She needed to be somewhere that gave her comfort.
Some place where she didn’t have to think about magic or creatures or gods.
A place where nothing reminded her of Hektor.
Home—to Santa Fe, surrounded by the juniper hills, mountains, sunshine, and the comforting presence of something familiar. Thankfully, Lord Eros happened to be there to meet with Perseus and Medusa and didn’t mind giving her a lift back to the Upperworld.
The urge to bury herself under the covers was strong. She was about to succumb when her mother called again.
“Zara? Honey? Are you awake? How about some breakfast?”
Zara glanced around her, heaving out a breath.
I can’t stay here forever.
“Sure, Mom. I’ll come down in a bit.”
“Your dad and I will be waiting out on the patio. It’s such a beautiful morning.”
“Ok, Mom.”
Throwing the covers off, Zara swung her legs off the side of the bed. Her entire body was as heavy as lead, but she managed to put one foot in front of the other to get herself ready for the day.
Refreshed by a quick shower and change of clothes, she bounded downstairs and out on the expansive patio that overlooked the foothills. As her mother mentioned, it was a beautiful morning, crisp and refreshing, and the skies looked even bluer than usual today.
For Zara, however, it might as well be a gloomy rainy day.
“Good morning,” she greeted, putting on her best smile. “Breakfast looks amazing.”
Her parents, Pam and Roberto Chura stopped their conversation to turn to her at the same time. She walked over to them and gave them each a kiss on the cheek.
“Good morning, honey,” Mom—blue-eyed, blonde, and still gorgeous despite the smile lines around her mouth and wrinkles on her forehead—greeted back.
“Come, sit and eat.”
“Hello, mija, how are you?” Papá ruffled her hair affectionately like he did when she was a child, the corners of his dark brown eyes crinkling as he flashed her a warm smile.
“I’m good, Papá.” Plopping down on the empty seat next to him, she unfolded a napkin with flourish and laid it on her lap. “I’m famished.”
Well, not really.
But she couldn’t let them know she was upset and heartbroken.
They probably already had an inkling though, seeing as she just suddenly turned up at their doorstep. They had welcomed her with open arms, of course, and when they had asked what she was doing here and where her siblings were, she simply told them she was burned out and needed to get away for a bit to sort things out.
That was the truth, in a way.
She just didn’t tell themwhy.
“Well, no wonder you’re starving, you didn’t have dinner last night.”
“Er, yeah, sorry for sleeping through it,” she said through a mouthful of freshly-squeezed orange juice. “Um, jet lag, you know.”
A dark eyebrow arched upward. “I didn’t know there was such a big time difference between here and Vale Crossing.”
“Er, yeah, who knew?”
Zara hated to lie to them, but since she’d arrived here, all she wanted to do was be alone and wallow in her heartbreak.
