Daimon

CHAPTER 4

I QUICKLY TURNED, MY GAZE DARTING OVER THE little yard and beyond. The streets were empty, but the feeling only increased. Unease gnawed at my stomach as I stepped back and reached behind me, wrapping my fingers around the edge of the door.

Nobody was there, but…

“I’m losing my mind,” I muttered. “I’m getting as paranoid as Mom.

Nice.”

I went inside, locking the door behind me. The uncanny feeling slowly eased off as I tiptoed through the silent house. I inhaled and nearly gagged on the spicy aroma filling the living room.

Groaning, I turned on the lamp beside the secondhand, shabby couch and squinted into the corner of the room. Sitting beside our TV and the magazine rack full of US Weekly was Apollo. A fresh wreath of bay laurel wrapped around the marble cast of his head. Of all the things my mom had forgotten to pack the many times we moved, she’d never forgotten him.

I loathed the statue of Apollo and his stinky bay laurel wreath my mom replaced every godsforsaken day of my life. Not because I had anything against Apollo. I guessed he was a pretty cool god since he was all about harmony, order and reason. It was just the gaudiest damn thing I’d ever seen in my life.

It was only the bust of his chest and head, but engraved across his chest were a lyre, a dolphin, and-if that wasn’t enough symbolic overload for the masses—there were a dozen tiny cicadas perched on his shoulder. What the hell did the annoying, buzzing insects that got stuck in people’s hair even stand for? Symbolizing music and song my rosy left butt cheek.

I’d never understood my mom’s fascination with Apollo or with any of the gods for that matter.

They’d been on the absentee list since mortals had decided sacrificing their virgin daughters was a totally uncool practice. I didn’t know a soul who’d ever seen a god. They’d run around and bred a hundred or so demigods and then let them have babies—the pure-bloods—but they never showed up on anyone’s birthday bearing gifts.

Holding my hand over my nose, I walked over to the candle surrounded by more laurel and blew it out. Being a god of prophecy, I wondered if Apollo had foreseen that. Gaudiness aside, what was shown of his marble chest was pretty nice.

Nicer than Matt’s chest.

Which was something I’d never be seeing or touching again. With that in mind, I grabbed the carton of double chocolate fudge ice cream out of the freezer and a large spoon. Not even bothering with a bowl, I climbed the uneven steps.

Soft light spilled out from the gap between my mom’s bedroom door and the floor. Stopping in front of her door, I glanced at my room and then down at the ice cream. I bit my lower lip and debated bursting into her room. She probably already knew I’d snuck out earlier and if she didn’t, the sand covering half my body would give it away. But I hated the fact that my mom was home alone on a Friday night. Again.

“Lexie?” The soft and sweet voice called from behind the door.

“What are you doing?”

I nudged open the door and peeked inside. She sat at the head of the bed, reading one of those smutty romance novels with half-naked guys on the cover. I totally stole them when she wasn’t looking.

Beside her on the small bedside table was a pot of hibiscus flowers. They were her favorite. The purple petals were beautiful, but the only scent came from the vanilla oil she loved to sprinkle over the petals.

She looked up, a slight smile on her face. “Hi, honey. Welcome home.”

I held up my carton of ice cream, cringing. “At least I’m home before midnight.”

“Is that supposed to make it okay?” She pinned me with a look, her emerald eyes glittering in the dim light.

“No?”

My mom sighed, setting her novel down. “I know you want to go out and be with your friends, especially since you started seeing that boy. What’s his name? Mike?”

“Matt.” My shoulders slumped and I eyed the ice cream eagerly.

“His name is Matt.”

“Matt. That’s right.” She gave me a brief smile. “He’s a really nice boy, and I understand you want to be with him, but I don’t want you running around Miami at night, Lexie. It’s not safe.”

“I know.”

“I’ve never had to… what do they call it? When privileges are suspended?”

“Grounding.” I tried not to smile. “They call it grounding.”

“Ah, yes. I’ve never had to ‘ground’ you, Lexie. I really don’t want to start now.” She brushed back the thick, wavy brown hair from her face as her gaze drifted over me. “Why in the name of the gods are you covered in sand?”

I inched inside her room. “It’s a long story.”

If she suspected I’d rolled around in the sand with the boy whose name she kept forgetting and then kung foo’d my way through two other guys, she didn’t let on. “Want to talk about it?”

I shrugged.

She patted the bed. “Come on, baby.”

Feeling a bit dejected, I sat and tucked my legs under me. “I’m sorry about sneaking out.”

Her bright gaze dropped to the ice cream. “I believe you may be wishing you’d stayed home?”

“Yeah.” I sighed, cracking open the lid and digging in. Around a mouthful of ice cream, I said, “Matt and I are no more.”

“I thought his name was Mitch?”

I rolled my eyes. “No, Mom, his name is Matt.”

“What happened?”

Looking at her was like staring in the mirror, except I was more like a mundane version of her. Her cheekbones were sharper, her nose a little smaller, and her lips more lush than mine. And she had those amazing green eyes. It was the mortal blood in me that watered down my appearance. I’m sure my dad must’ve been hotness to have caught my mom’s married eye, but he had been very human.

Hooking up with humans wasn’t prohibited by any means, mainly because the children-half-bloods like me—were extremely valuable assets to the pures. Well, I couldn’t be included as an asset any longer.

