by J. P. Rice
“Wait. What do you smell?”
She waved her tiny hand in front of her nose. “Good old number two. Must be an animal around. They have no manners like you and me.”
I grabbed Owen’s coat. “Right. We need to find this smell.”
Titania moved closer to the coat for a sniff and turned away quickly from the off-putting smell. In an instant, she jetted away. I followed Titania through the clearing and down a path flanked by thorny leafless bushes and snow-covered Douglas-firs. A loud grunt came from ahead and we came to a halt.
I whispered, “Why don’t you go check it out?”
Titania’s compound eyes bugged out. “Me? How ‘bout you?”
“Your vision is better. You don’t have to get as close as I would.”
“Only because we’re best friends.” She zipped around a maple tree trunk with antler scrapings and soon disappeared. She returned in a few seconds and spoke over her giggling, “You won’t believe this. There is a man that looks like a cat or a cat that looks like a man taking a shit over there. Oh, my sides hurt.”
“I can believe it,” I told her and cupped my hands around my mouth. “Owen. It’s time to go home. Come over here when you are finished.”
Owen responded, embarrassed, “Right-eo. Be over in just a few moments.”
About a minute later, Owen climbed up over the small incline and nodded at us. He shivered and pulled his black suit jacket tighter over his chest.
“Are you all right?” I asked, running up to him with his trench coat. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him tight. Leaning in, I planted a kiss on his cheek, right above his whiskers.
We broke the embrace, and I handed him his trench coat. As he slid it on, he said, “As much as the Gods are willing it should seem.”
Once Owen had his coat on, I hugged him again. “I should have never asked you to come. I am so sorry.”
Owen stepped back and rubbed my upper arms. “I chose to come with you. As much as you may think it, you don’t control me.”
I said, “I don’t know about that. Owen. I’d like you to meet my new friend, Titania.”
Owen turned to the dragonfly and said, “Yes, well. Pleasure it is.”
Still riding high on the jolt of magic, she spoke rapidly, “The pleasure is all mine. I don’t know if you heard, but Junipher and I are friends.”
I straightened Owen’s overcoat and secured the top two buttons for him. He said, “Yes, well, perhaps we can all be friends.”
“I like friends,” Titania said.
My mind was a blur, not knowing what to discuss. I got down to business. “We need to get moving. Okay. So with what we found out inside the silo, it might be time to put some cat cams in action to see who is on the other end of the deal in Pittsburgh.”
As Owen led the way, he said, “I can do that.”
“What are the cat cams?” Titania asked.
I said, “I’ll explain later. We need to figure out this plan now. I’ll give you all the details when we get home.”
“As I was saying, I can get that started. I’ll send a dozen out to patrol the usual suspects. Is there anyone particular you would like surveilled?” he asked, staring at me in confusion.
As we began to move, I said, “No. We can make a proper list when we get back home. Even if one of the usual suspects lets something slip, we can move on to a new target.”
“Right you are. I have but one humble question. What on earth are you speaking of?” His look of confusion made sense now.
I needed to slow down my thoughts. The shock of the near-death experience hadn’t worn off. “Oh jeez. I forgot that you weren’t outside Arawn’s office with me. Speaking of which, what have you been doing?”
Owen replied, “For the past day and a half, I’ve been waiting for you and experiencing one hell of a snowstorm. I was starting to worry and about to head back to Pittsburgh before our new friend here spotted me. I’d love to get something to eat while you tell me what Arawn said.”
I came to the tree line and trudged into the deep snow. “Sounds like a plan. Let’s get out of here and find the first place that serves food.”
“Yeah, let’s do it, friends,” Titania said energetically and zoomed ahead.
I reached into my pocket for reassurance. However, I’d forgotten that they had taken my gold locket. I felt naked without my material memory of Darabond.
“Oh, one other thing, Junipher,” said Owen, apparently jogging his memory. “I received a text message, and you aren’t going to believe this, but it seems that Hera is dead.”
Dread pumped into my heart. I tried to speak normally, but my voice squeaked, “Whaaaat? Did it say how it happened?”
