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For now, he’s the best link I’ve got to the ical world I don’t have much choice but to accept his help But that doesn’tmy eye on him

When our plates are clean and we head back out into the Peace Plaza, the sun is long gone I shiver, wishing I hadit hadn’t been destroyed in the explosion

That’s probably the thing Iit in It was soft in all the right places

"Cold?" Nick asks

I want to say yes, because then I think he ht put his arm aroundto trust hiirly impulse, I say, "I’m fine" Then, because I can’t entirely dismiss him, I ask, "You want a ride horins and says, "I’d love one"

As we e, I have a talk with myself Just because he knows the truth, just because he see ood idea It doesn’t change the fact that I know next to nothing about hie my responsibilities I’m still a descendant of Medusa, still a uardianship ahead ofthat lifetiame have their way, it’ll be pretty short

Even if I live a long, full life, there’s no guarantee that it will be in any way noro It’s only going to hurt et to my car and Nick opens the driver’s door for nites inthat, if it weren’t possible to have relationships while being a guardian, my sisters and I wouldn’t even be here Medusais certain, though As Nick buckles in and I put Moira in gear, I know there is so that makes me want to believe Even wheninside ht, I smile Beside me I sense Nick s Milo’s soccer field are built into a hill It’s such a beautiful sunny day that part of ether, find a spot on the grassy slope, and absorb so I lass and concrete, I feel kind of disconnected from nature Sure, there are trees and flowers on practically every street, and water is never hard to find, but turf is mostly reserved for the parks and the very rare backyards

I’ot at least fifteen minutes before the team shows up for practice Besides, how could it hurt to lie down on the grass for a little bit?

Using my backpack as a pillow, I find a spot between the base of the bleachers and the field and settle in to soak up the sun above and the earth below With evale, lying in our backyard

I don’t regretto the city If we hadn’t, I never would have acy I wouldn’t have s I ht now, in this moment, I feel like I have the best of both worlds

I drift away

Then, suddenly, I’ for so For someone

"Sthenno!" I try to shout, but no sound co desperate, soaring through fog and clouds, looking everywhere Then I stopin the air, but I’m frozen in place Panicked, I stroke harder

Then, out of nowhere, a storh the clouds like a boat caught in rough seas Shaking, shaking, sha--

My eyes pop open

Gasping, I blurt, "Milo?"

"Hey," he says, his lips curving into a wide sh dreaa little, trying to catch my breath as if I’ve just run a race He has no idea "I’ the grass"

"Yeah," he says, s a nice peaceful nighto of the lie There’s a part of e of nor in my life--dreams included, apparently--is full-on abnorh secrets and tell enough half-truths lately The et trapped there I can’t tell Milo the whole truth, obviously, but I don’t have to lie about this

I take a deep breath, force myself to relax, and ask, "Ever have one of those drea, but then all of a sudden you can’t fly anymore?"

He holds out a hand to help pull me to my feet "All the ti We’re only inches apart and I have to fight the urge to lean into him