Chapter 3

The drive home was Nora's favorite part about working at Donates. She stuck her hand out the window and let the breeze run through the gaps of her finger as the scent of lavender filled her mini car.

When she lived on campus, the lavender fields always seemed to be calling to her. She had spent countless afternoons laying in the sun, lost in the sea of lavender as she traveled through words in her books. The colors were always so vibrant. Just an endless sea.

But as soon as the drive ended and Nora entered her empty apartment above the bakery, she instantly regretted accepting Clare's offer.

She missed home. She missed her Aunt Lidia. The woman had raised her after Nora's mother passed away when she was 9 years old. Mark, Nora's father, didn't have a clue on how to raise a child. His world revolved around numbers and statistics. Lidia had been the one to guid Nora through her teen years. Not that she needed any guiding.

Nora was an old soul. She didn't always fit in with people her age. Lidia used to joke that the aliens had visited and forgot the little brown eyed child in her sister's house.

"They're all so brainless," Nora used to groan after school. "Not a single one can hold an intelligent conversation."

"Well what do you want to talk about?" Lidia would laugh from her chair.

"I want to talk about the stars, or go look at paintings at a museum. Or read Poe's poems."

"You're such a loser," Lidia teased. "You're trying too hard to be cool. Life isn't that serious, relax."

"Something has to be serious," Nora would mutter. "Something more than Facebook or what dress Ella Radacovick wears to the red carpet."

"You leave my queen alone!" Lidia worshiped that woman. "She's the people's queen."

Nora laughed as all of Lidia's words came rushing back into her head. She stood in the doorway of her dark apartment as she found herself wishing she was home with her aunt, talking about Ella Radacovick. The place was too quiet and Nora hated silent things.

Dead people were silent. Dead people did not talk. Dead people like Nora's mother...

The night Liana died, Nora was sleeping right beside her. Liana had been sick for a while. The doctors told her there wasn't much they could do. They wanted to keep her in the hospital but Liana wanted to be at home. She wanted to rest in her own bed.

Nora didn't know exactly at what point during the night her mother had passed. All she remembered from that traumatizing morning was the eerie silence in the room. At first, she had assumed it was snowing outside. Only when it snowed did the whole words get so still and so quiet. But after several minutes, as she began to crawl out of her head, Nora remembered they were still in early fall. There was no snow...

Ever since that morning, Nora became fearful of anything too still or too silent. Standing at the apartment door, she began to switch on all the lights and turn on the T.V as she kicked off her shoes and walked in. Dropping her bags on the coffee table, she dialed Lidia on the house phone and put it on speaker.

"Hey, Alexa," she turned towards the end table. "Play my music."

Instantly, upbeat music poured out through the speakers strategically placed all over the apartment. Nora plopped down onto the comfy gray couch and pulled out her phone as Lidia answered.

"Hey, loser," the woman greeted. "How was work? What did your horrible boss do today?"

"He's not my boss," Nora clicked her tongue. "But, oh my god, why is he such a dick?"

"It's the universal boss rule."

"He won't let me help, he won't give me any real work to do. All he wants is for me to get him his disgusting black coffee and make copies! Copies! I did not slave away in college to make copies!"

"So then quit."

"What?" Nora frowned.

"Quit," Lidia repeated herself. "If this job is making you so unhappy, just quiet."

"But..."

"You still have connections back at the palace, right? I'm sure you can even get your old job back."

"But Clare," Nora began to pick at the fuzz on her cushions.

"Are you scared of Clare?"

"I'm not scared of Clare," Nora rolled her eyes. "I respect her. She personally came to offer me this job. She said she had high hopes for me. I don't want to disappoint her."

"But you're not even working for Clare! You're working for Mister tall, dark and handsome."

"Ew," Nora shivered. "Aunt Lidia, please."

"What?" Lidia laughed. "He's easy on the eyes."

"Did I tell you he doesn't even remember that we were in the same class?"

"To be fair, you attended zero school events other than classes."

"Who's side are you on, lady?"

"Attack! Attack! Nora - Attack! Hayden watch out, you better get back!"

"God! I can't stand the man," Nora whined. "I really thought about using dirty sink water to make this coffee this morning."

"Why didn't you?"

"I don't know," Nora sighed. "It was a bad day at work. His sister got attacked, his friend got abducted."

"He wouldn't even have tasted the coffee."

