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CHAPTER EIGHT murder among thieves
———CONNOR! ( CALIFORNIA )
BY THE TIME Connor and Verona make it past the dusty scapes of whatever nowhere land Ares had left them in and to a train station, where they get on and then get off in San Francisco, it's nearing afternoon. The sun is even hotter than it was before, and although the ambrosia has healed Connor's cheek — it tastes like homemade brownies that remind Connor of his mother — and Verona's concussion, it still leaves her a little bit out of it — Connor's not sure if it's because she's still injured or something else. She hasn't said anything since they left Ares' chariot, only asking somebody at the train station where the nearest bathroom was — Connor and Verona were lucky enough that Aphrodite had included a fresh set of clothes for each in the bag Ares had given them: Verona sits beside him now in the back of a bus on the way to, from what Connor can tell, Solano county. Her hair has been cleaned up from the blood by now, and whatever is still imbedded in it has been braided back again — she too has abandoned her clothes from before for a pair of jeans and a grey hoodie much like Connor's own, a black jacket keeping her warm.
"So, goldilocks," Connor started, turning away from the aisle where he sits and towards Verona, who is sitting in the window seat. Her head is leaning against the window and she makes almost no indication that she heard him, save for the quiet hum that comes from her throat. Connor runs a hand through his hair. "Wanna tell me where we're going now?"
"California state prison," Verona muttered, shifting her eyes towards him as she sits up slightly, her hands nervously wringing together in her lap. Connor raised an eyebrow, staring intently at her as if to urge her to continue. She faltered, something Connor had next to never seen her do, and he's curious as to where all the confidence he knew she contained had suddenly gone. "My—uh—my dad is there — he's been in there for a while now."
"Since you were six?" Connor asked quietly, connecting the dots and creating a timeline in his mind of when Verona had first come to camp.
"Yeah," She placed a hand on the back of her neck, as if to stop heat from radiating towards it and her hands shake a little bit — this is the first time in hours, but what feels like days, that either of them have had a conversation that did not involve the topic of their impending doom did they not find Aphrodite's girdle, and now Ares shield. Connor is a little bit surprised that Verona doesn't look confused that he connected the dots — for a son of Hermes, Connor had easily always been doubted for his intelligence. He supposed he hadn't made it easier what with all the pranks he and Travis pulled around camp, but Travis had earned the respect of other campers as he got older and took on more duties, especially after Luke betrayed them and left camp — it made Connor a little sad that nobody would listen to the ideas he had to offer up, because beyond the scope of what he thought was funny and his mischief, Connor thought that he actually had a lot of good ideas. It made him feel a little bit warm, thinking that maybe Verona didn't think he was as stupid as the other campers did. "I—I kind of got placed with social services after dad got arrested, and I really didn't like my foster home, so I ran away. Found camp half blood after following a chirping dove for almost three days across the country. It was a little weird that nobody noticed a six year old travelling across state lines alone, or anywhere, but I try not to think about it."
