Jɪɴx ➪ 𝙡. 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙯

curiosity

chapter ten; curiosity (... is a bitch)

WHAT IF Leo was upset that she didn't say it back?

Jinx was too into the moment that she forgot to say it.

You didn't forget to say it, her sister's voice whispered.

Jinx had the sneaking suspicion that it was right. Maybe the reason she didn't say it back was that it was a big step forward. Was she scared that he'd wake up tomorrow and decide he no longer felt the same?

Was commitment an issue for her?

She shook her head. "No, he isn't like that."

"Who's like what?" Jason asked.

Jinx's eyes widened. "Hm? Nothing. What were you saying?"

Jason stared at her suspiciously. It was obvious that something had changed between her and Leo, but nothing was official.

As of right now, they could be considered as two horny teens... That made sense.

They were two days out to sea from Split, gray clouds swallowed the sky. The waves turned choppy. Cold drizzle sprayed across the deck, forming ice on the rails and the ropes. The scene could be cast for any shipwreck movie.

"It's the scepter," Nico murmured, hefting the ancient staff. "It has to be."

Ever since Jason and Nico had returned from Diocletian's Palace, they'd been acting nervous and cagey. It wasn't the fact that they technically walked in on them, that's what Jinx told herself.

She wouldn't be able to live with the embarrassment if they mentioned anything.

It made sense that the scepter might have caused this weather change. The black orb on top seemed to leach the color right out of the air. The golden eagles at its base glinted coldly. The scepter could supposedly control the dead, and it gave off bad vibes. Did it scare Jinx? Yes. But bad weather was a natural occurrence.

Coach Hedge had taken one look at the thing, turned pale, and announced that he was going to his room to console himself with Chuck Norris videos. Jinx suspected that he had ulterior motives, but her mind was elsewhere.

She tried to console herself, but everyone else was on edge.

"We can't talk up here," Jason decided. "Let's postpone the meeting."

They'd all gathered on the quarterdeck to discuss strategy as they got closer to Epirus. Now it was clearly not a good place to hang out. Wind swept frost across the deck. The sea churned beneath them.

Was this weather brewing while she and Leo locked lips?

Jinx cringed at the thought.

The ship's rocking set her at ease. On the other hand, Hazel was visibly turning green.

"Need to—" Hazel gagged and pointed below.

"Yeah, go." Nico kissed her cheek. Jinx tried schooling her facial expressions, but it was clear that she was shocked. Jinx and Piper locked eyes and she knew that Piper was thinking the same thing. He hardly ever made gestures of affection, even to his sister. He seemed to hate physical contact. Kissing Hazel...it was almost like he was saying goodbye.

"I'll walk you down." Frank put his arm around Hazel's waist and helped her to the stairs.

Those two were very couplely. On some days, Jinx would agree that they were cute, on others she remembered that Hazel was thirteen and Frank was sixteen. Although the age gap was only three years, their ages made it seem frightening. Plus, Jinx was forty percent sure that Frank was still scared of her.

Nico frowned at the scepter of Diocletian. "I should put this thing away. If it's really causing the weather, maybe taking it below deck will help..."

"Sure," Jason said.

Nico glanced at Piper and Leo as if worried about what they might say when he was gone. He slowly dragged his gaze to Jinx and she felt uncomfortable. There was something he wasn't telling her. She wasn't going to push him to tell her, Jinx wasn't that curious.

But she wanted to make sure that he was okay. "Nico, wait up." Jinx glanced at the other three, "I'll be back."

The words were directed to Leo, but she felt awkward singling him out.

"So much for the big team meeting. Looks like it's just us again." She heard Leo say as Jinx followed Nico down.

"Hey, slow down. I'm not a fast walker." Jinx stopped by a closet, picking out a sweater. The weather was unbearable today.

Nico slowed just the slightest, annoyed that she followed him. But by now, the two should've known their dynamic.

They were cousins, yes, but they were the type to be forced to talk to each other. To get off of their phones and socialize with others, if Nico even knew how to work a phone.

Jinx snickered. He probably doesn't, she thought.

"Go away, Jinx." Yet he continued to slow for her. "I'm not in the fucking mood."

She wasn't shocked at the outburst, since it had happened once, but it was laughable to her. Hearing her tiny cousin curse with the most dead serious face she's ever seen just made her crack up. But Jinx had to remind herself that right now wasn't a good time.

"Are you okay?"

"Obviously not."

Boy, did he have an attitude.

The ship's rocky movements made Jinx stumble forward, "all I'm saying is that you've been acting weird."

Nico turned to face her, "you make out with one boy and think you have the answer to all relationship problems." He rolled his eyes while she processed his words.

"Relationship problems? Nico... Do you have a person?"

Nico's pale face flushed, which was surprising because... Well because he was a pale person. "No. Shut up. You're always sticking your nose in other's business."

She could see his walls going up with no way of entering.

"Yeah, I know but I thought I'd try the whole cousin thing. You know, like how you and Hazel are doing the sibling thing. I thought it would be pretty cool."

"You're not my sister so stop trying to be." Nico began walking, "your dad is more fucked up than mine is."

Jinx didn't know if it was the weather the scepter was causing but his words made the hairs on the back of her neck stand. She shivered, clutching her sweater as she watched him walk away.

It was the anxiety at work, Jinx knew that, but her immediate thought was to blame herself. It was her fault for pushing even though she said she wouldn't. She thought she was helping and she wanted nothing more than to fit in with them all.

Her heart dropped at his words.

Nico is right, the voice hissed. It was always there, waiting to attack.

Sometimes it was her sister, Gaea, other times it was her father. While Gaea wanted to kill her and bring her down, which she made clear on many occasions, her father was keen on recruiting her.

Jinx thought they were on the same side, but her father seems to have ulterior plans.

"I'm not one of them." She reminded herself. "And I won't ever be."

Jinx had a place on this boat. It just wasn't the one she wanted.