Chapter 7 – Riptide

Katie was thankful for a shower and a bed, but the King's hospitality went above and beyond. When she emerged from her shower wrapped in a fluffy white robe, she found two clean outfits lying on the bed. Katie was so grateful her eyes stung with unshed tears. Without bothering to get dressed, she fell into bed wrapped in the robe and fell into a deep, and thankfully dreamless, sleep.

Travis had been skeptical, but Demeter had directed him to King Menelaus so he accepted the man's hospitality. Besides, a bed and a shower would be awesome right about now. After his shower, he found two new outfits lying on his bed also. He immediately swapped the towel around his waist for the shorts he found on the bed and then crashed, wrinkling the rest of the new clothes.

He dreamed of Katie, but not in the demigod way. There were no instructions, no warnings. It was just him and Katie, back at camp, sitting on the beach watching the sunset. He knew it was a dream because she wasn't even yelling at him. She almost seemed to be enjoying his company.

He had to admit that he'd learned a lot about his Kitty-Kat on this trip. He'd been lost in his dream, reluctant to let it go, but slowly consciousness had returned. He'd slept for seven hours. That wasn't too bad for a life and death quest. Now he laid there, thinking about Katie, the dream, and what all of it meant to him. Before he could come to any conclusions, there was a knock on the door. It was his wake up call. It was time to set sail for Troy. Well Florida.

Katie and Travis met in the grand foyer. They each had a new backpack, filled with the clothes given to them by the king, along with fresh nectar and ambrosia. A few other necessities rounded out their belongings.

Travis glanced at Katie and gave her a small, reassuring smile. She returned it, but her eyes looked terrified. This quest was quickly coming to a close, and in the end, someone was assuredly going to die. She could only hope it was Helen. She couldn't even think about the fact that it could easily be Connor or Travis or herself. Travis reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it. Instead of yanking her hand back, she squeezed back, glad to have the contact. It was time for the final leg of the journey.

The trip to the dock was short. Katie gazed in awe at the Greek warship. "Amazing," she whispered.

Travis looked from her to the ship and back. He didn't see what was so amazing about it, but the look on Katie's face made that completely okay with him.

They were herded onto the ship and given a bunk. A trunk to store their bags sat at the foot of the small beds. The captain told them to make themselves scarce and stay out of the way. Unsure of what to do, Katie and Travis made their way to the top deck. Greek soldiers were running all over, not paying attention to them. Katie drifted to the railing and looked to the west, where the sun was setting beneath the horizon. They had talked little since they had met up in the foyer. Now, they had plenty of time to talk, and Katie had no idea what to say.

Travis sank down and leaned against the wall. He pulled his knees to his chest. A moment later, Katie sat next to him, taking up the same position. They sat with mere inches between them, but Katie felt like it was a gulf as big as the one they were sailing across.

"What's wrong, Kitty-Kat?" Travis asked her. She was staring vacantly into space.

Katie opened her mouth to rebuke him for the nickname but decided against it. Sometimes you have to pick your battles and this wasn't one of them. "Someone is going to die on the quest, Travis. What if it's one of us?"

"Won't happen. I'm too charming and good looking to die and Connor's too funny to die. The world would be a horrible place without us in it. No way would the Gods allow either of us to die. You…" he glanced over at her and grinned. "You're too stubborn to die, Katie. And if I have learned anything about you in the years we've known each other, you won't let either of us die, because you have a good heart."

Katie sat speechless. She wasn't sure what to say to that so she asked a question instead. "Do you think you can kill Helen?"

"I can do anything I need to, to save my brother," he replied.

"We'll save him, Travis. We have an advantage over Helen."

Travis looked at her sharply, his eyebrow arched. "We do?"

Katie grinned. "Of course we do. She's been dead for three thousand years. Things have changed a bit since our friend Helen walked the earth."

Travis couldn't help grinning back. "Very true. When'd you get so smart, Gardner?"

She leaned over and bumped his shoulder with hers. "I've always been this smart. You would know that if you spent more time talking to me, and less time tormenting me."

"But it's just so fun to torment you!" he protested. "Besides, that's a two way street Katie. If you wanted to talk, you could have come up to me any time and talked."

"Who said I wanted to talk to you? You're the one wondering why you never noticed how smart I was. Every time we're near each other at camp we're fighting, or you're making fun of me or pranking me. Why would I subject myself to that willingly?"

Travis opened his mouth to say something and shut it again. "I'm sorry about that. Sometimes I… well sometimes I just don't know what to say to a pretty girl, so I rely on teasing and pranks to get her to notice me." Wow. He couldn't believe he just said that. Out loud. To Katie Gardner of all people.

To his surprise, she blushed. Or he supposed it could have been the fading sun. "You don't have a problem talking to the Aphrodite girls," she pointed out. Travis imagined he heard a hint of jealousy in her voice.

