by S. E. Babin
“You betcha we will, Geek Girl.”
Hermes tugged on my hand and pulled me to him in a warm embrace. I could get lost in these arms, I thought. I allowed myself to relax, living in the security of the moment and encircled him with my arms. His lips sought mine unexpectedly and I felt my knees weaken. I tightened my arms around him, drowning in heat. He was warmth and security, heat and passion and I was lost. We broke apart, both disheveled, only to find Artie and Keto staring at us with Cheshire cat grins.
“I’ve been waiting for years to see that,” Artie crowed and clapped her hands.
I couldn’t find words so I stared mutely at Artie’s knowing gaze.
“I’ll see you in two days’ time, beautiful Aphrodite.” I felt an ache tug deep in my belly and knew the heat of his gaze would be responsible for the next two days of sleepless nights.
Marshall was still waiting for us when we made it back to the cabin. I was surprised but figured he must not have wanted to try and track us down again. He’d made himself comfortable on my couch, long legs stretched out and hanging over the arm. When we blinked in, he didn’t even jump. I almost felt sorry for him. Mixing an officer of the law into paranormal politics and magic in the same day would be difficult for anyone to take. For Marshall, it had to be a little on the insane side.
“You guys are pretty good at disappearing, aren’t you?” He didn’t move from the couch, but his body language was coiled and tense. Although we meant him no harm, our obvious differences put him on edge. I couldn’t blame him, but his worry about us hurting him saddened me.
“We only disappear when someone’s threatening to arrest us.” I noticed Marshall’s eyes on Keto and realized he hadn’t yet had the pleasure of making my feathered friend’s acquaintance. I gestured toward Keto and made appropriate introductions. Both men sized each other up, and Marshall, perhaps sensing we weren’t an immediate threat, relaxed. He swung his legs over and sat up, gesturing for everyone to sit down.
Even in the company of gods he had to remain in control. We settled in while Marshall reached down and pulled up a briefcase I hadn’t noticed before. He must have left and come back with information. My admiration for him kicked up a notch. He pulled out a sheath of papers and spread them out on my coffee table.
“This,” he pointed to one of the papers, “is the autopsy report. Normally it takes much longer for these to come back, but this death was so unique and unprecedented, we were able to get a rush on it. Now here’s the weird part. Well, weird for me, I guess. If I didn’t know about the whole woo-woo supernatural element to this, I’d be completely stumped. Spontaneous human combustion starts on the outside of the body and is often linked to external fires. Normally the fire is centralized to an area, most likely the torso. If any remains are found, it is often the feet. In Orpheus’ case, he burned from the inside out. The only thing left of him was his bones, and even those had to be gathered carefully because they were riddled with holes.”
I felt nauseated at his description. Orpheus was alive and well a matter of days ago. To hear him described in such a horrible way felt like a desecration to his memory. Marshall was only doing his job, but I wished he had known Orpheus as the gifted man he had been. Artie and Keto both looked uncomfortable. Marshall, oblivious to our feelings, plowed on.
“We will have to work overtime to keep these details out of the press. Burning from the inside is an unexplained phenomenon and there are no other cases to go by. For now, the death will be dealt with as an accident. There’s no way we can alert the public to this threat.”
For now, Eris was no threat to anyone except us. I explained as much to Marshall who only nodded.
“So, why do you need me?”
We needed him for lots of reasons, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that Eris wasn’t quite through with Asheville yet. Its citizens were safe from a direct confrontation, but there could be collateral damage by the time she was finished with whatever her current goal was.
I hadn’t voiced as much to Artie and Keto, but I’d told Marshall I suspected Eris might have further use for Asheville even though I didn’t know what her plans were. There was magic in the air in this place. What the apples and Eris had to do with it, I didn’t yet know. I was here to find out, though.
Keto sat beside Artie, silent, taking everything in. At the mention of Eris, though, I noticed he paled. “Abby, why didn’t you tell me any of this? We have modern inventions called telephones.”