Owen answered, “No details yet. I’d bet Zeus had her offed, so he didn’t have to put up with her nagging anymore. Then he could jam his erect penis into any female without repercussion.”
Owen’s odd phrasing didn’t even cause an internal giggle. I’d slipped away from certain demise in the Lair of Justice only to walk right into another death trap with Zeus. “Yeah, that’s probably what happened. If you hear anything else on this matter, let me know immediately.”
“Why are you so interested?” he asked, blinking his yellow eyes to adjust to the bright sunlight reflecting off the pure snow.
“I just have a feeling it might have to do with Lugh’s Spear is all.” I tried to play it down.
I attempted to analyze the whirlwind of recent events. The valuable information I’d obtained concerning the Spear seemed like three weeks ago. Arawn had half and a mystery person in Pittsburgh had the other half. They had a deal in place, and I had to find out the who, what, when and where. I had a pretty good idea of the why.
The clues helped, but they also created many more problems and the clock was ticking. The emotional toll of facing my victims in the Lair of Justice still had me shaken. As hard as it was to admit, the traumatic experience had rocked me to my core and melted the snow caps covering my heart.
How could you come to grips with the fact that you used to be a terrible person? Even though I was trying to better myself, it didn’t wipe out the cruel acts of my past. I’d escaped the Lair, but it wouldn’t stop the constant footsteps of the Bounty Huntress tracking after me or the haunting sounds and images I had encountered during my stay.
And I hadn’t even thrown the Hera situation into the mix. Fook my life. Her death could bring the force of the entire Greek pantheon down on me. If it came down to it, one thing was certain. I’d rather die than let Zeus have his way with me. I wouldn’t besmirch my honor or dishonor my husband by giving in to that.
Perhaps I could leave Pittsburgh for a while? Or stay with my father? Or Tyr?
I’d come back to Pittsburgh to find the spear. Unfortunately, my past—ancient and recent—had caught up to me. I wanted to concentrate on the spear, but kept getting sidetracked with the wolves, the vampires, the Greeks and the magic council. I’d lost track of my original goal of returning the spear to Lugh and securing my place in the pantheon of Celtic Gods.
My mind returned to my immediate safety in Pittsburgh. No offense to Owen, but he wasn’t the best bodyguard. Jonathan and Octavius were out because I couldn’t trust either of them. I found myself in quite the pickle.
Whom could I stay with?
Chapter 15
Owen dropped off Titania and me in front of my house. Thunder boomed in the distance. I gazed up at the sky and couldn’t find a single storm cloud.
I waited for Owen to leave and debated whether to go inside. Hera’s death had me on edge. Zeus could have a hit squad waiting for me inside. But had Hera told him that I’d cut her? Had she even talked to Zeus or had she died on the way back to Mount Olympus?
I decided I needed to run in and grab some clothes and necessities. Plus, I needed to get out of this damn bra. Tyr was the only one I could confide in about this. If I stayed close to him until this blew over, he could keep me safe. I briefly entertained going to my father’s house, but I would ki
ll his new family if I stayed there for an extended period.
After facing my past and taking responsibility for my transgressions in the Lair of Justice, I still held firm that the Hera situation wasn’t my fault. Zeus had chased after me on the cruise ship and Hera had followed it up by attacking me at my house. Had that fooker set me up? He had, hadn’t he?
With a heavily damaged house with boarded-up windows, I couldn’t tell if anything was amiss.
“Are we going in?” Titania asked. I’d nearly forgotten about her.
“Why don’t you stay out here. I can see my defense wards have been broken. There could be someone from the Lair of Justice inside. If you hear a commotion, feel free to bust in,” I told her.
“You got it,” she said and sailed across my small front lawn, landing on the mailbox.
I put my key in, turned it, and pushed the door. The first thing I smelled was coffee and burnt pita. Fook the Greeks.
I turned around and hightailed it down the walkway to my house. Zeus’s voice chased after me, “I’m not mad at you.”
