My Date From Hell (The Blooming Goddess Trilogy, #2)

The Goddess of Love is in the house (Part 1)

Hannah shook me awake at 5AM. We grabbed warm winter coats and slid our feet into boots. She kept the ninja vibe going with her black boots with scary pointed toes and sharp little heels.

My fuzzy black flat boots killed my carefully calculated look, but fashion took a backseat to continued blood flow. Even Festos allowed us to bundle him up and sacrifice some of his precious cool.

No one wanted to be left behind. I had to go, for obvious reasons. Kai was once again welded to me, and Theo refused to let just me and Kai go alone. Hannah wanted to see Pierce, and Festos wanted to stay with Theo. Even if he was ignoring him.

What a bunch of happy campers we were.

We snuck out a side door, then skulked out down the drive, past the small parking lot, and toward the main road. A few Gold Crushers and Infernorators hung silently in the night sky, watching. So long as they stayed on their side of the wards, they could stalk me all they wanted.

I focused on playing it cool with Kai.

On a scale of one to ten, I averaged about a two, since Kai had my hand in his and was stroking his thumb over my palm.

I think I had that photographic memory disease around him because I seemed able to take in every minute detail with a single glance. Now that was a lame power. He'd thrown on a thick deep green sweater, over top of which he sported a worn leather jacket. His hair looked slightly wet, as if he'd come from the shower.

And if you think my mind wasn't running wild with that image, you're nuts.

Kai looped a strand of my hair around his finger and tugged gently.

I untangled it. "Down boy." Strong, modern chicks did not need beautiful boys touching their hair and sending shivers to their toes.

"Pretend I'm fatally ill and nurse me accordingly," he suggested.

"If only." I turned to Theo. "What are we going to do about leaving the wards?"

Theo handed a phone to Festos. "Call her."

"Oh, now he speaks," Festos grumbled as he took the cell and began to dial a number.

"You have a phone?" Hannah asked aghast.

"It's against school rules," I added.

Theo waved us off, unconcerned.

"Who dat?" I asked Festos, curious.

"Aphrodite," Theo said. "His ex."

"Huh?" Hannah asked. "Aren't you gay?"

Festos nodded. "As Paris in the twenties. You bet your sweet patootie I am. But I wasn't always so clear."

Theo choke-laughed.

"We can't all be as perfectly evolved as you, Thesi," Festos shot back. "Aphrodite?" He grinned as he readjusted the phone to his ear. "It's me. Fab, darling. Et vous? Listen, I've got a merry little band of motleys who want to drop in on you."

"We are definitely in funhouse territory," Hannah whispered to me.

"Thesi, Sophie a.k.a. Persephone, Kyrillos, and this lovely human girl, Hannah. Ask Pierce." He paused, then laughed at whatever she said. "Well, I certainly won't repeat that. Thing is, doll, we've got a wee issue with the Photokia and Pyrosim and ... You. Are. A. Sweetheart. See you soon."

He ended the call and tossed the phone to Theo. "Done. We're under her protection now. They won't touch us before we reach her."

"Just like that?" I asked.

"Exactly like that," he replied. He batted his eyelashes at Theo. "Feel free to be impressed."

"You wouldn't know how to handle it," Theo said matter-of-factly.

Festos' mouth fell open. "Well," was all he could manage.

"Is Theo showing an ounce of flirtation?" I muttered to Hannah. "Make it stop."

She changed the subject like a loyal friend. "You must have been quite the boyfriend for Aphrodite to help you out like this," she said to Festos.

Kai laughed. He stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets and since he still held one of mine, it went too. It was weirdly boyfriendy.

But I didn't pull away. Because it was warm. "Why is that funny?" I asked.

"You think I'm a dog?" Kai asked.

"You're just jealous of my superior charm, as always," Festos replied.

"The reason Aphrodite adores him is that he single handedly upped her love quotient by a third when he first came out," Theo explained, glancing up from his phone to frown at Festos.

Festos beamed at him. "I'm touched. I thought you hadn't noticed."

"Well, I was busy having my liver eaten."

"Oh, that old chestnut," Festos said.

Theo's gaze hardened and he returned his focus to the phone.

Hannah squeezed Festos' hand. He shot her a sad smile.

We stopped to wait at the end of the drive.

Theo resumed playing some game on his phone, with Festos trying to watch over his shoulder.

Hannah had a thoughtful look on her face. Her hands were shoved in the pockets of her black wool coat and she clearly wondered about something. "How? The love quotient."

"Aphrodite's powers are tied to love," Kai explained. "The more love in the world, the better she feels. The stronger she is. And Festos' previously untapped manlove was a rush."

They bumped fists.

"Really?" I asked. "That's where you two bond?"

"What can I say," Festos added bashfully, "I simply love boys."

"That's not love. That's lust," I accused.

"It's love," Festos said. "I have the scars on my heart to prove it."

"Just like McDonald's," Theo said. "Billions served."

"Then you don't deserve Theo," I told Festos.

Theo stuffed his phone in his coat pocket. "What she said." But he glanced over at Festos with a look I couldn't quite decipher.

"Did you check on that detail I asked you about?" Kai asked Theo.

Theo nodded. "You were right." He turned to me. "Somehow, those bracelets we used to get into the Underworld had trackers on them. That's how Hades knew we were there. I bet if you hadn't asked for the pomegranate seeds, he'd have found a way to bring them out anyway."

I had told Theo at the time that sneaking into the Underworld to retrieve my sapphire pendant had been a very bad idea. I conceded that the pendant had been important to retrieve, especially given its tree-jumping awesomeness, but we'd also been framed for poisoning Hades on that trip.

I really couldn't wait for the day when my biggest concern was ... I ran through my options ... my everyday teen life. That was a pretty good big concern. Yet still smaller than death, world endangerment, Bethany power, and Kai one-upmanship.

I punched Theo's shoulder. "Told you those bracelets were crackpot!"

Festos punched me back. "Punchbuggy, don't hit Thesi. No punchbacks," but he shot a glance at Kai to see if he'd go into an arrow rage.

I dimly registered that Kai tightened his hold on my hand but left Festos intact. What was way more fascinating was the flicker of concern in Theo's eyes when I punched Festos back.

A sparkly pink limo pulled up alongside us. Silently the back doors swung open.