We also had a telepathic link, but I had done my best to shut it down while I was here in Asheville. “I didn’t want you to worry, Keto. I just found out myself yesterday. This is not good news for any of us, but Eris can’t be allowed to continue wreaking havoc here. There is nothing I’d rather do than to go back home to New York and hang out, but Zeus sent me here for a reason.”
“Yes,” Keto interjected. “He sent you here to make a love match and so far a demigod is dead and you have a deranged goddess running around the city.”
Keto had a way with words. “Tell me about it. I’m not even sure what our next move is yet.”
“I can’t believe Hermes didn’t fill me in on this before I came here. I would have come much sooner if I had known.” A guilty look stole over his face and Artie’s hand crept over to his and squeezed. My heart constricted a little bit. I was happy for them, I really was. I just wished I could share my life with someone as easily as it seemed to be for those two.
“Don’t feel guilty,” I said. “So far we’ve managed to attract the attention of the local police force,” I made a hand gesture toward Marshall, “And get cuffed and thrown into the back of a patrol car.”
Artie grinned and Marshall glared at us both. “I can see you managed to escape the pokey, but it looks like it came at the cost of breaking another rule, didn’t it, Abby?” said Keto.
“It did,” I acknowledged. “I’m already in a heap of trouble here. If Zeus decides not to forgive this transgression, there’s nothing I can do. There’s the rock, and then there’s the hard place. I’m buried between struggling for air.”
Everyone except Marshall knew the cost of exposing our secrets to humans. Sympathy glittered in Keto’s eyes, but there was no judgment. For that I was grateful. The last thing I needed would be for one more person to judge me for something I didn’t feel I had any control over.
“Marshall, Eris is the Goddess of Chaos and Destruction. She has the ability to fry you from the inside out, but to be honest, most of us have that ability. By colluding with us, you’re in serious danger. We will help protect you, but you have to make the decision to either stand with us or get out of our way. The Asheville Police Department needs to stay off our backs. We can make it very unpleasant for everyone if they pursue us while we’re here.”
Marshall turned a furious gaze on me. “Are you threatening me, Abby?”
I bared my teeth at him. “I never threaten.”
His breath hissed in and he stood, scooping up the scattered papers and shoving them into his briefcase. “I’ll be in touch – with all of you,” he said and stalked out of our cabin.
Applause rang out. “I see your people skills haven’t improved in the last few years,” said Keto.
I groaned. “How else was I supposed to handle that?”
Artie chimed in. “Oh, I dunno. Maybe not threatening someone with death would be a good start.”
I bristled at her accusation. “I didn’t say anything about anyone dying.”
“You’re a mythical goddess. It’s always inferred.”
I hadn’t killed a human in thousands of years. I wasn’t about to go down that road again. If Marshall knew what was good for him, he’d either jump on board or wave the wagon on through. Nasty things were starting to come our way and I, for one, wanted to live through it.
Feelings about Marshall aside, I got to the matter at hand. “We probably have about two days before Hermes gets back here. During that time, I think we should put our heads together and figure out
how to approach these recent developments with Zeus so we can all make it out with our limbs intact.”
Keto nodded somberly. He was well aware of what could happen if Zeus were unhappy. We all were, so we needed to make sure we offered strong evidence. Zeus had banished his daughter once before, but he was mistaken if he was under the impression she had learned her lesson. Being overconfident when I approached him could backfire and give Eris the time she needed for whatever scheme she had come up with this time.
Artie snagged a notepad Marshall had left on the coffee table and the pen lying next to it. “Going on the assumption Eurydice is with Eris, let’s narrow it down and figure out what it is about her that would make her a target?”
Artie might be onto something. “Okay.” I tapped my forefinger on my chin as I thought about the reasons Eris might have taken her. “She’s beautiful.”
Artie rolled her eyes. “Lots of women are beautiful. I won’t even write that one down.”
Keto chuckled and even I had to smile. She was right. “Nice try, Abby,” Keto said. “Let’s go with…she’s Apollo’s daughter.”
