Talk about rotten luck.
Chapter 8
Zara
Someone out there must have been looking out for Zara because when they all arrived at headquarters early the next day, Perseus announced that Hektor had been called away on urgent council business back in Drakkoria and would be joining them in a day or two.
So for now, at least, Zara didn’t have to worry about breaking up with her fake boyfriend.
Now she had some time to strategize and think about her options.
Option one was to tell Hektor the basilisk she was talking to never existed.
No way, nuh-uh.
She shook her head internally. That would make her look like a liar.
Well, you are.
Shut up.
Option two was to go with her original plan and break up with her basilisk.
But would that make Hektor think she was flighty and frivolous?
Option three…well, she was still working on option three.
“At least we’re staying at a hotel this time,” Liora said, breaking into her thoughts.
Elian had driven like the devil was on their tail and they made the drive in five hours instead of six. Normally, Zara and Liora would have insisted on a couple of pitstops to break up the long drive, but they were happy to keep on driving with just one quick bathroom break.
Soon, the air turned hot and dusty, and the lush greenery transformed into vast desert landscapes. Despite the sparse vegetation, Zara saw a kind of beauty in the land. The blue skies dotted with the occasional puffy white cloud stretch high above and beyond the horizon. The desert still pulsed with life as the golden sand seemed to shift and shimmer. Up ahead, a city rose above dunes, its skyline forming clearly as they approached.
The van’s GPS led them toward their hotel—the Stonestare Suites, just at the edge of the city center. Elian parked, then they grabbed their stuff quickly and dashed toward the entrance as the heat became unbearable.
“And there’s AC,” Elian sighed, breathing in the cool, manufactured air as the doors to the lobby whooshed open. “Let’s get checked in so we can get some rest.”
They made a beeline for the front desk, crossing the lavishly-appointed lobby decorated in reds and golds. This reminded Zara of the time they went on a family vacation at a fancy spa and resort in Arizona—except here, the other guests slithered around on serpentine bodies.
At first glance, it was intimidating, scary even, but there was something about looking at those massive, scaly bodies then seeing the human upper half in a business suit talking into his phone with one hand and pulling a beat-up carry-onwith the other that was almost comical. There were also other kinds of guests—parents wrangling unruly children, couples who couldn’t keep their hands off each other, and even what appeared to be a group of juveniles dressed in matching sports uniforms.
It was almost normal, in a way.
Almost, but not quite.
But, that was her experience in Vale Crossing in a nutshell.
It took a while, but finally, they got their keys and they headed up to their rooms via the elevators.
“According to Medusa, our fixer should get here around three o’clock,” Elian said as they reached their floor. “That gives us a few hours to get something to eat and just chill.”
“Sounds good to me.” Maybe all she needed was a few hours of sleep. She had barely slept the night before, tossing and turning and thinking about Hektor and what she was going to do and where things went wrong. Before she knew it, her alarm had gone off and she had to get ready to be at headquarters at the ass-crack of dawn.
Relief poured through Zara as soon as she entered the cold, darkened silence of her hotel room. She didn’t even bother to turn on the other lights or open up the curtains as she fell face-first onto the bed. The cool, luxurious sheets felt soothing on her skin.
I’ll just close my eyes for a second.
Though it felt like a second, the moment she awakened, Zara knew she had been knocked out for hours. Her stomach growled in hunger and pain radiated from the knot in her neck that formed from staying in the same position for a long time. Pushing herself up from the mattress, she rolled over and switched the lights on, then got out of bed.
