“You guys seem to know what you’re doing.”
“Fake it until you make it.”
At that, I reared up until I could gape at him. “Say that again.”
He frowned at me. “Fake it until you make it?”
That was, hands down, the most modern thing I’d ever heard him say. “You fake it?”
“Of course.” I watched as he tilted his head to the side. “Every day.”
My stomach twisted again, but it had nothing to do with all the blue stuff around me. “Why?”
“I’ve lived a long life, done many things I’m not proud of, Ella. Some days, the only thing I can do is put on a brave face and smile.”
I snorted. “Now I know you’re exaggerating. You don’t smile.”
At that, he proved me wrong, and sweet Lord, the heart that wasn’t supposed to explode also went pitter-patter in my chest. Unable to help myself, I reached up and rubbed my fingers over his cheek, then traced them over his smile.
His eyes were hot, dark pools that I wanted on me. Wanted on me more than I wanted to puke—which was saying something. Seriously, didn’t big fucking boats like this help with seasickness?
Jeez.
“All will be well,” he promised me, when I stopped feeling up his lips.
“You can’t say that,” I chided.
“I can.”
“How can you? We’re working on a theory. A theory that doesn’t make that much sense if I'm honest. And Apollo was wrong before, what if he is now.”
“Such confidence, tín eaftoú gynaíka,” Apollo scolded, suddenly behind me. When he spanked my ass, I jerked and yelped.
“Hey, what was that for?”
“Doubting me.” His hand curved around my waist. “Why didn’t you tell me if you didn’t understand?”
“Well, I get the basic principles,” I muttered.
He sighed. “The crystals respond to you because you can channel the sun’s rays.”
“It only happened the once,” I countered. “It’s never happened before. Look!” I demanded, shoving my necklace at him. “This isn’t glowing.”
He picked it up, and I almost shivered watching him rub the small phalanx of stone. “It’s rutilated quartz, Ella.”
“I know.”
“A stone connected to the sun.”
How did two plus two suddenly make four when they’d made six before?
“Wait…”
He shook his head. “Your energies probably selected it for you without knowing it.”
I reached up and rubbed at my temple. “This is so weird.”
“It will get weirder,” Achilles told me, back to his dour self because Apollo was around—I assumed. I needed to figure out what was going on with those two.
After we saved the world.
“I can imagine. Okay, so carry on with the explanation.”
Apollo’s fingers were still on the crystal. “I can’t believe I’m only just taking note of this.”
“Why?”
“It amplifies and conducts healing abilities, Ella. That’s probably why things have been happening so swiftly even though our bond is still untethered.” He gnawed on his bottom lip for a second. “Shit. I should have realized.”
That had me frowning. “Hey. It’s not your fault.” I reached up and, as I’d done with Achilles, cupped his jaw, but I traced his brow which was furrowed in a scowl that was, most definitely, aimed inwardly.
“Maybe she should take it off,” Lux suggested, appearing beside us with Tor next to him.
We were looped in a small circle, and though I knew it was nuts, I felt stronger for it. Back at the estate, I’d felt calmer when I was seated with them on the sofa, and we’d been in a loose circle then too.
My nerves overtook me when I wasn’t close to them. When we broke the circle.
What did that mean?
Gnawing on my bottom lip, I removed the crystal that I’d bought on my first trip into Art Village near the estate. But as I dragged it overhead, I felt such a curious loss of heat that I knew it would be wrong to remove it.
Instinct, gut, whichever, had me shaking my head. “No. It feels wrong to take it off.”
“Then keep it on,” Tor said. “We’re all working with our intuition here.”
Well, that wouldn’t have been reassuring until I’d experienced it myself too.
“So, using whatever it was I did that made the crystals glow, we’re going to try to harness the excess energy we stirred in the sun and shove it into the crystals. Then we’re dumping said crystals in the ocean?”
Jesus, this could go wrong in so many ways.
Before I could even freak, I heard the whomp-whomp of a helicopter. As I peered out into the distance, I saw it, but it wasn’t a tiny bug, but a large one.
