“I’m assuming Oliver is dead?”
Dead? Fuck.
It doesn’t matter how many people we’d seen die since becoming gods, it still doesn’t feel like a normal thing to just kill people. As much as it feels weird to say, lives have a value. The second we forget that, we’ll be just as dangerous as the gods within us.
“It was an accident,” Wilder says, and there’s something raw and vulnerable in the way he says the words.
“Of course it was!” Reid responds, sounding absolutely shocked.
Mr. Time sighs. “Well, you better go get his body before the waves can drag it out. I can’t imagine him being reborn in the ocean.”
“Reborn?” Izzy asks in confusion.
Mr. Time nods, his expression unreadable. “There’s actually…a history of sorts of the gods within you killing Gullveig, the goddess within him. She was burned to death three times and each time came back to life. So, she’ll come back to life this time soon, but it’d be nice if it happened in a warm bed versus the freezing waters of the ocean.”
I shudder at the idea of my eyes opening to find nothing but the ocean around me. Would sea animals start feeding off of him? What would happen if a shark took a bite out of him?
Ugh. “Yeah, that sounds…creepy as fuck.”
Mr. Time shoots me a look. Oh yeah, I forgot adults don’t like when I swear around them. I was usually more careful about giving a good impression when it mattered.
“Who wants to go get him?” Aiden asks, lifting a brow and scanning us.
I shake my head. “How about you and me, champ?”
“Champ?”
I grin. “It seems like finding bodies is right up our alley.”
He shakes his head. “So this is what my life has come to…”
Izzy’s soft voice surprises us. “It was my fault. I can--”
“No,” I say. It’s gross to drag a body off the rocks, but I have no doubt it’ll be far more disturbing for Izzy than it is for me. And there is no way I’m going to let her do anything that might make her life even harder. “We’ve got this. Trust me.”
Aiden seems to realize that if Izzy thinks we don’t want to go, she’ll go, so he adds, “I could use the fresh air.”
She doesn’t look like she believes us, but she nods.
Wilder wraps an arm around her shoulder. “Let’s get you away from the chill and by the fire.”
“Okay,” she says.
Mr. Time pulls his phone out his pocket. “I’ll call someone to get this fixed.”
Aiden and I go and get our jackets, zipping them up against the cold, then go to stand by the window. The breeze is more than cold, it’s freezing. I shiver against it and crane my head out to look at the shape of a body far below.
“Ready?”
“Yeah.”
I close my eyes and focus on teleporting, picturing the rocks below. Air rushes around me, and I stumble a little, then almost slip on the damp rocks. Beside me, the sound of the crashing waves is deafening, and the spray of the water instantly dampens my flesh.
A second later, Aiden appears beside me. “Fuck,” he mutters, catching himself on a rock.
“Let’s be careful here,” I say, thinking about us waking up after an injury in the dark waters near us.
“Yes, sir,” he responds sarcastically.
I turn and find Oliver’s body. He’s definitely got a lot of broken bones, and blood blossoms from beneath him. But to my surprise, his eyes are open, and an eerie look is on his face.
“Oliver?” I say, feeling like I’m talking to a zombie.
Can he even understand me?
His mouth moves, but blood simply leaks from one corner.
Hell. I don’t want to touch him, but I carefully make my way to him, then glance at Aiden, who hasn’t moved. “You waiting for an invitation?”
He shakes himself and comes to stand at Oliver’s other side. “So…do we…carry him when we transport him? Just touch him?”
Oliver makes a sound that sends more blood rasping from his lips, and I realize he’s saying something. I kneel down beside him, leaning my head closer to catch whatever he can say that I might hear over the ocean’s waves.
“I kn-knew you assho-holes were going to k--kill me again.”
I lift my head away from him and try to read the expression on his face, but his eyes simply flutter shut. This guy… I can’t figure him out. Technically, it sounds like the gods inside of us had done some terrible things to his god. Technically, one of us had just killed him again.
