one
Knockknock.
The sound of knocking on the door was followed by a quiet voice announcing her arrival. Millie’s gentle, lilting accent grew louder as she pushed the door open and stepped inside my bedroom. I sat up in bed, straightening, feeling like I was emerging from a coma.
“What time is it?” My voice came out a dry rasp. “How long have I been out?”
Millie’s gaze flicked toward the window, like she didn’t want to lie, but she didn’t want to tell the truth either. “A while.”
I followed her gaze to the window. There was so much brightness flowing in from behind the gauzy curtains that I’d assumed it was high noon, but I was wrong. It was definitely night; stars twinkled against a blanket of blackness, but something else was illuminating the courtyard, causing my room to feel like it was being lit by floodlights.
As if sensing my disorientation, Millie eased onto the foot of my bed. She handed over a mug of hot cocoa and a piece ofbiscotti. “Have something to eat. You need to get some food in you, and then we’ll talk. I’ll explain everything I can.”
“Where’s Silas?”
“I sent him home a few hours ago. Well, me and Atlas did it together. Silas wouldn’t leave your side, but”—Millie paused to wrinkle her nose—“the man needed a shower and some rest. I had to call in help.”
“By help, you mean Atlas?”
“He’s out in the garden now. For all the problems those two brothers have, they really do trust one another.”
“You’re telling me that Silas got his brother to babysit me?” I raised a hand to my forehead and pressed there, feeling the start of a headache. “I don’t need a bodyguard.”
“You’ve been through a lot,” Millie said. “It’s not forever. Give the man a break. You’ve been sleeping for almost thirty-six hours straight. It’s not your fault—it’s the magic that you used to defeat the Furies and heal Atlas and Silas. It’d wipe out anyone, but especially someone without a lot of experience.”
I nodded, dunked the biscotti into the hot chocolate, and took a bite. As usual, Millie’s cooking was something extraordinary. I’d put money on the fact there was a little magic in this cup of cocoa, something healing, but Millie would never confess to it.
“Do you mind if I go speak to Atlas?”
“Of course not,” she said. “You’re free to do whatever you’d like. Why don’t you finish your drink and get dressed. There’s no rush.”
I took Millie’s advice and finished the hot chocolate and the biscuit. Then I dragged myself to the bathroom, taking a few minutes to shower and dry my hair. I slipped into a knee-length dress I found in my closet, a periwinkle blue so soft it could’ve been sewn together from bits of sky. I twisted my hair back into a low bun and made my way out of the cottage.
Wisteria Cottage was starting to feel like home. It felt more comfortable than my apartment in New York, and the people here felt more like family than anyone else I’d ever known.
I trailed out of the purple cottage into the backyard and came to a stuttering stop when I found Atlas lounging at the little café-style table, a small espresso in hand, just staring at the garden around him. In his defense, there was a lot to see.
The tall, violet delphiniums had glowing petals. Millie’s prized rose bushes along the fence were in a constant state of blooming, wilting, and blooming again—one never-ending circle of life. The tall grasses behind Atlas let out sparks every time the stalks brushed together, sparks that floated up into the air and fizzed like tiny fireworks. The carpet of Irish moss had so many white little flowers they glittered like diamonds beneath my feet.
I had no idea why the garden was going a little bit nuts, but this certainly explained the amount of light flooding through my window. The moon was full, and it seemed like the garden was absorbing the metallic light and radiating it back outward. While the sky was dark, there was enough light here to feel like we were under a floodlight.
“What’s this all about?” I asked, sidling over to where Atlas was seated. I tentatively took a seat across from him at the table. “This glowing stuff is new.”
“I was going to askyouabout it,” the Titan said in his confident, lazy drawl. “It’s not my doing, I can confidently say that.”
I spread my arms wide. “Well, I’m certainly not doing anything. I just woke up.”
Atlas shifted forward in his seat. “You don’t have todoanything, Alessia. By simplybeing, you’re responsible for all this.”
I shook my head. “I would know if I was performing a magic spell.”
“You’re not performing a spell. You’ve got so much power inside you that you’re leaking magic. It’s not within your control. It’s not your fault, and it’s not bad. But it’s definitely you. No offense, but I can control my magic.”
I paused, wanting to disagree with Atlas, but he was so confident that it gave me pause. I stood up, walked over to a small patch of sunflowers in the back that were taller than me. I reached out, touched the stalk of one. The moment my fingers made contact with the rough greenery, the sunflower petals lit up like a Lite-Brite.
I touched another stalk, and another sunflower lit up. I did this for a few minutes—touch,ping!Touch,ping!The flowers lit up like I was playing the bells in a church choir.
“Okay.” I sat before Atlas. “You might have a point. Do you think—”