"Maybe time-"

Nora was cut off as her phone rang beside her. She looked down and groaned loudly over the music as she picked up one of the cushions and tried to suffocate herself.

"What is it?" Lidia asked from the other side as she heard the phone ringing and Nora having an exorcism.

"It's Hayden!" Nora picked up her phone.

"Don't pick up!"

"I have to pick up," Nora cried.

"Don't pic-"

"Hello," Nora hit the answer button. "Hayden?"

"Christ, where are you?" Hayden asked, holding the phone away from his ear.

"Home," Nora looked around.

"Are you having a party?"

"No," Nora placed her hand over the speaker. "Alexa, turn off the music."

The music stopped at once. Nora looked at the remote and debated on whether she should turn it off or not. She could hear Lidia's bath water running through the house phone, maybe that would be enough sound.

"Yes, I'm here," Nora went back to her cell phone. "Sorry about that."

"Oh good, I can finally hear myself think now."

Nora took in a deep breath, "How can I help you?"

"Birdie hasn't eaten anything today."

"I'm so sorry to hear that?" Nora leaned back into the couch.

"She wants Baklava," Hayden said. "I'm stuck doing something for Ares and I need you to pick up a box of Baklava and bring it to my sister."

"Excuse me?" Nora sat up.

"Make sure it's fresh."

"Where am I suppos-"

"I have to go, Nora."

"Wiat!"

But it was too late. Hayden had already hung up.

Nora stared at her phone in disbelief as if the green eyed boy would choke if she squeezed hard enough. She could hear her blood rushing past her ears as she sat still, dumbfounded by Hayden's bazar demand.

"Nora Bora," Lidia called to her niece. "Are you still there?"

"Baklava," Nora said. "What in the world is Baklava?"

"A very popular middle easter dessert," Lidia laughed. "Very delicious."

"Where am I supposed to get baklava at..." Nora paused to look at her watch. "9 PM!"

"What?"

"Fresh baklava!"

"This is too much," Lidia grew angry. "Call him back. Tell him you're off the clock. He's a jinn, tell him to summon it himself."

"It's for his sister," Nora let her shoulders drop as she toppled over sideways onto the couch.

"Oh boohoo."

"I have to go, Aunt Lidia," Nora sighed.

"No!" Lidia protested. "Nora, no! You tell him you're off the clock."

"He's with Ares," Nora rose from the couch. "And his sister hasn't eaten all day."

"Do they not have parents?"

"Clare's going to fire me."

"She won't!"

"She will," Nora shook her head, feeling exhausted to her bones.

"Over baklava?!"

"I have to go, Liddy."

"I'm disappointed in you."

"You're taking advantage of my kind heart."

"No," Lidia snorted. "That jinn is."

Nora didn't have a chance to reply as her aunt hung up. She tossed the phone into her purse and grabbed her keys. Leaving the T.V on, Nora rushed out of her apartment, hopping on her feet as she slipped on her shoes.

By some strange alignment of the cosmos, Nora happened to live right above a bakery. But her happiness was short lived when she realized the same cosmos was out to get her. The bakery did not sell baklava.

"Why would you?" Nora smiled at the lady at the counter. "Why would you sell a middle easter dessert in a small town in the middle of nowhere? That would be too good to be true."

"I'm sorry," the woman looked at the shelves. "Would you like some cream puffs?"

"Hold on. Let me ask," Nora wanted to cry out of frustration as she pulled out her phone and texted Hayden.

Does Birdie like cream puffs?

The phone dinged with an instant reply.

Cream puffs and Baklava? Sounds delicious. What a treat.

"So?" the sweet old lady asked as Nora resisted the urge to bang her head against the counter.

"I'll take a dozen cream puffs," Nora sighed. "And would you be able to tell me where I can find baklava?"

"Sorry, peaches," the woman shrugged. "I don't know any bakery in town that makes that."

"I don't know how to work miracles," Nora looked into the women's eyes and confessed. "I need baklava or my real boss will fire me."

"Over baklava?"

"Over baklava!"

"Sorry, sweetheart," the woman frowned. "I wish I could help."

"Thank you. How much for the cream puffs?"

Once Nora paid for the pastries and it was neatly packed into a pink box, she walked out of the bakery and headed for her car. Using her phone, she searched for baklava until she found a tiny Greek bakery outside of town. Setting the GPS, Nora muttered under her breath the whole way as she zoomed out of town towards the shop.

