually real instead of just myth...it was kind of intimidating.

"Yes," she said, nodding. "Daddy called after Lee called him. They're going to decide what to do with you."

Do with me?

"What do you mean, do with me?"

She shook her head quickly. "Nothing bad. Usually when something like this happened before, they would get together to have Mnemosyne restore your memory. I don't think she's here now, though. She's been staying in the Underworld for some time now. So if that's what they decide, Daddy's going to have to take you there with him. It'll probably be soon."

I didn't get to say anything before she parked the car a little ways away from the front doors. My eyes were on them just as they opened and Damon stepped out. My heart skipped a beat when his eyes met mine.

His face was blank, but I could still see that fire in his eyes when he looked at me. His steps were quick until he was standing right outside my door, opening it for me.

"Come on, Persephone, let's get you inside," he said.

No hello? Sure it had only been a few days since I'd seen him, but did he miss me just as much as I missed him? Maybe, maybe not.