Prophecy of the Setting Sunrise (Oracle of Delphi #2), page 6
Smurfey, who'd lost the baseball cap that had been hiding her face in the fight, kicked at her hand and got up on her own. She snatched her hat out of Swindle's fingers as he held it out to her, shoved it down on her brunette head, jabbed a finger in Chloe's direction and shouted,
"You tried to kill me!"
Chloe's mouth dropped open. "Are you serious? You jumped me!"
"If that boy hadn't stopped you, you were going to slit my throat!"
"What?! No, I wasn't! And speaking of, why didn't you jump in sooner, Ace? You knew it was Smurfey!"
The demigod grinned, handing her a bag of herbs for the bruises that were sure enough forming all over her face. She snatched it from him. "Why would I break up a perfectly good cat fight when the odds were so evenly matched?"
"Why does a fight between females always have to be a cat fight? Why can't it just be a fight, without the sexist connotation?"
Ace blinked. "I have no idea wha' you're blabberin' on abou', wan."
"Never mind," she sighed, willing Lawless back into a ring and sliding it on her finger. By the time she realized she'd done something really stupid, it was too late.
"Did I just see what I thought I saw?" Smurfey choked out, pointing at her ring.
"No," Chloe replied, cursing herself and pressing the bag of herbs to her face.
"Yes, I did!"
She groaned and closed her eyes. "Smurfey, please just drop it."
"Not on your life."
"I hate to interrupt," Swindle said, checking his new watch, one he'd probably stolen from right under some security camera's watchful eye, "but we don't have time for this."
"He's right," Ace said. "We should get movin'."
She nodded, moving the bag from her jaw to her eye. "Okay."
"Who are you?" Smurfey snapped.
Ace grinned and held out his hand. "I'm Ace and tha's Lenka. Nice to finally meet you." He held out another bag of herbs.
Smurfey ignored his extended hand and rolled her eyes at Swindle's peace sign. "How do you know who I am?"
"Chloe told us all abou' you, o'course." That wasn't exactly true, but that was irrelevant. "Accordin' to her, you're her best friend in the world."
Smurfey snorted. "Friend? Chloe doesn't know the meaning of the word."
"We're wasting time..." Swindle said, pointing at his watch.
"Look, Smurfey," Chloe said, "I can't do this right now. We have somewhere we need to be."
Smurfey crossed her arms. "You're not going anywhere without me ever again."
"You can't come with us—"
"Sure she can," Ace said, throwing an arm around Chloe's shoulders. "Any friend of yours is a friend of ours."
Smurfey frowned at their embrace. "Who are you, her boyfriend or something?"
"No, tha' title belongs to my brother."
"What?" Smurfey glared at Chloe.
"Thanks, Ace," Chloe grumbled.
"Who is this boyfriend?"
"You'll meet him," Ace said. "We're headed down to the precinct now to bust him out of jail."
"What?!"
"Now she has to come with us," Swindle said, looking annoyed.
"Have you lost your mind, Ace?" Chloe snapped, pushing him away. "Strafford is gonna be so pissed off."
"Isn' he always pissed off? Besides, you already blew it with the dagger, wan. We're never gettin' rid of her now."
"I'll be in the car, jukkas." Swindle slammed the driver's side door after climbing in.
Chloe sighed. "Fine, you can come with us, but only to the station. Then I want you to go home."
Smurfey glared. "Maybe."
Chloe glared back, but didn't dignify her friend's defiance with a response. "We're not coming back to the house, Ace."
"Read my mind, wan. Go pack a few things then, so we can bolt. The few things we brought are already in the car."
"Okay. I'll be right back then." She turned away from them.
Now that her mother was on her way to safety and she was on her way to being reunited with Strafford, Chloe wondered what the next move was going to be. Surely Strafford had devised a plan that extended past his jailbreak. Well, she hoped so anyway. She was beyond ready to start the search for her brother...and that definitely-gonna-be-dead-soon demigoddess, Poppy.