With just minutes to spare, Nora was able to get her foot into the door before the old man with the gray hair flipped the open sign on the door. He was only able to offer her half a dozen pieces. They weren't fresh, but old baklava was better than no baklava.

"Thank you!" Nora was so relieved she could have kissed the man.

Hopping back in her car, she drove back to campus and used her employee ID to get into the dome. The whole way to the elevator, Nora hummed to herself to get over how empty and silent the halls were. She was half tempted to plug in her headphones but with her arms full of desserts, she couldn't even tell which pock her phone was inside.

"Okay," Nora let out a deep breath as she walked into Hayden's office. "I have cream puffs and baklava. They're not fresh but it's something, right?"

Hayden looked up from where he sat behind his desk.His thumb stopped clicking the pen in his hand as the corner of his lips curved up ever so slightly.

"Where did you manage to get baklava at this hour in Rhea?"

"Didn't Clare tell you?" Nora placed the boxes down. "I am very skillful. I can work miracles."

"Hm," Hayden nodded.

Nora flicked the little wisp of hair that had escaped her ponytail. The office was dimly lit, the lamp on Hayden's desk being the only source of any kind of light other than the hallway. All the corners of the room seemed like tall shadow giants to Nora as she squinted, trying to break through her imagination and see what was really underneath.

"What's up?" Hayden asked.

"I can't tell if that's a chair with a pile of clothes on it or if that's a person."

Hayden followed Nora's eyes, "That's my baba."

"What?" Nora jumped back.

"Shhhhh," Hayden smirked. "You'll wake him."

"What is he doing sleeping in the corner like that?" Nora whispered.

"Go ask him," Hayden shrugged. "Last I checked, he was reading a book. Maybe he's dead."

Nora's heart shrank to the size of a small pea. She felt all the color drain from her face as her hands began to shake and her stomach turned.

"Don't say that," she removed her bag from her shoulder and tossed it at the foot of Hayden's table.

With a look of determination and fear, Nora took a small step forward. Her hands shook and her throat tightened. Hayden could hear her heart hammering away in her chest as he held back a laugh.

"Mr. Heyder..." Nora called into the darkness. "Sir....are you up?"

"Oh my god, Nora," Hayden gasped. "I think he's really dead."

Nora looked over her shoulder at the boy standing by the desk. She began to remember what it had been like to wake up next to her dead mother as Hayden's bright green eyes stared back at her from the darkness.

"Mr. Heyder!" Nora called once more, a little louder. "Sir!"

"Yes..."

Nora let out a scream as Heyder answered from the doorway. Hayden couldn't contain his laughter anymore. All the lights in the room came one at once, revealing the chair in the corner to be occupied by the jacket Nora had forgotten last week.

The sound of Nora's heart beating could have given a fighter jet a run for its money. She placed a hand over her chest and tried to catch her breath. Her eyes watered slightly as her fear boiled into anger.

"Hayden," Heyder looked at his son with suspicious eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Excuse me," Nora said as she ran out of the office and headed for the bathroom.

She almost knocked Heyder out of the way as she stormed off, leaving the younger jinn holding in his laughter.

"What's gotten into you?" Heyder asked, looking at his son. "Kiara is missing and you're here burying me alive."

"It's nothing," Hayden shook his head. "Just Nora."

"Leave the girl alone," Heyder shook his head. "She's human. Don't go giving her a heart attack."

Hayden slowly nodded, composing himself, "Sorry, baba. Won't happen again."

"What are those?" Heyder pointed to the boxes on Hayden's desk.

"Baklava and cream puff. You want some?"

"Where did you get baklava?"

"Nora got it."

"See, she's a sweet girl," Heyder shook his head as he walked into the office and undid the first box. "Keep her alive."

"I'll try."

Just then, Nora walked back into the room. The strands of hair around her face were damp, indicating she had just washed her face. Her eyes were clouded and her face was dull. She walked in and hung back around the door as Heyder picked up a piece of baklava and bit into it.

"Thanks for the treats, sweet pea," the jinn said.

"They're for Birdie," Nora mumbled.

"Birdie doesn't like baklava."

"What?" Nora's eyes snapped up to meet the jinn.

"She's not a fan of baklava," Heyder shrugged. "Maybe she'll have some of the cream puffs."

Nora looked at Hayden over his father's shoulder. The half jinn didn't look back at her as he took great interest in something on his desk.

