AN: To all you American readers: Happy Independence Day!

10. Fireworks

Final Chapter

I'd been sitting on my cabin's porch swing for hours, looking out at the commons area, just watching my people come and go. By now, most had cleared out, making their way down to the beach for the Fourth of July bash. Looking out at the peace and quiet, it was hard to believe that only three days ago the place was the personification of a romance novel—and a bad one at that.

To avoid the wrath of the patroling Harpies, I waited until the morning after Hermes's visit to make my way to the hearth fire in the courtyard. Hestia was there maintaining the flames. I explained to her about Hermes's concoction, and she was more than happy to receive the vial into her fire as she would herself gain from the offering. She assured me she would bless camp with peace and tranquility to show her graditude.

I tossed the vial into the fire like Hermes told me to, and it worked just like he said it would. In less than three hours, every infected camper was no longer under the influence of the love spell. Hermes's multi-vitamin concoction truly was a miracle drug.

Camp was recovering from the love spell, and it was an awkward recovery for most. But for some, the spell had been a blessing in the form of new relationships. For me, it was a personal tragedy. I failed to prevent a murder, I failed to find the murderer and bring him to justice, I lost control of my people, I lost Lexie, and I likely started an all-out war with the Rebellion. The only thing I managed to do was reverse the spell, and if my mom hadn't helped me out with that, it would've been another failure to add to the list. I really sucked at the leadership gig.

I was so busy wallowing in self-pity that I didn't even notice Noah standing on my porch. "CJ? Hello?" he said, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Oh, hey, bro," I said and made room for him on the swing. "Take a load off."

He sat down and asked, "You alright?" I must've looked as depressed as I felt.

I shrugged. "Not really, but I will be. Eventually. Maybe."

"I've been meaning to come by, but Morgan's had me busy helping her organize the party."

"You two together now?"

"We talked and admitted we really liked each other, but after everything that's happened, we decided it'd be best to take it slow," he explained. "So I guess you could say we're working on it. She's still coping with what Russ tried to do to her. Hell, I'm still freaked out about it."

"She's lucky you were there to stop him."

"I almost killed him, CJ," Noah said, shaking his head. "I was so full of rage at the sight of him on her like that. Being a tough son of Ares is the only thing that saved his life. If he hadn't clocked me, I'd have beat him to death."

I knew how Noah felt. I'd wanted to beat Russ to death on occasion; it was that Ares-vibe that wafted off him and brought out the worst in those near him. I don't see how Lexie dated him for two years without ripping him to pieces.

And speaking of ripping him to pieces, I was surprised Dionysus hadn't. The god was irate about what Russ had done to Morgan, but he somehow refrained from blasting him to bits. Russ was back from lockup now, and he'd sincerely apologized to Morgan and Noah for what he'd done when he was under the spell. Forgiveness would take time, although, in all likelihood, it would never happen.

I nudged Noah with my elbow. "That's a nice black eye you got there," I grinned. It was a dandy for sure: black, blue, and purple.

"Small price to pay."

"Well, I'm happy for you, bro. For you and Morgan, both. It's about time."

He raised an eyebrow. "I didn't think you liked Morgan."

I shrugged. "Eh, she's growing on me."

"Glad to hear it. So, what's up with you and Lexie?"

He just had to mention Lexie. "I screwed it up, man," I told him. "I blew it."

"Oh, come on. It can't be that bad, can it?"

"It's worse," I assured him. "I did something stupid when she was under the spell. I went too far."

"Too far?" he asked then blinked. "Wait a second. Did you two…hook-up?"

"Almost."

"Whoa. Have you talked to her?"

I shook my head. "Not a word since the spell was reversed. She won't even look at me."

"Damn, man," he sighed. "I'm sorry to hear that. I really thought you two would end up together."

"I guess it just wasn't meant to be."

"Eh, give her some time. Maybe she'll come around."

I shrugged. "Maybe," I said, but I didn't really believe it.

"So, what's the word around camp?" he asked, mercifully changing the subject. "Everybody recovering okay?"

"According to the counselors' reports, most are fine, just embarrassed. Some didn't make out so well. There were two other attempted rapes and a few pregnancy scares."

"Holy crap, man," Noah gaped. "I didn't realize it got that outta control."

"A hundred and seventy teenagers under a love spell… I'm surprised it wasn't worse. Thank the gods most have a good head on their shoulders—mine not included."

"Cut yourself some slack, CJ. You saved camp. You're a hero." He was trying to make me feel better. It wasn't working.

Morgan's voice rang out. "A hero? Y'all talkin' 'bout me?" she asked, giving Noah a wink as she stepped onto the porch.

"Hey, Mooch. How you doing?" I asked her.

"Gettin' better everyday. And don't you ever call me Mooch again." It was meant to be a threat, but she was smiling, so I didn't really feel threatened. "Noah, you ready to go?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he answered as he stood up from the swing. He turned to me. "You coming to the party?"

