I touched the light blotch of scales which covered the large scar on her hip. The thin self-harm scars were also a light blue and a stark reminder that this girl had been through way too much in her short life.
Her face was—to my relief—no longer scrunched in pain, but relaxed, as if she were sleeping. There was also a thin wave of scales stretching from her hairline to the crest of each cheek. She looked beautiful.
Her mouth opened as if in a half yawn before closing again. At the gesture, Jason, whose head was still in the crook of her neck began shaking, as if he was laughing. I looked at Hip and then Percy who were both laughing as well.
Percy, who noticed my confusion, signed between chuckles. "She just snored.”
I shook my head, my mouth cracking into a smile. I shoved down my disappointment at not being able to hear what an adorable snore with the reminder that, for now, she was alive.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Hip
I was still shaking, the leftover adrenaline from the day coursing through my body. I honestly wanted to just slump to the floor and curl up with Atalanta like Jason was doing, but I knew this wasn’t over, and I couldn’t rest until it was. There was also that other thing.
“Hey, guys,” I said hoarsely.
Percy and Jason looked over to me, Theseus following when he noticed their heads turned.
I pointed to the living room. “There’s something I need to show you.”
Carefully, Jason stood up with his precious bundle and followed me out back into the empty living room.
Just as we were coming out, Ajax practically burst through the door. He looked at us, looked at the beautifully scaly girl in Jason's arms, and sighed in relief.
“She’s still alive,” he said. Not a question, but a statement.
“It was touch and go for a bit there, but yeah,” I said, putting my hand on his shoulder.
“How’s her father doing?” Percy asked, coming to stand by us near the front door.
“The doctor has him in a medically induced coma while they wait for the brain swelling to go down.”
Percy looked down, his face showing the guilt that I had felt since the moment I realized Atalanta’s sister was lost.
I searched all over for a good two miles before the need to go back to everyone was too great. She was nowhere to be seen. Between the storm and her being human, there probably wasn’t a good chance we would find her, let alone find her alive. I’d keep searching, though. Even if she weren’t alive, I would at least be able to give Atalanta and her father some peace.
“We should have left someone behind to help him,” Percy whispered.
“We should have, but we made that mistake, and now we must lay with it.” Ajax replied.
I studied him. He looked as disheveled as the rest of us. Though, unlike the rest of us, he was in clothes. I blushed at this realization and looked around the room. Yep, lots of dicks hanging free, including my own. We had been so preoccupied that the thought of decency wasn’t at the top of our list.
Most certainly sensing my sudden discomfort, Ajax looked at me and then looked at the others, his eyebrows shooting up as he came to the same conclusion I had.
“I brought clothes.” He stated before walking outside and coming back a few moments later with the clothes we had all discarded on the shore.
Awkwardly, we all got dressed, Ajax taking a still naked Atalanta into his arms while Jason pulled up his pants.
Seeing the two of them together I wanted to slap myself for not noticing the connection before. “You're a made Mer, aren’t you? It’s why you have different colored eyes.”
Ajax stared at me, his brows furrowed. "You didn’t know?”
“I only just found out we could even do that. Make more of us, I mean.” I said, annoyed at my level of ignorance.
“The elders really kept you in the dark,” Jason said as he threw on his shirt.
I snorted. “I probably know about as much as our girl over here.”
Jason looked a little uncomfortable when I said the words ‘our girl,’ but I ignored it, remembering the reason I brought them out here.
I walked down the hall to the blue folders which I had discarded on the floor the moment I heard Atalanta’s screams.
Picking them up, I waved them in front of everyone. “You're not going to believe what I found.”
I opened the first file. Inside was a photo of Atalanta’s sister with the caption of CALILOPE NORTH. Flipping to the second page, I began reading aloud.
“Calilope North, Age: 25, Birthday: May 18th, 1992, Place of birth: Flint, Michigan, Favorite color: Purple,” and on I went, listing things like her favorite movies, where she went to school, what she majored in college.
The second file was one for their father, Titus North, mainly listing the same information, birthday, where he was born, etc. It was the last file that got me. It had a photo of Atalanta.
“Atalanta North, Age: 18, Birthday: November 9th, Place of birth: Flint, Michigan. She likes horses, and her favorite color is blue. She’s afraid of spiders,” I flipped the page, this section showing family history. "Says here her mother was a professional figure skater and died of cancer when Atalanta was three. There’s a note here next to the father: ’worked as a fisherman whole life. Moved around a lot?’ I don’t know if she was trying to remember something or—”
“I’ve heard enough,” Jason growled. He was pacing now, something I noticed he tended to do when he was frustrated.
“What does this mean? Why would they have profiles on themselves?” Theseus asked.
Percy, whose brows were furrowed in concentration, said, “They aren’t profiles on themselves.”
“They are fake identities,” Ajax hopped in.
Percy nodded. “Those of us who are older have to get them every so often when we continue to live on the surface. New names, new social securities, new everything.”
“Why would they have something like that? Are they illegal immigrants or something?” Jason asked, his pacing only increasing. It was beginning to annoy me. Just stand still, damn it.
“I was worried something like this might be going on. With how the girls behaved and, well…” Percy’s eyes ran along her body, focusing on the light patches of scales which now covered her extensive scar tissue. “I thought it might be some form of abuse.”
My stomach churned just thinking about seeing all the scars on her body and how much pain she must have been in when she got them.
“You knew about her scars?” Jason asked, his tone full of disbelief.
“Not exactly. I had a guess that she might have a few self-harm scars with the way she behaved when I first met her.” Percy replied.
Hurt clouded Jason’s eyes. “I can't believe this. You knew and didn’t tell me.”
I knew Jason had feelings for the man, yet whenever I had seen the two of them interact it, seemed that Percy, despite also having feelings for Jason—whether he realized it or not—acted more like a mentor to him. I couldn’t help but see how Jason might feel a little betrayed right now.
Theseus raised his hand, drawing our attention. “I knew.”
“You knew what?” Jason growled.
Theseus took a deep breath in before saying, “I knew about the scars beforehand. I saw them one night when we… I just didn't know how bad they were.”