"Alright," Heyder clapped his hand, shoving the last bit of baklava into his mouth. "Let's go. Apollo is coming."

"Apollo?" Nora's eyes widened. "The sun god?"

"Yep," Heyder nodded. "He's been out looking for Kiara."

"Did they find her?"

"Not yet," Heyder shook his head. "Now come along. Take notes or whatever it is you do for my son."

"I don't take notes," Nora said. "I just buy baklava."

"I say that's better then taking notes."

Nora stepped out of the office as Heyder licked his thumb and began to head toward Clare's office. She didn't wait around for Hayden as she fell into steps behind the older jinn and ignored the younger one.

"How's Killian?" Heyder asked as they all passed by the room he was in.

"He's still trying to reach her," Hayden said. "He said he was able to see her once but something keeps blocking him."

"Don't keep him under for too long."

"I won't."

Nora paused and peeked into the room. She found Killian laying in the small bed with all the lights dimmed and the curtains drawn tightly shut. If it were for the way his chest rose and fell, she would have had another anxiety attack just looking at him lying in bed like that.

"Nora," Hayden paused outside of Clare's office. He held the door open for her and waited.

Nora quickly stole one last glance at Killian before scurrying over to where Hayden waited for her.

"You lied to me," she said as she passed him.

"About?" Hayden asked, trying to hold back a small smile.

"About the damn baklava," Nora glared. "Birdie doesn't like it."

"Oh, she doesn't?" Hayden raised a brow. "I had no idea."

"I also don't appreciate you pulling my leg like that," Nora muttered.

Hayden didn't answer. He followed her in, watching the way her tiny face scrunched up in irritation. Did she know how hilarious she was?

"About damn time," Ares' voice pulled Nora out of her head.

She looked up and found the god standing beside Clare while Posey and Tobias sat on the sofa across from Maya. Heyder walked over to his wife and took the empty seat beside her before looking over to the man with the curly blond hair.

"Good to see you two after so long," the man gave Heyder a nod.

"Apollo," Heyder gave a nod back.

Nora couldn't stop staring. She rolled up her sleeve and pinched herself as her eyes bounced around the gods in the room. She wanted to pull out her phone and take a photo for Lidia, but thought better of it.

Suddenly, as Hayden walked farther into the room, leaving Nora standing by the door on her own, she began to feel out of place. She had no business attending this meeting. Why had Heyder suggested she come along? Would it be too rude to walk out?

Obviously her lovely boss was no help. Nora looked at Hayden from across the room. He had walked over to the window where he took a seat beside a tall blonde with beautiful Hazel eyes and rosy cheeks. She smiled up at him and made space on the seat beside her as Hayden said something. Nora watched as they both chuckled and the girl playfully pushed Hayden's arm.

"Any news on?" Heyder was the first to break the silence. "It's almost been 24 hour."

"Apollo," Tobias spoke up, his voice and eyes grim. "Did you find anything?"

Apollo sighed. He rubbed his palms over his thighs and shook his head.

"She's not somewhere where the sunlight can reach her," the god said.

"She's not in the underworld," Posey said. The goddess of the dead was almost lifeless herself as she sat beside her husband.

"How is this possible?" Maya asked. "Where could they have taken her?"

"They're not in the veil," Ares said. "Selene would have seen them. And beside humans can't enter the veil."

"Don't forget they have jinn hybrids," Heyder said. "One of those fuckers blasted my daughter."

"Where can she be?" Maya muttered, mostly to herself.

Nora's eyes roamed around the room. She very much wanted to go back to the comfort of her own apartment where she could play the music as loud as she could. Well...maybe not that loud. She did have neighbors.

She just couldn't stand the way these people stood around silently. Minutes would go by and they would stay lost in their heads. Oftentimes she had the urge to randomly scream to get them to flinch or move or something.

Nora was beginning to fidget as if she had ants in her pants. She was seconds away from trying out her scream test when someone finally spoke up.

"She has to be on an island," Tobias said, after what seemed like an eternity.

"An island?" Maya raised a brow. "How do you figure?"

"In the beginning, during the rule of the Titans, mother Earth would create these secret islands on Earth to protect demigods or other gods from Titans," Tobias began to explain. "Zeus was raised on one of these islands before he was old enough to defeat our father. These islands....they're hidden, even from the gods."

"How would a group of humans find these super secret islands then?" Heyder asked.

