by Jamie Hawke
Hekate appeared deeply troubled by this, but Chris was nodding enthusiastically, more than ready for this moment.
31
The conversation carried on for a while, finally wrapping us back to the topic of Morganna.
“She might attack again, or she might not,” Elisa said. “They attacked at a time when they knew Jack wasn’t here …I just don’t understand what she’s up to. I have no idea what she’ll do next.”
“Her next strike could be anywhere,” Red said, nodding in agreement. “We need to find her before that happens.”
“Seeing as she’s your sister,” Mowgli said, turning to Pucky. “Any thoughts here? Where do we start?”
“Bullshit,” Pucky shot back. “You know that the moment she merged with Morganna, her mind could be going that direction as much as my sister’s. Even if that weren’t the case, I’ve been out of touch with my sister ever since she started helping the agents.”
He frowned. “Your best guess?”
“With the agents.”
Mowgli sighed, eyeing me for a moment, then Chris. He sighed again then, turning to the table and taking a seat. “Let’s think here, people. If she’s with the agents, an attack on them might be the right move, but that’s huge. We have to weigh each possibility.”
“Maybe we’re looking at the wrong Legend?” Pucky said. “Arthur, the Lady of the Lake…?”
I wanted to hear this, but honestly my bladder was about to explode, so I excused myself and went for the restroom. The downstairs one was occupied, so I made my way upstairs and took care of business.
When I came out, Red was there and gave me a sigh and shrug before going in. I walked over to the railing that overlooked the floor below, watching as the others continued to discuss their options and what going for the Lady in the Lake would do. They seemed to move on to other ideas, and a moment later Red joined me.
She motioned me to follow and we went to one of the outer patios instead, looking out over the ocean. The beach shimmered in the light, a low roar of waves carrying up and making me wonder if sleep would be a good idea—it felt so peaceful. The sun warmed my face, and I closed my eyes, simply enjoying it for a moment.
“It’s too bad we can’t stay here a while and take a vacation,” Red said, and I opened my eyes to see she was watching me, smiling. It was the first time I’d found myself alone with her in a while, and for some reason it felt awkward. She was frowning, staring at the wall while her tongue played with her lip piercing.
“Shouldn’t we be in there?”
She shook her head. “That won’t lead anywhere. It’s not so simple, that’s why I wanted to come out here. Let the fresh air open up my mind, help me think outside the box.”
I stood next to her in silence for a moment, thinking about what she’d said. But as the wind blew through my hair, my mind wandered to her and the way our relationship worked. It was strange that we hadn’t spent more time one on one, and that even when with the others, there was something different about her.
Finally it hit me why, and I turned to her, wondering how to ask this. “Red…?”
“Yeah?”
“You have something against me?”
She turned, surprised. “What?”
“I mean…” I shifted uncomfortably, cracking my neck. “Does something feel off here to you?”
“No.” Her frown deepened, and she looked genuinely offended.
“That’s not how I meant it.”
“How did you mean it then, Jack? Because it sounds like you’re saying you don’t feel a connection, or that—”
I stepped in, reaching first to see if she’d stop me, and then took her face in my hands and kissed her. She didn’t resist, but stared at me with wide eyes even as her tongue met mine. When I pulled back, she frowned, smiled, then frowned again.
“And what was that?” she asked.
“See, this is where I’m confused. There was passion, yes? A spark?”
She tried not to smile, but nodded.
“Okay, so then here’s the thing—before, don’t tell her I said anything…”
“Spit it out, Jack.”
“Right.” I glanced around, ensuring Pucky wasn’t there. “Well, I kinda heard you were more… open to sex than you’ve put on. So…?”
“That bitch,” Red said, flushing instantly and turning back the way we’d come.
“No, it’s not—”
“She told you I was slutty, didn’t she? Loose? Something like that?”
I racked my brain to come up with a lie, a way out of this, but nothing worked. “‘Biggest slut I know,’ were her exact words, I believe.”
“That bitch…”
“The point being,” I said, trying to bring the conversation back to where it was meant to be, “that doesn’t exactly add up with… us.”
Her angry glare turned my way, and she held it there a moment before saying, “Are you asking why I haven’t put out yet? Shit, man. How long have we known each other?”
“No, I don’t mean it like that. Of course, that makes sense. I’m only trying to understand—”
“Well stop, okay.” Red said, turning and glaring. “You want to know what… if I’ve slept with a lot of men? Here it is—of course! I’m hot, I’m a Myth, and I need to release steam sometimes after running from the fucking government agents or fighting Legends. So what’s the point?”
“That’s not what I wanted to know,” I countered, pulling my wrist away and glaring right back at her. “On the list of things I’d want to hear, that’s at the bottom. What I’d like to know is why not me? If all that’s true and you are so open with it all, well… it just doesn’t make sense.”
“Right.” She turned, took off her hood, and leaned over the railing, looking down at a cat running by. “The others fuck you because they care. I don’t fuck you because I care.”
“Huh?”
She reached a hand out to me, not even looking. When I took it, and stood next to her, she continued. “Those other guys were what I said—blowing off steam. I don’t want you to be just another one of them, you know? You… there’s a connection with you. “
“And the others?”