“God, that’s a big helicopter.” I don’t think I’d ever seen one that big, and I’d watched the helicopters take off and depart from my hospital building in the city.
“This type can lift an airline.”
“Considering how many geodes we’re packing into each flight, that’s a good thing,” Achilles said dryly. Then, to me, he explained, “We’re going to have four loads coming in.”
Within the hour, the first helicopter had been emptied and the geodes, some that had to weigh more than my one-twenty pounds, were loaded off the massive helicopter and stacked on the deck.
The five-man aircrew worked silently, dumping the geodes before rushing back to the helicopter.
“We’ll have the two units working on rotation to bring the crystals in,” Tor explained, and I watched as the men picked up the cathedrals as though they weren’t hauling rocks around like stacks of towels.
Even the largest one, which stood at five feet, didn’t present an issue for Apollo, and they moved them, with everyone—except me, apparently—uncaring if they scratched the smooth varnish of the deck.
By the third visit, the circle was around twenty feet in diameter, and it was packed with quartz and amethyst that glittered in the lights on deck. After the fourth came and went, the circle was complete and it was stunning.
“Now what?”
I felt pretty lame asking that when I’d just been standing around watching them work, but those muscles weren’t only to make them look pretty. As we’d already established, I could fall over air so I figured it was best to stay out of the damn way.
“Now, we get undressed.”
Okay, I’d missed that memo.
Apollo’s calm statement had me gaping at him, then, the gaping turned to drooling when the guys all began stripping in the best striptease ever.
Eh-Vuh.
Even if this didn’t work and ended in total disaster, I’d die with a smile on my face. That was for damn sure.
❖
Apollo
“As much as I appreciate the show,” a silken voice declared, “I’d far prefer to see the lady disrobed.”
Ella shrieked as she whipped around and gaped at the laconic expression pasted on the face of a male I knew far too well.
“Who the fuck are you?” my wife burst out, hands flying up to cover her still-dressed form.
I had to hide a smile even though the notion of Poseidon seeing my wife naked had rage funneling through me like a tornado.
Poseidon gave a dramatic bow, sweeping down low, before he strode from the edge of the deck toward my woman.
“Zeus said my little nephew had found his wife. I didn’t believe him.”
I scowled. “You knew what he was doing?”
“No. Only after Hades informed me.”
“And why would he have done that?” I retorted, knowing that Zeus hated Hades and Poseidon as much as they hated him in turn. It was a distinctly mutual loathing. One that most Olympian Gods shared—didn’t matter how big the house you lived in was, enduring several eternities with the same people simply wasn’t good for the soul. Unlike chicken soup.
“Because I asked. I met his wife at a concert, and I saw her little
display.”
Cressida? Poseidon had met her?
I saw Ella’s focus shift from terror at the unexpected intruder to interest. “Cressy? What little display?”
Poseidon cast me a look then bestowed his attention on her. “As she sang, she drew spirits toward her. At one point she had a good dozen up on the stage with her as I watched.”
“Wouldn’t take you for a lover of pop, Poseidon,” Lux sniped.
Guardians rarely interacted with other Gods—and for a reason. We weren’t exactly renowned for our senses of humor. But though Poseidon’s eyes darkened in warning, Ella blurted out, “No way. No way you’re Poseidon.”
“And here I was thinking my entrance from the sea would be enough of a clue,” was all the God said.
Ella’s mouth dropped open as she scurried out of the crystal circle and to the side of the boat. When she saw no other vessel, even after she’d run to the other side of the deck and peered down there too, she whispered, “Where the hell did you come from? And if you came from where I think you came from, why aren’t you wet?”
Poseidon winked. “I command the water. It doesn’t command me.” At his words, I expected the display, even if I rolled my eyes at it.
Over six hundred gallons of the ocean surged over the side of the boat, and even as she released a hoarse, “Fuck,” the water swirled around him, bubbling and churning in a smooth line, like he was a rhythmic gymnast and the water was the ribbon he used as his prop.