"They…" What could he say? The Aphrodite girls were gorgeous but they weren't beautiful like his Katie-Rose was. Katie was beautiful inside and out. And if he didn't watch it, he was going to start calling Katie his to her face. And then she'd yell at him and probably beat his face in. He had better be careful. "They're shallow. Most of them don't care about anything but themselves."

She turned to look at him and found herself once again noticing the scar above his left eye. She reached out hesitantly and ran her finger over it. "What happened here?"

Travis closed his eyes as Katie touched him. "Hmmm? Oh, I took a hockey skate to the face when I was nine." He grinned when she looked horrified. "Connor and I were at the rink with our buddy. My friend fell and I tripped over him. Managed to nick me right in the forehead with his skate. Unfortunately that's not as cool as say… getting a scar from a dragon claw or something."

Katie thought about that for a moment. Then she nodded, more to herself than anything. "Travis? Why did you kiss me back in New York? During the Titan War?" she asked out of the blue.

Travis was taken aback by her question. "I… I…" he stuttered. He could feel the heat creeping up his neck and into his cheeks. "I thought we might die." Nice answer, Stoll. You're never gonna get to kiss her again if you keep talking that smoothly. Especially after that scene in the beauty salon.

Katie didn't speak for a moment. "Do you…" she swallowed. "Do you regret kissing me then?" she asked quietly. She wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Yes, bec-"

"You do?!" she interrupted. Her voice was full of pain. Now she absolutely refused to look at him.

Travis sighed. "Katie. Katie, look at me. Please."

Katie kept her head turned.

Travis reached over and took her chin, turning her face toward him. She resisted at first, but he wouldn't give up. She slowly raised her eyes to meet his. "You didn't let me finish," he said quietly. He let go of her chin and reached up to push a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "The reason I regret it is because of this." And he leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers.

Katie made a surprised noise in the back of her throat but after a moment she relaxed into the kiss. Her eyes drifted closed, her arms wound around his neck and her fingers tangled in the unruly curls of his hair. She felt his hand in her hair as his other arm went around her waist, tugging her closer.

She wasn't sure how it happened, but somehow she ended up in his lap, her arms around his neck, his around her waist. She was afraid of how right it felt. When they finally broke apart, they were both breathing with difficulty. She leaned her forehead against his, opening her eyes after a moment and looking into the depths of his blue ones.

"I regret it," he whispered, after catching his breath, "because that should have been our first kiss."

Katie blinked and then quickly slid out of his lap and stood up. Without looking at him again, she walked away.

Travis sat there, stunned, watching her go. What had he done? He played the scene back in his head, trying to pinpoint exactly where he'd gone wrong and couldn't figure it out. He pushed himself to his feet and started to chase after her.

Katie sank down on the bunk she had been given and flung her arm over her eyes. What had she been thinking? Travis Stoll? She sighed and let her mind roam. In her mind's eye she saw all the times at camp that they argued. The scene during the Titan War. After they had arrived in New York City and the jolt of electricity she had felt when he touched her. How hurt he'd been when she thought he would let her die. When she had thought he was going to die. And then she saw once again, the kiss they had just shared. Holy Zeus, did she like him? What did that mean? She could just imagine her siblings at camp reacting to the news that she liked Travis. She could imagine the entire camp reacting to the news. She could feel herself blushing at the mere thought of it.

"Katie?" Travis called as he came down the stairs to the bunk area.

Katie groaned and rolled over on her bunk. "Go away Travis. I don't want to talk to you right now."

"Kitty-Kat, tell me what's wrong. Please?"

"Go away."

"Katie…" he pleaded.

"Travis, just go away!"

Travis watched her for another minute. When she refused to turn over and even look at him he shook his head. "This isn't over, Katie," he muttered ominously. Turning silently on his heel he walked away from the stubborn daughter of Demeter.

They spent the entire next day on the boat avoiding each other. Katie stayed in her bunk most of the day while Travis wandered from bow to stern so many times he lost count.

No matter how many ways she thought about it, Katie couldn't avoid the conclusion: she liked Travis Stoll. And she would be damned to Hades if she let him know that.

"Katie!" Travis pounded down the stairs. "It's time." He looked directly at her.

Katie couldn't look him in the eye for fear she'd give away her newfound feelings. She busied herself packing and repacking her bag. When she was satisfied, she ran nimbly up the stairs without a backward glance.

Travis watched her retreating back and shook his head. He threw the last of his stuff in the bag and followed her up the stairs. He found her at the bow, her hair blowing in the wind as she watched the ship make its way to the dock. "Katie," he walked up behind her slowly. When she didn't turn, he stood next to her, careful not to touch her. "I'm scared," he admitted.

"Me, too," she replied. "But we'll get through this. We didn't come all this way just to stop now."

"I'm not going home without my brother."

"I never expected anything less, Travis."

Chapter title song list: – Rip Tide (Sick Puppies; Tri-Polar album released 2011)