Chapter 588

"Nope," Tony says instantly, staring at her warily, holding his hands up as if to protest his innocence. "I'm...good."

The Goddess laughs then, the sound somewhere between the tinkling of bells and the soft shush of ocean waves. "My boy likes a mystery, then." "Your boy?" Tony asks, shocked. "But I thought you said my magic -"

But the Goddess just laughs again, wrinkling her nose at him like she thinks he's cute, and begins to fade.

And quite suddenly, as if she was never here...

The Goddess is gone.

Silence rings between us for a long, long moment, each of us processing our wonder and our fear, all of the information we got that will, I'm sure, be keeping us each up at night wondering how to deal with this.

"Well, that was sufficiently stressful," Tony murmurs, crossing his arms and staring down at his desk as he tries to make sense out of the Goddess's cryptic words.

"What happened?" mom whispers, turning towards Cora even as she moves to Rafe, who hasn't looked up from his own desk. Mom wraps her arms around Rafe's shoulders and he rests his head against her, eyes shut. "What did she say?"

Jesse and Cora move to mom and Rafe, filling her in, while I turn to Jacks.

But he's already there at the side of my desk, reaching for me. A desperate little groan breaks from me as I reach for him, wanting him close. I stand so I can wrap my arms around his neck. Jackson instantly takes my meaning, lifting me up off the floor so that I'm pressed against his chest, one arm solid under my ass as the other wraps me up tight.

I rest my head down against the soft space between his neck and his shoulder, my face turned in towards him.

"Are you okay?" he whispers, anxious. I can feel his heart pounding against me and I press my right hand to his chest, willing it to slow, to rest.

"I'm okay," I whisper back, assuring him. "I just...it was so much at once, wasn't it?"

"What happened?" he asks, even as I feel him start to relax down the bond now that I've assured him I'm okay. "Why were you...why did your chair fall down?"

"Goddess stopped time," I murmur, suddenly exhausted. "We had a...private chat."

"What!?" he breathes, shocked. I lift my head to look into his eyes.

"Wait, what?" I hear behind me, and I turn my head to see my family looking at me, apparently having heard my words.

"Eavesdroppers," I mutter, giving them a glare.

"Secret-keeper,” Jesse returns, putting his hands on his hips. "Why did you get a secret conference!?"

"Because I'm the favorite," I sigh, putting my head back down on Jackson's shoulder even as I grin at Jesse. "And the prettiest. She told me so." Jesse scoffs. "I am clearly the prettiest -"

"You're the only guy she didn't call handsome," Tony quips, and as Jesse goes pale at the realization that he's right, Jackson turns so that we can both see Tony standing by the desk at the front of the room, his bag over his shoulder. "Is it okay to callan end to class now?" he asks, clearly unsettled, looking around at all of us. "I mean, it was for sure the most informative class we've ever had but..." he shrugs, "a lot to process."

"Of course, Tony," Cora says, her eyes crinkling as she nods to him. "We'll see you next week - and don't hesitate to get in touch in the meantime." "You got it," Tony murmurs, giving a little salute and heading for the door.

"Tony!" Jesse calls after him, and

Tony turns. "Come to our room tomorrow, after the Games. We're going to have a little unwinding celebration and we'll want to see you there."

Tony smirks, his eyes crinkling, I think pleased at the invitation. "All right," he says, giving a nod. "I'll see you then."

"Good," Rafe says, the word a little squeaky. He clears his throat, I think remembering his manners. "We'll be glad to have you."

Tony nods again and I wave to him, glad Jesse remembered to invite him. Tony - he really is a part of the group now, at least as far as I'm concerned.

"All right,” Cora says, glancing at mom. "We should get into some of the details of this before we head back to the Capital -"noveldrama

"Actually," I say on a sigh, lifting my head and looking at my mom, who turns towards me. “Do you think...we could have a minute? Just...me and you?" Jackson's arm tightens around me in silent request and I grin, glancing towards him. And Jacks?"

My mom nods once to me, a smile forming on her own lips as she gives Rafe another squeeze. "Sure, trouble. What's up?"