During the day, Solstice was actually a coffee shop, the kind of place that charged way too much for espressos, mochas, and lattes, not to mention the muffins, scones, and pound cakes that went along with them. Every once in a while, I got a whiff of the sugar and spices that had flavored the air earlier in the day, although now, the smells of perfume, beer, and smoke overpowered them.
Tonight, all of the tables had been pushed up against the walls to make room for a dance floor. Somebody had set up some strobe lights, and the music thumped with a low, steady bass beat through the sound system. Daphne had told me that Samson Sorensen's dad owned the whole Powder resort complex and always let the Viking have a party here at the coffee shop during the Winter Carnival- with absolutely no interference from the Mythos professors. Hence the insanely loud music and the row of kegs that squatted on the counter in plain view of the front windows. Not to mention the quick glows of orange-red lights in the crowd as some of the kids sucked down cigarettes or something even stronger and more illegal.
As for Samson, he stood in the middle of the coffee shop, a beer in one hand and his arm around a girl from the New York academy. The Viking accepted backslaps from all the guys for throwing such an awesome party, and the girl by his side looked up at him with adoring eyes. No wonder. With his sandy brown hair, hazel eyes, and dimples, Samson was one of the cutest guys at either school.
It wasn't that late, but more than a few kids were already totally wasted. One guy lay on top of the counter behind the row of kegs, his hand curled around one of them, like it was a stuffed animal he was clutching to his chest. A string of drool oozed out of the side of his open mouth. I could see it, because I was standing at the end of the counter where his head was. I thought he might be snoring, too, but the music was so loud that I couldn't really tell.
'Come on. Let's dance,' Daphne said, grabbing Carson's hand.
He winced. 'You should know by now that I don't dance.'
She flashed him a confident, smirking smile. 'Don't worry, babe. I'll make you look good. I always do.'
Laughing, Carson let Daphne pull him out onto the dance floor. A second later, the two of them were grooving to the blaring music, with Daphne going about it much more smoothly than Carson, who was all flailing arms and jerky feet. If he wasn't careful, the band geek was going to stab someone in the eye with his elbow.
Of course, Daphne and Carson dancing left me standing by myself against the wall, with only Drool Guy for company. I eyed the unconscious kid, who smacked his lips, causing even more spit to trickle out of the side of his mouth. Disgusting.
I shifted away from the edge of the counter and scanned the crowd, just like I'd been doing ever since we'd gotten here an hour ago, but all I saw were drunk guys, dancing girls, and couples sticking their tongues down each other's throats. Nobody looked like she could be a Reaper in disguise, and nobody seemed like he wanted to kill me.
As soon as we'd stepped through the door, I knew that I wouldn't be able to do anything tonight to figure out who was after me. Not that I'd had a real plan to start with, other than to roam around, touch people and their stuff, and see if I got any psycho-killer vibes off anything. There were way too many kids packed into the coffee shop for me to touch every single one of them. Besides, I doubted that I'd see anything tonight through the beer- soaked haze.
I was still scanning the crowd when Logan walked through the door.
He looked as gorgeous as ever. His ink black hair glinted under the flashing lights, and his dark blue sweater brought out the exquisite, icy paleness of his eyes, while his leather jacket highlighted exactly how broad and strong his shoulders were. My breath caught in my throat, and my heart thrummed with painful awareness.
But of course he wasn't alone. Logan turned around and stretched out his hand. A second later, Savannah stepped through the door after him, her red hair gleaming like ribbons of copper streaming down her back. Logan bent down, and Savannah laughed at whatever he whispered into her ear.
They really did make a cute couple, both of them rich, powerful, and beautiful. I didn't know much about Savannah, besides the fact that she was an Amazon gifted with supernatural speed, but she really did seem to like Logan. I could tell by the way she smiled at him.
It was the same way
Logan must have sensed me staring at him, because he looked in my direction. He hesitated a second, then lifted his hand. I gritted my teeth, made myself smile, and waved back. Savannah peered around him, wondering who he was waving at. When she saw that it was me, her glossy lips flattened out. She grabbed the Spartan's arm and pulled him over to the other side of the coffee shop-as far away from me as she could get him and still be in the same room. Logan looked back at me a second, his eyes dark, then followed her.
My stomach twisted, and I suddenly wanted another beer, another ale, another
My plastic cup still in hand, I leaned over past Drool Guy and twisted the knob on the keg he was protecting. Nothing came out. Empty. Of course it was. Drool Guy had probably guzzled it all down hours ago. Since there wasn't another keg within arm's reach, I moved away from the wall and skirted through the crowd, careful to keep from touching anyone. I felt shitty enough already without flashing on someone and feeling his bender.
I tried a couple more kegs before I finally found one that still had something in it. I turned the knob, and a dark brown liquid filled my cup. I sniffed it suspiciously. It was darker than the ale I'd had before and smelled twice as sour, like someone had pissed in it. Maybe they had. Anything was possible at a Mythos party. I sighed and put the cup on the counter. I just couldn't chug down the mystery booze, no matter how much I might have liked to get drunk right now.
I turned around, looking for Daphne and Carson, but I didn't see them in the mass of thrashing bodies. Logan and Savannah stood about twenty feet off to my left, deep in conversation.
My stomach twisted again, and anger, frustration, and longing burned through my veins like acid. I had to get out of the coffee shop before I did something stupid-like start screaming about how unfair it was that Logan was here with another girl. That a Reaper had tried to kill me twice now, and I'd almost been turned into puppy chow on the slopes by a Fenrir wolf. That I had a smartass magical sword that I didn't really know how to use and a goddess who'd chosen me to be her Champion, even though I was completely wrong for the job. That I wasn't a warrior like the other kids and never would be, no matter how hard I tried or how much I wanted to be like them. Not to mention the fact that my mom had been killed by a drunk driver the cops had never been able to find and that I still missed her so much, I sometimes cried myself to sleep. Yeah, I had a lot to scream about.