“What would it matter?” She scoffed. “You have other women.”
“Maybe it wouldn’t?” I said, though the words caught in my mouth. “Still… I’d like to know.”
She shook her head. “For one, I’m with you fighting jackasses all the damn time, how could I?”
“And for two?”
She smiled at me, but quickly looked away again, squeezing my hand. “I don’t want anyone else.”
It felt like a good moment to kiss her, and I was turning to make my move, when she suddenly straightened, her eyes following the cat.
“I’ve got it,” she exclaimed.
“What?”
“Our answer. Sekhmet.” She was already running back through the doors before I had the chance to ask what the hell she’d just said to me. I followed, and raced into the main room where she came to a stop, practically panting with excitement. Everyone paused, turning to her as they sensed something was up.
“If we’re going to have any hope of finding Arthur,” Red said, grinning, “we’ll need some pussies.”
“What?” I said from behind, caught off guard by that.
“Of course!” Mowgli laughed, nodding, though some of the others still looked confused. “That’s just her lewd way of saying we need to find Sekhmet.”
“Again… what?” Others seemed to understand Red’s statement, but the name Sekhmet was lost on me.
“There’s a whole hell of a lot that goes into answering that question,” Mowgli said, leaning forward. “The simple answer is that she was an Egyptian Legend, a goddess, according to them.”
“Like how Thor is a god, but… not really?”
“It’s all relative,” Mowgli said. “I mean, is a certain level of power and magic what makes someone a god? Per their religion, yes, she was a goddess, bu
t she was no more from some heavenly realm than you or I.”
“Explain the pussy comment,” Pucky said, still grinning at Red for that one.
“Cats,” Red said. “Sekhmet wasn’t just the daughter of Ra—another Legend that has since been killed off, by the way—she was, or is, a tracker. There’s a reason cats were said to serve as guardians of the underworld in Ancient Egypt, and that was because of their ability to track those Myths and Legends who were reborn, such as Arthur, or absorbed back like Riak did with Morganna.”
“And Sekhmet can do this?”
“Her sister, Bastet, can,” Elisa said, nodding, getting into this. “And rumor has it Bastet was cursed, unable to ever leave the form of a cat—and that Sekhmet now watches over her.”
“So we have to find Sekhmet, and her sister the cat,” Pucky said, nodding. Even Mowgli seemed to buy this.
“Only one problem,” he said.
“I know,” Red cut him off. “Finding her. But she’s missing two items, both of which she’d do anything to have back. I happen to know where to find one of them.”
The others leaned in, eagerly. It looked like we had our mission.
32
“The Sekhem Scepter of Power,” Red said, as we all joined together in the enclosed courtyard, ready for Hekate to prepare the portal. “It had been used in burial rituals, waved over powerful dead to put a spell on them and keep them that way.”
“That way meaning… dead?” I asked.
“Exactly.” Turning to Hekate, she asked, “If we can get her scepter, you can make a portal to her?”
“All it takes is an item that was close to the subject,” Hekate said. “And then yes.”
“Then we’re in business.”
“And the other item?” I asked.
“I don’t know where it is, but heard she had lost it, too. The sun disk, with the Uraeus rearing cobra.”
“Last I heard,” Elisa said, “it was taken by the new Wadjet, or Buto. The serpent goddess.”
“Who was defeated in the Vietnam War,” Mowgli said with a frown.
“What the fuck?” Chris mumbled next to me, and I just held up a hand, telling him it was better not to ask—that rabbit hole could be left for a long car ride or trek across the desert.
“The focus here is on the scepter, because I know where to get it,” Red said. She then took her dagger and asked, “You can make a portal to the person who made this?”
Hekate frowned, but nodded.
“I’m not following,” Elisa admitted.
“The man who made this blade happens to collect magical items,” Red explained. “He had this dagger, until I nicked it. He wasn’t exactly the giving type and I figured he owed me when…” She glanced at me, frowned, and said, “Let’s just say he pissed me off.”
“She means she went down on him and he passed out after without returning the favor,” Pucky whispered into my ear. Chris overheard and chuckled, but Red kept on without paying us any attention.
“I’ll have to watch my magical knives next time that happens,” Chris whispered back, earning him a nudge from Hekate.
“That won’t ever happen,” she said, glaring. He kissed her on the lips.
“Can we focus?” Red said, and other Myths were looking our way, so I took a step sideways and joined in with the glaring at Chris thing, which he rolled his eyes at but at least he shut up.
“Do it,” Elisa said to Hekate. “Please. And Red, how many do we need?”
“Our small team should do,” Red said, nodding to me and Pucky, then glancing at Sharon with trepidation.
“Sharon proved quite useful at the college,” I spoke up before I’d had time to think about it. But hey, she had and deserved her spot on the team.
“Agreed,” Elisa said. “But we’ll also need Hekate to open the portal from the other side.”
“Leaving me, what… here?” Chris asked.
“You have no powers, and you’re not a Protector,” Mowgli said. “It would be unwise to send you into danger.”