"Yeah, I'll be down there in a bit."

"Okay," he nodded then clapped me on the back. "Don't be so hard on yourself, bro. You may not think it, but you did good."

"Thanks, Noah."

I watched as he and Morgan walked hand-in-hand down to the beach. It was nice to finally see them like that, but I felt a twinge of jealousy, too. They had each other, and I had no one. I guess it was true that misery loved company.

I wasn't really in a party mood, but I had to make an appearance at the Fourth of July bash. I sat on the swing and sulked for a few more minutes before going into my cabin to grab my sunglasses and a beach towel.

I stepped out of my cabin, closing the door behind me, and found Lexie walking up the porch steps. I was stunned to see her. We hadn't spoken and had been dodging one another since the spell was reversed. I figured she hated me for everything I let happen between us.

"Hey," she said sheepishly.

"Hey," I replied, not looking directly at her.

"You've been avoiding me," she said.

I shrugged. "Maybe, but you've been avoiding me, too."

"Yeah," she sighed, looking down at her feet to avoid eye contact. "I suppose I have."

It was silent between us for a moment, and it was that awkward, uncomfortable silence. This was the first time I'd felt truly uncomfortable around her, and I didn't like it.

"I um," she said, finally breaking the silence. "I want to apologize for my behavior when…you know…"

"It wasn't your fault, Lexie. You were under a spell. I'm the one who should be apologizing."

Her brow furrowed. "For what?" she asked.

"I let things go way too far between us."

She shook her head. "No, you stopped. You could've easily taken advantage of the situation, but you didn't."

I shrugged. "I had to do the right thing."

"You're an honorable guy, CJ. Do you know how rare that is?"

"You wouldn't think I was so honorable if you knew how hard it was for me to deny you. I mean, you made it so tempting."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, it couldn't have been that tempting."

"You wanting me like that… It was that tempting."

"Why?"

And here it was. That perfect time I'd been waiting for. This was the moment of truth, the moment to tell her how I felt about her. What did I have to lose? "Why not, Lexie? You're smart, brave, and funny, you're absolutely gorgeous, and I—I'm so in love with you."

I said it. I meant it. I had no regrets.

"You love me?" she asked, making sure she heard me right.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I have for a while." More like a very long while. I was pretty sure I'd loved her since I was eight years old, from the moment I first saw that skinny little brunette with baby blue eyes and pigtails. She was the only girl who'd ever broken my heart. She broke it when she left me all those years ago when she moved away, and now I was at her mercy again.

She reached out and lightly touched my forearm. "CJ, I'm sorry, but I…I've decided to join the Hunt."

Knife in the heart. "You…you did?"

A grin spread across her lips, and she couldn't hold in a giggle. "No."

She really did love to torture me. "You're Hades," I grumbled.

She laughed and took my cheeks in her hands. Her blazing blue eyes stared into mine. "I'm in love with you, too," she smiled. "Have been for a while."

My heart melted. I'd wanted to hear those words from her for so long and here we were, finally admitting our true feelings for each other. I'd thought I lost her, and I'd never been so happy to be wrong. I was ridiculously happy, and I'm sure my goofy grin showed it.

I wrapped my arms around her, and she laced her fingers around the nape of my neck. I was finally holding what I'd been hoping and praying for. I can't even explain how I felt at that moment.

"Well," I smiled. "Are you gonna kiss me or not?"

She kissed me without hesitation, and I kissed her back. The sweet kiss filled my heart with countless emotions: happiness, love, devotion, yearning. This kiss was real. This was the end of us being just friends and the beginning of something more.

Our sweet kiss soon became passionate, and when we bumped into my porch swing after losing ourselves in the intimate kiss, we laughed about getting a little carried away. We looked around to make sure no one had witnessed our little scene, and no one had. No one was around. The courtyard was empty; everyone was at the beach for the Fourth of July party.

Lexie gave me a warm smile and took my hand in hers. I thought she was going to lead me to the party, but instead, she led me into my cabin. And as she locked the door behind us, I silently thanked my mom for the package she'd sent with Hermes.

AN: I want to thank all of the readers and reviewers for taking the time to read Under the Influence and for all the wonderful reviews. I truly appreciate every single one of you. I hope everyone enjoyed reading this fifth installment of Heroes and Legacies as much as I enjoyed writing it, and I hope to see everyone back for the sixth and final book. I've just now started writing H&L 6, because as this series has evolved, I've had to make several changes to the outline, which put me behind, but hopefully the first chapter of Heroes and Legacies Book 6: The Endgame will be published in about a month. In the meantime, be sure to check out my other fics like The In-Between, which is a companion piece to Heroes and Legacies and The First Legion Series. Again, thanks for reading and for all the support. -dmac