She ran into her house, threw a few digs into a backpack, stuffed the symbol sketch into her back pocket, hesitated, then dug her journal of symbols out of her drawer. She rolled up the spiral notebook and shoved it into her left ankle boot, covering it with her jeans. She told her only true home goodbye, and then she went out to meet the demigods and Smurfey by the Range Rover.
She had contemplated leaving a note for Lockhart too, but quickly decided against it. What could she say? She couldn't tell the truth and more lies would only make things worse, possibly for her mother, too. The best thing she could do was just disappear with no word at all and wait for their faces to appear on America's Most Wanted.
As soon as they were piled into the truck and Chloe had sent her house another silent goodbye, Smurfey started up again.
"So are you gonna tell me where you've been all this time, or do I have to beat it out of you?"
She had yet to accept the herb bag Ace kept offering her and her face was only getting more swollen by the minute. Maybe if she had known that Ace was the son of a healer god and that he could heal her injuries pretty darn quick, she might've been more inclined to accept his remedy.
"I had to leave to keep my family safe and that's all you need to know."
"I've spent the last four months being completely miserable because I thought some psychopath had cut you up and ate you, so don't tell me that's all I need to know!"
Chloe cringed, feeling like the worst person in the world. "I'm sorry. I really am. It's just not something I can talk about."
"And to believe I actually thought we were friends."
"We are! Hell, you're my only friend."
"Ey! Wha' are we, the Keebler elves?" Ace asked, gesturing at himself and Swindle, who chuckled.
"That was my first guess. Who are you again?" Smurfey asked him, looking irritated.
"To be truthful, you don't really wanna know." Smurfey looked at Chloe to confirm this and she shook her head.
"Are you guys really busting some dude out of jail?"
"Yeah," Chloe replied. "His name is Strafford."
"Your secret boyfriend."
"He's definitely not a secret now, but yes."
"Is that who you ran off with?"
"Kind of."
"Kind of? What does that mean? Either you did or you didn't."
"I didn't." I actually don't remember. I was in a koma. "Look, for the last time, it's complicated."
"For the last time, I don't care! If you still want me as a friend at the end of this, you'd better tell me something!"
Chloe pressed her lips together and looked out the window.
"Well?"
"I'm thinking."
"About what?"
"Whether I want you as a friend at the end of this." She looked over at Smurfey.
There was a pause, then they both burst out laughing.
"I missed you, Double-C," Smurfey said between chuckles. "I'm glad some psychopath didn't cut you up and eat you."
"Me, too."
They didn't hug or anything. That just wasn't their style.
After a bit of silence, Smurfey said, "Did you notice that the cops and reporters sitting outside of your house were all asleep?"
"Yes."
"You gonna explain that?"
"Not in this century."
"Why did your mom leave?"
"Because Adel isn't safe for her anymore."
Smurfey nodded. "You gonna explain that?"
"Nope."
"What about that magic trick you did with the dagger?"
"Never."
There was a long silence.
"I'm sorry about your brother."
Chloe's chest tightened up as she forced herself not to break down and drown herself in a sea of tears and snot. She resumed looking out at the passing scenery of the town she called home, which was a bunch of trees, a few houses and shops, and not much else.
"So I'm assuming you're leaving to go find him?"
Chloe nodded. "How did you know?"
"It's what I would do. And, I know how much you love Benjy."
She couldn't say anything after that. Her throat was too thick with emotion.
"Besides," Smurfey continued, "everyone knows cops are idiots. You can't leave it up to them to find him."
"My thoughts exactly," Ace said.
"And Chloe's crazy, and only a loon like her would attempt something like this."
Chloe had to smile. Smurfey knew her so well.
"Do you guys have any idea where he might be?"
"Only a couple of clues," Chloe said, not wanting to reveal anything more than she needed to. "But we're pretty much winging it."
"Maybe you should ask those guys that were camping out in your trees every night." Smurfey lived in her neighborhood, so it wasn't surprising that she'd been watching Chloe's house. Nobody responded, which was as incriminating as if they had.
"No explanation for that either, huh?"
"Not on your life, wan," Ace said as they pulled into the well-lit police station parking lot.
