Chapter 22

Chapter

Twenty-Two

P ersephone

Hades was right when he said I like the heat. Even though the sun beats down on me, and I'm unbearably hot, I can't quite get enough of the bone-deep warmth that spills from the sun in the sky. When everyone else is hiding from the heat, I'm soaking it up.

I know better, I really do. Beth has called me in from the heat to hide under the big tents they've erected to protect us all from the rays. In the first weeks, I'd been happy to spend time under the shade of the tent—but now not so much.

I can't explain it, this deep hunger that swells like an ache inside me to sit out under the golden rays. I'm fair of skin with hair more white than blonde. I should fear the sun, the burns and cancer Mom warns of.

Yet I hunger for it. For the warmth.

I never noticed back home, covered in sunscreen and concealed under hats, how deeply the hunger for the warmth inside me ran. It's a balm for my soul. Nourishment I didn't know I needed.

Stripped of my mother's constant nagging to apply another coat of sunscreen, my father's warning to put my hat back on my head, I'm free to feel the world around me for me .

Shrugging the light shirt from my shoulders, I let the sun kiss my pale skin as I take a seat on a big stretch of warm stone. I stretch out my legs and pull my hair from the high ponytail, letting the strands fall to tickle the sweat-dewy skin left exposed by my tank top.

My head is tipped back, my face free of sunscreen to bask in the rays of liquid gold that pours from the sky when I hear a rustle of movement beside me. I nearly groan, thinking it's Addison come to flirt again like he has all morning, when I spot Minthe.

She's settled in beside me in much the same way I am. Legs stretched out; hands planted on the warm stone behind her so that she can lean back to catch the rays. As though we don't get pelted by the sun all day long, every day.

Like me, she's wearing shorts. Unlike me, deep green ink stretches up in a twist of vines from her feet, over her calves, to fade into the flesh of her thighs. Minthe is exotic and gorgeous in a way I can't ever hope to be. Her glossy, soil-colored hair is cut short, the sharp line of her bob just reaching her shoulders.

"Do you ever get enough of the sun?" She gives me a sideways look with shocking green eyes that spear me like thorns.

"Do you?"

Instead of answering, she throws her gaze to the white tent. I follow her gaze to where Addison sits, watching us. "The guy's soaked through his clothes, but he's still debating coming out here to flirt with you." She laughs, a chimelike sound with just a hint of tension. "Well, he was until I came over."

I've noticed that although Minthe likes most people, and is extremely friendly, she's a little less so around Addison.

I cast my gaze out over the land, a flicker of something warm spreading in my chest. It's the same something warm that I feel whenever I look out over this ancient earth. I feel, oddly, like my soul knows this place.

It's silly.

I'm crazy.

I sigh. "Addison likes to flirt. He's harmless."

"Is he?"

When I shoot a frown at Minthe, I find she's tipped her head back and closed her sharp green eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I think he has feelings for you." Her eyes are still closed. "Feelings are never harmless."

"I don't understand."

Minthe's chimelike laugh sounds again, this time with a hint of huskiness. She lifts her hand to run it through her hair and I'm slammed with a scent of mint so strong, and so familiar, I'm speechless. Memories that aren't mine assault me. Soft lips on mine, the taste of mint on my tongue. The touch of…

I stand abruptly as Minthe's eyes flutter open, her lips spreading into a smile that feels oddly knowing. "Is something wrong, Persephone?"

"Annie," I gasp. I can't seem to catch my breath. Or explain the sudden attraction I feel toward this woman—when I've never felt attraction to a woman before.

What in the world is happening to me?

Minthe stands, lifting a bottle of water to her lips. Through the sweat that clings to the cold bottle, I watch mint leaves dance in the water. Minthe smiles. "That's not your name."

"It's the name everyone calls me."

"Not everyone." She eyes me coyly, grinning the same.

I frown. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, come on now. I know you're working for Hades Pluton."

"Everyone knows that." What is she getting at?

"Breathe, Persephone. My girlfriend works for Hades. I do, too, actually. As a waitress." She winks at me.

"Who is your girlfriend?" Even as I ask, I already suspect I know.

"Leuce."

Yep, I knew.

"I've met her," I admit. "She's intimidatingly gorgeous."

"She is." She sucks her bottom lip into her mouth, releasing it slowly. Another throb of unexpected attraction slams inside me, and I frown.

It's not my attraction, or at least I don't think it is. It feels distant, somehow. Impersonal.

And yet…

I'm confused. I don't know what this means?

Am I attracted to women?

I give my head a firm shake. "You said you know Hades?"

"Oh, yes. I do."

I frown. I feel as though I've stepped into some warped version of the Twilight Zone. "It's bizarre, isn't it?"

Minthe tips her head to the side. "What?"

"All of us meeting like this. Finding each other."

A slow smile spreads, but her brow knits. "What do you mean?"

"Our names. Minthe, Leuce, Hades, and Persephone. Isn't that a weird coincidence?"

She shrugs. "I suppose. Or maybe it just means we're supposed to know each other."

"Maybe." I hear myself agree, but I'm not sure. It feels like more, my connection to these people who share ancient names in this modern time.

And that's when I really know I'm losing the plot. Because I think we have any ties to the ancient, mythical beings who lived in a time well before my own.

Argh, maybe I should be sitting out of the sun like the rest of my team. There's a good chance Dad was right, and I've cooked my brain without my hat.

Oh well, I was already on board the crazy train. What's a little sun thrown onto the raging fire of insanity that is me?

"Hey," Minthe calls my attention back to her. "Me and a few friends are planning on going out this weekend. You should join us."

"I don't—" I start to tell her that I don't club, but something has the words dying on my tongue. "You know what? I'd love to."

Minthe's lips spread into a cat-like grin. It's sly. If I knew her better, I'd suspect she had something up her sleeve. But since I don't know her, I allow myself to suspect nothing.

All I can think is that I want to know her. I need to know her.

It's the same need I feel to know Hades.