“I—” He closes his mouth and shakes his head. “I can’t convince you to make the right choice. You and your sisters will have to realize it for yourselves. I have enough faith in fate that you will.”
I want to roll my eyes at the idea that fate will have anything to do with our decision, but his eyes are so direct and sincere that I can’t make light of his conviction.
“So if we decide to break the seal, how do we do it?” I ask. “How do we reopen the door?”
Despite Nick’s belief, I’m not certain that’s what we should do. The world is a very different place from what it was thousands of years ago before the door was sealed. It might not be able to handle the reintegration of monsters into daily life.
My sisters and I might not be able to take up the guardianship the way our ancient ancestors did.
But I need to stay open to all possibilities. I have to understand as much about what’s going on as possible. If the opposing sides are those who want the door opened and those who want it sealed permanently, I should understand what each entails. Even if the solution is none of the above.
“No idea,” Nick says. “The ritual prophecy only stated that the door would be reopened. I doubt the gods wanted it to be easy. No one even knows where the door is anymore. It’s been a very long time.”
“No one? Great,” I say, spearing another bite of kimchee. “How are we supposed to find out?”
Nick shrugs, and I want to toss my root beer at him. How can he be so casual about this, when my life, my sisters’ lives, maybe a whole lot of human lives, are at stake? Especially when he was so serious moments ago. The boy drives me nuts.
“Other than the gods who participated in the sealing ritual,” he says, “only the Gorgons ever saw the door. Only they might know its location.”
“Then how do we find the Gorgons?” I ask back. “I just saw Sthenno taken into the abyss. You said Ursula might have been taken there too. How can I get in to go after them?”
“Oh no, no, no,” he says, dropping his chopsticks on the table with a clatter. “That is a bad idea. You have no idea what the abyss is like.”
His face pales and he looks terrified. Before I can stop myself, I reach across the table and lay my hand over his. He looks down, startled. And then puts his other hand over mine.
I’m startled too. I’m not used to being comforting. I’m more of a smack-you-on-the-back-and-get-back-in-the-game kind of girl. It’s a weird sensation, and I have to fight the urge to yank my hand away.
But as much as thoughts of the abyss obviously pain him, that doesn’t change some serious facts. I can’t just let this go.
“I don’t have a choice,” I explain. “Sthenno is in there. Ursula might be too.” I shake my head. “We need them.”
He doesn’t meet my gaze as he says, “I know.”
“I have to go after them.” I tug at our entwined hands, drawing his eyes to mine. “How do I get in?”
His head swings slowly from side to side. “I don’t know.” He slowly withdraws his hands from mine. “But we both know someone who does.”
Before I can respond, the waitress arrives with our entrees. She sets the delicious-smelling plates in front of us.
When she disappears again, I ask, “Who?”
“The same woman who told you about your legacy.”
“The oracle,” I say. “Wait, how did you know she—”
“Everyone knows,” he answers before I can ask my question. “That’s what got this whole war brewing in the first place. I’ll meet you at your car tomorrow after school, and we can go talk with her.”
The oracle. She’s at the center of a lot of what’s going on in my life. If anyone has answers—though probably cryptic ones—she does. Besides, it’s the only idea we’ve got.
As I spear a pajeon pancake with my fork, I ask, “Will you be there?” I feel like an idiot and I think my cheeks are burning. “In school, I mean. In class.”
He actually laughs. “Do you want me to be?”
I shrug, as if it doesn’t matter.
“It was only a cover,” he says. “An excuse to be near you without raising your suspicions.”
I glance at him. “Oh, you raised my suspicions anyway.”
He lifts his eyebrows in a silent question.
“Well, besides the fact that you’re immune to my hypno powers,” I find myself confessing. “You never could seem to take the hint that I wanted you to back off.”
“Did you?” he asks.
“What?”
“Want me to back off?”
I hate that I hesitate before saying, “Of course.”
“Uh-huh.”
We eat silently. I have to force myself to stop stealing glances at him. This is such a strange situation. Me, eating dinner with a boy who is more than just a boy, a boy who knows my secret. He knows exactly who and what I am and he’s not running for the nearest exit.
I wish I knew more about him. He’s a descendant of a goddess. He says he was sent to protect me and help me and my sisters succeed. I feel like I’m missing something. Heck, I feel like I’m missing a lot of things.
He shifts on his bench, and his foot brushes mine. Startled, I look up and see a sultry smirk. He knows exactly what effect he has on me. He’s teasing me. Flirting maybe.
I don’t know how to flirt back, but he doesn’t seem to mind. He flirts enough for both of us.