"The same way Perseus or Theseus found the islands during their quests," Tobias sat up. "Storms would blow them off track at sea. If by some luck they can break through the boundaries, they're in."

"Like Thesis' island," Clare spoke up. "Zeus kept the Ophiotaurus on a hidden island."

"Yes," Tobias nodded. "Exactly. The islands don't show up on any maps. But once you know where they are, you can return."

"So..." Ares slowly nodded. "Some one must have stumbled upon one of these islands and knew what it was. They relocated Project Skyfall."

"The perfect spot," Apollo said. "It makes sense. Not even the gods will know where to look."

"How many islands are there?" Nora suddenly asked.

All eyes in the room turned towards her at once. Hayden leaned back in his seat and settled his eyes on her as she began to squirm under all the powerful gazes.

"They're endless," Apollo said. "One can drown and two more will pop up."

"So there is no way of knowing where these islands are?" Nora asked.

"You only know when you're caught in a sudden violent storm at sea."

"Kiara..." Posey suddenly sat up. "The first time she teleported...."

Clare slowly nodded her head, "She teleported to a ship for the project."

"Then Tobias' theory is correct," Apollo said. "They probably are on one of these islands."

"There has to be a way to find them," Maya ran a hand through her hair.

"Are there any old maps?" Nora asked, catching everyone's attention once more.

"Pardon me, but who are you?" Apollo raised a brow.

"This is Nora," Clare stepped in. "One of my old students. She's working with Hayden now."

"She bought baklava," Heyder added.

"Hi," Nora waved to the sun god. "You're very bright...like your skin... I feel like I need shades."

"Don't look at me for too long darling," Apollo smiled. "It's not good for mortals."

"Question," the blonde girl sitting beside Hayden suddenly spoke up. "Doesn't Kiara have a gold pixie ring?"

"She does," Ares nodded.

"Why hasn't she used it yet?"

"Thea...darling," Apollo sighed. "These people are not your regular neighborhood weirdos that kidnap kids from the park. They're highly trained military heads from various world governments with endless supplies of money and resources. They're smart, well informed, and have lots of connections. They wouldn't make silly mistakes like leaving Kiara with her ring on. It was probably the very first thing they took from her."

"They probably have her sedated," Ares added. "They wouldn't keep her conscious. Kiara would just kill them all."

"And even if they did wake her up, they would probably weaken her somehow so she couldn't access her pull potential," Clare said.

"We're not just dealing with anyone," Apollo looked at his daughter with warm eyes. "These people have studied us for years and years. They probably know more about us than we do about each other in this room."

As words began to float around the room, all the colors slowly drained from Posey's face. She didn't have much to begin with. But as Nora watched, the woman's features crumbled in pain as she gripped her husband's hand.

"We'll have her home soon," Tobias promised.

"There's something you all should know," Hayden suddenly cleared his throat. Nora turned to look at him as he looked up at Clare.

"What is it?" Heyder asked.

"Kiara is pregnant."

The room fell into silence.

"What?" Tobias' raised a brow.

"It's true," Clare nodded. "I sensed it just a few hours ago when Ares went out to check on Cara."

"No, no, this can't be happening," Posey shook her head. "My baby....does Killian know?"

"No," Hayden said.

"Well, someone needs to tell him," Maya looked at her son. "Wake him up."

"This just got really complicated," Apollo rubbed his forehead. "These people are geneticists...can you imagine what they will do to a fetus? This is their Christmas."

"Stop it!" Posey jumped to her feet. "Why are we all just sitting around here? We have to find my daughter! Tobias, send out the furies! Do something!"

"Persephone..."

"No!" Posey shook her husband's hand away. "What use is a god to me if none of you can bring my daughter back to me?"

"She's right," Thea spoke up. "We shouldn't be sitting around. There has to be some place where we can start."

"I might have a place..." Nora raised her hand quietly.

Through the crowd of gods, jinns, and witches, Clare's eyes landed on Nora.

"Yes, Nora?" She asked.

"Well earlier today I was looking at footage from the afternoon," Nora started slowly. "And I was able to piece together a license plate...it was for Florida. At first I thought they just stole plates. But you guys are talking about islands and ..... Well, I was just thinking....Florida is surrounded by water on three sides....they could have gotten on a boat anywhere from there."

Clare slowly nodded her head. She gave a small smile before turning to her husband.

"Let's go to Florida."  

What do you guys think? :)