And as usual, Shon had gone all-out with the theme. She even had her sisterlocks pulled back with a matching navy headband, and white knee-high socks and stacked Mary Jane shoes.
Nick cringed the second that thought went through his head and was highly mortified that he knew what those black shiny shoes were called. But then Kody was slowly “civilizing” him on such things. Any day now, he’d be eating off plates and drinking out of glasses like a real person.
Though to be honest, he was coming to his education under duress. He still didn’t really understand why women needed more than two pairs of shoes—those you wore and the pair your mom forced on your feet for church and special occasions because your regular shoes were holey and not holy.
Blushing, he stepped out of the way so that Brynna could open her locker door to grab her books. “Did you get all of the English reading done last night?”
“No!” Brynna let out a sound of supreme annoyance. “It was too much. Did you? And if you say yes, I will hurt you.”
“I cheated and just had Kyrian tell me about it. Great thing about working for an ancient Greek boss. He knows The Iliad like the back of his hand, and actually enjoys lecturing me on it. I think he personally knew Achilles.”
She snorted. “He’s not that old.”
“No, but Ash is.”
She laughed.
“Actually…” Tightening her grip on her books, Shon looked around before she leaned in to whisper, “I heard a rumor from my mom that Kyrian slept with the granddaughter of an Amazon queen who fought at Troy.”
Nick snorted in denial. “No way!”
Shon held her right hand up to testify to its truth. “That’s what they claim.”
“Who’s they?” Brynna asked.
“Other Greek Dark-Hunters.” Shon flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Zoe being one of them. And she’s old enough to know … and was an Amazon princess.”
Nick considered that. Shon would know. Like Brynna, she came from one of the older Squire families that had been protecting the identities and existence of Dark-Hunters for generations, and providing services and cover for them. Even better, Shon’s father was the New Orleans’ Council lead historian and archive keeper, and had been for years. So when it came to the history of the Dark-Hunters—what they’d done and who they knew, he was the authority for the region.
“I’d ask Kyrian about it, but he gets cranky when I get too personal with inquiries.… Wonder if Ash knows.”
“Probably.” Brynna pulled her books out of her locker and shoved them in her tote. “He knows everything.”
Not quite. He had no idea Nick was a Malachai. Or that Kody was his niece. For all the powers Acheron commanded, there were a surprising number of things that could be kept hidden from the ancient Atlantean.
But Nick didn’t correct her. He was quickly learning that most everyone and everything had a weakness of some sort. Nature tended to build in an off-switch.
Every Titanic met its iceberg.
That’s what Kyrian had told him the point of The Iliad was. Balance and moderation. Regression to the mean.
Every Hector met his Achilles. Every Achilles met his Paris. Every Priam had an Agamemnon and every Agamemnon had a Clytemnestra.
Sooner or later, everyone paid for the wrongs they did to others. And when karma came home to roost, she brought nasty, irritable friends with spears.
It was making the hardest choices at the hardest times, and learning to stand by them and bear out the consequences.
Speaking of …
He turned as he felt the powerful presence of a preter who never failed to put a dopey grin on his face. The minute he saw Kody’s bright green eyes and tight red tee, he realized he should have worn looser pants. Thankfully, he had on a really baggie Hawaiian shirt.
“Ca viens, ma bebelle cher.”
Her gorgeous smile only made his condition worse. “One day, I have got to learn Cajun.” She scowled at him. “For all I know, you could be insulting me with that deep smooth drawl of yours.”
Nick dropped his backpack as casually as he could from his shoulders and pulled it around to the front as an added layer of protection—just in case. “Non, cher. I would never do that to ma belle.”
Brynna laughed. “I don’t know, girl, long as I’ve been here, I still haven’t gotten the hang of it.”
Shon tsked at her. “Y’all break my native heart!”
Nick broke out into his thickest Cajun drawl. “They just don’t know, cher … they just don’t know. What we gonna do with the likes of them?”
“I vote we feed ’em to some gators later.” Shon winked at him.
Brynna scowled at Kody. “You ever feel like you need subtitles when he does that?”
“No. Unless he’s actually speaking Cajun, I can understand it, even when it’s thick and fast. But Bubba and Mark … I definitely need subtitles when they get excited and start babbling. I’ve no idea what language they’re speaking.”
“That be middle Tennessee good ole boy,” Nick teased. “Their accents aren’t that thick.”
“For you,” Kody teased. “But you have to remember that English isn’t my native tongue, anyway.”