Artie’s brow furrowed. “Yes, of course she’s my brother’s child. But what does that have to do with anything?”
Eurydice was one of Apollo’s many children in the twisted, gnarled family tree that is Olympus. My story was much different, and lucky I’d say. While I was born from a piece of the god Uranus thrown into the sea by Cronus, and therefore subjected to zero parental control, the others were born from affairs between mortals and gods, or between gods and goddesses, resulting in a mixed bag of talents…and headaches for everyone. It was surprising Eris had taken such an interest in her since she had mixed blood. It often meant diluted powers, making her disappearance even more curious.
A thought occurred to me. “She possesses the power of light,” I said.
Artie looked up from her note taking, her pen poised over the paper. “I’m still not tracking why this is important. She has powers, but every demi-god has them. Why would Eris want her?” Confusion was evident in her expression.
“Apollo controls the sun,” I said.
A thoughtful look crossed Artie’s face. “And since Apollo is too powerful for the likes of her…”
“His daughter makes a good substitute,” I finished.
“If you control the sun, you can control the world…” Keto trailed off and we locked gazes. It was all beginning to make sense. Eris needed Eurydice for something. The amount of danger she was in increased tenfold. We needed to talk to Zeus as soon as possible. And we might not have enough time to wait for Hermes to return.
Artie clucked her tongue. “Curiouser and curiouser. Abby, you sure do know how to pick out the most tangled web, don’t you?”
I ran my hands through my mass of curls and frowned when I realized hair brushing was one activity I’d forgotten this morning. This entire situation was way over my head. It was easy for Zeus to toss me into a mess, but this particular one had the potential for me to wind up permanently dead. Gods were hard to kill, but tangling with other immortals was something we didn’t often do. The potential for casualties was high.
“Sure do, Artie. We’ve already lost Orpheus. We can’t lose Eurydice, too. Let’s see, we’ve gone from matchmaking to saving the world. Sounds fair.” I blew out a frustrated breath. This was definitely not what I had agreed to when Zeus had stood in my living room. If I wanted to push it, I bet I could wriggle my way out of this. I wouldn’t though. Doing so could result in the King of the Gods holding a massive grudge against me. It could be best to bite the bullet and get it over with, no matter how it all ended.
Not a very fair trade, I thought. When playing with the gods, not much was.
10
Chapter Ten
The next day turned out to be bitter and wet. Cloudy, gray skies obscured the sun, and a fine mist blew lightly through the air, soaking everything with the misfortune to be outside. We were huddled in the living room, staring out the windows waiting to see if the weather would clear soon. I was hopeful Hermes would return sooner rather than later. We were involved in a waiting game, and patience had never been a strong suit of mine.
Last night was spent in a restless tangle of sheets and thoughts. Marshall leaving the way he had upset me more than I wanted to admit. I was also worried about Hermes. Odds were he was fine. There was a reason he was Zeus’ messenger and had survived politics as long as he had, but we were involved in a dangerous game now, and his choice to side with us might change the dynamics of his relationship with his father and the rest of Olympus.
Keto and Artie were curled up next to each other, his arm slung across her shoulders as she leaned against his chest. All pretense was gone – Keto and Artie were an item. I watched the comfortable way they interacted with each other. They’d been keeping secrets from me for a long, long time.
I had been so caught up in my own troubles and drama I had neglected to pay attention to my friends. It wasn’t the first time it had happened. Why did they continue to put up with me? I vowed to change; the world didn’t revolve around me. I knew that, but it was so easy to become self-involved.
A small smile played over Keto’s lips and Artie snuggled deeper. He placed a light kiss on her forehead and I looked away, not wanting to encroach on a private moment. A bone deep sense of loneliness intruded and I brushed it away. Now was not the time to lament over my love life or lack thereof. Pining over two men, both with the potential for a disastrous end, was getting me nowhere. I may have the gift of love, but it always failed when it came to my own life.
