The Old Jackson Twins Book 2

Chapter Five

I'm sorry this took forever..................

"James Bond!"

Jordan flipped over his last deck of cards, and Connor sat back with a sigh. Jordan was way too good at this game. Unfortunately, he knew it, and was always pestering Connor to play, especially when he wanted to sleep. He glanced at his bed longingly as Jordan reshuffled the cards.

Knock knock.

Two weak taps echoed through the little dorm room. Connor shot to his feet. A surprise visitor, as weak as that... there was a wounded half-blood at his door. That was the only explanation. He opened the door to see the last person he expected to see.

"Lost... can't find her... didn't know where else to go," Aria mumbled weakly, then collapsed forward. He caught her and carried her to his bed, ignoring Jordan's questions, and rummaged through his school bag for some ambrosia or nectar. She was in bad shape, with leaves and branches in her hair, which she'd dyed blue since he'd last seen her, a torn backpack, and scratches all over her face, arms, and legs. Other than a nasty gash just below her SPQR tattoo, she didn't seem too badly wounded. Once he'd cleaned up the gash and given her a little nectar, she opened her eyes and recovered enough to speak.

"We- we were attacked," she started, then broke off into a coughing fit. He filled a glass at the sink and brought it to her. While she drank, Jordan's sputtering started forming words.

"Who the hell is this?" he demanded.

"A friend of mine," he said vaguely. "Aria, what are you doing alone in Florida?"

"Good question," she muttered. "I'm supposed to be in Vermont." She paused. "Or was it New Hampshire? Either way, I'm supposed to be in New England."

"What the hell do you mean, you're supposed to be in New England?" Jordan shrieked.

She glared at him. "If you'd let me explain, Captain Asshole-"

"Aria, focus," Connor ordered. "We've got to get you back to Reyna, right?"

Aria's eyes filled with tears. "I don't even know if she's still alive," she admitted. "We were attacked by four anemoi thuellai. We did our best, but without a kid from Cabin One... one of them swept me away and I woke up here. I only just barely made it here." She explained how the Avengers had been after them, how they were going to go to California, and how they'd already found Percy. "And I'm lost, without my dogs or my girlfriend, I've got no way to find them, no way to know if they're even alive, and-"

"Hey," he soothed, cutting her off. "We'll find them. Don't worry. Right now, you need rest. When was the last time you ate?"

She hesitated. "I- I'm not sure."

"Jordan, can you grab a protein bar from under my bed?"

Jordan, who'd sat quietly through Aria's story, silently grabbed a protein bar, handed it to her, and then looked at Connor in a way that said explain or I'll kill you.

He sighed. "Aria, we'll be right back, okay? At least try to eat."

She nodded, absently unwrapping the bar. He beckoned for Jordan to follow him downstairs, to one of the academic buildings, which were abandoned at eleven o'clock at night. "So-"

"WHAT THE FUCK, STOLL? WHO THE FUCK IS SHE? WHAT THE FUCK DID SHE MEAN, SHE WAS ATTACKED BY- BY- BY THOSE THINGS? WHAT THE FUCK DID SHE MEAN, A GUST OF WIND BLEW HER FROM NEW ENGLAND DOWN HERE? WHAT THE FUCK DID SHE MEAN BY THE AVENGERS GOING AFTER HER?" He paused to take a breath, and Connor took the opportunity to attempt to explain.

"Aria and I... we're half-bloods," he confessed. "One of our parents was a god, the other a mortal. Her father is Poseidon, mine is Hermes. We live double lives, basically. We're attacked by mythological monsters all the time. That's why I sometimes come back winded and covered in green-yellow dust. Aria and her girlfriend, Reyna, daughter of the Roman goddess Bellona, travel all over the country fighting monsters and saving half-bloods, kind of like the Winchesters from Supernatural. Her twin brother, Percy, goes to a demigod college in New Rome, California, which is a demigod city. And she explained the rest."