His words stopped me in my tracks. I peered over my shoulder and saw Zeus standing outside my doorway with his hands out at his sides. The God of Thunder didn’t appear angry. In fact, he had a smug grin plastered to his face. Was this also a trick?
Titania flew off the mailbox over to me. “Are you all right?”
“Maybe,” I answered and rounded back to Zeus, who was about ten feet away. Titania landed on my shoulder, letting Zeus know that if he messed with me, he had to deal with her too.
From this distance, if he tried anything, I could dart away. As the sun crept out from behind a dark cloud, I noticed Zeus looked different. The gray notes in his beard were gone. Wearing jeans and a leather jacket, I’d never seen him sport that casual combination. It was always a suit or some form of dress attire.
I explained, “She came after me. I was just defending myself.”
Zeus stepped down from my porch. “I already said I wasn’t angry. You’ve helped me. Now with her out of the way, I’m free to exercise my will. Look at me. I’m a swinging bachelor now,” he said, tugging at the collar of his black jacket.
“Yeah, you’re one wild and crazy guy all right. So wait. You aren’t here to kill me?” I wondered aloud.
He shook his head. “Quite the contrary. I’m here to reward you.”
This was getting stranger by the sentence. Keeping my guard up, I walked over to Zeus with Titania on my shoulder. “Reward me? How?”
Zeus smirked and inclined his head in thought. “That is up to you. Shall we head inside and finish this talk? I had some coffee brewing and some bread in the toaster.”
“I didn’t think you knew how to work a coffee maker,” I commented.
Zeus stared at me as if I were crazy. “I’m the fucking God of Thunder, I think I can work a simple machine.”
“I just meant that you normally have someone do it for you. Don’t get all worked up.”
Zeus responded in a calm tone, “Perhaps you didn’t hear me. I’m totally relaxed now. Shall we.” He wagged his finger toward my open front door.
“I suppose. After you,” I said, gesturing for him to lead the way since I still didn’t trust him.
“Who’s your little friend there?” he asked pointing at Titania.
“Zeus, this is my friend Titania,” I said.
Zeus waved. “Nice to meet you.”
Titania responded in a stern tone, “Likewise, I’m sure.”
He turned, and as he entered the house, he spoke over his shoulder, “What the hell happened to you, Junipher? You look like you saw a ghost, and that ghost appears to have beaten the hell out of you.”
We entered my kitchen, and Zeus took off his jacket.
I said, “Titania, why don’t you go check out your new place, so I can talk to Zeus.”
Titania flew in front of Zeus’s face. She deepened her voice and warned, “I’ll be right there. Like right there,” she stressed and pointed. “Just around that wall. I’ll be watching you, mister.” She turned to me. “If you need anything, just yell.” She flew backward, keeping her big eyes on Zeus the entire time.
As soon as she left, Zeus smirked. “Who is that?”
“It’s my new friend and nothing for you to worry about,” I said and massaged the back my neck.
“Friendship only creates problems. What happened to your face?” he asked as he opened the cabinet next to my sink.
He didn’t need to know about my beating in the Lair of Justice. I said snidely, “I got into a fight with a Goddess. Remember.” I also didn’t need to alert Zeus about my trip to Seattle or divulge any information I knew concerning the spear. “Wait a second. You sent her after me, didn’t you?”
Zeus pulled two mugs out of my cabinet and set them on the counter. He grabbed the pot of coffee and said, “I did nothing of the sort. I may or may not have assigned a less than stellar doctor to service her wound. And I may or may not have paid him to turn a blind eye to her issues.”
He handed me a steaming mug, and I said, “So it’s not my fault. She would have lived if it weren’t for you.”
Zeus put seven heaping spoons of sugar into his coffee and handed me the container. “And you will keep that to yourself.”
I grabbed a spoon out of the drawer and some milk from the fridge. “Why would I do that? All of your subjects will try to kill me to avenge Hera.”
“They will not. I’ve already told everyone it wasn’t your fault. Hera wasn’t exactly a social butterfly, so you have little to worry about. And I am prepared to make a hush payment.” He tasted his coffee and took the spoon directly from his drink and buried it back into the sugar, making me cringe.