With a blink, he let his power drop, and like it was magnetized, the water was sucked back overboard, as though what he’d just done hadn’t happened at all.
“I-I think I need to sit down.”
There was a smile in Poseidon's eyes at her words, but he shook his head. “No, my dear. After all, you’ve commanded the sun. I think we are on par.”
His statement had me grimacing. “You know?”
“How could I not?” He quirked a brow. “Have you spoken with Zeus since the incident?”
“Of course not,” I told him.
“Then you have an explanation for my arrival. You know this isn’t my territory but…” He released a hiss, and his scowl darkened. “Zeus sent me.”
“Didn’t realize you’d snatched Hermes’ job as his messenger.”
“Me either,” Poseidon snarled, obviously irked at Lux’s snappy retort
“There a reason you don’t like him?” Ella questioned, and I saw that she’d sunk down the side of the ship to land flat on her ass—oh, how I couldn’t wait to truly introduce her to this world of ours.
Poseidon’s lips curved in a gleeful, yet all the more wicked for it, grin. “He’s irked with me because I beat him at boxing.”
“Once,” Lux snapped. “And you cheated.”
“Since when do you box?” Ella asked, frowning.
Poseidon snorted. “Since forever. You don’t know your husbands well, do you?”
“I’ve been ‘married’ less than four days, buddy. I’m not going to feel guilty about knowing jack shit.” His words seemed to give her some starch back to her joints because she used the side of the rail as support and clambered back to her feet.
“Pollux is a renowned boxer, and Castor a horseman of great repute. As for Achilles, save for his foot fetish, he is a soldier who commands great respect in whichever army he serves.” Poseidon grinned at her and stated, “Then, there’s my nephew. I don’t think he requires much explanation—I’d assume you’re both responsible for the sun storm. It isn’t just he who is a naughty boy.”
Ella rubbed her temple. “This is just nuts.” Then she pouted. “I wasn’t even talking about Pollux. I know he boxes. I meant you. You’re the trident guy, right? Not exactly Mohammed Ali.”
Castor snickered, and when Poseidon glowered at him, he cleared his throat and said, “Much about this world may appear, at first glance, crazy, agape mou.” Castor was gentle as he moved next to her and curved an arm around her waist as he hauled her into his side.
“You know you’re naked, right?”
“You know we’re Greek, right?” he replied, laughing when she turned red.
“Exhibitionist,” she mumbled under her breath.
He didn’t reply, but he did smirk, and Tor wasn’t the kind to smirk.
“What are you doing here, Poseidon? Aside from telling me to stop rejecting Zeus’ calls,” I demanded, feeling the sun surge overhead, aware that time was beginning to run out.
The God of the Sea shrugged. “He wishes to know how you’re going to resolve this little problem you’ve created.” He stood tall as he peered over at the circle, his oddly blue eyes glinting as they cast over the crystals. “What is this? Some kind of witchcraft? Didn’t realize you’d been converted.”
“Conversion isn’t how I’d phrase it. Ella has a connection with crystals,” I explained quietly. “We’re hoping to use that to—”
“What? Trap the energy in the crystals.” Poseidon narrowed his eyes. “And what? Dump them in the ocean? I’d assume that’s why you’re currently sailing and not frolicking on the grounds of your estate?”
“That was the plan,” I mumbled.
“And you didn’t think to speak with me on this matter?”
“Oh shit, he sounds mad,” Ella whispered, nestling deeper into Tor’s side.
“That, my dear, is exactly right. I more than just sound it, I am mad,” Poseidon seethed. “One call, nephew, to request my permission—”
“You’re right. I should have called but—”
“He’s been in a daze since whatever happened, happened,” Achilles inserted, tone grim enough to catch Poseidon’s attention. “Have you ever seen him so discombobulated?”
I scowled at that. “I’m not discombobulated.”
