The Forest Gods' Reign [Published]

Chapter 26: Fire Away

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alec and I bounded up the porch steps together and threw open the screen door, racing inside my house without a second thought. We passed by the living room and quickly turned the sharp corner into the kitchen, but in complete shock, our jaws immediately dropped to the floor. Oops, I thought helplessly as I gulped and exchanged horrified glances with the wide-eyed Alec. At that moment, I would've rather come face to face with an undead warrior or five.

"Well, aren't you going to say hello?" my father asked gruffly in English, curiously raising his bushy eyebrows at Alec and I. Alec still had a white bandage loosely wrapped around his left forearm from two nights earlier (not to mention the various other scars we shared), so we probably looked pretty suspicious. Therefore, my father took his time studying Alec very closely with his brown eyes as he took a long sip of beer from the near-empty bottle. That's right, if you thought lemonade in the morning was weird, try beer - no, wait, forget what I just said. Whatever you do, don't try beer.

"Oh, hi, Dad. I didn't expect to see you here. We're just, um, going to go now..." I started backing up out of the room slowly, but Alec was frozen in place, still staring blankly at the beer bottle in my father's hand. I forcefully elbowed him in the gut, and Alec mumbled some profanities under his breath before following my lead, turning around to race out the front door just as quickly as we had come in.

"Wait," my father ordered firmly, raising his voice. I sighed, exchanging worried glances with Alec as we reluctantly backed up into the kitchen again. "Ashley, do you want to tell me who this is?" With his free hand, he gestured to Alec, who then looked over to me, unsure of what to do next.

"No, not particularly," I responded truthfully and defiantly, crossing my arms over my chest as my dad sighed, and Alec hid a smirk. "So, where's your car? It wasn't in the driveway," I changed the subject suddenly, wondering what he was still doing at the house.

"My car is in the shop," he answered blandly, running his fingers through his thinning, light brown hair. "Now, let's try this again. Tell me who this boy is, or you're grounded for the rest of summer."

Well, that gave me absolutely no choice at all. "This is Alec," I started slowly, and my father looked at me expectantly, patiently waiting for further explanation. I had never brought anyone home with me besides the members of the Monster Watch and occasionally one of the goddesses, so I had never been questioned by my father for anything like this.

Meanwhile, I exchanged worried glances with Alec yet again. He knew as well as I did that we couldn't tell my father the lie about him being Josh's cousin, because like any polite parent, my dad would mention it to Josh's parents the next time he saw them in passing, and then I would be in a load of trouble. Plus, my dad worked in the neighboring town and probably knew almost everyone, so I couldn't exactly say that Alec lived there either; my father would see straight through that lie.

Gulping, I glanced over at Alec, and his blue eyes locked with my gray ones as a single thought passed between us. Alec raised one eyebrow in a silent question, and I nodded, squeezing my eyes shut as I prepared myself for my father's reaction to what was coming. I knew my father was smart enough not to tell my mother about Alec, but that didn't mean his reaction would be any less erratic. The fact that he was drinking at the moment had the possibility of making his response even worse.

Nevertheless, Alec knew what he had to do: "I live in the forest, sir."

To my surprise, my father didn't scream, didn't yell, didn't even look confused. He simply raised his eyebrows and carefully set the beer bottle back on the counter. "In the forest?" my father clarified, his voice gruff yet strangely quiet, and his brow was furrowed. Alec and I nodded simultaneously, waiting to see what my father would say next. "For how long?"