Complete Nothing (True Love #2)(3)

That was what you got for coveting a goddess’s man. But as I watched the boy retrieve his board and Veronica help Darla brush off her backside, I knew I was out of line. My power of telekinesis had only just returned to me, and I still had no idea why. The deal with Zeus was that I had to form three couples without my powers. To that end, he’d stripped me of every last one before depositing me here on Earth. So why had this one returned? What did it mean?

And most importantly, would I get in trouble for using it?

I decided not to think about that right now. It was too much to wrap my brain around. Especially now, with Orion standing two feet away from me. I’d deal with the power issue later.

“Yeah, well, Dad says it was her idea.” Orion gestured toward the white SUV that had dropped him off, which was now idling at a stoplight near the corner. “He put his foot down when it came to my sister, so she lucked out and got Amy. Boring, normal Amy.”

I swallowed a sharp lump in my throat. He had a mother? A father? A sister? What was happening? How was this possible?

“I’m Heath,” Hephaestus introduced himself, extending one mesh-gloved hand. Orion shook it, then looked at me. “And this is True,” Hephaestus added.

“Nice to meet you guys.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “So, you greet all the new guys in school with a kiss like that?”

“No,” I said.

They both looked at me, waiting for more. Expecting more. An explanation, a joke, an excuse. But I had nothing. Orion was right there. Right. There. So close I could smell the piney shampoo he’d used this morning and see the tiny cut on his neck from shaving. I could have reached out and brushed the lobe of his ear and knew exactly how it would feel beneath the pad of my thumb. I knew every last inch of him—each variation of his laughter, every lilt of his voice, and the nose-prickling scent of his skin. I knew the particular way he stretched upon awakening, how he smacked his lips when he tasted something sour, that his gaze would dart to the horizon whenever he was startled.

But to him, I was a stranger.

“Anyway . . . I’m supposed to go to the main office?” Orion said, raising his eyebrows. He directed this comment at Hephaestus, probably discerning that I was a lost cause.

“We’ll show you, right, True?” Hephaestus said, turning his wheels toward the ramp outside the school’s side door.

“Yes,” I replied, finding my voice. “Yes. Of course.”

Orion walked next to Heath up the ramp. When I turned to follow them, my knees went weak and I had to grab on to a NO PARKING sign to keep from going down. I clung to it and tried to breathe.

What is happening? What is happening? Why is he here? Why does he not remember me?

“True?” Heath prompted as the door automatically opened in front of them.

“Coming!”

I summoned every ounce of strength within me, called on every triumph of my endless, immortal existence to buoy me, and forced myself to stand. Then I cleared my throat and followed the love of my life and the former god who was my best friend into Lake Carmody High. If ever there had been a sight more surreal than the two of them moving together under the huge HOMECOMING! banner, I wasn’t aware of it.

“So where’re you from?” Hephaestus asked Orion, glancing over his shoulder at me as we made our way down the front hallway. A few students milled around at their lockers, checked their phones for messages, and reviewed their homework. I was aware of them, but I didn’t really see them. Orion was the only person I could see. I had never felt a longing like this in my life. It was as if he was pulling me along by a leash clasped around my heart.

“We just moved here from Boston,” Orion said. “My dad got a new job in Manhattan and my aunt lives in Lake Carmody, so she found us a house.”

This had to be Zeus’s doing. There was no other god powerful enough for machinations like these. Creating an entire family? A history? A house and a move and a job? But why? Why had he sent Orion here? The deal was, he’d keep Orion with him while I completed my three love matches here on Earth, and I would be returned to Orion’s side once I succeeded. No one had said anything about sending Orion back to Earth, or about him losing his memory—his entire personality. Why would Zeus do this?

Could this mean that our deal was off? It was possible that Zeus was somehow displeased with my last match, and his punishment was to condemn us to live in this random American town for good. But there was no reason for him to disapprove of Charlie and Katrina. The sand timer he’d sent to track me had turned when they’d sealed their love with a kiss. I had thought I was on my way to victory. And now, this.

Hephaestus opened the door of the front office, and Orion stepped inside. I moved to follow.

“Thanks, guys,” he said, adjusting one backpack strap on his shoulder. “You don’t have to come with me. I got it from here.”

My arms went limp at my sides at the very thought of leaving him. I’d just gotten him back. Sort of. “But I can’t—”

“Right. Well, good luck!” Hephaestus said, and he let the door swing closed.

“We can’t just leave him!” I hissed.

“We have to!” Hephaestus replied, wheeling toward the wall. “He thinks he’s just a regular human kid. He thinks we’re regular human kids. Normal people wouldn’t follow him around like puppy dogs.”