First Lie || Deception Book I ||

Daughter of Dionysus

Silence descended around the bonfire. It was so quiet that you could have heard, well, a pin drop. I watched Ally's reaction anxiously. I'd long since known that she was a daughter of Dionysus or Demeter; after all, who else could control vines? But I didn't know how she'd react to being claimed on her birthday at the bonfire by Dionysus, who'd been at camp the entire time. And why didn't she tell me today was her birthday?

Ally's face was blank.

This was not going to go well.

"Hail Allison Fallon, daughter of the wine god," Chiron said, stomping his hoof.

Ally stared at Dionysus blankly and stood up. She shot a glance at me, silently pleading with me to go with her.

"Be right back," I whispered to Luke and followed Ally as she walked out of the amphitheatre without a backward glance.

We'd walked to the beach before Ally spoke. "Why?"

I walked up next to her. "Why what?"

Ally turned to me, her brown eyes dark. "Why wait until now? He's been at camp the entire time."

"Maybe he wanted to wait until your birthday?" I suggested.

"Well, if that's the case, then even worse," Ally growled.

I stared at her. "What?"

"If he'd bothered to keep in touch, he'd have known that my birthday was when my mother passed away and also the day I arrived at St. Anne's." She scowled. "He should have waited for any day except my birthday. Out of the three hundred sixty-five days in the year, he had to claim me on this day."

This was really not going well.

"At least you got claimed, right?" I added. "That's a good thing."

"Yeah, but Dionysus? Have you seen how he acts with all the campers around here? None of the gods care, but he's even worse. If he cared, if anyone cared, then none of us would be in a position like this."

"Well," I started. "You know Zeus forbade interactions."

"Well, Dionysus' been here for quite a long time. And Zeus is the worst out of them all," Ally spat.

What on Earth was I supposed to do? Sympathize with her? Argue with her? Athena, help me, I pleaded.

"Hey, Ally!" someone called.

I whirled around to see two campers running towards us. They came to a halt in front of us, and I recognized Dionysus' two sons, Castor and Pollux. I winced. "You were the one I knocked out, right?"

Castor (or was it Pollux?) grimaced. "Yeah. That hurt. It's okay, no hard feelings."

The other one hugged Ally.

"Why are you hugging me?" Ally mumbled, but her sweet side took over and she returned the hug.

"Because you're our sister," Castor said. "I promise, we're not that bad."

"What?" Ally asked, confused. "I never-"

"Well, you ran off," Pollux said. letting her go. "We thought we'd come after you."

Ally stared at them. "You came after me just because I ran off?"

"Well, yeah," Pollux replied.

"We're siblings. I can't believe I finally have a little sister!" Castor chimed in. He grinned at Ally. "I'm Castor. This is Pollux."

So I was right. "Lucky," I muttered. "I wish I had siblings."

Ally squeezed Pollux's arm. "Thanks for coming after me. And, Rianna," she said, turning to me. "you have me. Plus your two future brothers-in-law, Travis, and Connor, and the rest of the Hermes cabin."