Oh. Right.Lowering my sandwich back to my plate, I whispered the same thing I told Tristan and Maria, and Lana let out a loud gasp.
I let out a low groan as all the agents in the cafeteria turned to us.Not again.
“Sorry.” But Lana’s grin belied her apology, and like Maria’s, her excitement was contagious enough that I couldn’t help grinning back.
“This is just too exciting for words,” Lana said in a rush. “Have you told Paul yet?”
I shook my head.
“Well, you should! I bet he’d be one happy, proud boyfriend—-”
“Lana!” It was stupid, but I couldn’t help turning red at the mere thought of Paul being my boyfriend. “You know it’s not like that between us.”
“Do I?” Lana’s voice was thoughtful. “When I called him that night and told him you were in danger, he was totally frantic.”
“He likes to worry,” I hedged.
“It was more than that. He sounded the way I imagined Tristan would if he found out Maria was in trouble.”
My shoulders moved in an awkward shrug. “He’s my mentor of sorts.”
Lana snorted. “If he’s your mentor, then I’m your long-lost father.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “That doesn’t even make sense.”
“Exactly,” she answered sweetly. “Paul could be a lot of things, but he’s definitely not just a mentor to you.”
“Probably. I don’t know.” Maybe I was being too stubborn, but I simply didn’t want to assume anything. “You know, you never told me why you decided to callhimof all people. I mean, why not Dike?”
Lana grimaced. “This is going to sound bad, but I honestly didn’t even trust Dike once I realized that CIA was compromised. So...”
“You went with your gut instinct and called Paul?”
Lana smiled weakly. “When you think about it now...it was a crazy risk, wasn’t it?”
“Crazy or not, it turned out to be the right decision—-” I gave her hand a quick squeeze. “So if you ask me, I’ll keep trusting your instincts.”
“Luck was a factor, too,” Lana acknowledged ruefully. “When you plugged your phone to my computer, it automatically stored your contact list – without that, I wouldn’t have had a clue on how to contact him.” It was Lana’s turn to pause. “You know...he got to headquarters really quickly, don’t you think?”
I could only nod since I had wondered the same thing, too. Unless he had lied about having to go to Mt. Olympus – which I could see no reason why he should have – then the distance between the Olympians’ dwelling and our headquarters wasn’t exactly something you could cover in minutes.
And yet...
“Maybe it’s an INTERPOL thing?” Another memory occurred to me, something equally troubling, and I chewed on my lip. “I never mentioned this in my report, but when he saved me from falling...” I took a deep breath. “He was flying, Lana.”
Her eyes went wide with disbelief.
“And I do mean flying, on his own, without using any broomstick or what not.”
“Did you ask him how—-” The way Lana’s voice trailed off made it seem like she couldn’t even make herself say the words. It was simply that preposterous. Everyone knew that magic had its limits, and for humans to fly was one of them.
“I never got a chance to. I haven’t seen him since that time. He calls me several times a day, though, but I just can’t make myselfask. I don't think...it’s not something you can ask over the phone, you know?”
Several moments of silence passed before Lana shook her head. “Maybe we’re overthinking this.”
“Yeah.”
“Maybe it’s just an INTERPOL thing.”