Marshall’s deep gray eyes haunted my thoughts. Goddesses shouldn’t play with mortals. It wouldn’t end well. And Hermes’ kindness – so unlike his father’s personality. I felt undeserving of either of the men in my life right now.
A loud crack resounded and blinding light flooded the room. I threw my arm up to cover my eyes.
Hermes’ voice rang out. “Abby, they’re coming for you. Get out!” The light vanished and a prone figure lay in the middle of the floor. I rushed over and landed on my knees beside him.
His golden face was ashen and ichor trickled from a deep wound in his chest. “Gods,” I choked. I shook him gently. “Hermes?” His head lolled to one side, and Keto gently brushed me aside. He examined Hermes with a critical eye. His throat worked and he paused. “He’s going to be okay, Abby, but we need to get out of here.” I felt the lie down to my bones but nodded and hoped against all hope for a miracle.
Artie landed on her knees beside me and encircled my shoulders. “Place your hand on Hermes and grab my other hand. Keto, you also touch Hermes and take Abby’s other hand. I’ll get us out of here.” I was numb, shock flooding my system. I felt Artie’s and Keto’s strong grips right before we disappeared in a shower of light.
Pain from the magic rocked through me and I hunched over on the grass clutching my stomach. I groaned in pain and collapsed on the ground. Concerned eyes met mine and a cool hand brushed my forehead. “Abby, we’re in the woods, away from the cabin and safe for now. But I’m not sure where we should go next,” Artie said. “I need you to tell me.”
I licked my parched lips and drew in some strengthening breaths. “Find Marshall,” I said. Her brows knit together, but she gave me a quick nod.
“Hold on,” she said. “This is going to hurt.”
I gritted my teeth when I felt her clasp my hand again. Before the blackness hit, I heard Keto mutter, “Marshall isn’t going to be pleased when we wind up in his living room.”
Marshall stood in the hallway glaring at us. Once I was able to drag in a couple of deep breaths to diminish the pain of Artie’s magic, I offered him a feeble wave. Keto offered me a hand and I grabbed it like a lifeline. Standing on shaky legs, I smiled at Marshall, but his expression didn’t change.
He ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head. “I rue the day I met all of you,” he said.
Keto laughed aloud, a beautiful sound in sp
ite of the grim situation. “In a few days, I’m sure you’re going to have much worse things to say about us.”
Marshall snorted. “I’m sure I will.” He gestured to Hermes’ prone figure. “What happened to him and why is he bleeding all over my carpet?”
In the midst of the chaos with Hermes’ arrival and our mad dash to get out of the cabin, I had briefly forgotten the extent of Hermes’ injuries. I dropped to my knees again and gently moved his hands out of the way so I could see the damage.
His eyelids fluttered and opened, staring at me without recognition. Pain marred his handsome face. My heart broke a little. He was injured because of me. I brushed a lock of golden hair away from his forehead.
He shuddered, grabbed my hand, and whispered, “Abby?”
I choked on my unshed tears. “Yes. It’s me. We’re going to try to move you to a bed. The floor can’t be very comfortable.”
Hermes clutched his chest in pain, but his eyes cleared for a brief second. With a grimace he said, “I’ve slept on worse.” Keto stood at Hermes’ shoulders and Marshall strode over to his feet.
“This is going to hurt,” Keto said. Marshall grunted and they both lifted him up.
“Head toward the back,” Marshall said. “There’s an extra bedroom he can stay in.”
I walked a close distance behind them and took a moment to study my surroundings, hoping it would give me insight into the enigma carrying my sort of boyfriend. His place was much different than I had expected from a man with such an icy exterior. Soft neutral colors hugged the walls, giving his place a homey warmth. Filled bookshelves lined the entire living room area holding classics such as The Iliad and Dorian Gray. It was no secret Marshall was a mysterious man. There was something about him I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I studied his broad back almost guiltily as I walked behind him, while he was carrying someone else I had grown to care about.
We entered the guest room and the two men placed Hermes gently on the bed. I moved to loosen his shoes, feeling uncomfortable with Keto’s knowing gaze.