“I do,” Athena replied. “But it doesn’t matter. Hera lost once, and she’ll lose again.”
“How did she lose if she’s not dead?”
“She lost because I beat her to you.” Athena shook water off her hands and stared at their reflections in the mirror. “Next time, though, we stay until it’s finished. Until she’s dead. There’s no healing from dead.” Next time they would check with a stethoscope and heart monitors. They’d get an official certificate from a munchkin MD with a funny mustache. Cassandra didn’t reply, and Athena grabbed a few paper towels and handed them to her. “You got some sun. Are we going to have to tell your parents that part of our girls’ week included a tanning bed?”
“I don’t know if they’d buy that,” Cassandra said. “I don’t even know how they buy that we’re friends. I’m just glad to be going home. That we’re all going home.” She dried her hands and looked at Athena in the mirror. “And I’m a little glad you got stabbed.”
Athena snorted.
“One good thing about Ares showing up,” she said.
“What’s that?”
“He and Aphrodite are always thick as thieves. He’s sure to lead us to her.” She gave Cassandra a small smile, and left before she saw the girl’s eyes turn black with hate.
*
They boarded the plane after a short wait. Athena buckled her seatbelt and took quick stock of the magazines and movies available in-flight. The trip would be long.
“You must’ve been really worried about him,” said Odysseus, from the seat beside her.
“What?” Athena asked.
“Hermes. You must’ve been really worried about him.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You let him book us first class.”
She looked at her brother, sitting a row ahead across the aisle, with Cassandra next to him in the window seat. He’d already charmed the entire cabin crew, and they hadn’t even pulled back from the gate. As soon as they reached cruising altitude, he’d be head-to-toe hot towels and champagne. He looked so happy. Her throat tightened, but she swallowed it down angrily. It shouldn’t mean so much just to see him smile on an airplane.
“Maybe I thought we all deserved some pampering,” she said.
Odysseus laughed. “Bollocks. And stop doing”—he pointed at her face—“what you’re doing there.”
“What’s wrong with my face?”
“You saved our lives. Got us out of the bleeding rain forest and home in first class. So until we land, don’t think about the rest of it. It’ll still be there when we’re back on the ground.”
Athena frowned.
“It feels wrong to forget about it. Even for five minutes.” And it felt dangerous, too, to allow her mind to wander away from the objective. At least when she was waging a war, she had something to do. She looked down at their hands, at their arms almost touching. At least when she fought, she knew what she was doing.
“Besides,” she said. “We still have so much to do. Achilles, for a start—”
“Don’t,” he said. “We’re not having that conversation at thirty thousand feet. Especially when I can think of other things to do at thirty thousand feet. Have you heard of this club? Something about mile high—”
“Shut up, hero,” she said, but she couldn’t keep from smiling. When Cassandra had told her she’d seen his face covered in blood, it didn’t matter that she thought he’d survive. Part of Athena’s heart had stopped beating. “Sometimes I think the cleverest thing about you is your ability to manage me.”
“The cleverest?” he said. “No. Not the cleverest. Not by a mile. And speaking of miles, back to this club—”
“Shut up and help me order the entire in-flight menu for Hermes.”