through the room. The smaller of the two attackers rushed
me, pushing me to the floor.
“No!” I cried, seizing the fabric of the attacker's
mask. I struggled to get out of the figure's grip, kicking
wildly. At last my fingers got a good hold on the mask, and
in a single motion I yanked it off.
“Alice?” I looked up at her in shock. “Alice, what
the...” It all came rushing back to me – how familiar my
attacker's wrestling moves had seemed, the small size of the
attacker...how hadn't I realized this before?
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“But I thought we were friends!”
Alice scoffed as she picked me up by the hair, body
slamming me against the lockers. I cried out in pain.
“This has nothing to do with friendship, Mac,” Alice
hissed. “Nothing personal. But if you become Vesta – I can't
afford to let that happen. You know what Vesta's going to do
when she comes back.”
“Stop the Erosion!” I choked out. “Restore earth –
what's wrong with that?”
“Stop the Erosion?” Alice spat. “Fire propaganda –
stop the Erosion! Vesta's going to destroy the whole world
when she returns.”
“What?” I turned around in horror.
The second attacker chimed in. “When Vesta and
Mars reunite, the whole world will burn. The sacrifice of one
girl is worth saving the world.” It was a deep male voice.
“But you got hold of the book,” I cried. “I can't be
Vesta – you were able to steal it...”
Alice shrugged. “We're not interested in taking
chances,” she said. “Or Chance, for that matter.” She gave a
dry, hoarse laugh.
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It gave me enough time to rush her, taking her by
surprise and knocking to the ground. “Give me the book
back, Alice,” I cried.
“Don't ask me, ” Alice sneered.
I looked up at the second attacker, but to my surprise
he was curled up on the ground, doubled-over in pain.
Chance stood above the body.
Alice cursed quietly and sprang to her feet. Fear
flooded her eyes. Evidently Chance could scare even
powerful Alice. She pulled the other attacker to his feet and
they both ran as fast as they could out of the room.
I started to chase them, but Chance held me back.
“Don't risk it,” he said. He turned to me. “Are you hurt?”
I looked down at my body, expecting to see cuts and
bruises. I'd definitely heard a bone or two crack as I fell. But
to my shock, I had no injuries – there was no evidence I'd
ever been hurt at all.
“Then it's true,” he said. “You're developing healing
abilities. You could be Awakening after all.” He smiled.
“Which is a good thing, as far as I'm concerned. If you're
under suspicion now, you'll have a lot more attacks like this
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one. You'll have to get tough. You'll have to fight. People
want you dead, and I can't protect you forever. Neither can
Varun. You'll have to learn to defend yourself. It's too late to
go into hiding now; what has been put into motion cannot be
undone. And I won't have you beaten up by a scrawny
fourteen-year-old girl.” As he spoke, he gave me a smile – a
smile so warm and genuine that it made me melt. I wanted
to lean in and kiss him then and there. How different this new
Chance was, I thought, from the Chance who had tried so
hard to push me away.
“Alice isn't just any fourteen-year-old girl,” I said.
“Indeed not,” Chance sighed.“She too is an
embodiment, albeit one only of a half-god. I speak, of
course, of Hercules.”
“ Hercules?”
“Embodiments come in all shapes and sizes,”
Chance said. “It's time you learned that by now.” He
gathered me into his arms. “I'll do what I have to do to keep
you safe, Mac. I'll train you. Teach you wrestling – fighting
skills. Teach you to do what I do.” He started rubbing my
shoulders, massaging them gently, and I moaned softly,
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feeling all my pain being taken away by his warm healing
touch. Chance always knew just how to manipulate my body,
my desires. When I was near him, it was like nothing else
existed. Varun, the tournament, my reaction to the water – all
of these things seemed as far away as distant dreams.
“To be the Fire Queen? To be Vesta.”
I wanted to pull away, to ask him about Varun and
Neptune, about the truth behind Vesta's disappearance, about
what Alice had said about Vesta’s destroying the world. But
as I closed my eyes feeling his arms close in around me, I
couldn't find the strength to resist. I wanted his heat, his
flame, to fill me: to make me whole. I wanted him more than
I had ever wanted anyone in my life.
I knew how Jana felt, I thought, feeling his muscles
strong against me. I too was willing to risk everything. All
my questions dissolved in my mouth the moment that
Chance's lips met mine. Nothing mattered to me but being
close to