Chloe leaned forward to peek around Ace's seat. "Why does it seem like nobody's here? There's not a single police car in the lot."
"Who knows," Swindle replied. "I'm pretty sure they can't all be out on patrol." He pulled the truck into a space at the very back of the lot and killed the engine and lights.
They sat quietly for several minutes, waiting for something to happen. Then, the front doors of the police station opened and Strafford walked out, uncuffed and unharmed, looking like he'd spent the day at the beach rather than behind bars.
"It's him!" she exclaimed and was out of the truck and running toward him before she'd even finished her statement.
She raced across the parking lot and leapt right into his waiting arms. "I missed you!" And gods, he smelled good.
Strafford let her kiss him as much as she wanted before flashing one of his gorgeous smiles and replying, "I've only been gone a few—" He frowned. "Wha' happened to your bloody face?"
The herbs obviously hadn't kicked in all the way yet. "Smurfey happened to my face."
"Smurfey?"
She pointed and when he saw her friend climb out of the truck looking just as roughed up, he smiled. "Ah. Cat fight."
"You and Ace are sexist pigs."
"Don't you mean sexy pigs..."
She pinched him and he laughed, rubbing his arm.
"Are you mad Smurfey's here?"
He shook his head. "No. If she's anythin' like you, I know tha' leavin' her behind was not an option. Besides, it's better if she's with us then runnin' around tellin' everyone our business. Lockhart is already gonna be pissed when he finds us all gone in the mornin'. No need to fuel tha' fire."
"My mom said she'd handle Lockhart. I told her we'd find Benjy, no matter what. I think it made her feel better."
"You're a great daughter then."
"She's a better mother."
"No doubt." He smiled down at her and she tilted her head up for a kiss, which he seemed very anxious to give her.
"You two are gettin' to be brutally nauseatin'," Ace commented as he and Swindle approached. Smurfey was with them, but looked as though she wasn't quite sure she should be. She was giving Strafford a strange look, but Chloe couldn't tell if she was sizing him up or admiring him.
Strafford smiled at her. "Why'd you rough me girl up, Smurfey?" he teased.
"She didn't...rough me up!"
"Does everyone know who I am around here?" Smurfey grunted.
"I already told you, yes," Ace said. "Chloe told us all abou' —oh, hey, Mystic. Wha's doing?"
Chloe's eyes widened as the bubbly, silver-haired Mystic Mayhem appeared, having just emerged from the station wearing a silver tutu, green tights, and a green and white stadium jacket.
"Hello, Ace!" she replied, her voice cheerful and sweet. "And Swindle, and of course my precious Chloe. How are you all?" She looked at Smurfey. "I don't know this cute creature, but I want to."
"Did this fairy princess just call me a creature?" Smurfey snapped, seeming to find herself again for just a moment. She looked at Swindle. "And I thought your name was Lincoln or something?"
"It's Lenka," the demigod replied, "and Swindle is a nickname. Kind of like Smurfey."
"So, this is Smurfey!" Mystic exclaimed. "Delightful!"
Chloe ignored her friend's questioning glance and let Mystic hug her and kiss her cheek. "What are you doing here?" She almost added "on Earth," but caught herself in time.
"Oh, breaking the Prince out of his prison, of course. As instructed in the Hermes note informing us about your sibling. I am very sorry, my Chloe."
"The Prince?" Smurfey said. "Hermes note?"
Chloe kept right on ignoring her. "Thanks, but I thought we were supposed to be breaking Strafford out."
Strafford rolled his eyes. "Is tha' wha' this wanker told you?"
She glared at Ace, who didn't even bother hiding his smile. "Yes."
Ace held out his hands. "Come on, tell me you weren' completely psyched at the prospect of doing somethin' tha' crazy? I'll have you know tha' it was her idea to break you out first, bro."
"Ooh. You're such a bad girl, wan."
She glared at the laughing brothers, then turned to Mystic.
"Are you here alone?" she asked.
"Oh no. My sisters are around here somewhere doing who knows what. I assigned them tasks, but you know how easily distracted they are."
