Hi guys! Wow, worst updater ever, right? SORRY! Hopefully now that it's summer I'll be a bit better, I've been relatively busy and stressed due to multiple extremely important projects plus finals. Yay. Anyways, in response to reviews: Thank you, Katherington! And no, DJ3K, the story is not over…

"Okay," Reyna said guardedly, cautiously. Secretly she was liking this Kinley person more and more, but she also had her pride. Hey, it was an honest concern.

Kinley mopped at his eyes with a handkerchief, which had magically appeared in his hands. Who uses a handkerchief? That only happens in books, thought Reyna, and was surprised to find she felt affectionate towards this confident, odd, handsome boy. Then she blushed to realize that she thought he was handsome.

Kinley gave one last gasp of laughter, then he gave Reyna a bright, surprisingly disarming smile. "Come on," he said, and began walking.

"Where are we going?" Reyna asked, falling into step beside him. It felt easy. Natural, like she had been doing it her whole life.

"I have a friend," he replied, then pressed his lips together. He drew his hand across his mouth and pretended to lock it and throw the key away, a childish gesture that would have seemed weird on anyone else but just made Kinley look more…Kinley. It was the thing she liked best about him, she realized. He was so confident, so himself. Others created illusions, acted differently, showed off—well, maybe he was showing off. I hope he is, Reyna thought. She liked him, and wanted him to like her. The thought made her blush again. She pressed a cool hand to her cheek.

Lost in thought, Reyna didn't notice when they reached the house and almost tripped on the front step. Kinley attempted to catch her and instead tripped over his own two feet. They fell in a tangle of limbs. Reyna's cheeks were on fire.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

"'S okay," Kinley replied easily. Just as he raised his hand to knock, he said, "I should warn you, this friend isn't human." He knocked and the door flew open.

Reyna shrieked. "Kinley Yelnik!" she screamed.

Kinley looked confused. "What?"

"You really couldn't be bothered to tell me that your friend is a Hyperborean?!"

The Hyperborean scratched its head. "Kinley," it rumbled. "Who your new friend?"

"Hey, Temp," he replied, craning his neck to look up at the giant blue…well, giant. "This is Reyna. Say hello to Tempestas, Reyna."

"Good afternoon," Reyna said distractedly. "Kinley. Seriously. I am not joking. What the heck is it—I mean, he—doing here?"

Kinley grinned. "Temp, can we come inside?"

Temp smiled. "Kinley and girlfriend come inside now."

Kinley bowed his head jokingly towards Reyna. "Ladies first," he said grandly. Reyna swatted him on the arm as she stepped through the doorway.

"Whoa," she breathed. What looked like an ordinary house from the outside was really a huge house. No, that wasn't right. It wasn't a house—it was a portal of some sort to Alaska. Reyna recognized the glaciers.

Kinley came up behind her. "Pretty cool, huh? Pun intended."

He was right. Now that Reyna had gotten over her initial shock, she was shivering. Very hard. "How do we get back?" she shouted over the wind.

Kinley went white. "Shoot. I shut the door."

Reyna groaned. "Thanks a lot, Kinley. What do we do now?"

Kinley bit his lip thoughtfully. "Well, how did you get to Timbuktu?"

Reyna snorted. "Aphrodite."

"Well, can you, like, summon her or something?"

"I don't have the gods on speed dial, idiot. Besides, won't Tempestas get mad?"

"Nah, he's fine. He's with his buddies. I doubt he'll even notice we're gone." They looked over at Temp. He was sitting and fishing with some other blue-bottomed Hyperboreans.

Reyna turned back to Kinley and crossed her arms over her chest. "Okay, then. That takes care of Temp, now what about us?"

"I am sticking by my previous suggestion."

"I told you, Kinley. You can't go around just summoning gods!"

Reyna looked at Kinley. His eyes were wide and he was staring at something behind her. "Oh really?"

Reyna whirled around. There stood Aphrodite. She was examining her nails. "I heard my name?" she said expectantly.

Reyna rolled her eyes. "You got me into this, Aphrodite. Now get us out of here!"

"Us?" Aphrodite asked. "Interesting."

Reyna blushed furiously. "Well, I can't leave Kinley here."

Aphrodite looked slyly at Reyna. "On the first name basis, are we?"

Reyna felt like throwing a temper tantrum. "Gods, why are you so frustrating?!"

"Part of my nature, dear," Aphrodite replied, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

Kinley stepped forwards and put a hand on Reyna's shoulder; Reyna had forgotten he was there. "Excuse me, ma'am. Could you just do your magic bit and get us back home?"

Aphrodite winked. "If that's the way you want it!" And they were standing back in the field where Reyna had begun.

"Where are we?" Kinley asked. His hand was still resting on her shoulder. Reyna was suddenly hyperaware of his touch, the warmth of his hand, his calloused fingertips.

"Um…" Reyna never said um. Get yourself together, she thought sternly. "We're at Camp Jupiter."

"Where's that?"

"Home, for me at least," Reyna said carefully. She turned towards Kinley. He was blushing in the dim evening light.

"Reyna?" he said hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"Um, well. Um, I really like you. And I'd like to get to know you a bit better, you know, when we don't have to deal with Aphrodite. So, um, would you like to go out and, um, get coffee sometime?"

Reyna beamed. "Definitely!"

Kinley grinned back. He slipped his hand into hers. And for the first time in years, Reyna felt free.

Hope you liked it! I'll probably do one more chapter, a sort of epilogue, and then we'll be done. Thanks for reading! :)