So why do I feel like he’s the one who is dangerous to us?
Chapter Thirteen
Izzy
Reid and I decide to walk to the nearby town. We were both feeling antsy about this whole mission and wanted some time and some space. So we asked Mr. Time if we could go to the little city and try to casually find out anything about the other gods. He’d reluctantly agreed, but told us to teleport back at the first sign of trouble. Which we’d agreed to.
Stuffed into our jackets, shivering against the chill in the air, we move faster and faster to keep warm. For a while, all we see are fields of grass and big trees, along with the occasional sheep or cow. But when we hit the main road, the small town comes into view, and Reid takes my hand.
People give us strange looks as we pass, but they also offer us smiles, which is nice to see. I get the impression they don’t see a lot of visitors here, but even with the cold, it feels like the kind of place I’d waited my whole life to visit.
“There’s a coffee shop!” I point out, spotting it.
“The perfect place to listen for rumors!” Reid says, grinning.
I squeeze his hand, and we take off to the shop. Inside, we find a cozy place filled with little tables, mostly full. In the back is a small station for the workers, with large display cases full of goodies. I see Reid’s eyes widen as they land on the freshly made donuts, and we both rush the counter.
We pick out way too much stuff, then hand the cashier a wad of money that Mr. Time gave us. She lifts a brow, but rings us up, and hands most of the money back. Then, we go and find a table tucked into one corner. A few minutes later, the cashier brings me a big coffee and Reid a mug of hot chocolate. Another barista brings us each two plates filled with pastries, donuts, and cookies.
For the next few minutes, we dive into all of it like rabid animals. Reid keeps looking at me like he’s kind of proud of me, even though I can’t exactly be that impressive with a donut in one hand and a cookie in the other. But I can’t help myself. These are easily the best sweets I’ve ever had in my life. And the coffee is liquid heaven.
At last, I just can’t eat another bite. I plunk my half-finished treats onto my plate and groan, putting my hands on my bulging stomach. “That was amazing.”
Reid looks like he’s holding back a burp, then clears his throat. “More than amazing. We should do recon a few times a day.”
A woman rises from the table next to us, grabs her purse, and starts to head to the door. I see her gaze fall onto me, and suddenly she freezes, her mouth hanging open.
“You’re…you’re the woman from the castle.”
Reid speaks before I can. “We just got here today.”
Suddenly, I’m glad he was the one to answer. I’d kind of forgotten just how much I look like my sister. If she is causing trouble in this town, the last thing I want is to be blamed for it.
The stranger draws herself up taller. “You’re sure? Because you look just like her…”
I shake my head. “I am, uh, looking for my sister here though. My long lost sister. I don’t really know anything about her, but she’s my only family left.” It’s not a lie, but it’s not completely the truth either.
The woman looks around, as if afraid of being overheard, grabs her chair, and pulls it up to our table. In a low voice, she whispers, “Do yourself a favor and head back to the states. I’ve met your sister, and you don’t want any part of her.”
“She can’t be t
hat bad,” I say, trying and failing to force a smile
The woman looks nervous as hell as she leans in even closer. “I think…I think she might be a witch.”
“A witch?” Reid asks, sounding surprised.
She nods. “Since she arrived, there have been…so many storms. So many boats lost. Animals are disappearing, and there’s just this…sense that something’s wrong. You might have come here to find your family, but you don’t want anything of that woman.”
I can’t hide my disappointment. “Surely she can’t be the reason for storms and boats being lost…”
The woman leans even closer, crowding us. “She’s a witch. Mark my words, if you go to see her, you’ll never be seen again.”
Then she gets up and heads out the door, her movements jerky and rushed. I watch her push open the door, and the cold wind sweeps around her, and then she takes off down the sidewalk and disappears. When I glance back at Reid, I know I look as disappointed as I feel.
“We knew she was dangerous,” Reid starts, not seeming to know what to say.