“But I can—”
“Mowgli’s right,” Elisa said sharply, shutting down any chance Chris had. I was guessing her authority stemmed from her being one of the originals. “But…”
Chris perked up. “I like buts.”
Even Hekate rolled her eyes that time.
“But,” Elisa continued, “I have a mission for you later, when we get back and with Hekate on board… well, let’s just say it would be a great test for both of you.”
“Test?” Hekate said scornfully.
“You did just join us based on lust for Chris. You have to admit it would be foolish to trust you right away.”
“What did you have in mind?” Chris asked, before the witch could protest further.
Elisa shared an approving look with Mowgli, leading me to believe they’d already discussed the idea, then said, “You’d infiltrate the witches… and become one.”
Hekate couldn’t be silent for that. “You know what that means! You’d ask me to—”
“What, betray your sisters?” Pucky cut in.
“No, er… It’s complicated.”
“But if you’re on our side,” Elisa said, “then it isn’t. He doesn’t have to kill anyone, not if you can get the three leaves. Of course, there’s so much more to it, isn’t there?”
Hekate nodded, glaring at Elisa. “You all look at me like I’m some random witch. Well guess what? Not all Legends are there by choice—most of us witches got lumped in because we’re not perfect. All of you are? I doubt it. Have I done horrible things? Despicable? Certainly! But I’m here to turn over a new leaf, and no, not just because Chris here is hot and sexy and there’s something about him being tied up that gets my steam going.”
“Too much information,” Pucky hissed.
“You want me to prove myself?” Hekate said, ignoring her. “Fuck it. Point me in the right direction.”
“We’ll talk specifics when it’s time,” Elisa said with a satisfied grin. There was something else to that smile, a victorious, almost gloating look I hadn’t seen on her before. It didn’t quite fit the often calm, take-charge type woman I’d started to know her to be.
It was hot.
“How long will it take you to make the portal?” Red asked.
Hekate held out her hands, accepting the dagger. She closed her eyes and a dull glow emitted from the blade. “It’s been some time since it was in his hands. I’d say it’ll take at least thirty minutes.”
“Please begin.”
“Everyone prepare defenses and set up comms in case they come again,” Mowgli said, addressing the others. Then he turned to us and said, “We at least know what to expect this time, so should be ready, though I don’t expect another attack like that again.”
“We’ll prepare,” Elisa said. “I have some armor for the boys.”
“Armor?” Chris said, excitedly.
“Boys?” I said, with less enthusiasm. Even if I was potentially centuries younger than her, it didn’t sound right.
She smiled, running a hand along my chest and looking me in the eyes as she said, “Sorry. Men.”
“Call me a baby, I don’t care,” Chris said. “Just point me to the armor.”
Hekate gave us a sideways, jealous glance as we headed back with Elisa, but then returned her focus to the dark waves of energy starting to form in front of her.
In the lobby, Elisa waved over a short man who was dressed like one of the Munchkins and said, “Did you manage to grab it?”
He grinned and handed over a black gym bag before replying in a squeaky voice, “I had to run back in, but you made it sound important. What’s in there, anyway?”
“Shirts,” she said with a laugh.
He frowned, but his eyes went wide when she unzipped the bag and pulled out two shirts of nettles.
“These were originally made to break curses,” she said, handing one to me and the other to Chris. “I had made them for Jack, but you might need it where y
ou’re going.”
“Am I going to find out more about that?” he asked, accepting the shirt and then yelping, instantly dropping it. I wasn’t sure what to do with the thing, as holding it was like holding a ball of needles, but made sure not to drop it or grip it too tightly.
Elisa, to her credit, simply laughed. “You’ll have to get used to it, but the pain is fleeting. Come, remove your shirt.”
He glanced back toward the door, uncertain. “Um…”
“Are you worried I’ll try to seduce you, or put the shirt on you?”
“Both?”
“Only the latter,” she assured him, though I had to admit that didn’t sound great. “That is, unless you want to return to your family and put them at risk. When you’re one of us, our magic keeps them from being found, but if you’re not…”
He grumbled, removing his shirt and standing there, waiting. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but jumped when she pulled the shirt over his head and lines of red followed. Grunts of pain came from within the shirt, and then his face was exposed and it was covered in blood—straight nasty, and she kept pulling the shirt!
“The fuck are you doing?” I asked, grabbing her arm and about to step in.
“Trust me,” Elisa said with a reassuring stare.
I did, as crazy as that seemed at that moment, so I released her arm and stepped back, still in shock. Only, as I looked at Chris the shirt was morphing around him, not even needing his arms for the sleeves, and the wounds on his face had healed, the blood gone.
He stared at her in confusion, blinking.
“Is the pain gone?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said, meekly.
“Magic. That’s the price.” She adjusted the shirt, and it took on the look of a tan, cloth shirt. “Only put it on in private, as you’ll experience that same sensation each time. This will tells us once and for all if the witch has put a curse on you or any sort of spell to earn your affection.”
“Her name is Hekate,” he said, annoyed. “And of course she didn’t.”
“But now we’ll know for sure,” Elisa said. “And even if you already do, I have to be as positive as you are.”