Something True by Kieran Scott Read Free Book Online Page B

Orion. A quick glance around the classroom gave us few options. We were on the second floor, so going out the window would be dangerous, and the entire space was open, with nothing but flimsy easels to hide behind. I saw the handle on the supply closet in the corner and made a snap decision.
    “I’m really sorry about this,” I told Orion. Then I opened the door, flung him inside, and started across the room.
    “Hey! What’re you doing?!”
    The closet’s handle started to turn. There was a lock on it, of course, but I was halfway across the room. Clenching my jaw, I lifted my palm toward the handle and willed it to lock.
    Nothing happened.
    I tried again. The door began to open. My brain went weightless. My powers. What had happened to my powers?
    Using my entire body, I slammed the door closed as hard as I could and turned the key, which Mrs. Fabrizi had carelessly left in the lock.
    “True? What the hell? This isn’t funny!”
    Ignoring him, I pocketed the key, darted to the classroom door, and peeked ever so carefully into the crowded, end-of-the-day hallway. My heart stopped beating. Artemis and Apollo were dressed in their battle gear. He in short pants, laced boots, and a gold breastplate, she in a short skirt, long sleeves, and a leather vest, and they also looked pissed, which was never a good thing. At least the kids in the hallway were smart enough to be cowering near the walls, staying out of their way. They were showing around a picture of me, which they’d gotten from Zeus knew where, and shoving aside anyone who refused to help them.
    Every fiber of my being told me to bolt, but Orion was just twenty feet away, rattling the door and getting louder by the minute. How the hell was I supposed to protect the both of us?
    “True.” Hephaestus’s voice rose up behind me. “You’re going to want to run.”
    He sat in his wheelchair near my side, his fists clenched atop his knees, the tendons in his neck protruding. At that moment, Artemis turned, and her dark eyes zeroed in on me. We held each other’s gaze for a fury-filled moment as all movement around me seemed to slow. My mortal enemy. She who would as soon rip out my throat as take a breath. The goddess who coveted my love.
    “True,” Hephaestus said through his teeth. “Run!”
    I whirled around, adrenaline, anger, and liquid terror coursing through my veins. I had to protect Orion. I had to stay alive long enough to restore his memory and regain our love. They were, at that moment, the only objectives that mattered.
    I raced back into the art room, closed the door, and shoved a heavy but low supply cabinet up against it as best I could. Orion had grown frantic in my absence. If—no, when—Artemis and Apollo got through the outer door, they would surely hear him and discover him, their prize, sitting like a caged animal.
    I pressed my face against the closet door.
    “Orion, listen to me,” I said desperately.
    “True, what the—”
    “Listen! Please!” I screeched. “There are some very dangerous people in the hallway and they’re looking for me, but they won’t hesitate to hurt you if they find you.”
    “What?!?! What the hell are you talking about?”
    “Please!” I cried. “Please just stay quiet until they’re gone. Please, Orion.”
    “True, I don’t understand. Why are they after you?”
    “Just trust me. Stay here and I’ll explain everything to you later. Okay?”
    Not that I had any idea how I would do that, but I had to say something. There was a pause. “Will you be all right?”
    A tear rolled down my cheek at his concern. “I’ll be fine.”
    “Hephaestus?” Apollo’s voice shouted. “What in the name of Hades are you doing here?”
    They were right outside the door. It was time for me to go. And the only way out was through the window. I ran to the pane farthest from the door, cranked it open, and kicked out the screen. The door opened and slammed into the metal cabinet with an earsplitting clang. I