First Lie || Deception Book I ||

Revealed

Beach at 00:00 on August 1

- A

I sighed, silently tucking the short letter back into my pocket, and turned over in my bed for what seemed like the seventh-hundred time tonight. I craned my neck to look outside the cabin window at the moon's position.

Twenty minutes till midnight, I thought.

A few days after the Fourth of July celebration, I'd gotten a delivery via owl by Athena, who'd requested me to meet up with her or someone at midnight on August 1. Ever since then, I hadn't been able to ease my mind, consumed over what the goddess might want.

Sighing again, I silently sat up in my bunk, fluffed up my pillow and tucked it under my blanket. Ten minutes left. Time to go.

Checking with my shadows to make sure that everyone in the Hermes Cabin was asleep, I vanished into the darkness and reappeared at the edge of the woods on Fireworks Beach. Glancing around to make sure that no cleaning harpies were about and that I was alone, I sat down on the beach.

I smiled, recalling the celebration on the Fourth of July. It'd been incredible, especially the fireworks from Hephaestus' cabin and the work that they had put into it. And, of course, there was the afterparty, where Luke had brought me away from the rest of the crowd to a secret spot near the creek. We'd stayed up way past curfew, just lying on the picnic blanket and enjoying each other's company while watching the stars so high above.

I watched the moon drifting up in the sky, the slight breeze curling of the ocean playing with my hair. Camp was almost over, and once it was, summer would end as well. Then, my real mission would start. In retrospect, it would be okay. All I had to do was infiltrate, make them trust me, and get the information. All while not giving away my cover. But I was starting to develop real feelings for Luke, and while I wouldn't quite say that I loved him, it was posing a huge issue to my mission. Ally was also an obstacle, as she and I had grown even closer over the past few weeks.

I heaved a sigh, running my fingers through my blond hair in frustration.

"What's wrong?" a woman's voice said in amusement.

I launched to my feet so fast, I was sure that I'd broken something. Athena stood before me in a simple white t-shirt and jeans, her black hair pulled back into a ponytail.

I bowed. "Sorry, I didn't see you there. And it's nothing. Just . . . life."

"Just life, hmm? Okay, Clari," Athena said, beckoning me to walk with her along the shoreline. "You must be wondering why I called you here," she added. "I'll cut right to the chase. I think it's time that someone else at camp knows about your mission."

I stopped dead in my tracks. "What?"

Someone else? Who? Chiron?

"No, not Chiron, though I will inform him soon," Athena replied, reading the look on my face. "I told her to come here tonight, and she should be here . . . now."

I spun around and saw the silhouette of a girl running down towards the beach. Oh, I thought as the moon illuminated her. Annabeth.

"Mother? Why did you call - why are you here as well, Rianna?" Annabeth asked in confusion as she noticed me next to her mother. "Do you two know each other?"

"Yeah, you could say that," I said.

Athena suddenly snapped her fingers and, in the blink of an eye, the familiar surroundings of the camp disappeared, replaced by a sunny clearing. I blinked in surprise, my eyes quickly adjusting to the light.

"Wh-where are we?" Annabeth asked, her grey eyes wide. "What's going on?"

"Oh, somewhere in California," Athena responded. "And you might want to sit down."