On cue, the white-haired Crystal Chaos came prancing around the corner of the building. She too was sparkled down in funky tights and a tutu.
"Chloe!" she exclaimed, skipping up, hugging her and fluffing her hair. "Still beautiful! I do such good work. But I must give my "special" mist partial credit."
"So you're the one who put all that pretty in Chloe's hair?" Smurfey asked.
"That's me! You like?"
"I liked it the way it was."
"You are the only one, I can assure you."
"Hey!" Chloe exclaimed.
"Did everythin' go well with Ms. Clever?" Strafford asked, all business.
"Yeah," Ace said, "and she said to call her 'Beth.' But tha' was to me. I'm pretty sure she doesn' like you as much as she likes me, so you should probably stick with wha' you know, bro."
Strafford rolled his eyes. "And how are Bishop and Kyudo?"
"Good," Swindle replied. "They were really happy we contacted them, especially Bishop. He hadn't been given a mission in years."
"Not since you, you know...retired," Ace added.
Strafford nodded once, saying nothing about that. "We should get going then. Where are the other girls, Mystic?"
"Here we are, Your Highness!" came the sing-song voices of the green-haired Ava Anarchy and the cherry red Haley Havoc as they burst out of the building, giggling. Bill picked this moment to swoop in from wherever he had been and land on Swindle's shoulder. Welcoming him back, the hero fed him some beef jerky he'd purchased earlier.
"What is going on around here?" Chloe heard Smurfey mutter.
"What's so funny?" she asked the girls.
"Chloe!" Haley said, blowing her a kiss. "Excuse our excitement, but we've been having quite a good time playing with the police radios inside. We are pretty sure that no one on the force has any idea what is going on right now, they are so confused!"
Ava giggled. "Yes, we did as you asked, Mystic, and turned off every camera on the premises, then put in several convincing emergency calls. We then went about misdirecting everyone, even convincing them to take their other prisoners with them. It was great fun!"
"So that's why there are no police cars here," Chloe said and they nodded, still giggling.
"Good work, girls," Strafford said as they curtsied to him. "But we should go before the confusion wears off."
"No one moves until you tell me what's going on!" Smurfey shouted.
Ace snorted. "You gonna stop us? You may have gotten the best of Chloe, but get in my way and you'll wake up in next week."
"Ace!" Mystic scolded, but a hint of a smile played at her lips.
"There's no need for threats, Ace," Chloe said. "Smurfey's going home now, aren't you?"
"I had no plans to."
She glared. "We had a deal."
"I never actually agreed to anything, and since we're making threats, if you don't tell me what's going on, I'll tell the cops everything I've seen here when they come knocking at my door in the morning. Which they will."
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't do that."
"Well, you had better get to talking then, or you won't like the headlines on tomorrow's newspaper." Smurfey started spewing out some other stuff, but Chloe stopped listening. A movement in the back of the parking lot had suddenly drawn her attention away.
She focused in on the shape and realized it was a girl. She had hair that was blacker than the night and skin that was only being made to seem paler underneath the silver moon. She was beautiful, if you considered looking like a made-over corpse beautiful. The girl was holding something in her hand—a long staff with a glowing orb at the end of it. Chloe thought to herself, if this was who she thought it was, they would soon have a much bigger problem than Smurfey on their hands.
"I think I'm hallucinating," she said. She could have been, as her hallucinations were projections of the present. But in the very probable event that this was real, their plans to leave Adel had just been postponed.
"Why?" Strafford asked, immediately alert. "Wha' do you see?"
She pointed. Everyone turned to look.
He cursed. "You're not hallucinatin', wan. Tha's exactly who you think it is." He released her and stepped forward, his skin taking on a bronzed sort of glow.
"It's Varney Bane."
VI. Chloe
They met the Royal daughter of Hades at the center of the parking lot, keeping a good amount of pavement between them. Not that it mattered. The Bane Princess held the Scepter of Hades in her hand and after watching Varney split the Delphic Chateau in half with the thing, Chloe knew none of them could afford to underestimate its power.