I mixed milk into the coffee and offered it to Zeus who held up an open hand to decline. He licked his spoon and tossed it into the sink. The swinging bachelor didn’t even think about rinsing it off.
I asked, “I keep my mouth shut for what?”
“As I said, that is up to you. You could have me if you like,” he offered and flexed his forearm as he opened the fridge door.
I handed him the milk to put away. “Hard pass.”
“All right,” he said dejectedly, and I almost shit my pants. He never gave up that easy. “Do you have any margarine in here?” he asked, tapping the top of the door.
“Nope, just butter.”
“Oh, do you have any sitting out?” He pulled his head out of the fridge and looked around. “I hate when it’s so hard it tears right through the bread. I’ll take margarine if you have it.”
“Do you see any margarine in there?” I asked, annoyed. Had he not heard what I’d just said?
“No. Do you have a little hiding place for it?” He opened the drawers inside the refrigerator.
“No,” I snapped. “I don’t have any fooking margarine. Now tell me about this deal.”
Zeus grabbed a stick of butter and set it on top of the toaster. “You can have seven of my men to do as you will. Take them as lovers, warriors, engineers or whatever pleases you. You have your pick of anyone who serves at my pleasure.”
That was quite intriguing. “Do I have to pick now?”
The impatient God squeezed the stick of butter, apparently assuming it thawed immediately. “No. Take your time. But there are rules that go along with this venture.”
Rules, huh? Even more intriguing. “What are they?”
Zeus blew into his coffee cup as steam rose from the hot liquid and the corners of his mouth twisted up. “Simple really. You choose a man or woman. I can veto four of your choices, but only four. You will have their services for a one-month period, after which they will return to serve me.”
I’d already figured out a way I could trick him. “Fine.”
He continued, “And just so you don’t try to pull a fast maneuver, you cannot rename anyone that I veto.”
Damn. He’d closed that loophole. “Give me some time to think about it. Anyone who serves you, eh?”
<
br /> Zeus couldn’t wait for the butter and jammed the wheat toast into his mouth, tearing off about half of it. He spoke through the crunching sounds as he chewed the food, “I will command that the seven carry out your wishes. You will only have their services for a month, remember. I can’t believe I’m being this generous.”
I didn’t need any help right now, but this was a nice card to have in the back pocket. “Yeah, I like the new you. The month of service starts after I name them, correct?”
“That is correct. How’s your spear hunting going?” he asked and pretended like he was shooting me with a spear gun. Then, he jammed a big piece of crust into his mouth.
“Slower than I’d hoped. I’m thinking about getting out of this town again.” I lied.
“Then you won’t want to hear about this juicy detail a little birdy whispered in my ear,” he stated, raising his eyebrows and lifting his coffee mug to his lips.
I turned away, acting like I didn’t care. “Well, I mean. You’re already here, so why don’t you just spill it.”
“Ha. Only out of convenience, I suppose. I heard Octavius has half of the spear. The other half is a mystery.” Zeus chugged the rest of his coffee and filled up another cup. The dirty God took another clean spoon out of my drawer to stir his second cup. Since he was helping me, I held back the urge to chew him out about his lack of manners.
I said, “Bullshit. You’re just saying that because you hate Octavius.”
Octavius and Zeus had a bit of a history. Octavius’s father, Lycaon, was the King of Arcadia. Lycaon had wanted to test Zeus’s omniscience by serving him the cooked flesh of his son. Zeus figured out the trick and cursed Lycaon by turning him into a werewolf, which meant man-wolf. Lycaon passed these traits down to his son, Octavius of the Tainted Blood. A nickname that still drove the alpha wolf bonkers.
When Lycaon died, Zeus turned his hatred on Octavius, eventually causing the werewolf to flee the area. Octavius roamed around aimlessly for centuries before he ended up in France, where he’d found his bride to start his own pack.
I had to be careful. Zeus could be setting up Octavius out of his pure hatred for the lycanthrope. To be fair, Octavius had never done anything to draw the ire of the ultimate God. It was guilt by association and Octavius was paying for his father’s sins.