“Yeah. Why does that matter now?”
I spoke before I lost my nerve. “I never told you why. He… do you remember that party I went to, a couple weeks after Monica died?”
“Yeah. You were acting really weird after it,” Ezekiel began. “I asked if something was wrong. Was there?”
My throat was so tight I almost wondered if there was a Yapluma nearby, sucking air out of my windpipe. “Well… John got me alone that night, and… he raped me. I couldn’t stop it.”
The line was so quiet, I feared for a moment it’d gone dead. My brother was completely shell shocked. I’m certain ten seconds passed without a response.
Ancestors, just say something, I pleaded in my head. The silence felt horrible.
“Are you okay?” Ezekiel sounded on the verge of tears. But at least he spoke, and a weight lifted off my shoulders.
I sighed, and my back hit the wall. “Not really. But I’ve had a long time to deal with it.”
Ezekiel didn’t ask why I never spoke out about it, and I was relieved. Instead, he said, “That really explains a lot about the past few years. I’m so sorry, Ava. You never should’ve gone through something like that.”
“It happened,” I replied. “Not like I can go back and change it.”
Ezekiel was quiet for a moment longer, before he asked, “Does… anyone else know?”
“I told Charlie a while ago,” I admitted. “He actually encouraged me to tell more people, open up about it.”
“Wow. And you chose me?” Ezekiel sounded honored.
“Yeah. Don’t tell Mama and Daddy, okay? I’m not ready for the whole world to know yet. Just you and Charlie.”
“I wouldnever,” Ezekiel insisted. “I won’t say anything, I promise.”
Ezekiel was a tattletale, and always had been, but he kept secrets under lock and key when it counted. I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks. I guess Charlie was right. It doesn’t seem like such a big secret now.”
“I’m glad. I don’t want you to go through this alone.” Ezekiel’s voice cracked. “I love you, Ava. Like Ireallylove you.”
“I love you too, Ez. And I’m glad we could talk about this. It feels better, getting it off my chest.”
An Institute notification pinged, telling me my five minutes was almost up. “I gotta go, Ez. Talk to you soon?”
“Sure, Ava. Bye.”
I hung up the phone. When I did, I was certain I felt ten pounds lighter.
There was nothing easy about my past, or the road I’d have to take. But with my friends and family beside me, I knew I could make it through just about anything.
Though a part of me wondered if telling my brother had been the right move. He was very protective of me. Now that he knew, I wasn’t worried about what he might say.
I was worried about what he mightdo.
Chapter Three
Charlie
Me, a demigod? At first, I didn’t believe it. I’d never beenanythingspecial.
But then I remembered the Villain’s Ball. I had noticed something was different about Coyote when Ava spoke to him, but I hadn’t realized what it was at the time. He was powerful, and I’d felt it. When Ava mentioned only demigods could see him, I knew the truth.
We were demigods. All of us. I couldn’t deny it.
I mulled over the revelation for days, not quite able to wrap my head around it. I hated that Kallie and Marcus had agreed to help Ava with the prophecy. I just hoped Marcus was right and all the information on demigods had been destroyed. If they couldn’t find anything on it, then Ava couldn’t learn more about the prophecy. She’d be safe.
