“Fine. I’m going to see what you’re made of. Let’s run.” She takes off at a sprint down the beach and I curse, starting after her. A short run for Helene is just over six miles—three miles down and back. I trail behind her, of course, the wind pushing my hair back, my lungs pushed to the brink of exploding. I pump my legs and push into the sand as hard as I can, trying to keep up, but her strides are more gazelle than human.
When Helene has decided we’ve run far enough, she stops.I stumble to a halt, looking at her, furious that she still hasn’t broken a sweat. I lean down with my hands on my knees, trying to suck in as much air as I can.
“Well, you certainly don’t give up easily, and that’s admirable. We’ll take it easy with some yoga, and then maybe have a real conversation when you aren’t gaping like a codfish.” She walks to where there are two yoga mats waiting. She stands on one before conjuring a yoga instructor.
I consider that I need to stop being surprised by the abilities of these siblings. Their magic is a total mystery to me—how they wield it, what its purpose is. Is this just what it’s like to be a god?
We’re guided through an hour and a half of yoga by the instructor, which is a challenging feat after the tire and the run. Helene is doing arm stands and complicated poses while I can hardly stand on my own two feet. I want to murder her but decide that it won’t win me any brownie points with either brother.
I glare at her, hoping that for once she’ll fall and look less than perfect for even five minutes. I focus on doing my own birds of paradise, bending my arms and legs into positions that don’t feel natural. As I try to straighten my leg next to my torso, I glance at Helene, and I watch as she wobbles and loses her balance.
Helene has to let go of her bind to avoid falling to the ground, and it makes her curse.
“Enough of this.” She waves her arm. I am too relieved to protest. Perhaps the mighty Helene isn’t as unflappable as she would like us to believe.
“Can all of you conjure people and things into existence?” I ask, following her to a pair of chairs.
She looks at me like I’m confused and am asking something exceedingly simple. “We’re gods, sweetie. That comes with a lot of extra perks.” She glances at me and catches sight of the unimpressed look on my face. “Yes, we all can. Essos is generally more conservative with his powers, and Galen uses them like they’re beads to give away at Mardi Gras.”
“I haven’t seen him really use them,” I comment.
“Just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean he isn’t using them,” Helene says forebodingly. I take a sip of the margarita that she’s offered me.Not sure it’s the sort of liquid I need after these intense workouts, but there are electrolytes in limes or something, right?
“What is the deal with Galen, anyway?” I ask, trying not to look too interested.
“Broken heart, blah blah, reign of fire, blah blah, retaliation, blah blah. He’s terribly boring if you ask me. I love both my brothers, so I suggest you stop digging for information. Just because I like you doesn’t mean that I’ll betray my brothers.” She gives me a warning stare.
“If this is what you do when you like someone, I would hate to see what happens when you don’t.”
She turns to me, lowering sunglasses I never saw her put on, so she can make eye contact. “I’m not sure if you’re aware, but there are only four of you now.” She looks back at the water, digging her toes in the sand. I was aware, having seen one less person at dinner. Abigail is no longer with us. To foster conversations, Essos had the dining room table reduced, so it was hard to miss that we were down another person, and with no explanation this time.
I think about another girl who left under mysterious circumstances. “Do you know what happened with Madison?” I ask, testing to see how free with information she is.
Helene nearly spits out her drink. “Right, so I’m not supposed to tell you, and Essos will probably be livid that I did, so I’m going to spell you so youcan’ttell anyone else, but it’s too good to keep to myself. Apparently, she managed to locate his room and was waiting for him in his bed, completely naked, and said, ‘Since we can’t do hometowns, does that mean we get to fast forward to fantasy suites?’ Poor Essos can’t talk about it without turning scarlet.” She cackles to herself, and I can imagine how mortified he would be at such a turn of events.
I feel mortified on his behalf. He’s been so restrained around all of us, even as Zara continues to kiss him and try to tempt him into skinny dipping. Any jealousy that I might have had has cooled, knowing that not only did he send Madison away, but he can’t even talk about it now.
Helene manages to get herself under control. “But remember, mum’s the word, or I’ll make you vomit frogs instead of feathers.”
The threat of vomiting frogs is enough to keep me quiet. I’ll find another way to tell Cat. “Essos mentioned you were married?” I try to turn the conversation to her, to see who she is as a person. I remember that Helene was supposedly my sister-in-law once upon a time, and I wonder if we were close.
“Yes, to some great big, gorgeous brute. He should be here for the ball.”
“The one tomorrow?” I ask.
“Oh, honey, no.TheBall. CapitalT, capitalB. One month’s time, and I’ll have a new sister-in-law. Or sister-in-law-to-be—there’s still the matter of a wedding.” There’s a hint of condescension in her tone as she says it. I’m surprised by this—not just the wedding, but her confidence in knowing that Essos will pick someone. Now that we’re only four, it’s down to Zara, Ginny, or myself, since Cat isn’t really in the running. I don’t know how Ginny managed to stick around, if she is here just as a filler or if Essos sees something in her. She’s far more private than myself, opting out of movie nights in Cat’s room even before our numbers diminished. She’s poured over her notes, but even when it came to the sorority, Cat confessed that Ginny was more of a loner. She had joined the sorority freshman year with a roommate who dropped out during pledging. Ginny enjoyed everyone’s company enough to stick with it.
“A wedding?”
“Of course. The Calling finds him a bride, and then eventually they’re supposed to get married, only I wouldn’t know, since he hasn’t picked a girl in half a millennium.” My eyebrows rise even higher into my forehead. “You did know that the purpose of the Calling is to get married at the end, right? Essos did tell you?” She sounds incredulous.
“Yes, he did. I guess I just didn’t think it had been that long. Has the Underworld ever had a queen?” I know the answer to this, I know there was one, but I hope by asking a question as innocuous as that, she’ll give up more details.
“It’s obvious, isn’t it, that this place has had a female touch. Sorry to say you’re just going to have to wait for the ball.” She shuts down that line of questioning the same way everyone else does—quickly. “I will warn you that Zara is your toughest competition. Catalina is your best friend, and she’s only here for your benefit. I don’t even remember the name of the other girl who’s still here.”
“Why are you telling me this?” I drain my drink and turn to set the cup aside, but Helene waves her hand, refilling it.
“Because I find that I like you best. Zara seems like she would be fun, but she hardly seems like Queen of the Underworld material, despite what she thinks. I know about the case you heard. That was a layup, and she missed the shot.”