Page 17 of The Wild Zone

After all we’d been through tonight, I wasn’t sure why we needed luck now, but then I realized Harper had a point. We still had to get cleaned up, face the scrutiny of our cabinmates, and hopefully grab a little sleep before dawn.

Finally, I arrived at the Ares cabin, number five. Home sweet home. Its outer walls were dark red—a shade the paint company probably sold as Blood of My Enemies. The roof was ringed with barbed wire. A gruesome boar’s head was mounted above the door. No light came from the windows, but rock music blasted from inside: “You want to have my heaaart? Why don’t you eat my faaarts?!”

I closed my eyes and sighed. “Give me strength.”

Benny chuckled. “Hey, heart does rhyme with fart.”

“Any chance you want to switch parents with me?”

His smile faltered. Too late, I remembered he was unclaimed.

“That was thoughtless,” I said. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” He shrugged, though the tightness around his eyes suggested this wasn’t his favorite subject. “I’d be happy if I could just narrow down my divine parent to a god or a goddess.”

My eyes widened. “Wait, you don’t know either of your birth parents?”

He shook his head.

“Benny, I’m so sorry….” I studied the other cabins. “Then…where are you supposed to sleep?”

He pointed toward the last cabin in the row—a rambling, run-down structure with peeling paint and the symbol of Hermes over the door: a winged staff entwined with snakes.

“Cabin Eleven,” Benny said. “Hermes, the god of travelers, drifters, guests. They take in anyone, even me. It’s not so bad.”

He gave me a brave smile, but my heart still broke for him a little.

“Well,” I said, “I guess it beats sleeping in the worm pit.”

Benny snorted. “That thing scared the castings out of me.” We both laughed and he added, “I’m sorry for earlier, coming down on you so hard about leaving Grant.”

I shook my head. “No, you were right. I shouldn’t have left him.” I glanced at my cabin. “I should check to see if he’s back yet.”

Benny nodded. “Find me tomorrow and let me know.”

“Absolutely,” I said, and we parted ways.

On the steps of Cabin Five, I steeled my nerves. With that music blasting inside, I figured my cabinmates must be up. I had no idea what kind of reception I would get, so I decided to make an impression. I threw back my shoulders and pasted on a bright smile. Then I kicked open the door, sending it flying off its hinges.

Oops.

Like I mentioned, sometimes my Ares-given strength gets the best of me when I’m stressed. There was nothing to do now but roll with it.

“Katie Kim in the cabin!” I hooted.

Twenty pillows hurtled my way.

“Shut up!”

“Some of us are sleeping!”

I shielded my head with my arm. “But there’s music playing!”

“Yeah, from Hate Faction’s Rock Yourself to Sleep album! Duh!”

Clarisse stormed toward me with a sour look on her face. Her hair was flattened on one side. A sleeping mask with metal spikes was strapped across her forehead, and her nightshirt was decorated with the schematics for a nuclear bomb.

“It’s quiet hours, newbie,” she snarled. “And only I get to kick down the front door.”