Page 29 of Amaros
“Like when the dinosaur ate one of your men,” Grace said with a small smirk.
“Zeigel doesn’t like to be reminded of it,” Amaros said in amusement.
“Ooh, Zoe and Zeigel,” the teen said cheekily.“If he’s cute, you should definitely get him to knock you up,” she suggested to her friend.
The knight snarled something beneath his breath, then stomped off to inspect the other wings.
“I don’t think he likes the idea of his friends getting it on with you, Zoe,” the teen whispered.“He’s into you.”
“Yeah, right,” Zoe said skeptically.Attraction was one thing, but the knight wasn’t about to declare his undying love for her.“He thinks we’re monsters, remember?”she added.They were both speaking too quietly for their voices to carry.
“I bet you a hundred bucks he hits on you as soon as we find his friends,” Grace predicted.“Once they get a load of your hot body, they’ll be lining up to date you.”
Zoe rolled her eyes at that notion.“They can take turns taking me to the movies and out to restaurants,” she said with heavy sarcasm.
“Oh, yeah,” the teen said, mood becoming morose.“I guess romance is going to be a lot harder to come by from now on.There’ll just be evil dudes trying to bash us unconscious so they can drag us off to their basement dwellings.”
Unfortunately, Zoe couldn’t give her any reassurance.“I’ll watch your back if you watch mine,” she offered.
“Deal,” Grace said, holding her small hand out for Zoe to shake.Her grip was far stronger than her frail appearance hinted.“Now we’re besties,” she declared brightly.“Do you think any of Amaros’ buddies will be into an eighteen-year-old woman who looks like a thirteen-year-old boy?”
“Who knows?”Zoe said with a laugh at her friend’s quirky sense of humor.“Anything is possible.”They headed in the opposite direction the warrior had taken to scout the buildings.
“Maybe I should have a kid with one of them,” Grace mused.“They can wear a blindfold, so they don’t have to look at me while we do the deed.”
Zoe hated that the kid was so down on herself.Stopping, she turned to face her and studied her closely.“You’re beautiful in your own way, Gracelyn,” she said honestly.“You have gorgeous green eyes, perfect skin and a striking face.”Her body was harder to judge, due to the oversized sweater she was wearing.Zoe knew she was slender, but that was about it.She had an angular chin that made her look stubborn.
“Striking is one word for my face,” the teen said with a sigh.“My mom always told me I took after my pops.I guess he was dog ugly.”
“Your mother was a sick, twisted harpy who only cared about herself,” Zoe said, holding on tightly to her temper.Just the thought of what she’d seen in her visions of the kid’s past was enough to enrage her.“She made you feel like you were worthless when the opposite is true.You’re special, just like me and the other cambions.We all have talents and it’s up to us how we use them.”
“I’ve always used my skills to do bad things,” Grace confessed, glancing over her shoulder to make sure Amaros wasn’t in sight.“I’m surprised the knight didn’t smite me with his bejeweled sword after he scanned my soul.”
“Who made you do those bad things?”Zoe reminded her.
“Mom, to start with,” Grace agreed.“But I kept breaking into peoples’ houses and stealing their stuff long after she died.”
“Everyone has to make a living somehow,” Zoe said with a shrug.Their eyes met, then they broke into snickers.
“My talents have come in handy a lot over the years,” Grace confided as they continued to check out their new home.“I had to break myself out of jail once.They didn’t search me properly and I managed to hide my lockpicks in my shoe.”
“What did you do to get arrested?”Zoe queried.
“I got busted breaking into a house,” she said.“I didn’t know it belonged to the Sheriff.”
They laughed again and Grace gave Zoe an animated breakdown of how she’d escaped.For the first time since her mom and everyone else she’d known had disappeared, Zoe didn’t feel so helpless and lost.She’d made two friends and they even had a secluded place to stay.For now, they were safe and secure.She didn’t know how long it would last, but at least she wasn’t alone anymore.