I know I look sad when I say, “I just can’t believe that there’s nothing good in her. I might not remember her, but she’s my own flesh and blood. She can’t just be all evil. Can she be?”
I’m asking him just as much as I’m asking myself. The notion that my own sister could be evil…not just bad, but truly evil, is unsettling. It’s like I’m tied to this person I don’t even know out in the world, and I feel responsible for who she is and who she’s become.
“Honestly, I don’t know, Izzy. I just think you have to prepare yourself for whatever we find out.” Reid seems to struggle to say more. “We’re still those same kids who just graduated. This god stuff has changed a lot, but it shouldn’t turn us into bad people. We’re not going to hurt anyone we don’t have to hurt.”
I nod and wrap my arms around myself. “I think I’m ready to go back.”
We came here for answers, but the strange woman’s words were like throwing stars. They’d lodged inside of me, and I couldn’t seem to stop them from hurting. Even the people here thought she was evil? Was I naive to think she could be anything else?
“I think I might ask around a little,” Reid says really slowly. “You want to wait outside and enjoy the fresh air?”
I’m so grateful he’s willing to still finish our mission and give me a way out. But then again, that’s Reid. He always knows just what to say and do to make my life easier.
“That would be perfect.”
We rise and clean up our cups and plates. The barista thanks us, and then Reid goes up to the counter and flashes one of his smiles. The woman blushes under his attention, and I have to push aside the wave of jealousy that moves through me. These guys can’t have made it clearer that I am theirs and only theirs. But they are also unbelievably hot. I’m going to have to get used to women falling all over themselves with them.
Heading outside, I move until I can lean against the wall of the building without having my back to the window. My mind wanders as I stare out at the cloudy grey sky. This place…it’s like nowhere I’d ever even imagined. Even the air tasted better.
The hairs on my neck suddenly stand on end, and my stomach drops. Like being caught in a nightmare, I push off of the wall and turn on the sidewalk to watch as a car pulls up outside a shop. I don’t know why I know the weird feeling is because of the person in this car. I just know.
A second later, a man emerges from the car. He has to be in his mid-forties, with a clean-cut haircut and a smooth face. He instantly strikes me as both an intelligent man and a cruel man. The wind catches a little of his pale brown hair, and he reaches up with a leather-gloved hand to smooth it back into place as he rounds the car.
Transfixed, I watch him. A strange anticipation crawls down my spine. Will he see me staring? Will he look in my direction?
And then, he does.
He instantly freezes, and his eyes widen. The wind seems to slip between us, and I can’t tell if it feels like I’m standing just a foot in front of him, or if it feels like we’re miles away.
A cold look slips over his face, and he continues onto the shop and disappears inside.
I release the breath I didn’t even know I was holding, and then jump when someone taps me on the shoulder. Whirling around, I suck in a ragged breath when I realize it’s just Reid.
“You scared me!”
He looks instantly regretful. “I’m sorry…I just…are you okay?”
I shake my head, then nod, then shake my head again. “I don’t know. There was this weird guy who went into a shop--”
A thunderous expression comes over his face. “Did he say something to you? Did he touch you?”
His instant defense of me makes some of the anxiety inside fade. “No. I just had the weirdest feeling about him.”
Reid tugs me into his arms and holds me close to him. “It’s been a long…well, a long life as a god. Maybe we just need to head home and get some sleep.”
I sigh and snuggle deeper into his arms. “Sleep sounds perfect.”
“Let’s get somewhere private and teleport back to the castle.”
“Okay,” I mumble.
He laughs. “Should I let you go?”
I smile against his jacket. “Not yet.”
So, he holds me for a while, and the panicky feeling fades. The strange man was just a strange man, nothing more. And my sister could be good or evil. I’d know soon enough, either way.
Overhead, a bird caws. I pull my face from Reid’s jacket and frown up at the bird. The falcon soars above us, but far closer than most birds would have.
This place just keeps getting weirder.