Lux snorted. “You’re exactly that. His mind’s on claiming her, Poseidon, not on his duties as a God. I’m sure when you meet your tín eaftoú gynaíka, you will understand.”
Poseidon pursed his lips. “And what, pray tell, do you believe the effect of this intense heat will do to the seas?”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “I don’t know. It’s not like we have much choice, though, is it? I don’t know what else to do.”
Sounding weak, rudderless, didn’t appeal, but putting Ella in jeopardy wasn’t an option either. I had no idea when or if she would become immortal, could only assume that was the case. If the entire world was on the fritz because of our little firework display, then who knew what would happen.
For a second, Poseidon just stared at me, then he cast a look at my guardians. “You’re correct. He is discombobulated. My nephew would never ordinarily have admitted to not knowing which way was up.”
“Those weren’t exactly my words,” I started to argue, then Ella cleared her throat, drawing my attention over to her. When she glowered at me, I got the message.
Shut. The. Hell. Up.
I knew she was right. Poseidon was excusing my inherent lack of respect toward him—an act that Zeus condemned, and in the past, would and had castigated others over.
Respect, in our universe, was everything.
The seas rose and fell upon it, and the lightning in the sky did as well.
“The heat will kill a lot of creatures,” Poseidon mused, but then he peered up at the sky, and though I knew he didn’t share abilities with Ella or me, I had to wonder what he could see. The Big Three, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, were different from the rest of us. They had more gifts, more powers, more territory in ways than just space.
Poseidon ruled the oceans, Hades the dead and Underworld itself, then Zeus? He owned the sky. The very atmosphere was his.
He pursed his lips. “The amount of energy about to come our way will damage many creatures too… Decisions, decisions.” I watched as he reached up and tugged at his crinkled bottom lip. “Do you think this is wise? You have no idea if the crystals will harness the power.”
“No, but even if we siphon off only a small amount, better than nothing, isn’t it?” I
retorted, on edge at his doubt. Not because I was arrogant, but because I was coming up short on ideas and his criticizing this one didn’t bode well in the grand scheme of things.
“True,” he replied. “The cathedrals might not withstand the power. What if they trigger lightning storms? You should speak with Zeus. See if he can help.”
“There’s no time,” I replied, my tone edgy. “I’m hoping that—”
Ella grunted. “Look, Poseidon, I know you’re this impressive God and everything, but instead of shooting the shit about what-ifs and maybe, if you’d let us get on with it, we might be able to resolve the issue.
“What my men aren’t telling you is that I started the sun storm after I claimed two of them. I have two more still to claim, and perhaps, once that happens, things will calm down overhead. But, though they are Greek, I’m not, so I’m not about to play hide the sausage with them with an audience.
“Toddle off back to the fishes so we can get it on, yeah? You’re killing my buzz.”
For a second, I stared at her aghast, and Castor, tense at her side, clung to her as though his hold alone was all that would stop Poseidon from spiriting her away on a tidal wave aimed purely at her.
What on earth had possessed her to talk like that?
She’d been scared before, but now?
This ballsy chit had almost surely signed her own death warrant.
“She knows not of what she speaks,” I rasped, trying to excuse the inexcusable as I moved in front of her to shield her from the God’s wrath. Had Cressida spoken to me this way when we had met in my offices in New York, then…
My throat closed.
I could not imagine what I would have demanded as recompense for her attitude.
There was a stillness in the air, but I could sense Ella was not perturbed by it. Indeed, she spat, “Dude? Which part are you not getting? If they don’t make me theirs, then this shitstorm is heading our way.”
“You’re making it worse, Ella,” Achilles spat back at her, his irritation and agitation evident.
The words were a catalyst.
Beneath us, the sea began rocking, waves beginning to crash against the yacht that was as steady as the land itself.
Poseidon’s scowl darkened as he strode forward. I was pushed away, in the blink of an eye, away from my woman. Poseidon either didn’t see me, or he didn’t care. Ella didn’t seem to sense me either.
The Sun Revolves Around Apollo (The Gods Are Back In Town Book 2) Page 19