Omega Read Free Page A

now grave and unreadable.
    I studied him, wishing I could read his
thoughts or make him smile again. “Something is wrong,” I
assessed.
    “ Not wrong. It’s always
complicated to move from one place to another.” He shook his head.
“Anyway, you have a treasure hunt to complete this weekend. Your
tasks are in the bag. You will not wish to wait until morning. I
put up several traps and obstacles.”
    I muttered curses I’d learned from him under
my breath. As long as we had been together, I never really knew
what to expect on these adventures. “I’ll see you Sunday night,” I
said reluctantly.
    “ Heed the boundaries and
rules.”
    “ I know.” I pulled on my
shoes obediently and a camouflage windbreaker. When I stood, he
smiled at me again.
    “ Good girl. Don’t get lost
out there.”
    It wasn’t possible and we both knew it. I’d
been over every inch of that forest multiple times. “Have fun in
town.”
    He turned and left.
    I grabbed the bag and left my room for the
forest once more.
    No boys. No future. No town.
    There were days when I wanted out of my life
so badly I wanted to scream.
     

Chapter Two
     
    Small opportunities are
often the beginning of great enterprises.
    – Demosthenes
     
     
    Nothing bad had ever happened in five
minutes, right?
    Just as the sun sank below the horizon, I
reached the red cord marking the boundaries of the priests’ forest
refuge. This end of the woods stopped before a natural lake
surrounded by hills. I perched on a tree stump inside the
boundaries, gazing at the serene lake with a combination of longing
and frustration.
    A hundred meters. I ran twenty times that
distance five times a week. It would take me under five minutes to
run to the lake, strip off my shoes and socks to dip my toes in the
water and run back.
    I chafed sometimes at the restrictions
Herakles put me under. I cared for him too much to want to
disappoint him. But tonight, knowing he was gone, and I’d be
leaving here soon, too, I just wanted to throw everything aside and
be in control of my life for five minutes to see what it was like.
With Leandra’s laughter still in my thoughts, and my frustration
with this place at a pitch, I was tired of being excluded and
ridiculed for being different.
    No one would see me if I just stepped past
the boundaries for a split second. Herakles had left, and the
nymphs were in town by now, so they couldn’t report me.
    I approached the red rope and nudged my toes
up against it then looked around. I half expected there to be a
siren or electrical shock or something after the constant reminders
from Herakles and the priests never to leave the woods.
    Nothing happened.
    I stepped on the red cord.
    Still nothing.
    I stepped over the physical boundary of my
world, and a thrill went through me. Not only was there no alarm
but I didn’t feel guilty or bad for doing it, emotions that might
derail me from continuing. I stayed where I was, my heels butting
up against the cord, and lifted my gaze to the lake.
    The possibilities were endless. My whole
life started right here and now.
    I laughed at my overdramatic thoughts,
realizing nothing was about to change except I might upset
Herakles. That alone made me hesitate. I loved my crazy Mountain
Man guardian, and it bothered me to think I was going to make him
mad by doing this.
    Assuming he finds
out. The stubbornly independent side of me
he spent hours trying to exhaust with physical activity knew there
was only one way he could find out, and I wasn’t about to tell him.
At least, not for three weeks. Maybe after graduation, when we were
on our way to the Burger God I was going to spend my life working
at, I’d tell him of the one time in twelve years when I defied him
to dip my toes in the lake.
    Crouching like it was a race, I breathed in
deeply then bolted. I was completely alone, competing only with
myself. I laughed as I sprinted, tickled beyond anything to be
completely free, if only for mere minutes.
    Sprinting