“I think I’m ready to go now.”
Reid sighs. “I guess we could only escape reality for so long.”
“Let’s pick up something for the guys and head back,” I say, because I don’t want them to feel left out. “And someday maybe we could come back to Scotland for an actual vacation. No enemies, no drama, no gods.”
“The gods will always be--” he starts to say, then cuts himself off. He smiles that lopsided Reid smile that melts my heart. “Yeah. A real vacation together. Sounds like a plan.”
Chapter Fourteen
Izzy
We stop in a local pub to order burgers and chips for everyone back at the castle. It’s dark paneled and full of voices and laughter, and some of my sense of foreboding melts away. This really is a beautiful place--if there’s a darkness here, it comes from my sister and the other gods she’s traveling with.
“I’ll be right back. I’m going to track down the bartender so we can actually order,” Reid promises me, rising from his bar stool. We’ve been waiting with our menus forever for what was supposed to be a quick stop. He hesitates. “You okay?”
“I think I’ll be okay,” I say. “Never really alone, anyway.” I’ve always got Loki’s mischievous presence floating in the back of my mind. I can almost feel him whisper, Lucky, and you don’t even show your gratitude. Humans are so rude.
He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, because that’s comforting.”
He drops a quick kiss into my hair--I smile because he can’t even leave the room without kissing me goodbye, and there’s something so warm and sweet in the way he loves me--and then heads to the back.
The truth is, I do think it’s kind of reassuring. I can never get comfortable with Loki; he’ll always have a dangerous edge. But I don’t entirely mind him either. Carrying the trickster god has helped me get in touch with my other sides. I always tried so hard to be the good girl, to be worthy even though I felt abandoned by everyone who ever loved me. Loki may have been trouble--so much trouble--but whether he meant to or not, he also helped me find the strength to be exactly who I want to be.
A strange tingle runs up my spine, sharp like a nail tracing over my skin. I turn to see the same man I saw outside, framed in the doorway. But now he’s smiling, and it transforms his whole face.
The bartender
comes from the kitchen, pushing open the swinging doors, and goes behind the bar. “What will you have?”
I stiffen, looking between the man and the bartender. “Actually, my friend is in the back room looking for you with the menu…”
Suddenly, I hear someone sit down a few chairs away from me at the bar. “I’d like an ale, please, any ale.”
I turn slowly and find the strange guy from outside. He’s still smiling, and his body language screams that he’s calm and relaxed. What’s more, he’s got a Scottish accent, so it sounds as if he belongs here. But still, he makes me uneasy.
The bartender nods, staying on the opposite end of the bar as he begins to make his drink.
The strange man glances over at me. “New here?”
I don’t want to answer him, but I can’t see another choice, so I choose my words with care. “Visiting,” I say.
“Family?” he asks.
I think of how I already told that woman I was looking for my long-lost sister, and my mind whirls, trying to decide if I should stick with that lie. If I tell different stories to different townspeople, they may realize, and they might not trust us. If things go badly with my sister, and we have to ask the people who live here to evacuate, we might need to have the best chance they will listen to us.
All of that runs through my mind in a second, and even though I don’t want to talk to him, I smile and say, “Yes, how did you guess?”
“It’s a small village,” he says. “Not a lot of people find us unless they come here for a reason.”
The bartender slides his glass over to him. There’s something watchful in the bartender’s gaze, in the stiffness of his posture, and it sends that creepy feeling up my spine again. I glance toward the back, wondering where Reid is, and more importantly, where our food is. I don’t want to be suspicious and run out of here early.
“It’s a pity,” he says, “because it’s such a beautiful place. I moved here, oh, it must have been fifteen years ago now. I fell in love the first time I visited here.”
He sounds so pleasant that I almost wonder if I’ve lost my mind and I see danger and villains everywhere now. This guy seems like he just lives here. Maybe he and the bartender have a history.
Mayhem for Suckers Page 6