Now I was just… I didn’t know what I was anymore.

“Lexie?” She leaned forward, snatching the spoon and carton from my hands. “I’ll eat and you tell me what the idiot boy did.”

I smiled. “It’s all my fault.”

She swallowed a mammoth chunk of ice cream. “As your mother I am obligated to disagree.”

“Oh, no.” I flopped on my back and stared up at the ceiling fan.

“You’re going to change your mind on that one.”

“Let me be the judge of that.”

I scrubbed my hands over my face. “Well, I kind of… got into a fight with two guys on the beach.”

“What?” I felt the bed shift as she straightened. “What did they do?

Did they try to hurt you? Did they… touch you inappropriately?”

“Oh! Gods no, Mom, come on.” I dropped my hands, frowning at her. “It wasn’t like that. Not really.”

Thick strands of hair blew back from her face. Simultaneously all the curtains in the room lifted, reaching toward the bed. The book beside her flew off the bed and landed somewhere on the floor.

“What happened, Alexandria?”

I sighed. “Nothing like that, Mom. Okay? Calm down before you blow us out of our own home.”

She stared at me a few moments, and then the winds died down.

“Show-off,” I muttered. Pure-bloods like my mom could command one of the elements, a gift the gods had bestowed upon the Hematoi.

Mom had a thing for the element of air, but she wasn’t very good at controlling it. Once she blew over a neighbor’s car—try explaining that to the insurance company. “These guys started messing with Matt and one of them grabbed at me.”

“Then what happened?” Her voice sounded calm.

I prepared myself. “Well, they kind of needed to help each other off the ground.”

My mom didn’t immediately respond to that. I dared a quick look at her and found her expression relatively blank. “How bad?”

“They’re fine.” I smoothed my hands down the front of my dress.

“I didn’t even hit them. Well, I kicked one of them. But he called me a bitch, so I think he deserved it.

Anyway, Matt said I overreacted and he wasn’t into violence. He looked at me like I was a freak.”

“Lexie…”

“I know.” I sat up and rubbed the back of my neck. “I did overreact.

I could’ve just walked away or whatever. Now Matt doesn’t want to see me anymore and all the kids are going to think I’m some kind of… I don’t know, weirdo.”

“You’re not a weirdo, baby.”

I gave her a droll look. “There’s a statue of Apollo in our living room. And come on, I’m not even the same species as them.”

“You’re not a different species.” She dropped the spoon in the carton.

“You’re more like the mortals than you realize.”

“I don’t know about that.” I crossed my arms, scowling. After a few seconds, I glanced at her. “Aren’t you going to yell at me or something?”

She arched a brow and seemed to consider it. “I think you’ve learned that action is not always the best response, and the boy called you such an ugly name…”

A slow grin pulled at my lips. “They were total douchebags. I swear.”

“Lexie!”

“What?” I giggled at her expression. “They are. And douchebag isn’t a cuss word.”

She shook her head. “I don’t even want to know what it is, but it sounds revolting.”

I giggled again, but sobered up when Matt’s horrified face flashed before me. “You should have seen the way Matt looked at me afterward.

It was like he was afraid of me. So stupid. You know? Kids like me would have applauded that, but no, Matt had to look at me like I was the antichrist on crack.”

My mom’s brows puckered. “I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”

The painting of a goddess on her wall became a sole focus to me.

Artemis crouched beside a doe, a quiver of silver arrows in one hand and a bow in the other. The eyes were unnerving, painted completely white—no irises or pupils. “No. It was. He thinks I’m a freak.”

She scooted closer, placing a gentle hand on my knee. “I know it’s hard for you to be away from… the Covenant, but you’ll be okay. You’ll see. You have your whole life ahead of you, full of choice and freedom.”

Ignoring that comment and wherever it came from, I took back my ice cream and shook the empty carton. “Boo, Mom, you ate it all.”

“Lexie.” Cupping my cheek, she turned my head so I faced her. “I know it bothers you being away from there. I know you want to go back and I pray to the gods that you can find happiness in this new life. But we can never go back there. You know that, right?”

“I know,” I whispered, even though I really didn’t know why.

“Good.” She pressed her lips to my cheek. “With or without a purpose, you’re a very special girl.

Don’t ever forget that.”

Something burned in the back of my throat. “You’re like totally obligated to say that. You’re my mom.”

She laughed. “That is true.”

“Mom!” I exclaimed. “Wow. Now I’m going to have self-esteem problems.”

“That is one area you are not lacking in.” She sent me a saucy grin as I smacked at her hand. “Now get off my bed and go to sleep. I expect you up bright and early. Your little butt better be out on that balcony, cleaning up that mess. I’m serious.”

I hopped from the bed and shook my butt. “It’s not that little.”

Her eyes rolled. “Good night, Lexie.”

I skipped to the door, glancing over my shoulder at her. She was patting the bed, frowning.

“Your windstorm knocked it on the floor.” I went over and picked the book up, handing it to her.

“G’night!”

“Lexie?”

“Yeah?” I turned back around.

My mom smiled and it was such a beautiful smile, warm and loving.

It lit up her entire face, turning her eyes into jewels. “I love you.”

I smiled. “Love you, too, Mom.”