Sweet Venom

I do my best, spending the next few minutes thinking about Sthenno and where she might be and what I’m going to do once I find her. But my mind keeps drifting to Ursula, to the news of her capture and her real identity.

“Psha!” the fortune-teller spits, jerking the crystal and stuffing it back into its hidden pocket. “You do not focus.”

I don’t bother denying it. I’m trying, but my mind is just too full, I guess.

“There is another way.” She peers at me in the faint light. “Blood.”

“Blood?” I echo. “Whose blood?”

“Yours.”

I meet her unwavering gaze for a long moment. Then, knowing I don’t really have another choice, I reach down and pull the dagger from my boot. In one swift movement, I slice a line down the center of my palm—my right palm—drawing a fine trail of healing blood from my flesh.

“Here,” I say, holding out my hand as I slip the dagger back into my boot. “Does this work?”

She nods. With craggy, gnarled fingers, she folds my hand into a fist and wraps her hands around mine. Holding it over the map, she squeezes tightly until a single drop of blood drips from the bottom of my fist.

Releasing my hand, she pushes the map at me. “There, it is revealed.”

I wipe my palm on my pants as I look at the map. The single drop of blood landed in the marina district, only a few blocks from my loft. With a shaking finger, I smear the blood away and read the name of the building beneath.

Alpha Academy. Grace’s school.

Well, at least now we know where to look. Sthenno is someone at her school.

“Good?” the fortune-teller asks.

I nod, taking the map and folding it into one of my cargo pockets.

“The other question,” she says. “The one you are afraid to ask.”

I don’t have to say it out loud to confirm she’s talking about Ursula. There are a million questions I’d like to ask. Where is she? How do I find her? Is she safe? But I ask the one that answers them all. “Can I save her?”

“You can,” she says, and I release a tight breath. Then she adds, “But it has yet to be written whether you will.”

I take a shaky breath. I could be terrified by that prediction, by the fear that I might not save Ursula in the end. But I’m not. The bottom line is: I can save Ursula, and so I will. I won’t allow myself to fail.

Chapter 20

Grace

When I showed up at Gretchen’s on Saturday morning, the first thing she told me was what the oracle said. That the immortal Gorgon Sthenno is at my school.

Now, I don’t know if that means she’s a teacher or student or staff or administration or what, but I’ve spent all day Monday studying every single female at Alpha to see if anyone, I don’t know, clicks with me. Someone who reminds me of Ursula maybe. So far, no such luck. If Sthenno is here, she’s doing a great job of disguising herself.

By the time Lulu and I walk out of Computer Science after the final bell, I’m starting to think the oracle was wrong. Gretchen is adamant, but maybe she just wants to believe her.

“Do you think Miss Mota is ever going to notice that Orson hid that perverted message in his web page?” Lulu asks, pulling a compact out of her giant tote bag and checking her fire-engine-red lipstick.

“She hasn’t so far,” I say, relieved to think about something other than searching out my immortal ancestor.

“Well she obviously adores you.” Lulu drops her compact back into her bag. “You could create a page about cow manure and she’d still call us all over to admire it.”

“Yeah,” I agree. “She’s kind of over the top.”

Maybe she—

“Grace,” I hear a woman call behind me. When I turn, I see Miss Mota running after me. “You forgot your handout.” She’s panting and a little out of breath, but with a huge grin on her face. “Can’t do your homework without the style guide, can you?”

“Thanks,” I say, taking the handout.

She has been kind of over-nice to me. I thought it was just because I’m a solid computer geek—aka her ideal student—but maybe it’s something more. Could she be Sthenno?

As she turns and walks back to her classroom, I start to analyze everything I know about her, to see if anything fits.

Before I can think back to the first day of Computer Science, I sense Miranda marching up behind me and Lulu. I catch sight of her a split second before she moves to Lulu’s side and rushes forward, knocking into my friend, sending her stumbling forward and her bag flying.

I have an instant flashback of my first day at Alpha.

Only instead of acting like an entitled brat, Miranda spins around and says, “Omigosh, I am so sorry.”

I help steady Lulu on her feet and we give each other a confused look. Apologies are very un-Miranda-like behavior.

“Yeah,” Lulu says hesitantly. “It’s fine.”

My jaw drops as Miranda actually squats and helps gather Lulu’s belongings back into her bag. Part of me hopes she’s realized that being mean and nasty doesn’t get her very far. But I’m not the same naïve new girl who started here less than two weeks ago. So much can change in a short time. Miranda’s up to something.

I bend down to help, snatching Lulu’s bag back when Miranda tries to pick it up.

She gives me a hurt look. “I was trying to hand it back to her.” She huffs out a breath that sends her bangs floating. “Jeez, sorry.”